Grow Light

motherearthnewsmag: Use Pigs Natural Abilities When Digging a...

undefinedperception — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 16:36:47 -0500

Use Pigs Natural Abilities When Digging a Garden

Gary L. Nelson explains how easy it is to use your homestead pigs natural tendency to dig to help plow your garden with little effort.

By Gary L. Nelson

undefinedperception: Rainy day in the garden! (Taken with...

undefinedperception — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 19:28:08 -0400

undefinedperception:

Rainy day in the garden! (Taken with Instagram)

lianarama: My works aquaponics system.

undefinedperception — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 15:09:30 -0400

lianarama:

My works aquaponics system.

intrepidlad: Morning Glory! (Taken with Instagram)

undefinedperception — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 21:38:46 -0400

intrepidlad:

Morning Glory! (Taken with Instagram)

growlight: Toad Lily- Tricyrtis spp. in the garden finally...

undefinedperception — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:27:42 -0400

growlight:

Toad Lily- Tricyrtis spp. in the garden finally bloomed! Only a few flowers, but they’re surprising for how late we transplanted her.

growlight: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle- Barbara Kingsolver I...

undefinedperception — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 12:29:43 -0400

growlight:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle- Barbara Kingsolver

I absolutely love this book. I read it back in high school and it was one of the catalysts that sparked my interest in a self-sustainable lifestyle. I also just love Barbara Kingsolver anyway. Great writer and author.

growlight: Self Sufficiency: How Much Land Does It Take to Feed...

undefinedperception — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 12:29:00 -0400

growlight:

Self Sufficiency: How Much Land Does It Take to Feed Your Family?

Eatdrinkbetter.com- sustainable food for a healthy lifestyle

http://www.eatdrinkbetter.com/2011/08/21/self-sufficiency-how-much-land-to-feed-your-family/

"What do plants eat? They eat dead animals; that’s the problem. For me that was a horrifying..."

undefinedperception — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 12:29:03 -0400

“

What do plants eat? They eat dead animals; that’s the problem. For me that was a horrifying realization. You want to be an organic gardener, of course, so you keep reading “Feed the soil, feed the soil, feed the soil…”

Alright. Well what does the soil want to eat? Well it wants manure, and it wants urine, and it wants blood meal and bone meal. And I…could not face that. I wanted my garden to be pure and death-free. It didn’t matter what I wanted: plants wanted those things; they needed those things to grow…

So, I sort played a moral hide-and-seek in my mind. I was left with this realization that I could eat an animal directly, or I could pass an animal through a plant and then eat it, but either way there were animals involved in this process. I could not remove animals from the equation.

I had to accept on some level that there was a cycle here, and it was very ancient, and ultimately very spiritual. It was really hard for me to accept the ‘death’ part of that equation. Years. It took me years to finally face it. But there wasn’t any way out of it if I was going to grow things.

”

- Lierre Keith, on gardening as a vegan; October 8, 2009 on Underground Wellness Radio (via weeta)

le Jardin médiévale de Bois Richeux A fantastic Chateau garden...

undefinedperception — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:51:00 -0400

le Jardin médiévale de Bois Richeux

A fantastic Chateau garden in the Loire valley. The caretakers keep the garden in the style of a medieval garden, with woven raised planters made of sticks and wood.

undefinedperception: I have never actually seen one of the full...

undefinedperception — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:01:59 -0400

undefinedperception:

I have never actually seen one of the full purple variety; only multi-colored ones. So pretty

teufelskunst:

Common Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris)

Château Val Joanis A wonderful winery that I visited back in...

undefinedperception — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:30:34 -0400

Château Val Joanis

A wonderful winery that I visited back in 2010. Surrounded by the fields of grapes, the terraces of the garden are devoted to (1) a kitchen garden and flower garden, (2) flowers and ornamental plants, and (3) fruit trees and ancient plane trees. The pictures posted earlier of the trellises and purple flowers are from here as well. The garden was a great mix of order and organization and eclectic surprises (like a snail statue…just big enough for a student to pose riding upon it). I hope to one day have a garden like this- productive and beautiful.

Asiatic Tiger Lily- Lilium tigrinium hybrid (cross w/...

undefinedperception — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:20:41 -0400

Asiatic Tiger Lily- Lilium tigrinium hybrid (cross w/ lancifolium?)

By my parents’ front step. I planted it there a while back from a Mother’s Day or Easter gift, I think. Needless to say, there are a number of lilies around the yard, now. Also, not sure of the Bot. name here. It must be some type of cross because it has an upright flower. Any guesses?

Coreopsis auriculata and the vining tomato

undefinedperception — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:27:52 -0400

Coreopsis auriculata and the vining tomato

Josh’s Succu-Love Josh has an obsession with succulents...

undefinedperception — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:29:02 -0400

Josh’s Succu-Love

Josh has an obsession with succulents like the Hen-and-chicks in the terra cotta pot and the green-red Jade plant. In the back you can also spot the mini-trellis which we will one day have Morning Glories and Garden Beans a’growing

The tomatoes are coming in beautifully!

undefinedperception — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:25:45 -0400

The tomatoes are coming in beautifully!

Marigolds for Mosquitos ! Did you know that marigolds can...

undefinedperception — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:14:20 -0400

Marigolds for Mosquitos !

Did you know that marigolds can repel mosquitos and other biting pests? The distinctive smell drives them away. We currently have about 30 or so seedlings at the lower end of the garden…and about 3000 mosquitos breeding somewhere nearby. Hopefully they will one day keep the swarms at bay (I get completely eaten up if I don’t soak myself in OFF! before I go out).

Marigolds are really easy annuals and, once the flowers die, the dead heads can be broken up and the seeds sprinkled around. New plants germinate easily in moist soil and require minimum care.

Garden Travels I have been very lucky to be able to travel to...

undefinedperception — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:19:42 -0400

Garden Travels

I have been very lucky to be able to travel to gardens in Italy and France as part of UGA’s study abroad programs. I went with the Horticulture department’s Garden Tour trip and get to see some wonderful gardens that held a lot of inspiration.

Having such a strong interest in smaller-scale farming and food production, I also liked some of these places for having a great look and feel, while also creating food for the table.

Newly planted! Starting out, we (me and my roommate Josh, the...

undefinedperception — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:04:00 -0400

Newly planted!

Starting out, we (me and my roommate Josh, the guy doing extreme parkour in the back watering the plants), had a pretty clean slate: a flat plot of land with only a couple tufts of dwarf mondo grass here and there. It was a bit of work amending the soil, but after regular watering, it’s gotten easier to till and plant in.

You can see the canna and irises on this side of the staircase as well as the tomato plants and the lone blueberry. There is also bunches of marigold and zinnias that Josh sowed near the sidewalk (yay mosquito repellant!)

Welcome to the Garden!

undefinedperception — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:50:00 -0400

My first stab at gardening is at my apartment for next year and alongside my future roommate and bestie Josh (who you will doubtlessly see in the pictures). Most of the things here are donations from our parents garden, ‘donations’ from the surrounding houses, and the eventual giving in to temptation and actually buying plants from Lowe’s.

There are quite a few things in our little patch (which I refer to as the staircase garden): mostly hardy perennials, a few annuals, and a couple of edible things. I’ll post pictures of progress and the planties!

So far, we’ve encountered the challenges of getting permission from the landlords (who, incidentally, thought I was a landscaper when they saw me out there one day wearing my IO shirt), digging through solid clay, battling the swarms of mosquitos, and an over-eager roommate battling bugs with a bottle of soapy water.

I can’t tell you how relaxing it is to be in this space when you need a moment. Whether taking a break from homework or relieving boredom, kicking back on the porch or lazily pulling small weeds is pretty therapeutic.

Take a look at the pictures and I’ll keep you updated on our progress!

I absolutely love plants

undefinedperception — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:02:50 -0400

It’s the truth. Since before I was in high school, I have found an interest in gardening. I am now a college grad (with a degree in landscape architecture under my belt, no less) and I still have that yearning for more knowledge and hands-on experience with growing things out of the ground. Getting your hands dirty, coaxing a tender sprout from the earth you tend and watching a seedling transform into a mammoth tree; finding joy in the life you create. I’m hoping to find an occupation that satisfies my love of plants, whether that be in landscape design, small-scale production, or simply having a massive garden at home; whatever path is before me it will have green things along the side of it for me to tend. I’ve found my passion, now it’s time to run with it.

Over my short years, I have come across a wealth of information from the internet, trial-and-error in my parent’s yard (remind me to tell you about the time I cut the cable line), earning a horticulture degree, and talking to other garden-folk I’ve found over the years. To be clear, I am in no way a guru or some sort of plant master gardener. I’m a guy who loves plants, and is eager to learn more about them…and share with others this nerdiness.

So read on, tumblrer, and I will try to put up plant facts, ideas, garden updates, and, above all, PICTURES, to (hopefully) excite you about what grows around us.

Let’s boogie