Mother Earth's Garden

My dad gave me a big bag of apples a couple weeks ago. I’m almost to the bottom of the bag, but I still have enough for a few more snacks and a dessert or two.
One of my favorite fall desserts is apple crisp. I have an easy way to make a fall apple crisp that’s loaded with flavor. I cheat just a little and use cinnamon oatmeal (like Quaker’s Cinnamon Roll oatmeal) for the topping. I still add a little exta oatmeal, but the cinnamon flavored oatmeal, yum!
Here’s my super quick and easy recipe for a yummy fall apple …read more

1 Comment

Many people tell me they have a hard time keeping houseplants alive. I love houseplants, so I usually have several in my house. One of my favorite tricks to keeping my houseplants alive is to keep them on a regular schedule for watering, and attention.

I water (or at least check) my houseplants once a week. My watering day is Tuesday, but you can make it any day of the week that works for you. When you’re first starting out write it on your calendar, or in your planner, until you can get it in your weekly schedule. I have certain …read more

No Comments

My winter garden is not so much a garden as it is a series of containers in sunny windows. I love to garden, so just because it turns cold outside doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up on growing. During the late fall and winter I still have several gardening activities going on inside.

Here are a few of the things I do during the winter to help me make it through until spring.

I love to force a few bulbs every year for mid winter blooms.
I usually get at least one poinsettia during the Christmas season, I usually purchase a couple …read more

1 Comment

This time of year I always like to force a few bulbs so I’ll have some beautiful splashes of summer in the middle of winter. Some of my favorite bulbs to force?

Amaryllis is probably my absolute favorite, but you need to stake it and tie it up when it gets ready to bloom. Sometimes the blooms are too heavy for the stem and they fall over if you don’t.
Paper Whites ( Narcissus) are another favorite of mine, but they do have a definite odor to them, and it’s not my favorite scent. Don’t put them in a high traffic area. …read more

No Comments

We’ve had two hard freezes in my garden already this fall, so there’s not much left growing there. That doesn’t mean I don’t have some beautiful fall colors and textures going on.

The flowering kale and cabbage was very pretty all summer long, but after the freezes they’re stunning. I love the rich purple colors that the cold weather has brought out.
I have several grasses, with some gorgeous seed heads floating on top of my garden. Some of them are going to make their way into fall floral arrangements and centerpieces over the next few weeks, but I’ve got to leave …read more

2 Comments

Fall is a great time to plan your outdoor spaces for next year. If you’d like to create an outdoor living space now is a great time to move walkways, create patios and decks, or map out ponds.

We’ve been planning a new patio for a couple years now, but we still haven’t taken the plunge. I do have a plan, and I know exactly what I want. It’s just a matter of getting it started.
I’ve always thought an outdoor kitchen would be fun. We love to grill out during the summer, so I think an outdoor kitchen would make everything …read more

1 Comment

The other day I talked about some herbs to plant for cleaning. Today I want to share some recipes for cleaning you can use your herbs in.

Don’t be afraid to experiment a little on your own, adding fresh herbs to things like lemon, glycerin, and vinegar can create wonderful scents with the disinfecting properties you need in a cleaner.
If you’re afraid to do your own experimenting here are a few easy homemade herbal cleaning recipes to get you started, and to inspire you to add a few cleaning herbs to your garden next summer.

Pennyroyal Cinnamon and Lavender Air Freshener~ Because …read more

No Comments

I’m allergic to many of the cleaners on the market, especially anything with a synthetic scent. Some just make me sneeze when I’m around them, others can have me a wreck for days if I breathe them in. One of the things I like to produce in my garden is some herbs and plants to make my own cleaners. I can use many of the organic cleaners out there, but it’s still cheaper to put together my own ingredients in many cases.

Some of the best plants you can plant for a cleaning garden include:

Lavender has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties, and …read more

2 Comments

The other day I talked a little about Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire premiering on PBS. Today I have information about a new interview Michael did with Organic Gardening about the dangers of organic factory farms, the future of organics, and what he thinks of Michelle Obama.

The interview appears in the the November/December/January 2009-2010 issue of Organic Gardening magazine, which hits newsstands today. I got to take a sneak peak at the article (even though my own issue of Organic Gardening hasn’t arrived in the mail quite yet.
I enjoyed reading the interview, and learning more about Michael Pollan and his …read more

No Comments

If you’re already pining for your garden, and you can’t wait for spring, here’s a little something you can add to your planner. The 2010 Nashville Lawn and Garden Show will be held Thursday, March 4, through Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds.

The theme of the 2010 Nashville Lawn and Garden Show is Artistic by Nature. The 2010 show will celebrate the beauty that’s created when natural artistry and man made artistry are combined in the garden.
The show will offer inspiration, ideas and information for gardeners and garden lovers. Some of the gardens at the 2010 show …read more

No Comments