A backyard retreat/ office/ guest room
I would sooooo love one of these when we finally ditch my teenage son’s swingset.
Want to major in Organic Ag? Now you can.
UCD plows ahead, but lags on organic ag major
By Edie Lau — Sacramento Bee Science Writer
For the first time this fall, a university in the United States is offering a major in organic agriculture.
It’s not at the University of California, Davis, one of the nation’s foremost agricultural schools, nor is it anywhere in California, the top state in certified organic cropland.The program is at Washington State University, which is leading a movement among agricultural schools to put organic farming in the curriculum.
By the way, WSU is in a quaint college town called Pullman, Washington, where I happened to live from age 11 to 15. Picture, if you will– college students, real cowboys, snow, Main Street, steep, treesy hills lined with charming homes, rolling wheat hills, the best ice cream, rock concerts, and cute boys who are now middle-aged like me so just shoot me.
What Flower Are You?
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I am a |
Snapdragon: “Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh.”
Yep.
Now it’s easy to go biodegradable in the home and garden!
Biobag makes biodegradable trash, composting, dog poop and lawn bags.
You can also dispose of your garbage guilt with biodegradable paper plates, and cups. Remember, plastic trash really is forever. Compostable cutlery isn’t!
Whole Foods carries some of these products as well. Ask your neighborhood grocer to too.
Romantic Chair Planter
July 15 update: My chair planter is doing well despite some pretty intense summer heat. The geraniums haven’t filled out yet. It’s probably time for a feeding and a haircut.
Ta da!
June 7 update (8:43 p.m.)
Ok, I found the “CocoPeat”, in the garage, in a bag from Home Depot. Guess it wasn’t hard to find after all…or, rather, it’s only hard to find after you buy it and bring it home. And if you’re me. I just finished planting the chair and will photograph it tomorrow. I’m pleased with the way it turned out. The only change I might have made, in retrospect, is to use one geranium with some white in the flower color. No biggie, though. I’m sure I’ll replant the whole thing a few more times before retiring the chair.
Plant material:
— ‘Abunda Giant White’ Bacopa
— ‘Galleria Bright Violet’ trailing geranium
— ‘Picasso’ ivy geranium
— ‘Lemon Licorice’ Helichrysum petiolare
— Celosia (unk. cultivar)
— ‘Devon Cottage Rosie Cheeks’ Dianthus (on the ground)
Chair basket:
— green chicken wire
— weed fabric (as a liner)
— potting soil
— coconut fiber or “cocopeat”
— vinyl-covered wire ties for attaching the chicken wire basket to the chair
Tools:
— wire cutters
— scissors
I’m eager to plant… just having trouble finding coir liner. I thought I had some in the garage, but where is it? Did I use it all? Where did I buy the stuff? Argh.
I may have to go buy more, but it’s a bit of a pain to find nurseries and hardware stores selling bagged loose coir. Easier to find are those pre-formed liners, but they’re kind of cumbersome to work with and look a bit stiff.
The mini carnations will probably be planted at the base of the chair, but I hope to be able to include celosia in the chair seat. Without it, the seat plants look sweet and romantic, but celosia adds that necessary hint of passion.
Angela’s Stock Photography
