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Archive for January, 2010

The fragrant leaves of the coriander herb are part of many types of cuisines such as Oriental, Middle Eastern and Hispanic and are used in meat, vegetable and lentil recipes. Growing coriander in your own garden is the best way to ensure the freshest supply for your cooking.

By becoming familiar with the growing requirements of this distinctive herb it will make growing coriander an easy task. To get good results one should prepare the soil by ensuring that the area intended for planting is weed free. I like to dig the soil and rake it, this way it removes any large clumps of dirt.

The small seeds can be sprinkled in rows no closer than four inches apart and lightly covered with a thin layer of washed river sand or seed raising mix. Then one should mist the area just planted being careful not to displace the seeds. When growing coriander it is important to keep the seeds moist by misting the soil on a daily basis until the seeds sprout.

Unlike many seeds that take about a weed to germinate, coriander seeds take up to twenty-one days. Once the seedlings are 2 inches tall it is recommended to thin the plants to about 8 inches apart to ensure that you get tall plants with plenty of healthy leaves.

Growing coriander in pots is not recommended since this herb has a long taproot which develop best in an open garden. It also prefers a milder climate, for this reason if you live in a tropical or sub-tropical area it is best to grow coriander during winter, while early spring and late summer are the preferred seasons for growing coriander in temperate climates.

Most gardeners sow coriander directly into the soil because transplanting causes the plant to stress, in fact if transplanted the coriander plant will most likely bolt and cease to grow before it is mature. One thing to remember is that if you are growing coriander in hot weather, the plant will mature more quickly.

You should plan to sow in increments of every three weeks to obtain new seedlings. If you get a few hot days it is likely that your coriander will go to seed therefore growing coriander seeds every 3 weeks will produce lots of coriander plants over several months.

To harvest the tastiest coriander leaves, wait until the plants are mature, and snip the stems from the base of the plant. The leaves should be light green for the best coriander flavor for your salads, stews and soups. Be sure to leave a few stems and leaves on the growing coriander so the plant will keep producing and you can enjoy this fragrant herb all summer long.

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The art of organic gardening is simply growing food in an environmentally and health friendly manner. Because an organic garden is produce without the use of pesticides and commercial fertilizers you are not only providing yourself and your family with healthy foods, you are also helping the air, water, and soil within our environment.

Organic gardening carries many benefits that you may not be aware of. This article will help you identify the benefits of an organic garden and determine whether organic is the way for you to go.

When you produce organic foods, you are producing all natural, safe, and much healthier foods. These foods will have a greater amount of nutrients and minerals within them than those grown with the help of commercial products. You are reducing your family’s risk of ingesting harmful additives and pesticides, and increasing their nutrition at the same time.

Let us have a look at some of the other health benefits of organic gardening. One important benefit that research has discovered in organic foods is the fact that by eating foods grown organically, you are building your body’s immune system, thus giving it the ability to fight of many different types of diseases, one of which is cancer.

Organic vegetables have been proven to contain a higher concentration of nutrients. A team from Rutgers University did a study comparing produce from a grocery store and the same items grown organically.

While the Rutgers team expected the organic food to show a slight increase in minerals compared to the non-organic, they were astounded by the results of the tests. The organic produce contained much greater amounts of essential minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Non-organic spinach had only three percent of the iron contained in organic spinach. Non-organic tomatoes had only a tiny fraction of one percent of the iron found in organic tomatoes. What was more surprising was that many essential elements were completely missing from the non-organic produce.

Read the rest of this entry »

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When we think about getting a house ready to sell, we often focus on the structure itself. We ask ourselves if the walls need painting, should the carpets be cleaned or replaced, do any of the plumbing fixtures need to be repaired, etc. However, the item that is seen first, by every potential buyer that drives by your house, is your front lawn and garden. Spending some extra time on your landscaping before you list your house with a real estate agent can make a big difference in how long it takes a house to sell.

Think of it this way – would you feel comfortable with the idea of seeing a doctor if all the plants in his waiting room were dead? It sets up some negative emotions, doesn’t it? The same thing happens when people drive by a house that is surrounded by dying, weedy grass, overgrown bushes, and cracked sidewalks. Since the impression is on a purely emotional level, it may be difficult for your buyers to overcome.

There’s a good example of this problem right now, in my neighborhood. Although houses in my city are selling ast this summer, and they don’t stay on the multiple listing service for very long, a ‘For Sale by Owner’ sign has been in the window of a house down the street for months. The owner lives out of town, and probably purchased the house as a rental. Now that home prices are higher, he’s ready to sell, but he can’t take care of the yard himself because he lives too far away. He did recently hire someone to cut down the overgrown grass, but I suspect he did so only in response to a complaint from the city authorities.

This attitude on the part of the seller reminds me of that ancient saying “penny-wise, pound foolish”.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take a whole lot of money to get most yards looking good, and it can make a huge difference in the curb appeal of your house. It does, however, take time – especially if the grass has been neglected for too long. Some regular watering might revive it, but if things have gone too far, you may need to reseed the grass and start over. This might also be true in the back yard, if a large puppy or a team of budding football stars has worn ruts in the grass. The most important thing for the grass is to get it green again, and keep it mowed. If dandelions have taken over, a neighborhood kid might be willing to pull them out, if the price is right.

If bushes along your fence are badly overgrown, they may need a hard pruning. Some ornamental shrubs and small trees can be pruned at almost any time, but others must be approached with more caution. To see exactly how and when your shrubbery can be pruned, do a Google search for the particular type of plant, or find a good book on pruning at your local library. Overgrown Arborvitae growing near the house may need to be removed, as would any other fast-growing shrub that refuses to stay within its allotted space, and which would be nothing but bare sticks if it you cut it back.

If you do need to remove overgrown or dying foundation plantings, they can be replaced with fast-growing annuals or perennials. First dig the soil as deep as you can and add compost and plant food to improve the soil’s fertility. Then ask your local nursery for suggestions – they’ll be able to show you which plants will grow the fastest and fill in the empty space. If you put out a drip hose and attach a timer, you won’t need to do much more than pull an occasional weed to keep it looking nice.

A friend of mine recently sold her house, which was surrounded by a beautiful cottage garden that took her years to build. She knew that most people don’t have time to care for so many different plants, and would prefer to simply water and mow the grass – so she made sure to list her house when her garden was at its peak. Even if her buyer has to remove all those flowers because he can’t take proper care of them, they still helped to create a positive impression with all that color. Her home, surrounded by masses of color, was on the market for only a few weeks.

You can easily add a few spots of color to your yard without planting a perennial border of creating a cottage garden. One exceptionally easy trick is to buy a large planter that matches the color of your house, fill it with one small shrub from the nursery surrounded by fast-growing annuals, and place it just beside your front door. It doesn’t take much time, but it can add that little touch of life that makes your house feel more like “home” to your potential buyers.

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