For the past six months I have been contributing articles about gardening for the Triscuit Home Farming Project..  It has been a lot of fun to share what I did know and also to learn things I did not know.  The project is now over, but I have enjoyed it so much that I will continue writing and sharing occasionaly as I delve more into this fascinating subject.

I can get on my soap box about what each of us can do to contribute to a lessening of the carbon footprint left by commercial growers, but that is for another time....Just read my articles and you can easily read between the lines...

Some weeks ago, Gary (The Eclectic) Timothy shared a post about his shamrock plant and I mentioned that I had a plant in the same family except the leaves on mine were dark red/purple and the blooms were pink/lilac. 

I thought my plant had died.  When I went to look at the little pot where I had planted them, there was nothing but dead leaves and brittle stalks showing.  I left the pot sort of hidden under other plant pots in the potting area of the garden and a couple of weeks ago I found that new stalks and leaves were peeking through, even though a broken plastic pot was sitting on top.  The new growth had come right through the cracks of the broken pot and I had a hard time disengaging them so they would not break off.

I went out to look at them again today and this what they look like now.  No blooms yet, but the plant is looking pretty good.  The pot is a concrete pot I had treated with buttermilk and moss (throw both in a blender to mix well and then 'paint' whatever concrete or clay pot you want to give a mossy look to with the mixture)

The name of mine is Oxalis triangularis

When it blooms I will take pics and share!

List and link of all articles to date I've written for the Triscuit Home Farming Project - this project has one more month to go and will end in September.

April Home Farming Articles - 

List and link of all articles to date I've written for the Triscuit Home Farming Project - this project has two more months to go and will end in September.

April Home Farming Articles - 

Herb Gardens In Buckets

Growing herbs is a great way to stretch your budget. It is also a great way to always have FRESH herbs in your cooking!

Bucket gardening/farming is simple, easy & fun! It does not take up as much space as a conventional garden nor does it require as much labor. Herbs do well in buckets so why not get started?

I grow cilantro, arugula, borage, basils, dill, parsleys, scallons, mints, rosemary, etc. Creativity is the key to making & using containers. The nmost common container is the ubiquitous 5-gallon plastic bucket. Next is the 3-gallon bucket. I also use small childrens' plastic wading pools for such things as radishes, carrots, onions, etc. Clay strawberry pots with their many openings are great for complimentary herbs such as cilantro, parsley, dill, sorrell, et al.

Drainage & a watering schedule is a must. Using broken bits of unfired clay pots mixed into the lower levels of your containers will help retain some mositure for you. Most herbs will grow as perrenials if you allow them to do so.

Busket gardens are reasonably portable. This means that you can move your containers to take advantage of laight or shade or wind or whatever environmental condition you need to utilize.

There are ton of places o the Internet where you can buy herb seeds. Those listed here are ones I have dealt with and know to be honest & relaiable.

On-Line Herb Seed Resources:

https://www.thegrowers-exchange.com/

http://www.stargazerperennialscatalog.com/CERTIFIED-ORGANIC-HERB-SEEDS-AND-ORGANIC-EDIBLE-FLOWER-SEEDS_c83.htm

http://www.wheatgrasskits.com/

http://www.lorinasediblegarden.com/

http://www.egardenseed.com/Herb_and_Spice_Seeds_s/6.htm

http://www.parkseed.com/gardening/GP/listpage/

http://www.burpee.com/herbs/

http://www.harrisseeds.com/storefront/s-112-herb-seeds.aspx

Copyright 2011 © Donald R. Houston, PhD, No portion in part or the whole may be copied, printed, transmitted or otherwise used without the expressed permission of the author or his legal agent.

Today's blog post is a quite a bit different from my usual, but I am so angry that I have been chewing nails since I saw this article this morning

Does Michelle Obama know about this?

Then in Facebook I found other people sharing other articles about the same topic...

Oak Park woman faces 93 days in jail for planting vegetable garden

What the.....?    Unbelieveable!

Anyone who has been following my writings for a few years has had to have read at least ONE of my articles on home edible gardens; home farming; about our country's history with Victory Gardens and self sustainability....(if you haven't, let me know and I will be more than happy to point you in the right direction... ;-)

Then I found that a page was started in Facebook with almost 9,000 people already "liking" it!

Original article