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Gardening Tips for November

THESUZGAZETTE.COM – November is one of my favorite months in the California garden. Fragrances are earthy and fresh, especially after a rain, with hints of spice and healthy soil. I watch leaves descend, winds sway even large tree branches, and sheets of rain (hopefully!) wash off a year’s dust. Birds and even some late butterflies, moths and bees work feverishly to gather enough stored energy for hibernation or migration. The mornings are crisp and winter-cap weather, the afternoons can still hold a weak warm sun, or even a few days of bright above-normal temperatures. Since we all know our water supply depends on abundant mountain snow, we rejoice when we see snow-capped peaks after a good storm and there is still optimism that the upcoming winter, when our part of California receives the majority of the year’s precipitation, will be cold and wet.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://thesungazette.com/article/opinion/gardening/2020/10/28/gardening-guru-tips-for-november-2/

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Save bees by holding back on the mowing, gardeners urged

Gardeners should leave at least a strip of their lawn un-mowed this summer to help halt the decline in bees, experts have said.

Perfectly manicured grass is depriving the crucial pollinating insects of the wildflowers they need to feed on, according to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH).

A major study by the organization, published on Tuesday, shows wild bees and hoverflies have suffered widespread losses across the UK in recent decades.

It found that between 1980 and 2013 a third of the more than 300 pollinating species included in the research experienced population declines, while only 11 per cent became more abundant.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.telegraph.co.uk

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Flowers You Can Eat, 38 Edible Flowers

Try growing these 38 beautiful edible flowers in your yard or garden. Not only will you help provide nectar for friendly pollinators in your garden, but you’ll have fragrant, and delicious blooms that you can enjoy adding to your favorite culinary dishes. They look great, and taste great, too!

Follow these tips for eating flowers safely: via TreeHugger.com

  • Eat flowers you know to be consumable — if you are uncertain, consult a reference book on edible flowers and plants.
  • Eat flowers you have grown yourself, or know to be safe for consumption. Flowers from the florist or nursery have probably been treated with pesticides or other chemicals.
  • Do not eat roadside flowers or those picked in public parks. Both may have been treated with pesticide or herbicide, and roadside flowers may be polluted by car exhaust.
  • Eat only the petals, and remove pistils and stamens before eating.
  • If you suffer from allergies, introduce edible flowers gradually, as they may exacerbate allergies.
  • To keep flowers fresh, place them on moist paper towels and refrigerate in an airtight container. Some will last up to 10 days this way. Ice water can revitalize limp flowers.

Uses in your kitchen: via OneMillionWomen.com.au

  • Salads
  • Garnishes
  • Rice-paper rolls
  • Cake decorating
  • Freezing in ice-cubes
  • Crepes
  • Teas, tissanes, wines, cordials
  • Jams, tarts and deserts
  • Vinegars and dressings
  • In the dough of fresh pasta
  • Stuffing, baking and tempura

SHOP THESE SEEDS and MORE!

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Beautify Your Veggie Patch & Plant an Attractive Vegetable Garden

If your vegetable garden consists of long, straight rows of crops surrounded by mulch or bare soil, you may be missing out on some of its potential health benefits. Aesthetic beauty is healing, especially in the form of flowers and art.

The French have long understood vegetable gardens can be places of beauty. They located their traditional potagers, or kitchen gardens, outside their kitchen windows and included vertical structures, flowers, and artistic plant groupings designed for aesthetic appeal. Read on to learn why prioritizing beauty in your garden is practical, and discover ways to beautify your veggie patch with flowers and DIY artistic elements.   Source: Fix.com Blog


Source: Fix.com Blog

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Creative Herb Garden Container Idea

Most of my planting so far have been of one single herb or veggie in a container. This time I decided to get creative with a herb container idea – I surrounded calendula with basil, cilantro, parsley, and oregano.

I know that’s pretty crazy. It’s summer time, and I’m feeling frisky. Chopsticks were also reused as row markers to tell what the hell was planted where.

There were four sets of calendula seeds that were planted in the center of the container. To the top of basil about five sets of basil seeds were planted. To the left cilantro seeds were planted in about three rows. Parsley seeds were scattered along the bottom and oregano along the right side.

One of the top five gardening mistakes that I made last year was planting too many herbs together.
This is the first time that I’ve mixed up different kinds of seeds in s container like this.

That was in much smaller containers, so I’m hoping that the bigger self-watering container will allow the herbs to grow together. What do you think?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3BjT_1OZqc

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Screw Buying Flowers, I’m Gonna Grow Some

Now that I have the balcony garden set up and am gonna be starting the vegetable seeds, I needed a new project.

Since my new roommate, Anita, likes flowers, I decided to get her flowers. I bought seeds from Botanical Interests to start growing flowers instead of buying them.

After reading an article in Green Lifestyle Magazine about the flower industry and how most flowers imported into the United States come to us via the exploitation of women workers, I started to see flowers in a whole new light. This was an industry that I didn’t want to support.

Anita likes flowers. I like Anita. So this is a way for me to be able to supply her with the flowers that she wants and not have a guilty conscience about it. Plus there’s plenty of room on the balcony garden for them.

I have seed packets for Aster, Calendula (an edible), Cosmos, Snapdragon, Sunflower (seeds maybe?) and Zinnia.

Yea, so now I’m gonna be growing flowers too.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_WKWn0wdEE