Video Growing Bells of Ireland

Here is a video on how to grow Bells of Ireland

Growing Bells of Ireland

These are Bells of Ireland and I'm learning how to grow these this spring. I'm considering growing these in a planter, but I'm not sure. Here is a great blog post about how to grow Bells of Ireland


What I like about this plant is the collection of the seeds during the end of the season when the Bells on the plant turn brown. Here is a great graphic on what that looks like and how to gather the seeds.

Easy Raised Garden

Another raised garden super easy!

Creating a Raised Garden

By: Anne Haynes

This weekend I went to home depot and purchased organic seeds. With the addition of my new roommate and her green thumb we are planning a veggie garden. Today at work I spoke with a couple of people and they all recommended using a raised garden instead of a tradition garden in the ground for a few reasons:

1. A raised garden reduces pest
2. Less water is needed to grow veggies
3. Easier on the back when weeding the garden
4. No need for a rototiller or treating the soil

During my research on raised gardens I ran across this video on Youtube. There's no need to build a two foot wood border around your raised garden, you can use cement blocks! This gardening stuff get's easier and easier the more I research!

My Uncles Garden - WOW

by: Anne Haynes

It's been vacation time and I've been relaxing away from the computer. My cousin Sarah posted this photo of her father's garden and WOW - I really need to take some pointers from my uncle Jim. Imagine the bouquet you could create with this garden.

Sandpoint, ID - August 2008

Lawn Mower Maintenance: Winterizing Your Lawn Mower

by: Anne Haynes & help from Doug Bennett

Lately I've been using BrightKite.com to ask for help on certain projects I'm working on in my garden and around my home. I've recently started mowing grass and this year purchased an expensive lawn mower. I've never owned a lawn mower and with this purchase I find myself on a learning curve and learning the dos and donts of lawn mower maintenance.

If I've changed the oil in my 1969 VW Bug, I should be able to change the oil in my mower. Let's go back to when I purchased the lawn mower and how I decided what features I wanted. There are a tons of sticks in my yard, so I wanted a mower that would pause without turning off. I also wanted a mower that would help me mow. These are called self-propel mowers. I went to Home Depot found a representative, requested these two features and then decided on which one to purchase. I decided on the Toro 22 In. Walk Power Mower, Personal Pace, 6.75 tp, with Electric Start.

The coolest thing happened when I bought the mower, a guy from the Home Depot followed me out to help me put my mower into my truck. I thought this was a really nice gesture and I didn't ask for the help. Anyway, I brought the mower home and put it together. I added the oil and gas, pushed the button to give it some juice and it started right up! Ok, so this self-propelled mower did not feel like it was doing any work for me. I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest after mowing my grass. I even called the manufactures customer support because I knew I had done something wrong at the set-up.

I asked my aunt about the mower and she said self-propel means you propel and she and I went at it for a few minutes, but then my cousin Jason came over - yes all women need men in their lives - even if they come over to check your work! With a few small twist to the line that connects from the handles to the engine, the darn thing started mowing the grass for me. Imagine how delighted I was when I could mow the grass with one hand!

Since I've purchased my lawn mower I've run out of gas once, but it's started every time! This week I cut my grass and after an hour of cruzing through 3 inch grass, I decided to flush the blades with the hose. The Toro has a hand water spout where you screw the hose to the base of the mower and turn on the water. I took a picture of this cool feature, posted it on Brightkite (all with my mobile) And @benneplex or Doug Bennett posted a comment saying (in so many words), I hope you let the mower cool down - you could bust your engine block!

Ok, hold everything!!! It's time to slow down and start to get close to my mower now. My lack of mower and engine knowledge could bring me a $400 mistake!

So, Doug and I shot an email about what I need to do to winterize my mower.

Re: Doug Bennett

Winterizing is pretty easy. Just buy a bottle of "Stabil" fuel additive at Wal-Mart of an Auto Parts store and add the appropriate amount to the fuel tank when you fill it up for the last mowing of the year. (Some people use it year round)
Clean everything up before winter, underneath too and change the engine oil. Come Spring you are ready to go. You might need to have the blade sharpened every other year as well.

I feel like with his little gift of knowledge on lawn mower maintenance, I'm in good shape to winterize my mower. It think I need to refer to the manual as well.

I like Lillies

by: Anne Haynes

The lillies I'm looking to plant in my front garden are Lilium Casa Blanca and Lilium Star Gazer. I'm going to start researching how to plant these bulbs in the fall and hopefully they will bloom in the spring and summer in 2009. My aunt found a place online that sells several different types of flowers White Flower Farm