By Jannie Vaught The National Butterfly Center in Mission Texas is a 100-acre wildlife center and native species botanical garden dedicated to the conservation and study of butterflies. Since many butterfly plants support bees also. Take a moment and go to their web site. www. nationalbutterflycenter.org. for all the latest and up to date information…
By Jannie Vaught Have you ever wondered about the USDA growing zones and what does it mean to you as a gardener or a farmer? Let us get a definition. The USDA Hardiness Zone map divides North America into 11 separate planting zones; each growing zone is 10*F warmer (or colder) in an average winter…
By Jannie Vaught “The beauty of seed is rivaled only by their purpose.” Seed Savers Exchange. Definitions that will clear up the usage of these terms. Sustainable: able to maintain at a certain rate or level. Renewable: not depleted when used. These are just two of the many descriptive words now used when someone is…
By Jannie Vaught Which is a good time to brush up on seed saving, I am using the Book The Seed Garden The Art and Practice of Seed Saving from Seed Savers Exchange. If you are interested in going deeper into seed and plant identification this is a good book to have. Definition; Taxonomy and…
By Jannie Vaught Being born and raised in a farming and gardening family, now it is called “homesteading” my grandparents and parents always saved seeds and plant cuttings. This was as normal as cooking dinner. They walked the Trail of Tears, with seeds, and were relocated to central California after the dust bowl. My Uncle…
By Jannie Vaught Gourds, Wiki definition, includes the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, also called Cucurbita, or the gourd family, the term refers to a number of species and subspecies with or without a hard shell. One of the earliest domesticated plants the bottle gourd. Gourds have been used for…
By Jannie Vaught Water, pull unwanted grass, plant some radishes and learn and plan for that cooler wet weather. Here’s whats growing in this permaculture garden, beets, radish, the peas that were supposedly OK to plant now died the baked inn the sun death. So more will go in next week, still trying, The stored…
By Jannie Vaught, With the intense heat and no rain every living thing is struggling to get through another day! The tomatoes are either done or the strong are actually slowly growing, with even a hint of ripening, they need consistent watering same amount same time everyday. Seems plants like consistency also! Yes, my fall…
By Jannie Vaught And for this gardener, it has been a high priority for building and growing habitat for them. Here’s what we all can do to help our pollinators survive and thrive. As you plan your gardens make sure there are many flowering plants that are blooming well into the…
By Jannie Vaught, Lets have a closer look at when, why and what to plant. Definition: A cover crop is a crop of a specific plant that is grown primarily for the benefit of soil other than crop yield. Cover crops are primarily used to suppress weeds, manage soil erosion, help build soil fertility and…
