Signs your Garden Needs some TLC

Although the weather has been going up and down, with the official Spring date approaching, I can't stop thinking and planning the outdoor space and the garden! I find that it is important to keep up with the garden especially in the beginning when the weather warms up and we start planting. This way there is less work to do during the season and we can keep enjoying the green space. Here are somethings to keep in mind.

Ideas For Improving Your Outdoor Space

When you own a home, there is always work to be done on the exterior of the home and property. Instead of calling it work, think of it as an opportunity to enhance the outdoor space. Having this type of mindset can inspire to think creatively and give us an opportunity to have fun. Here are some ideas to consider when planning DIY and renovation projects for the outdoor space.

Gardening 101

Despite taking up the most considerable portion of most properties, yards go criminally underused. Although a sprawling green yard can be nice, mixing it up with plants can be both beautiful and functional. Here are a few gardening tips that every home gardener should know.

How to build a Terrarium #DIY

When we went to the #TDCommonGround launch during the Family Day weekend, we got to experience the inside of TD's one-of-a-kind Green Globe - a 1200 square foot pop-up park. 

Few Books to Keep Us Engaged This Summer

Growing our own vegetables is a relaxing and rewarding experience. Even though we don't always harvest a whole lot because weather plays an important role in this, we find that tending for our vegetable garden becomes addictive. 

Explore: Saint Andrews By the Sea

We loved our stay at Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, which is a beautiful small coastal community. It is a wonderful place to relax and feel the slow pace of life that we are loosing in our fast paced city life. We enjoyed the atmosphere, as we strolled along the streets of Saint Andrews and checked out the stores, restaurants, and attractions.

Get Closer to Real Food This Gardening Season

We have started to put down seeds and plant vegetables and herbs in our garden. A survey done by Kashi Plant it Forward, shows that less than half of Canadians have ever actually grown fresh fruit or vegetables. Although, we may think farmer’s markets are bridging this gap, the survey results have shown that one third of Canadians will not even visit a farmer’s market or community garden this year. I am glad that Kashi and Evergreen have partnered for a second year in a row on the #PlantItForward initiative encouraging Canadians to “Give. Get. Grow” and celebrate all the little farmers in each of us.

Inspiring Books for Gardening and Learning to Hairstyle

The books Grow Vegetables in Pots and Grow All You Can Eat in 3 Square Feet are inspiring the decisions we are making this year for our garden. We love gardening, and over the years have learned many things about how to care for a variety of plants, and to landscape. We are expanding our garden space to accommodate more vegetables and trees this year.

Miracle-Gro Flower Magic Adds Colour To Our Garden

When the signs of spring finally arrived about a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I started thinking about our summer gardening. We usually draw out a plan on what we want in our garden each year, and how we want the layout out to be. We try to make our garden look a little different each year and plant a variety of vegetables, fruits and flowers. When planning we take into consideration the things we learned from gardening books, about different types of plants, what suits best in our garden, which produce and flowers we want to try, mistakes from the past years and more. 

Cooking Up Our Fall Pumpkin Harvest

For the first time this year, I planted a couple of pumpkin seeds during spring in our garden. We were super excited to see lots of flowers, huge prickly leaves and a couple of fabulous tasting pumpkins grow in our small pumpkin patch. I saved the seeds from an acorn squash we bought last fall. You too can try growing pumpkins next year with the seeds you save up from this season.

What We Do In Our Garden During Fall

The gardening season is almost coming to an end for this year... so I find spending a little bit of time each day will help us get ready to clean up and prep things for the next gardening season. Here are some of the things my husband and I do in our garden during fall.

Garden Harvested Stir Fry Makes a Delicious Side Dish

When the routines of going back to school and cooler weather starts, preparing delicious healthy dinner meals can sometimes become difficult. However, I try my best to make something that everyone in my family enjoys. This easy to make delicious side dish stir fry goes well with bread, rice, couscous etc.

Win a copy of the Canadian Gardener's Guide

We were eagerly waiting to do gardening and thank God the weather in Toronto has become suitable for it :) The past few weeks we've been gardening, cleaning up, planning on what to plant, putting down some seeds, and basically getting ready for the season. 

You've probably seen my posts about the importance of using the correct gardening tools, equipment, having the right soil, and other posts about planting. I am a self-taught gardener, and get helpful information and knowledge by reading gardening books before I start my projects. 

Gardening book and gloves

With the gardening season starting, it would be a good time to get ready with the right tools.  Having a guidebook is a good start before starting to garden and plan. 

The Canadian Gardener's Guide is a useful book for beginners and experts.  It has all the detailed information that we need to know about gardening. It covers topics such as maintenance, diseases, weeds, pests, pruning and caring during off-season. The 435 page handbook edited by Lorraine Johnson has all the details with colourful pictures. It is easy to follow and understand.   

Some of the topics that the book covers:

• Gardening basics for beginners i.e. tools, jargon.
• Shows how to select and garden plants, trees, vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers in appropriate zones.
• Expert guidance to plant care.
• Large areas and small areas i.e. information on styles, layouts, designs.  
• Step-by-step instructions on how to build fence, pathway, patio and other landscaping ideas.
• Detailed information about specific flowers such as roses, dahlias, clematis, sunflowers, tropical, perennials, fruit and trees.  
• About specific herbs, fruit trees and plants.

This book has been very useful for us.  It has kept us excited about planning the garden and getting things ready.  I have learned lot of tips from this book about gardening and DIY projects for the backyard. 

An important tool that we all need to have during gardening is a pair of good quality gloves.  This gauntlet style Dig it high five is an extended version of the original Dig it handwear glove.  It protects the fingers, palm and hand almost up to the elbow.  The cuffs that is extended by 5" is useful for robust work like landscaping, pruning, tending roses, berry picking etc.

I have used this pair of Dig it high five to prepare the garden and clean out the garage.  It felt very comfortable and flexible so I had it on for long periods of time.  The lightweight, breathable, pliable fabric was helpful with all the tasks that I needed to do, so there was no need to remove it each time.  It is easy to wash by hand and air-dry the gloves.  

The protective cushions inside the glove cared for my fingernails and tips.  The cuffs protected my hand from scrapes and bruises.  

Dig it high five is made from environmentally friendly recycled material.  Dig it high five comes in four different sizes S, M, L and XL.  This fabulous Dig it handwear and high five gloves are sold online and in stores in UK, USA and Canada i.e. home depot. 

Gardening has lots of benefits, so we should all try to learn about doing gardening correctly and benefit from these types of books.  After doing all the hard work I also want to feel good.  In the past years, as much as I love doing gardening I didn't like looking at the fingertips getting damaged even after wearing gloves.  I had to take extra care with all types of creams and lotions.  Ever since I have used the Dig it gloves I felt good and didn't have to worry about the fingernails.

All rights reserved on photographs and written content Createwithmom © 2012. Please Ask First