Gardening Tips

In many areas of around America, gardeners are eagerly transplanting seedlings from the flats they purchased at retail into their home gardens. This all sounds pretty simple but there are a few pointers from the experts that we'll share here to ensure your gardening success. Part of that success entails avoiding transplant shock, providing the right kind of fertilization, and having irrigation set up so you can water from Day 1.
A few key tips from National Garden Bureau and our members:
First is the transplanting date. Do not attempt to transplant annuals before the soil has warmed up enough to not inhibit growth. Also it's important to pay attention to last frost-free dates for your area. This Last Spring Frost Date Map from Botanical Interests will help.
Transplant when your plants are the appropriate size. While in the garden center, check to see if the plant has developed enough of a root system so they come out of the flat, but yet, before the plant gets too big and rootbound in the cell.
Water plants thoroughly (preferably from the bottom) before undertaking your tranplanting. Also, keep the plants in the shade until you need them.
Cloudy, calm days are preferable to sunny, windy days. More tips can be found on various plant types on the NGB Fact Sheets.
Make planting holes, drop in the seedlings, and cover them up as quickly as possible to minimize the time the roots are exposed to air. The general rule is to set the plants at the same depth they were growing in the original container. If your plants were grown in peat pots, be sure the top rim of the pot is covered with soil to prevent the pot from wicking water away from the roots. For some exceptions to this rule, read tips from Johnny's Selected Seeds here.
Water the plants as soon as possible. Even if the soil is moist, transplants should still be watered in to settle them into their holes and increase the root-to-soil contact.
Add a dilute water-soluble fertilizer (good fertilizer tips here from Veseys Seed) to the watering-in solution.
If transplanting to intermediate containers, Park Seed's Gardener's Handbook offers good advice.
If your plans include a mixed container garden, this article and video from Gardener's Supply shares four tips for success.

A clothes line in our backyard

Up to 25% of a home's energy usage can come from a dryer alone. My mom used to always line-dry clothes in our backyard when we were growing up. I didn't realize that not everybody everywhere could just do that. But some people do feel it can be unsightly and, I guess, detract from everyone's enjoyment of the outside area.But not in the Valley of Oz. This is my Honny Bunny,line drying our wash.

Not only does it save us money on our Electric bill, but it saves the dryer.And it's also a "green" thing.So exercise your right to dry.

Speaking of Blood Oranges

In the kingdom of citrus, blood oranges are royalty. You know that every bite is an explosion of sweet, deep orange flavor, with hints of raspberry.
Blood Orange Roast Pork Loin
3 blood oranges
1 3-pound boneless pork loin, rolled and tied [2 lb]
3 TB extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
2 fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves stripped from stems [1], plus additional for garnish
1/2 cup dry white wine [6 TB]
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth [6TB]
1 large garlic clove, pressed
Blood orange slices
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
With a paring knife or vegetable peeler, remove strips of peel from the oranges and place the peels in a small bowl. Add the cut up onion or shallot, the rosemary leaves and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Toss well.
Place the pork in a roasting pan and rub with the remaining olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper, seasoning well. Scatter the contents of the bowl around the pork and roast for 25 minutes, until the onions/shallots are browning.
Meanwhile, juice the oranges, squeezing out 3/4 cup [1/2 cup]. If short, make up the difference with regular orange juice. Add the juice to a small saucepan, along with the wine, chicken broth and garlic. Bring to a boil and let boil until reduced by about 25%, seven minutes or so.
When the pork has roasted for 25 minutes, remove from the oven, lower the temperature to 350 degrees, and add about 3/4 of the liquid mixture to the roasting pan. Reserve the remainder.
Baste the pork with the pan drippings and liquid. Return to the oven, basting frequently, until the internal temperature at the thickest point is 150 degrees. Begin to check after 30 minutes. [My very thick pork needed a total of 60 minutes at 350]
Move the pork to a serving platter and cover loosely with foil to tent. Add the reserved liquid to the roasting pan, scraping up any fond. Bring this sauce to a boil and let boil until slightly thickened, 3 -5 minutes.
If a rolled roast, cut the string. Slice the pork into serving sizes and drizzle with the sauce. Garnish with orange slices and rosemary.
Serves 6,bon appetit !

Garden Update

I got my first tomato yesterday.Yeah !!!This is a picture of it 2 days before I picked it.This year I pinched and removed the suckers that developed in the crotch joint of two branches. They won’t bear fruit and will take energy away from the rest of the plant. But go easy on pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit. Happy gardening ^-_-^