Everyday Hints

Produce more Pansies

Those beds of pansies will bloom more prolifically if you take a few moments to pinch out early buds. This encourages plants to bush out and, in the end, produce more flowers.

Starting your plants (seedlings) indoors

When starting your garden seedlings indoors, plant the seeds in egg shell halves. Simply crack the shells around the roots of your plants and transplant them outdoors - the shell is a natural fertilizer.

Prevent scratches on your wedding ring

Cut the finger off of a rubber glove. (the cheap kind you use in the kitchen - usually costing around a buck)

Before gardening, slip the 1 to 2 inch "band" over your rigs to prevent them from being scratched.

Each band will last for several uses and with 10 fingers, you will get your monies worth out iof the gloves, saving expensive repairs to one of your most valuable possessions!

Use for old golf bags

Did you get a new golf bag for the holidays?
Rather than tossing the old worn bag, use it to store all of your garden tools.

Hoes
Rakes
brooms
Shovels

Thus keeping them neat but also making it convenient to carry them around the garden.

Holiday Gifts That Keep On Giving

House plants with particular air-purifying qualities, like pathos, philodendron and spider plants.

Miniature azaleas, rose bushes, hibiscus, Christmas cactus or holly.

A set of seed packets for the vegetable or flower garden.

A gift certificate for plants or seeds from a gardening supply catalogue or shop.

Landscape plants native to your region of the country.

A basketful of tulip, daffodil and crocus bulbs.

Ripen Fruit Faster

To ripen fruit faster, place in a brown paper bag. The bag traps ethylene gas, making the fruit inside ripen almost twice as fast.

Works best with bananas and apples, especially the nasty fruit sold at most grocery stores!

Moral of the story – buy fresh fruit from local farmers and farmers markets

Keep Squirrels Away!

To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle them with
cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the
squirrels won't come near it.