were above the ground... put in two shovels full of compost... then I fill the can up with water ever 2 days and try not to water the leaves... these four plants are now 5 ft 4 inches in less that a month and a half and loaded with green tomatoes and about a hundred sets of tomato blossoms...

"prettify" your garden or flower bed. For more pictures see my blog post-Repurposed Glassware (totems and more) http://bit.ly/Lws0Y1

#Bestof2012

the perfect time to plan next year's garden. Why now? Because everything is fresh in your mind. The successes...the failures, and the "I want to try that next year" are still at the top of your mind. Before you know it – Thanksgiving and Christmas are here, January and February fly by – and all of those great ideas you had back in the fall get lost in the rush to just get a garden planted.So here are 3 great tips to help you plan now for a beautiful 2013 garden!1) PUT IT ON PAPER – NOW!Hands down – if you do anything – do this! It's one thing to say that you would like to try this or that, grow more tomatoes or herbs, or a different variety of pepper. But when you sit down and put it all down on paper – it's amazing to find out how much better it all works next spring. Planning now lets you easily remember what performed well – what didn't – and what you need to try different. It definitely made all the difference in getting even more out of our own space this year! In addition – you end up with a great set of notes from year to year to help in your efforts.2) PLAN TO ROTATE YOUR CROPSIt's so important to practice crop rotation – even on a small-scale garden basis. If you keep planting tomatoes in the same spot – don't expect to keep getting the same results. Different plants require different nutrients -and the soil begins to lose those nutrients if you keep planting the same crops in the same place. In addition – planting the same plants in the space is an open invitation to passing on soil borne diseases that can wreak havoc on garden plants. So make sure you plan out different spaces in your garden plan – another great reason writing it all down now is so important!3) PLAN TO GIVE YOUR PLANTS THE BEST PLACE AND SPACE THEY NEEDAnother advantage of planning – You get to see now how your plants are going to be positioned. Tomatoes and peppers need the sun and lots of it. The more space you can leave between those plants – the more light and air and rain can get to them – keeping the plants healthy and allowing their fruits to ripen better. Cool weather crops – like cucumbers and lettuce – can benefit from being placed in the shadier parts of your garden – or in areas where fast and tall-growing plants and vegetables can provide some later shade. Putting it down on paper now gives you the advantage of having a plan in place to follow.And for those of you who container garden – plant rotation is just as important – make sure you change what you grow in each raised bed or container. As for that soil – it's so important in raised beds and containers to recharge that spent soil with fresh compost to keep plants growing strong.So get planning now and get off to a great 2013 garden!!! - Jim and Mary

silicone to seal it, the center is a flower stand and the tray is a old cooking tray.Fill barrel with water, plug it in and woa la.

supply list and step by step instructions:

Supplies: 1) 5 gallon bucket and lid 2) pond liner or heavy duty vinyl 3) small submersible pond pump, I believe mine is 135 GPH 4) flexible tubing which will fit the pump and possibly connectors and smaller size tubing if you want increased pressure and higher flow 5) Hardware cloth or wire fencing with tight weave. 6) Rocks (whatever you'd like) 7) drill with Masonary bits and a regular bit 8) shovel

Instructions:

1) Drill holes into as many rocks as you'd like to stack together. *** The size of the hole you will need will depend on the diameter of your tubing. The tubing size can be reduced with different sized adapters if you want higher flow or want to drill smaller holes.

2) Dig hole large enough for 5 gallon bucket to fit completely into and perhaps be an inch or 2 below ground level and place bucket into hole

3) Place pump into bucket with tubing attached. Make sure tubing is long enough to come up through rocks, it can always be trimmed after you put it all together.

4) Fill bucket enough to test pond pump and flow of water. Adjust as needed.

5) Drill drain holes in the lid of the bucket (about 15 -1/2" should be enough.) You'll also need one hole large enough for the tubing to fit through the lid and one that the electric plug can fit through.

6) Cut hole in pond liner smaller than diameter of bucket. Place over bucket and thread tubing through it.

7) Place lid on bucket over pond liner making sure hole in pond liner is centered over bucket. Pond liner should be secured by lid bucket.

8) Fold pond liner over bucket top and back fill dirt in any gaps around bucket. Spread pond liner back out after this is done and everything is level.

9) Place hardware cloth or fencing over bucket so it is overlapping the ground. Be sure there are no sharp edges poking into the pond liner. Thread tubing through center of hardware cloth ( you may need to cut a hole for the tubing to fit through. ) You need this to support the rocks. The bucket lid alone will break.

10) Rinse your rocks to get any sediment or anything that could block you pump out. After you are sure pump is working correctly you can start to arrange your rocks how you like.

11) Thread tube through holes previously drilled in main rocks.

12) Fill bucket the rest of the way. When you see water start to pool around the bottom of the main rock pile the bucket should be full.

13) Plug in and enjoy.

* You will need to add water to the bucket occasionally to make up for evaporation or wind blowing it our. If you are adding water every day or 2 you may have a leak or you may not be completely level. I had a low spot at first and the water was pumping right out.

** When you need to add water the flow will become reduced. I add water about once a week. More if its windy or extremely hot.

***Keep in mind drilling the holes in the rocks can be time consuming and difficult depending on the type of rocks you use. These are granite cobbles. It took me several hours over several days and I killed the drill. If I had to choose again I would not use granite. There also are kits with predrilled rocks. Here's a link with video instructiions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ICyAa__TY

WINTERIZE IN CLIMATES THAT FREEZE: You can just pump the water out instead of letting it recycle into the bucket and pull the pump to the top and secure so it doesn't freeze up with any possible leftover water. You may want to cover it with plastic so no additional water gets in.

concrete block size and up to the size of a Volkswagen Beetle boulders. We are planning a new home and would love to use the stone to build the house. What are the specifics on doing this? Is this a possible do it yourself project after the home is built or during the process? And is there an easy way to split the huge boulders?