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Get advice, inspiration and feedback on all your home & garden projects!

Beatrice A

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Recent Activity


  • Clean sink :)
  • Filthy faucet.
  • Clean with Barkeeper's Friend.
  • Scrub all the nastiness away.
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How To Clean Your Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink

Have you looked closely at your kitchen sink lately? I did this weekend, and was mortified. So, I decided to give it a thorough cleaning. Here is how I got my kitchen sink to sparkle...
Mom4Real
Mom4Real Lexington, KY
49 Comments | Post Comment | 22308 Views
  • Beatrice A
    Commented on May 09, 2013
    no bleach in septic then..how come?
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  • The mirrors on the side garden fence let me see the flowers below from the upper kitchen window.
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Using Mirrors In The Garden

Empress of Dirt - Melissa
Empress of Dirt - Melissa Canada
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  • Beatrice A
    Liked on Mar 12, 2013
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To power wash or not to power wash?

What is the quickest and easiest way to remove mildew from siding? I have heard that power washing can lead to water damage behind the siding. Is there an eco-friendly product to that I can use with a brush to remove the mildew? Also, is there any way to prevent it from coming back?
Kyle G
Kyle G Middletown, NJ
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  • Beatrice A
    Liked on Mar 08, 2013
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Old World Garden Farms
  • Beatrice A
    Followed 1 person on Mar 08, 2013
  • Whether fresh or canned – we use tomatoes from our garden nearly every day of the year
  • Pick a bright, sunny location for your tomatoes
  • Crush a few egg shells in each of your holes to help prevent blossom rot
  • Pruning a few inches from the bottom of your plants allows for easy watering and increased air and light to reach your plants
  • Water around the base of your plants, and not on the leaves. It allows water to reach the roots and prevents mold
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How To Grow Amazing Tomatoes This Year!

Without a doubt - tomatoes are the most important crop we grow in our garden.

In fact, we use ourhome-grown tomatoes and tomato based products nearly 365 days a year. ...»

In thesummertime - we eat them right off the vine, in salads, hamburgers, sauces andmore. In the fall and winter months, we enjoy the tomato juice, vegetable soup,chili, salsa, pasta sauce, pizza sauce, and ketchup that we have canned orfrozen from the summer's bounty.

Here are some valuablehints, tips and tricks we have learned over the years to grow a bumper crop oftomatoes:

1. The When, HowAnd Where Of Planting Tomatoes:

WHEN TO PLANT: Tomatoes are just about the last thing that getplanted in our garden. Tomatoes love warm soil and warm weather. Ifyou plant them too early in your growing season, they can really struggle. It'snot just about preventing frost. Cold, damp spring temperatures can make themmore susceptible to disease, rot and lethargic growth. Here in this partof Ohio, most of our garden goes in around the 15th of May. If its niceand warm out - the tomatoes go in too. But if it's still a little chilly anddamp - we wait until late May to allow the soil to warm up!

HOW TO PLANT: Tomatoes benefitfrom rich, fertile soil. When you plant - make sure to add a few cupsof good compost in the hole along with the plant. And start saving youreggs shells now! Crushed egg shells are an excellent supplement to add to yourplanting hole. They add calcium to the soil as they break down - helpingto prevent the all-too common blossom rot; those black spots on the ends oftomatoes that can decimate a garden. We drop in a few crushed egg shellsper planting hole.

WHERE TO PLANT: Plant yourtomatoes in the sunniest location you can find. It can't be said enough -tomatoes love sun and heat. The more you give them - the better your crop willbe! And remember to rotate where you plant them from year to year - ifyou keep planting those tomatoes in the same spot, they will rob the soil ofall the nutrients needed for great yields and become more prone to disease.

Mulching and Weeds:

We mulch our tomato plants with a 1to 2" thick layer of compost - creating a 6 to 8" compost circlearound each stalk. It helps to regulate soil temperature, keep weeds to aminimum, and soil from eroding during strong rains. Of more importance,it acts as a slow-release fertilizer as it strains through nutrients duringwatering or rainfalls. Mulching also helps keep weeds at bay. Don't let weeds compete for the same nutrients your tomatoesneed. Just a few minutes of daily maintenance pulling small weeds aroundyour plants will keep your garden productive and neat! Make sure as you work in your garden to stay off the ground directly around yourplants - stepping on and around your plan'ts root zone compacts the soil andkeeps them from fully developing.

One last note on mulching. Ifthe season and soil are still a little cool - wait a few weeks for it to warmup before applying the mulch. If the soil is still cool, mulching canactually prolong the soil from heating up.

Pruning andSupporting

Whether you use cages, stakes, or ahybrid system like we do (See Stake a Cage), it's critical to provide great support for yourtomato plants! It keeps them off the ground - away from pests and foottraffic, allowing tomatoes to ripen with good circulation and exposure tosunlight.

As the plants grow during the firstmonth - we like to prune out the bottom 3 to 4" of stems andshoots. Why? It makes plants easier to water, and once again allowsthat all important air and light to circulate through the plants and rows. It also makes it a little more difficult for garden bugs and pests tofind their way onto your plants.

Watering

Watering tomatoes (and for that fact,your entire garden), is as much about when to water, as it is how much. Never water during the heat of the day. Not only do you lose muchof it to evaporation, but you also can easily burn the foliage of the plants. The absolute best time to water is in the early hours between sunrise andmid-morning. Not only is it cooler and easier on the gardener, but yourplants are not stressing from the heat of the day either. Eveningwatering is your next best choice if you can't water in the morning, althoughit can create mildew if the water sits on leaves through the cool nights.

How Much Water? This is a bigone. When the plants are very young and for the first week or so, youmay need to water daily to get them established. After that - wateringevery day is a no-no. Established tomatoes need about 1 inch of water a week. If mother nature can't supply that - then you need to supplement. If you are experiencing a prolonged dry spell – water every two to threedays with about a 1/2″ of water to the plant at a time. This allowsenough water to go deep into the soil and create longer roots. Why notevery day? Plants that get a little water every day never send theirroots deeper to look for moisture and nutrients - and you end up with a weakroot system, leading to a weak plant.

Soil Fertility andFertilizing

Tomatoes need fertile soil to growstrong and healthy. If you follow along with our blog, you know we're notbig fans of man-made fertilizers - so what is the answer when it comes tofertilizing? Well, if you use compost in your planting holes and as a topdressing, work in green manure and cover crops to your soil in the fall orspring, and practice plant rotation - there really is no need for syntheticfertilizers to get a great crop of tomatoes.

If you want to give your plants anall natural boost - you can apply compost tea - a simple solution of watersoaked and steeped in fresh compost. The water absorbs the naturalnutrients from the compost and becomes an "all natural" liquidfertilizer. We apply it to the soil around the base of our plants (notthe leaves - it can burn them) a couple of times early in the growing season toget our plants off to a great start. Well, truth be told, we also do itso our plants can look a little bigger and brighter green than mybrother-in-laws :)

Happy Growing!

- Jim and Mary

If you would like to receive our DIY & Gardening Tips every Tuesday – be sure to sign up to follow the blogvia email in the right hand column, "like" us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter

Old World Garden Farms
Old World Garden Farms Newark, OH
78 Comments | Post Comment | 21267 Views
  • Beatrice A
    Commented on Mar 08, 2013
    i know if you keep them off the ground, plant companion plants like dill, or garlic near to ...»
    them, and mulch to keep weeds down and dirt and water from splashing on leaves, they will grow well, a good way to keep off the ground is to plant under an old bed spring, I made one by burning a old box spring !So, when you prepare your bed, dig holes and into each hole place six crushed egg shells, coffee grounds help make roots stronger, tea leaves keep some bugs off. Go organic! No fertalizer which can burn plants..

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Becky FunkyJunk Interiors - Donna Leah DIY Show Off Donna Dixson Karen - The Graphics Fairy Miriam I
  • Beatrice A
    Followed 7 people on Dec 31, 2012

Cleaning & Organization: Need tips on how to clean the glass shower doors. Thanks!

SANDRA K
SANDRA K Lorain, OH
19 Comments | Post Comment | 1966 Views
  • Beatrice A
    Commented on Sep 07, 2012
    with a squeegie and lemon juice after every shower!
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Cleaning & Organization: Can a cast iron skillet be cleaned back to almost-new and re- seasoned, and if so, how??!?!

Delores M
Delores M Liberty, TX
14 Comments | Post Comment | 1037 Views
  • Beatrice A
    Commented on Sep 07, 2012
    or, you can have it sand blasted till smooth, then season.
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  • My Quilt Wall 4

A way to add color and insulation to an old plaster wall without major construction.

I used insulation foam boards, cut into 15"x15" squares. Than I covered each with batting and fabric using duct tape. To hang on the wall I used double-sided velcro so they can be taken down to clean, or rearranged. It really made this drafty room so much warmer.

#KeepingCozy

MaryAnn T
MaryAnn T Bethlehem, PA
64 Comments | Post Comment | 14187 Views
  • Beatrice A
    Commented on Sep 07, 2012
    how interesting!
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White Subway Tile Backsplash with Black Cabinets

Beckie @ Infarrantly Creative
Beckie @ Infarrantly Crea... Greenwood, IN
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  • Beatrice A
    Commented on Sep 07, 2012
    needs a sky lite! But love it!
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