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Sidnia Soto

Burlington, NJ
115 Followers 2Likes
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Big berries | Georgia FACES | UGA

http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/?public=viewStory&pk_id=4743
News from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. Agriculture,Lawn & Garden news: UGA plant produces blueberries up to four times the size of average berries. Titan blueberry produces huge berries when compared to other varie...
SOURCE: http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu
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  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to Gardening/Planting
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  • AFTER ~  Painted with ASCP 'Old White' & distressed.  Sealed with Annie Sloan's clear wax.  Seat covered in French theme burlap.  Decoupaged French postcards, notes & tags...
  • AFTER ~  Painted with ASCP 'Old White' & distressed. Sealed with Annie Sloan's clear wax.  Seat covered in French theme burlap.  Decoupaged French postcards, notes & tags...
  • AFTER ~  Painted with ASCP 'Old White' & distressed. Sealed with Annie Sloan's clear wax.  Seat covered in French theme burlap.  Decoupaged French postcards, notes & tags...
  • AFTER ~  Painted with ASCP 'Old White' & distressed.  Sealed with Annie Sloan's clear wax.  Seat covered in French theme burlap.  Decoupaged French postcards, notes & tags...
  • AFTER ~  Painted with ASCP 'Old White' & distressed.  Sealed with Annie Sloan's clear wax.  Seat covered in French theme burlap.  Decoupaged French postcards, notes & tags...
  • AFTER ~  Painted with ASCP 'Old White' & distressed.  Sealed with Annie Sloan's clear wax.  Seat covered in French theme burlap.  Decoupaged French postcards, notes & tags...
  • See 6 more photos

Before & After Makeover For Antique 'Gossip Bench/Chair'

From Blah Brown Stained ...to French Themed Cutie!
Jill Smith
Jill Smith Ruskin, FL
4 Comments | Post Comment | 143 Views
  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to Repurposing/Fix up
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Start an Herb Garden

Herbs add flavor to your food and perfume the air of your home. Instead of buying herbs for about four dollars per container, plant an herb garden. #MayGarden

1. First, determine where you want your herb garden to be. You can have a separate space reserved for herbs, or you can blend them with flowers and vegetables.

More: https://brightnest.com/todos/start-an-herb-g...

BrightNest
BrightNest Denver, CO
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  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to Gardening/Planting
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  • Vibrant and Great Tasting Radishes From The Garden
  • There is nothing like a fresh green onion!
  • Organic doesn't have to mean lower yields.
  • We use cover crops to replenish the soil with nutrients and prevent soil erosion over the winter
  • Tomato's growing strong
  • A banner day of picking peppers from the garden
  • We use mulch to keep down weeds around plants and between rows
  • Compost helps our annuals in the landscape grow strong as well
  • Compost is the key to healthy soil
  • See 6 more photos

5 Simple Tips to a Healthy, Vibrant and Organic Garden!

Between all of the frenzied arguments on both sides of the organic vs. non-organic fence - there are some simple, basic processes that we can all do to improve the fertility and viability ...»
of our backyard gardens and raised beds...naturally.

Mary and I do not practice as chemists, scientists or biologists in our spare time - nor is our garden officially certified as "green" or "organic". But we do have senses - and the sense to know that the food we grow organically tastes and looks great, doesn't contain any pesticides or sprays - and grows abundantly.

How? by following one simple rule. Take care of the soil that takes care of you. Oh, and by the way - it also make good "cents"...because it's much cheaper to grow our food organically than buying and applying expensive fertilizers and pesticides.

So through it all...we simply choose to grow organically. And no...we're not weird! Well, our kids might not agree with that last statement - but in all honesty, we're a regular couple who just wants to grow and know where our food comes from - and more importantly - know what's in it, and what's not.

So with that in mind, here are 5 simple and practical tips we use in our gardens and landscape to grow all of the fruits and vegetables we need - without chemicals or pesticides.1. Composting:

Composting is the backbone of any organic garden. In fact, compost comes straight from the word decomposition..the very heart of organic matter breaking down into fertile soil. Plant matter, leaves, food, etc. all eventually break down into the soil to add nutrients. However, once you turn that soil and plant your first garden - you begin to take nutrients back out of the soil. So adding compost is a must to keeping your soil strong and vibrant. By adding compost - you are in essence recharging your soil.Here is how we use it: Every year - we will work a 2 to 3" top-dressing of compost into each of our raised bed rows. Then, at planting time – we will put another cup or so in the average vegetable planting hole, mixing it in with the existing soil. We use it one more time to top dress and mulch our garden plants - doing this once the plants have grown for a few week in the soil. We put a good shovel full or two around each plant's base. This not only provides great weed control and moisture retention - but the compost slowly releases additional nutrients when it rains or we water - providing a natural fertilizer for the plants.There are a million ways to go about making compost - in a bin, a tub, a barrel or a plain old pile in the middle of the garden. But whatever you do - get that pile started! Add all of those kitchen remnants - potato peels, coffee grounds, egg shells and more. You can find out more about composting at our link here : Composting 101. Remember that finished compost should be fine and sweet smelling and cool to the touch. If you are turning the pile and still feeling heat – it's still cooking and not ready to use on or near plants just yet.2. Cover Crops:

Cover crops are really the key to a long-term garden's success – and are easy to plant! Just like the big time farmers on big time farms – our gardens and raised beds get all the same benefits of a well grown cover crop. They add back tons of nutrients including Nitrogen to the soil, keep other weeds from getting established in your beds, and build organic matter back into the earth. They also play a key role in keeping soil erosion to a minimum.So what are they and when can they be planted? Cover crops are a planting of an annual crop like annual rye or clover to your empty garden beds. Early fall is a great time to plant a cover crop in your garden or raised beds. A crop like annual rye will emerge in just a week or two and create a thick, grassy bed that will fix nitrogen levels in the soil and keep the beds from being exposed to the winter elements that can erode precious topsoil. In the spring, you simply dig them under to add organic matter back into your soil. You can even plant a quick spring or mid summer crop and turn it over into the soil before planting your summer garden. This is called a "green manure or cover crop" and can be a great boost to the plants going into the space.It's easy to plant one. No need to till your soil – next, rake out your rows, existing garden, or raised beds – and scatter the seeds as if you were throwing grass seed on your lawn. Rake it over and you're done! It's okay if you still see seeds on top – they will sprout soon enough and you will have a great cover crop growing! We don't use a tiller at all in our raised row beds – just a pitchfork to turn it over, and we are ready to plant. We actually have a complete tutorial dedicated to cover crop benefits that you can check out here : Planting Cover Crops3. Crop Rotation:

If you keep planting the same pepper, tomato or cucumber plants in the same spot, year after year – you won't keep getting the same results. Why? Because plants use certain specific nutrients from the soil - and the soil becomes depleted of those nutrients if the same crops keep going into the same place.In addition – soil borne diseases that are prone to affect a certain type of plant have a better chance to become established with repeat plantings. So, in addition to providing compost and cover crops to recharge your soil - it's important to rotate your crops each year so that they give the soil time to recover from that specific crop.For us - we have 34 raised beds in our garden - and we flip and rotate what we grow so that the same crop will not go in the same space until every fourth year. With just a little planning - it's easy to do.4. Mulching:

Remember that statement about plants using nutrients from the soil? Well guess what - weeds are plants too - and they compete for the same nutrients and water your vegetable plants do. So the less weeds they compete with - the more nutrients in the soil for the vegetable plants. And you can suppress those weeds naturally, without spraying, and keep your garden looking great.How? By mulching. Mulching is a great way to keep out unwanted weeds. We like to mulch around our plants with a healthy dose of finished compost. It not only hold conserves moisture in the soil, but it blocks out weeds, and adds valuable nutrients back to the soil while it decomposes. If you don't have compost on hand yet - then mulch with straw, shredded leaves or grass clippings. They all accomplish the same thing - keeping moisture in while suppressing weeds. We also mulch all of our walking rows with straw and shredded leaves to keep weeds out from there as well. When after a few weeks we get a few weeds popping up here and there...we simply use a weed-eater and cut them down, add a little more straw, and the garden looks great.5. Proper Watering:

No matter how good your soil is - without water - plants struggle. Too little water and plants shrivel up. Too much water and they won't develop the good and deep root structure needed for healthy, mature plants. A good rule of thumb is that a garden plant typically needs to receive about 1 inch of water a week. If mother nature isn't supplying that - then you need to supplement. But that doesn't mean the 1″ of water should come all at once. If you are experiencing a prolonged dry spell – water every two to three days with a slow, soaking 1/2″ of water. This allows enough water to go deep into the soil and build deeper roots – and gives the plants more consistent watering. Why not every day? The plants never send their roots deeper to look for water – and you end up with underdeveloped roots, and a weaker plant. Call it tough love watering to develop stronger plants – but it works.Water early in the day or in the evening to keep evaporation to a minimum. Try to water the ground around the root area and not the foliage – wet leaves can become burned from the sun's rays. When our plants are young - we use a 2 gallon sprayer (see, there is room for a sprayer in an organic garden :) ) – and water directly to the plant's base to conserve water and get right to where it's needed most.There you have it. Our 5 simple, organic tips to a healthy, vibrant and chemical free garden!If you would like to receive our weekly DIY and Gardening Posts every Tuesday – be sure to sign up to follow our blog via email, Twitter or Facebook in the right hand column of the blog.

-Jim and Mary

Old World Garden Farms
Old World Garden Farms Newark, OH
2 Comments | Post Comment | 956 Views
  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to Gardening/Planting
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How to Clean Headlights {DIY}

Get clean headlights in 5 minutes with two ingredients from your kitchen.
Angela
Angela Carrollton, TX
2 Comments | Post Comment | 3799 Views
  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to DIY Detergents and other things
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The Garden Stamp Jan M Cynthia Weber @ A Button Tufted Life...
  • Sidnia Soto
    Followed 3 people 3 days ago
  • Step 1: Plants raised from seeds grown indoors - within their designated containers -reduce the risk of transplant damage when moved outside.
  • Step 2: Once outside, add companion plants and mulch.
  • Step 3: Use garden stakes to bolster larger plants like peppers and tomatoes. String sparkling beads to keep the birds away.

Gardening in Elevated Containers

Container gardening of companion veggies, herbs and flowers doesn't have to break your budget or your back. Take advantage of elevated spaces. Add colorful, lightweight pots and ...»
accessories to create an edible, accessible vignette.

For more pics of the backyard garden that inspired the Garden Stamp, please visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Garden-St...

75 Easy
The Garden Stamp
The Garden Stamp Frederick, MD
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  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to Gardening/Planting
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  • Garden Inspiration
  • Small, obsolete crib found at the curb 2
  • After photo of crib upcycled into a storage unit with magazine hanging rack 1

How to Upcycle a Small Crib into a Stylish, Highly Functional New Piece of Furniture

My favorite part about this project is that an existing piece, that couldn't be used in its existing form was transformed it into a practical, functional and surprisingly unique piece of ...»
furniture. Obsolete baby furniture is turning up all over the place, and with a little vision these pieces can be upcycled and repurposed into interesting commodity furniture.

Cristin Frank
Cristin Frank Buffalo, NY
16 Comments | Post Comment | 10352 Views
  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to Repurposing/Fix up
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  • My finished coasters!  These also teach geography to your kids!  http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2012/07/diy-map-coasters.html
  • I used different maps to "zoom" down to our location.  http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2012/07/diy-map-coasters.html
  • Map coasters would be perfect in your home!  http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2012/07/diy-map-coasters.html 1

DIY Map Coasters

Make your own map coasters with some tiles from the home improvement store, maps, and mod podge. Super simple and a pretty addition to your home! I offer up some tips and tricks on using ...»
mod podge in my blog post. Frustrated because your paper always wrinkles? Come see how I do it! Don't think that mod podge will hold up on coasters? Come see the new formula that I used that has held up for months so far!

Angie CountryChicCottage
Angie CountryChicCottage Nashville, TN
6 Comments | Post Comment | 1469 Views
  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to Cool Projects
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Tin Can & Tequila Bottle Repurpose

Using up some tin cans and glass I've been saving by adding some paint and sparkle. Great way to display casual clippings.

http://www.foxhollowcottage.com/2012/07/glas...

Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage
Shannon at Fox Hollow Cot... North Bend, OR
36 Comments | Post Comment | 29075 Views
  • Sidnia Soto
    Clipped 3 days ago to Repurposing/Fix up
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