Everything About Gardening

Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) is one of those plants (like Amaryllis) that blooms during the month of December–hence the name Christmas cactus. Here are a few tips to make sure your Christmas cactus does indeed produce beautiful blooms during the holiday season.

1. During the growing season keep temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees
Christmas cactus is native to Brazil so it prefers warm temperatures during the vegetative growing season. Temperatures, particularly at night should be cooler to initiate flower development (see below).

2. Use well-drained, sterile potting soil that contains sand
Well-drained soil is very important to Christmas cactus survival; however, most potting soil is very light in weight. Christmas cactus flowers at the end of the branches and can become quite top heavy (meaning the vegetative part weighs more than the root system) causing the plant to tip over if the potting medium is also very light. Read more…

Have you ever watched an old movie where a farming family wakes up in the middle of the night to discover that the barn has caught fire, and must risk their own lives to drive the livestock out before they burn alive? That kind of disaster plagued farms in the past, but it no longer has to today.

Few businesses rely on their buildings the way that a farm does. Farms need many buildings—barns, stables, silos, workshops. You must house your animals, your equipment, your crops, your workers. You might need offices for computers and paper work, garages to hold vehicles, tractors and other large equipment, and specialized refrigerated rooms. If you grow produce, it will need to be sorted and packed somewhere. Every kind of animals needs an enclosure, as well as barns to feed, milk, birth and administer medical care.

Steel buildings can meet every one of these needs, at a lower cost than conventional wooden buildings. F Read more…

These beautiful black glass E series Wolf ovens will be available in both single and double configurations in the first quarter of 2012. The key idea behind the new design is to provide another decorative option for the modern kitchens, while maintaining every function of Wolf existing E series ovens.

Equipped with balanced door hinges for smooth door opening and closing, Wolf E series built-in ovens offer dual convection fans and 10 cooking modes including bake, roast, broil, convection bake, convection roast, convection broil, convection, bake stone, dehydrate and proof.

Read more…

I had a chance to visit Lurie Garden in Millenium Park in downtown Chicago a couple of weeks ago (thanks again to Amanda Thomsen, FG‘s newest blogger, who acted as my guide!), and it was spectacular! This is obviously a garden that peaks in fall, and the contrast of the meadow-like plantings to the buildings that surround the park is stunning. Here are a few scenes from the garden.

**On Monday I’ll share a few pics of the gardens in other areas of Millenium Park**

Looking for a unique look for your garden? Try recycled planters. A recycled planter can be just about object that holds soil and has holes for drainage and can re-purposed into a planter, whether its an old chair, a claw foot tub, a tin can, or yes, the cylinder from an old washing machine (pictured above).

1. Washing Machine Cylinder
I have to hand it to whoever thought of using the cylinder from an old washing machine for a planter, but why not? They look great!

2. Bathroom & Kitchen Fixtures
Old claw foot tubs, sinks, and yes, even potty chairs and toilets (portable or otherwise) are among the most popular items recycled into planters, or sometimes, miniature ponds.

3. Rubber Tires
Old tires make excellent recycled planters. You can paint them bright colors or leave them au natural. Read more…

Here is the stainless steel Jata flat toaster grill with 4 quartz elements, positioned evenly under large toasting surface to deliver ideally toasted breads and rolls. Has On/Off switch and crumb tray. Price is around € 25. Jata.