Small Patio Gardening

Tiny gardens are adorable! One of the best ways to spruce up a small, bland patio is with container gardening. But, planning is key. Before heading out on a shopping tree, take a few minutes to assess your wants and needs. 

Choose a theme 

Decide on the purpose for the space. Do you need to create a restful retreat? Are you growing herbs or vegetables, or do you want a flower garden? Survey your surroundings. Do you need privacy? Consider a trellis with climbing vines for an intimate space. Do you have any surrounding walls? Perhaps you can mimic the charm of an old world courtyard-on a smaller scale. 

Play with height

Too many container plants of similar heights clustered together give a cluttered feel, as well as take up valuable ground space. If you want to cluster plants together, choose a corner that’s out of the way. Opt for something tall, such as a dwarf tree, and pair it with a couple other shorter plants. 

• Window boxes get plants up and out of the way. If you don’t have any windows near your patio, try hanging them on porch railings. 

• Hanging plants can provide a lovely accent to an otherwise empty space. 

• A simple trellis with climbing vines can provide both shade and privacy.

Plan with color and texture

Think about what you already have. For example, if your patio is made of old brick and the exterior of your home is stucco, choose simple pottery and plants with minimal texture. Contrasting textures offer visual appeal. 

Keep it simple

Sketch it out on paper. If you have patio furniture or plan on purchasing, go ahead and space plan for that. Furniture is often the center piece of a patio and serves as an anchor. It also tends to take up a lot of space. Once you have an idea of furniture placement, you can decide whether or not you need to create focal points or accent pieces with your plant arrangements.  

Garden On A Budget

Gardening from scratch can be an expensive venture. Fertilizer, garden plants, bare root plants, seeds, soil and more made up the expense. However, gardening does not have to break a budget. By using some simple techniques, you can start gardening and save money at the same time.

Buy Soil in Bulk and from a Local Tree Nursery Online

Instead of buying soil by bag, order your soil in bulk from a tree nursery online or a local nursery in your area and save money. Ask some of your friends who are also building a garden if they need soil and you can all together buy the soil in bulk. This will give you more savings.

Gather Seeds from your Gardening Friends or Order them In Bulk

You can also save money on seeds that you have gathered from your gardening friends. Also, you can ask your friends to order your seeds as a group from a tree nursery online and have the seeds delivered to one location. This saves you and your friends from handling and shipping fees as well as the bulk order is less expensive than the smaller orders.

Purchase Second Hand Gardening Tools

Gardening tools are also important in building a garden. However, brand new tools are quite expensive. Hence, it would only be practical to buy gardening tools that are second hand. You can find a lot of second hand tools available online or from garage sales. Second hand tools cost a lot less, which saves you more money that you can spend for other gardening needs.

Make Your Own Compost

Another great money saver is making your own compost. Add kitchen wastes or grass cuttings to your composter to make lovely rich compost. This will help boost your ground soil just like using manure. You can also use this compost for potting your garden plants or bare root plants.

Make Your Own Insecticides or Pest Repellents

Making your own insecticides or pest repellents for your garden is more organic and at the same time, saves you more money. In a plastic spray bottle, add three to four drops of liquid soap and fill it up with water. This home-made pest repellent can help eradicate various bugs, cabbage white caterpillars, black fly, and greenfly. Use it on the affected garden plants until the pests are gone. Just make sure to keep the spray bottle away for children’s reach and make sure to label it properly.

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Absinthe: A Little Green Fairy and Her Green Friends

One famous, or dare I say infamous, drink with a notable name would be the intricately served and uniquely prepared botanical concoction that is absinthe. Even the spirit's very name is taken from one of its primary components, that being the leaves and flowers of Artemisia absinthium, also known as grand wormwood and green ginger. What started as a Swiss spirit during the 18th century flourished among the Parisians of the 19th and early 20th centuries before being banned in most of the United States and Europe by 1915. Most historians will reason that the criminalization of this drink was due to the French wine industry (which suffered noticeable drops in profits due to the competition) as well as overemphasizing the drink's status as an addictive psychoactive substance. The latter case is due to the presence of thujone; while it is an addictive psychoactive chemical, its presence within absinthe is barely noticeable.

Regarding the composition of absinthe, I should first clarify that anyone marketing the drink as a liqueur is making a basic mistake. Liqueurs are bottled with added sugar, absinthe is a spirit because it only comes as-is. Absinthe is comprised of Artemisia absinthium, sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), and a variety of other herbs and spices, including anise/aniseed (Pimpinella anisum) and star anise (Illicium verum). The namesake "green fairy" or "la fée verte," comes from the drink's description in historical literature, likely in reference to its lovely green coloration. However, it should be noted that absinthe need not be green; several clear varieties of absinthe have been produced over the years.
It dawns on me that I have not addressed the intricacies of serving the spirit, below is the French method.

• 1. Place a sugar cube above a specially slotted spoon, known as an absinthe spoon.

• 2. Place the spoon's head atop the glass which has been filled with absinthe.

• 3. Pour or drip ice water across the sugar cube, allowing the sugar water to dilute the spirit's potent 45-74% APV and giving the drink a progressively cloudy appearance from its herbal ingredients.

Absinthe is a legal substance again, with such a revival possible thanks to newer, more relaxed laws in Europe and the US. Heck, the United States is currently one of the leading producers of the spirit these days.   

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