gardening for beginners and experts

Integrity,the basing of one’s actions on an internally consistent framework of principles .Integrity,devotion to telling the truth . We as parents must be at the forefront of role models,basing our actions on these principles. As imperfect as humanity is .this is not always easy. But necessity being the mother of invention,we most certainly can do it.Parents should be the primary persons responsible for in instilling this sense of honesty and responsibility.Seeds bloom into lovely plants,but only with careful nurturing,including nourishment,TLC and attention to growth.

The nurturing starts in infancy with a loving,caring home.All people are treated with respect,caring and sincere love.A small little one is like a little sponge absorbing all that is around him or her.The reverse of these actions will promote an unloved,unhappy,uncaring child.We will have fostered this. Our children are the blank paper upon which we write. We choose the words and what is said.Authors of the story that will be a significant part of their life story.

The principles of integrity are internalized to the point that they are part of our being.A parent who has achieved this will be a living example of the best in all of us. Actions that we take in our lives will be based on this beliefs and principles.Like a reflective pool, our children will mirror these principles and actions.They are in the process of becoming but can not become what they do not experience.

Let us start with believing in our children.Their hopes and dreams can spin the web of their life.A life based on truth,principles of caring and sharing,accountability and actions consistent with their values.Learning to be their true and authentic selves. We will be their one and only parents,a role both rewarding and awesomely heavy.Their role on the path of life ,those first few steps are guided by us.We are their mentor and their friend or in other words the Benevolent Dictator.They will find their own way with our help. A way of integrity,honesty and caring.From the beginning, we must be their in every way,spiritually,physically,emo tionally and as their place of solace .We are their haven in this world.

The ideal utensils to use for wine making and boiling ingredients & juices are those of good quality enamel. Those sold under a brand name are most reliable. The utensils must not be chipped.

It is almost impossible to pour clear wine from one bottle to another without stirring up the lees. Because of this, it is a good plan, to siphon off the clear wine when rebottling it.

Using about a yard and a half of surgical rubber tubing or plastic tubing, siphoning is a very simple operation. First, put the bottles or jars of wine on a table and the empty bottles on a stool or box on the floor. Next, put one end of the tubing in the first bottle of wine and suck the other end of the tube until the wine comes; pinch the tube at your lips and – holding on tight – put this end in the empty bottle and then let the wine flow. As the level of the wine falls, lower the tube into it, being careful not to let it touch the lees. When nearly all of the wine has been transferred, pinch the tube at the neck of both bottles, put one end into the next bottle and allow the wine to flow again.

In this way a constant flow is maintained and you have bottles of crystal-clear wine. The sediment from each bottle may be put together; this will clear in time to leave a little more wine.

Most of you will already have heard of one or other home-made wine and will have decided which to make. For those who have not yet decided, preference for a ‘port* or ‘whisky’ may be the deciding factor and this must rest with yourselves.

I would advise you only in this: make, say, a gallon or a half-gallon of a variety of wines and then decide which you prefer over a period of time. I have whittled my own preference down to nine different wines which I brew regularly according to season, leaving the dried fruit for the time when fresh fruit is not available and when roots – potatoes, etc. – are too fresh for wine-making purposes.

NOTE:

Different recipes will call for slightly different approaches, but it must be remembered that whatever else has to be done, the brew must be kept in a warm place throughout the fermentation period, and that the process after fourteen days* fermentation in the tub is the same with all recipes.

Now select your recipe and go ahead with your wine-making, bearing in mind all that I have warned you about.

In the Noble Quran, Allah is asking mankind some important questions.

It seems compulsory for the serious one who is looking for the truth to have a look at those questions and if possible to answer them.

Allah’ questions are many. In this series, these questions are chosen randomly.

The question in this article is:

Have you considered what you sow in the ground?

Is it you that cause it to grow, or are we the causers of growth?

If we will, we would make it broken stubble; we verily could make it chaff and crumble it to dry powder. And you would be left in wonderment and lament. This question throws some light on the mechanism of the cultivation and the role of microbial flora in plant formation.

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Verses 56:63-67 give the question of this article and talk about it

The meanings of Verses 56:63-67

Verse 56:63 says:

Have you considered what you sow? What you stir of the earth to place seeds therein? Have you seen that which ye cultivate of grains?

Verse 56:64 says:

Is it you who make it grow, or are We the Grower?

In other words, is it you, O people who foster it, who make it grow, or are We the Fosterer, or are We the One to make it grow?

This question throws some light on the mechanism of the cultivation and the role of microbial flora and other soil’s creatures e.g. worms in plant formation.

Verse 56:65 says:

If We willed, We verily could surely make the cultivation chaff and dry after being green, producing no seed.

Then you would not cease to exclaim, then you would wonder at its dryness and destruction, you would remain surprised by this, exclaim and you would say:

Verse 56:66 says:

We have indeed suffered loss!, we are losing what we expended on the cultivation.

Lo! We are laden with debt; we are being punished by the destruction of our cultivations!

Verse 56:67 says:

Nay, but we are deprived; we are deprived of our cultivations!

It is also said that this means: we are prevented from reaping our provision (being fought against!)

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Verses 56:63-67 in different translations:

Verse 56:63:

QARIB:

Ponder upon the soil you till,

SHAKIR:

Have you considered what you sow?

PICKTHAL:

Have ye seen that which ye cultivate?

YUSUFALI:

See ye the seed that ye sow in the ground?

Verse 56:64:

QARIB:

Is it you that sow it, or are we the sower?

SHAKIR:

Is it you that cause it to grow, or are we the causers of growth?

PICKTHAL:

Is it ye who foster it, or are we the fosterer?

YUSUFALI:

Is it ye that cause it to grow, or are we the cause?

Verse 56:65:

QARIB:

If we will, we would make it broken stubble and you would remain wondering,

SHAKIR:

If we pleased, we should have certainly made it broken down into pieces, then would you begin to lament:

PICKTHAL:

If we willed, we verily could make it chaff, then would ye cease not to exclaim:

YUSUFALI:

Were it our will, we could crumble it to dry powder, and ye would be left in wonderment,

Verse 56:66:

QARIB:

(Saying), ‘We are laden with debts!

SHAKIR:

Surely we are burdened with debt:

PICKTHAL:

Lo! We are laden with debt!

YUSUFALI:

(Saying), “we are indeed left with debts (for nothing):

Verse 56:67:

QARIB:

Rather, we have been prevented! ‘

SHAKIR:

Nay! We are deprived

PICKTHAL:

Nay, but we are deprived!

YUSUFALI:

“Indeed are we shut out (of the fruits of our labour)?”

It’s funny what happens when kids and gardens get together. Even if my kids are sore at me because I’ve just reprimanded one for swinging a stick or scolded the other for tossing a rock, the moment I slip on my tattered gloves and kneel down to pull the first weed, my cute, silly, inquisitive sidekicks drop everything to come see what I’m doing.

My kids have their own gardening gloves. They like to pinch the weeds close to the soil, making sure to include the root when they pull. They like to dig holes. And, of course, they like to make friends with the worms.

“Mommy, mommy quite contrary, how does your garden grow,” they ask me. “With dozens of lilies, and lilacs so pretty, and Mother’s Day roses you know,” I answer. Our version of the classic nursery rhyme is what inspired me to help my kids’ love of weed pulling evolve into a lifelong partnership with gardening. Here are some simple ideas for getting started:

- Read All About It -

When you’re ready to garden with the kids, begin with literature. Visit the library and sign out a few children’s gardening books. Amazon.com customers give high marks to the following: “Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children” by Sharon Lovejoy; “The Gardening Book” by Jane Bull; and “Too Many Zucchini for Zachary Beany” by Tina Donzauer-Ray (when purchased, this one actually comes with a packet of zucchini seeds). And, of course, there’s always the classic, “The Secret Garden,” by Francis Hodgson Burnett.

Reading some gardening books will most likely help kids decide what they’d like to plant. Flowers are always pretty, bright, and cheerful, and there are so many from which to choose. Meanwhile, vegetables and herbs can be used to prepare new foods for kids to try. Picky eaters may be more tempted to taste a new food if they grow one or more of the ingredients in their very own garden.

- Location, Location, Location -

Once the children have selected what they want to plant, it’s time to choose a spot for the garden. It should be an area that enjoys both sunshine and shade and will not become flooded when it rains. The actual plot can be large or small, based upon what will be planted.

Children’s gardening tools are available at most major hardware or toy retailers, and the kids will love having their very own gloves, trowels, hoes, and rakes to use. In addition to preparing the garden area, consider collecting small rocks from around the yard to create a border around the

Dissatisfied with home wine kits? Leave all that chemical taste behind, with a simple, cheap and tasty recipe for real home-made wine.

Take a regular 1Kg – 2Kg marrow. Cut the last three inches off the stalk end, and remove the seeds with a large spoon. These may be discarded, but save that cut-off end…

Stand the marrow on its flower-end, and support it with a small bowl or similar structure. Fill the marrow with demerara (soft brown) sugar, replace that stalk end and place the marrow in your airing cupboard / closet. Check the level daily, adding sugar to top-up the marrow.

After ten days, decant the contents of the marrow into a sterile demijohn (wine-making flask) and top up to two-thirds full with cold, sterile water. The sugar/marrow syrup will ferment naturally. Insert an air-trap in the neck of the demijohn and place back in the cupboard / closet.

When the bubbles from the trap stop, the wine is ready. Fill clean (sterile) green bottles with the wine, and label. Marrow rum stores well, and has a very clean taste.

It is Sunday although I am not a very religious person, thus I was, horror of horrors, outside shovelling snow around. It was drifting, and if I hadn’t done anything with it, it might have blocked the driveway for my wife Monday morning.

Does your mind wander when you are doing a physical job that doesn’t require much other thought? Mine certainly does.

~ Duplicate Content of Biblical Proportions ~

I have been doing some research of “Top 10 Lists” for a new site. Whilst no list of the top 10 best selling books is exactly the same, there is one common feature. Every single top 10 list states that The Bible in all its variations has sold more than 6 billion copies.
That is close to the current world population, estimated by the CIA to be 6,525,170,264 (July 2006 est.)
Thus there are probably as many bibles in the world as people

That is an awful lot of duplicate content

~ Gideons ~

Gideons is an interesting organisation, whose work is evangelism and distribution of the bible. You will see Gideons bibles in every hotel room, and I was given a Gideons bible whilst at school in addition to a larger bible I was issued for Religious Education lessons.

With the help of the Gideons organisation, whenever you need a bible, there is one close at hand.

~ Spread the Word ~

This is a fundamental concept in all religion, not just Christian. It is not enough to have the knowledge and faith, you are also meant to pass it onto other people. Lots of the time the knowledge will fall on deaf ears. If the knowledge is out there, and easy to find even without specifically looking for it, such as in a hotel room drawer, it has a benefit.

~ Worthwhile Duplicate Content ~

I am sure many of those 6 billion bibles are in dusty attics, unused drawers, or buried at the back on shelves, long forgotten. Every now and then one copy gets rediscovered, unearthed or brought out of hiding.

~ The Bible and Duplicate Content ~

A church is not the only place you can find a copy of the bible. I am sure many religious people read more of the bible while in church than the cumulative total of all other places, but that doesn’t make it pointless to have multiple copies in your home, school, library and even hotel rooms. All those copies of the bible are seeds, and every now and then one of those seeds gets picked up and begins to germinate, wherever the seed is located.

~ Your Articles and Duplicate Content ~

I recently wrote a mammoth blog post on my philosophy with article marketing. Many marketing experts believe that article marketing no longer works, or you should be highly selective where you publish your content.

I mentioned a strategy, that as long as you link back to the original source for your content that people can follow, it makes sense to spread your article as widely as possible.
I don’t discount special publishing deals that will bring your article to the forefront of thousands of people, but that opportunity is often reserved for established writers.

~ Articles Are Seeds of Knowledge ~

Spread your articles far and wide. Sometimes they will land in fertile soil, and germinate and grow almost immediately. Whilst I wouldn’t dare liken EzineArticles to a church, it certainly is very fertile ground for your seeds to grow.

Some of your articles will almost certainly end up landing on less fertile ground, or buried deep in a website long forgotten. It is a seed that hasn’t germinated yet, but one day it might be uncovered and grow into a tree bearing fruit.

Sometimes your article may end up on even more unsavoury territory, with a link to you not being provided, or even worse plagiarised. It will happen, such is the nature of people. If the purpose of your article was to help people more than market yourself, then it really doesn’t matter if occasionally the link to you is broken. A person reading your article is still going to look for further knowledge on the subject, and eventually find their way to respected sources of information, such as yourself, just as someone picking up a Gideon’s bible might eventually find their way to a church.

~ If you don’t sow your seeds, they don’t have a chance to grow ~

For years, I was the seed-starting dunce. I’d buy expensive seeds for fancy flowers I wanted, plant them in pots, put them under a fluorescent fixture, and voila! – nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. Half of the pots would just sit there, sulking. The other half would sprout little green seedlings, which would promptly fall over and dissolve from damping-off disease. A few stragglers sometimes survived, and either grew leggy or just sat there glaring at me, refusing to grow.

“For pity’s sake,” I’d think. “I’ve gardened for years. I studied botany. Surely I can figure this out.”

After much reading, much discussion of the topic on gardening boards, and much trial-and-error, I finally developed a seed-starting routine that works like a charm. Here are my secrets:

STERILE SOIL

Start with sterile soil to prevent disease. The easiest way to do this is to buy sterile seed-starting mix at a garden center. If you want to make your own mix, sift some finished compost from your compost pile or some rich garden soil, spread it in a disposable pan, and bake it 200 degrees F for 30 minutes. Run the kitchen fan while you do this, or open a window, because your family may not like the odor. Mix equal parts of sterilized soil, perlite, and peat. Moisten this before using.

STERILE POTS

While reusing pots is an ecological thing to do, make sure you wash them well in hot water. Sterilize them by soaking them in bleach water, about 1/4 cup of bleach to 1-2 gallons of water. This will kill any disease-causing organisms on the pots.

NOT TOO DEEP

Tiny seeds should be just pressed into the soil without burying them. Larger seeds should be planted at a depth about three times their width. Most seeds don’t need light to germinate, but lettuce seeds do. Be sure to just press them into the soil without covering them.

CINNAMON OR CHAMOMILE

If there is one single seed-starting tip that works like a charm every time, it’s this. After filling the pots and sowing the seeds as directed on the seed packets, sprinkle the soil lightly with cinnamon or spritz it with cold chamomile tea in a spray bottle. Both are good for controlling damping-off disease.

BOTTOM WATERING

Set your pots in a plastic tray or disposable aluminum pan. To water your pots as they need it, add water to the pan and let the soil soak up the water. This helps control damping-off disease.

BOTTOM HEAT

Get an electric seed-starting mat to provide bottom heat for your pots to speed germination. I

Here are 10 ways to transform a boring garden into a place of interest:

* Attract Wildlife

Who doesn’t love to see birds and butterflies visit their garden? Try to mimic the natural landscape within your garden and you will have lots of little visitors that will delight the senses.

* Add a Secret Area

An area that is not immediately visible to the eye when viewing a garden can prove a delightful surprise for visitors. Clever design can hide the entrance, i.e. camouflaging, illusion of depth.

* Add a Garden Pond

A garden pond is virtually guaranteed to spark interest from all. Also if installed correctly little maintenance is required. Combine with a waterfall feature for extra novelty.

* Add Garden Junk

Everyday objects can be used to create artistic and unique garden junk that will definitely make heads turn i.e. bowling balls, scrap metal, clay pots, anything really. Prepare to get messy and creative!

* Add a Focal Point

Direct eyes to an area in your garden using a focal point. Try using simple additions like a birdbath or a large pot or add lighting to bring attention to an otherwise plain object.

* Plant with Colours that Complement

Nobody likes to see a garden with one colour. On the flip side no-one wants their eyes to hurt when looking at a garden! So design your planting areas to contain plants whose colours complement each other. A colour chart will come in handy here.

* Use Height Effectively

Adding plant sizes of various heights to your garden will entertain the eye. Add a peak here and there with a tree, go mid-size with a few shrubs and finally add some groundcovers to cater for the low points.

* Add a Patio

Need some where to sit out on and view the fruits of your gardening labour? Look no further than a patio. It serves as the meeting place between your garden and your home. Make it a bit more of a mixture with a spot of patio gardening.

* Plant for Scent

Scents can add a new dimension to your garden. Some plants give off a scent when brushed against and some give off scents as their flowers open. The sense of smell is said to be the best for memory recall so scents in your garden make sure that visitors remember it long after they visit.

* Add a Garden Gnome (or Two)

A slightly controversial point seeing as though gnomes are viewed as tacky in some circles. But I say go for it, pick out a few entertaining gnomes and place them strategically around your garden. They may just lend a hand sometime.

So you’ve decided to plant a garden. Before you go running to the nursery and start buying up plants, you first need to make sure that you have the necessary tools. You need not have a complete gardening arsenal to start your garden, but there are a few basic tools that every gardener should have. Garden tools can be broken down into four main categories: digging, weeding, raking and pruning.

Digging Tools

Digging tools include items such as trowels, spades, shovels and spading forks.

A trowel is used for planting, transplanting and dividing small plants. Trowels usually have a short handle and come in regular and narrow sizes. Some trowels will even have inches marked along the blade to help gauge how deep to plant your plants. A trowel is a must have item for gardeners.

A spade is a lot like a shovel. A spade has straight sides and a rectangular shaped head with a sharp, flat edge. A spade is used when you need sharp, clean cuts. It is ideal for lifting sod, edging beds or working in closely planted areas. A spade is more versatile than a shovel and should be the item bought if you cannot afford to buy both.

A shovel is used for digging and lifting jobs. Shovels come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The most useful of these for gardening is probably a long handled, round-point shovel.

A spading fork is indispensable in gardening. A spading fork has a short handle and four flat tines. It is useful for turning over already loosened soil and also for breaking up heavy soil when preparing to plant.

Weeding Tools

Weeding is a necessary part of gardening. Fortunately, there are a few tools to help make the job easier.

A hoe is one of the oldest and most effective tools made for the garden. It is definitely another of those must have tools for a gardener. A hoe will scrape out weed seedlings and hack out shallow rooted weedy plants.

A hand fork has a short handle with three or four curved tines. A hand fork is a necessity for any garden. It can be used to eliminate weeds. It can also be used to pull rocks, leaves and other debris away from your plants.

An asparagus weeder is handy for getting rid of weeds from the root. An asparagus weeder has a long shaft with a V-shaped notched blade at the bottom. This blade is inserted below the root levered down to help pop out the weed.

A garden claw has sharp tines set in a circular pattern. You insert the claw part into the soil around the weeds and twist the handle. This loosens

Becoming familiar with the general planting and maintenance requirements perennials and annuals is essential to the long term success of your flower garden. The Following are a few guidelines which will help your flowers bloom and remain healthy for years.

Begin with the garden’s basic necessities. Your flower garden must have an adequate supply of water and nutrient rich soil. The proper amount of sunlight light or shade is also critical. Any lack of these basic necessities will negatively affect the health of your plants.

Add compost and peat moss to sandy soils to increase the soil’s ability to hold moisture. Clay soils require the addition of sand and compost to provide adequate drainage. Compost is important in any garden since it provides your plants with nutrients. Be sure to water the flower garden more frequently during dry spells.

When planting your flowers be sure their planted at the existing grade of the garden. Flowers planted too high or too deep will often perform poorly. Also, make sure that you don’t pile soil or mulch around the plant’s stem. If you do, water will drain away for the plant rather than sinking in.

Plant perennials and annuals together in the same garden. Perennials are those flowers which bloom and grow larger year after year. After growing during the spring and summer, they die back to the ground each winter only to reemerge the following spring. Annuals grow and bloom for only one season. Perennials generally are classified as early, mid or late season bloomers. Iris, for example, blooms in the spring. Once its finished blooming it provides lush green foliage. Annuals bloom all season long; from spring until the first frost. Planting a variety of perennials and annuals ensures a colorful garden all season.

An occasional application of liquid fertilizer over the course of the season will help your flower bloom longer.

In the summer the main task in the flower garden is deadheading. Deadheading is the process of clipping off spent blooms. This won’t encourage many new blooms in perennials but will keep the garden looking fresh all season. With annuals, however, deadheading will encourage continuous blooms all season. Don’t discard the spent blooms in the garden as mildew and other plant diseases may spread throughout the garden.

Cultivating is another important garden task. Cultivating the garden soil is a job which serves two purposes. It keeps weeds from taking hold in the garden and allows water and nutrients to reach the plant’s deepest roots.

Know the difference between the good insects and the harmful ones. Many incest are beneficial to the garden. Butterflies, beetles and bees are important since they pollinate the garden flowers. They fertilize plants through unintentional transfer of pollen from one plant to another. Most flowers rely on insects for survival. Beetles, bacteria and other microorganisms assist the garden by turning dead plant material into compost. This enriches the soil and creates the nutrients which plants require. Other insects like lacewings, ladybugs and dragonflies are natural predators of more harmful insects such as aphids.

Proper garden planning and maintenance are essential to a healthy flower garden. Flower gardens, though easy to care for, require some maintenance. The work put into a garden is worth the effort, however, as they provide years of colorful blooms.