Korean Star Melon Surprise

Photo 1: Korean Star Melon

Photo 2: Korean Star Melon Seedlings. 

I threw scraps of Korean Star Melon into my worm compost bin weeks ago.  When I checked on my compost bin, I discovered the seeds had sprouted!  I transferred the seeds into my garden.  Let's see what happens.

How To Tell When To Pick Carrots

Photo: Danver's Half Long Carrot

It is difficult to tell whether carrots are ready for picking by just looking at their leafy, green tops.  To avoid accidentally pulling up carrots prematurely, try this tip.  Pull the soil away from the base of the stem until you expose the top of the carrot root.  See Photo Above.  Generally, if the top of the carrot root is as thick as an adult carrot, it is ready to be harvested.   

Sweet Basil

Photo: Single Sweet Basil Flowering Stalk

Is it not amazing how many flowering stalks can come from a single sweet basil plant?  This one plant is going to produce several basil seeds for next year's garden.  

Gardening Items for Kids at Michael's

Check out Michael's Arts & Crafts for some cute gardening items for kids.  At the time I visited their store, they had 50% off their gardening selection, but I'll list regular prices below.

Didn't see price for grow pots.

Seed Boxes were $5 

Kid gardening gloves for $1

Kid size gardening tools for $1

Free Aroid Palm Plant by Mail

Photo: Aroid Palm/ZZ, Free Plant of the Month by freeplantsbymail.org

Free Plants By Mail (freeplantsbymail.org) was started by local growers as a way to use the surplus plants from nurseries and also as a way to support The Nature Conservancy.  Free Plants By Mail offers a new free plant each month.  This month they are offering Aroid Palm/ZZ.  Although the plant itself is free, you do have to pay a small shipping and handling fee of $6.95.

This organization also has over 100 plants available for sale on their site.  100% of the proceeds from the sale will go to The Nature Conservancy.

Click here to view Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).