garden

Best Flowers to Plant in a Cutting Garden

August 7, 2018 by Kathryn 27 Comments

I love gardening, but until I moved onto our current property, I only ever planted practical plants like berries and vegetables. As much as I love the fresh produce, I decided that this year I wanted some long lasting cut flowers as well.

And since we often buy bouquets for the dining room table, I thought I’d save money and beautify our house and yard by planning a cutting garden! The term is given to a garden that’s planted mainly so the flowers can be cut and arranged into bouquets.

If you want to plant your own cutting garden, these are some of the best long lasting cut flowers for bouquets. Choose flowers in a variety of colours and decide if you’d prefer complimentary hues or a more varied mix of different shades for your garden.

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Teach Kids About the Earth with Help from EnviroKidz-Giveaway

June 30, 2015 by Kathryn 120 Comments

One of the things I love about my house is the fact that the yard is big enough for a garden. I enjoy growing my own vegetables each year for so many different reasons. The taste is so much better, I don’t have to worry about pesticides and chemicals on produce and I can save money on my weekly grocery bill. What more could any health-conscious mom on a budget ask for?

But in addition to all those benefits, planting a garden is also a great way to teach children about the importance of plants in our environment. And that’s why I love that EnviroKidz is so passionate about encouraging kids to learn about the earth and the way it sustains us and our animal friends. In fact, the company is doing that in a very fun way this year with a prize pack that will let kids get their hands dirty and grow something tasty! [Read more…]

Get Your Kids Gardening with Canadian Tire-Giveaway

June 4, 2014 by Kathryn 226 Comments

Since I’m lucky enough to live in a house with a big backyard, one of my favourite summer activities is gardening. While some women tend to favour flowers, I’ve always preferred practical plants and so gardening for me involves starting and growing fresh vegetables and herbs to feed my family through the sunny summer months. Now that my boys are getting older, I’ve begun to get them involved in the process as well and this year, Canadian Tire sent me a fabulous assortment of gardening supplies to help my boys and I get our vegetables growing!

I especially loved the sweet little Kids Cup Seed Kits, which featured a peat pot, a starter soil pellet and three seeds from kid-friendly plants such as watermelon and sunflower. The boys had a great time filling the cup with water and watching the soil expand. Then they carefully pushed the seeds into the soil and set the pots in a sunny window to grow. Once the plants have sprouted, we’ll be able to remove the peat pot from the little cup and plant it in the garden! [Read more…]

Budget Friendly Gardening Tips

May 2, 2013 by Kathryn 5 Comments

The much anticipated arrival of Spring means it’s a great time to get some seeds in the ground and watch them grow into flowers, veggies, berries, herbs and more! Growing your own produce may seem like an ideal way to cut back on food costs, but it doesn’t always turn out that way.

You imagine strolling through rows of lush plants, laden with ripe red tomatoes, plump strawberries and lovely squash…without having to spend a penny! But a costly trip to the garden centre for tools, seeds, plants, soil, pots and compost, followed by a few weeks of weeding only to find that some things never grew and others were devoured by bugs, birds, rabbits or other critters can cause some serious frustration.

garden

So, what to do? How can you increase the chances for a satisfying experience where you reap the rewards (both financial and emotional!) of your garden, and decrease the chances of it becoming a money pit? Get started with these budget friendly gardening tips: [Read more…]

Wordless Wednesday with Linky-Green Thumb

April 30, 2013 by Kathryn 30 Comments

boy potted plant — Zackary is taking a three-part children’s gardening course on Mondays and yesterday, he brought this home for me! Not only did he paint the flowerpot, he transplanted the plants too!

If you have a Wordless Wednesday post, please link it up below; I’d love to check it out! [Read more…]