The Importance of Flowers and Herbs in your Garden

Planting Herbs and Flowers in your garden is great for the bees and butterfly's as well as for yourself. I have always included Herbs and Flowers in my garden not only for their culinary value but also for the beauty of it. There is something magical about butterflies zooming around the garden. The bees, butterfly's and other beneficial bugs they attract to the garden pollinate your vegetables and fruits and can make a difference of a good crop and an excellent crop. My vegetable harvests are always more abundant when i mix in the flowers and herbs. Photos from my garden in 2016 in Florida <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9k8X6UtS6bKeF-3MNThQZFnbtlR59oYpFwc5YSJDOW23OtdZFj9FfzbePH69hfIlqtqyz5nELeSINoKte_KdJmpjVZ6PUBkkEYs6gOK87iwRoH7dyZR_olKzRUvvRGq5rziUX_YzDu2W/s1600/2017-04-30+2017+farm+033.JPG" imageanchor="1" > Choose an area where you will be spending the most time in the garden to plant your herbs and flowers. Such as near your greenhouse entrance or near a favorite shade tree or table you visit for lunch. Zinnia flowers are easy to grow and butterfly's love them. Rosemary and Thyme are a good choice along with cilantro when these go to seed they produce tiny flowers that the bees and butterflies enjoy. Photos of my garden in 2016 in Florida Cilantro going to seed. For more information on Herbs and herbal courses check out my friend Evelyn's Blog. Http://sacredhabitats.com

Moringa is a must have for every garden. It is also called the drumstick tree due to its seed pods looking like drumsticks. It is a super food with more nutrients than many of the other superfoods. per 100 grams. Moringa is very easy to grow. Place seeds into soil about 1/2 inch deep, water until seed germinates and depending upon rain in your area water only once a week for the first month to get established. Moringa does not like wet feet so do not over water. Along with growing your moringa be sure and add this book " The Moringa Tree what you don't know can heal you" to your library it has science based facts about the nutrition and medicinal values of the moringa plant. here is a link for the book on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E2NEVEG/?ref=exp_inventorleewheelbarger_lv_dp_vv_d you can find moringa seeds at Lee's Amazon page at the link below. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076932HYZ/?ref=exp_inventorleewheelbarger_lv_dp_vv_d

Delicious winter garden vegetables

Beets do well growing in the cold. The beet seed will germinate in soil as low as 40 degrees. After the seeds sprout be sure to keep a close eye on the weather and if you are going to get a frost or freeze be sure to cover the seedlings. In the past I have used a sheet with a good insulating blanket on top of that to protect them from the cold. Be sure to uncover them as soon as the temperature rises above 32 degrees. Carrots seeds will also germinate in soil temps as low as 40 degrees but remember the lower the temperature the slower they will grow. This makes a great winter salad. Ingredients 1 1/2 pounds golden beets with tops 1 1/2 pounds red beets with tops 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 3 large garlic cloves, halved Salt and freshly ground pepper 8 ounces fresh baby carrots 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar 1 large shallot, minced 1 ounce soft goat cheese, crumbled Preheat the oven to 425°. Peel the beets and cut them into 1-inch wedges. Discard the tough stems from the beet tops and coarsely chop the leaves. Step 2 In a bowl, toss the golden beets with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and 2 garlic clove halves and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in one-third of a large ovenproof skillet. Repeat with the red beets and then the carrots, using 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 2 garlic halves for each vegetable. Set the skillet over high heat and cook without stirring until sizzling. Cover the skillet and roast in the oven for about 35 minutes, until tender. Transfer the vegetables to a platter. Step 3 In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and half of the shallot. Season with salt and pepper and whisk in the goat cheese. Step 4 In the skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the remaining shallot and cook over moderately high heat until softened, about 1 minute. Add the chopped beet greens and cook until just wilted, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Step 5 Add half of the goat cheese dressing to the beet greens and toss. Add the roasted vegetables and toss once or twice. Transfer the salad to a platter and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve right away.

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The question was asked...does electricity effect seeds and plants and how they grow? The answer is definitely yes. In my 10 years of growing produce in Texas after an electrical/rain storm the plants would grow an estimated 2 to 3 inches taller and were visibly more healthy. If we had just a rain storm and no lightning the plants would also grow but not near as much when lightning was included. Here is how it works: lightning is able to cause molecules of nitrogen to form compounds. These compounds fall to the ground and the rain carries the nutrients to the roots. Plants then use the nitrogen to grow. Air is comprised of 78% nitrogen and about 20% oxygen. Nitrogen is an element that plants need for chlorophyll production (which aids photosynthesis), foliage development, and overall growth. The nitrogen in air is not in a usable form for most plants. So how do plants get nitrogen that is in the air? From lightning. The intense heat and electric charges produced by lightning causes the nitrogen molecules in the air to cling to the oxygen molecules. This bond forms nitrogen oxides. The nitrogen oxides will be collected by the rain drops – bringing a form of nitrogen that can now be used by the plants. The plants now receive a supercharged dose of available nitrogen, causing them to become brighter, healthier, and greener. My Grandfather and Grandmother taught me a lot of tricks about gardening...one of them included this trick to harness some of the electricity naturally in the air. Drive 3 wooden or copper stakes around your vegetable/fruit or herb plants, (I use a copper grounding rods)Run bare copper wiring from the top of each stake to the next, forming a triangle around the perimeter of your plants. The copper wire will attract static electricity. (A Triangle works better than a circle or a square.) If you don't have access to copper stakes you can use metal such as rebar or tomato cage.

KLW World News

Hello Everyone! Update: Lee Wheelbarger and I were married in West Virginia on June 9th 2018. We are excited to bring you the lasted news,weather and gardening tips from around the world. Welcome to KLW World News. This page has been my blog for over 8 years. I took a break from it while Lee and I managed another ranch here in Florida for 2 years. We have now decided to live on our boat Electric Blue Solar Yacht and bring you daily news. I want to continue on with my Eden Creek Farm blog because i feel it is a document of history and knowledge. So here we go!