Country Living Is No Vacation!
Good Morning Dear Reader:
This bee was drunk on zinnia honey!
As my week at Lone Goose Farm comes to an end, my sister Janet reminded me that I have enjoyed what can only be called a “Dude Farm” experience. She told me that many city slickers would pay big bucks to spend a week enjoying the idyllic country life.
If you are craving an opportunity to shovel horse stalls, feed animals morning and evening, weed the garden, mow the acreage and crawl under giant squash plants looking for dinner components, I can fix you up.
No, squash do not grow in baskets!
I will admit that I have learned some great lessons about gardening during my visit. First, in case you did not know, horse poop or “frockie” as Jan prefers to call it makes magnificent fertilizer. Of course if you factor in the cost of the horse and its upkeep, you are probably paying $50 a pound for it.
Sweet Scarlet, horse show beauty & fertilizer factory
One of the greatest products that she recommends is Soil Moist Granules which look like grains of sand but when exposed to water swell up into a gel. This is really helpful to maintain potted plants in a hot summer climate, and particularly hanging baskets. It takes only a tiny amount to reduce watering by 50%. An 8? pot requires only 1 tsp. of the granules to be mixed into the soil.
She found a great idea in Southern Living, April 2010, for creating an “in the round” flowering hanging basket. I’m sure you have seen them in nurseries usually with plants like begonias or impatiens. Start with a coco-fiber basket liner inside a wire hanging basket. Using a sharp tool, make holes around the sides of the coco-liner that are big enough to allow you to fill them small flowering plants such as begonias or a mixture of plants. Then fill the basket’s interior with other plants and complete by adding Soil Moist, potting mix and slow-release fertilizer. Then water and wait! Gorgeous!
As the plants grow, they appear to be one giant, round plant
Flat Abs for Me!
While my hula hooping has to be helping me find my own personal middle, there are other ways to tighten that tummy. Self Magazine, April 2010 reports on page 59, in an article by Liz Plosser, that there are foods and drinks that can help fight fat and bloat. Give these a try:
1. Avocado for its monosaturated fats which help reduce bulge.
2. Green Tea revs metabolism.
3. Plain yogurt reduces bloat by encouraging good bacteria in your gut. Try it like the Greeks do with a bit of local honey (fights allergies).
4. Blueberries are filled with antioxidants and improve blood flow.
5. Bulgur, cooked, has more fiber than any other grain reducing your body’s insulin.
6. Chocolate Milk lessens muscle damage after exercise and beats sports drinks for building muscle.
It’s been a great week and its not over yet. I’ll be attending the Elvis Festival in Tupelo, his birthplace, and then on to Canton to see little sister kick some butt at a horse show. I hope you will come back Monday, invite a few friends, and see what Elvis is up to.
Buy the plants or start from seed, you can grow these zinnias!
Have a great weekend!
Diane
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