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We're excited to now invite you to visit our new WisconsinGarden.com website to compliment this WisconsinGarden.net website you're at right now. On this WisconsinGarden.net website we've archived Lynn's first 300 Garden Video Tips, Tools, & Techniques for your personal viewing pleasure even in your PJs.
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Lynn is also working on a great collection of delicious treats and dessert recipes that will be posted in the near future on www.GardenDesserts.com.
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Hi, my name is Lynn and Richard and I would like to welcome you to our Wisconsin Garden website.Let me start by saying, we are not professional gardeners by any means. We just love gardening full-time and over many years we've picked up and modified lots of tips, techniques, and ideas that we'd like to share with you, your family, and friends. We also look forward to hearing your comments, requests, feedback, tips, and recipes, as well!
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Lynn and I published twenty-three (23) books since January 2, 2012 on a wide range of topics. This includes our first of several garden book editions that we titled WI GARDEN – Let’s Get Dirty! It's now available on Amazon Books and will soon be formatting it for Kindle, Nook, and iPad.
If you want to see what else we've been up to, visit RIVObooks.com or simply click the logo or link below. We hope you'll bookmark our website and continue to stay in touch by sending us your wonderfully supportive ideas, tips, and comments. Love & Hugs - Lynn & Richard
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This week has finally provided many Wisconsin area gardeners with perfect growing conditions. While most crops are now lost for the year and a fter no rain for nearly 2 months, we now have had rain 3 days in a row. Last Tuesday we planted new squash seeds when the temperatures were nearly 100 degrees. Friday afternoon our new squash seeds had already sprouted. The growing season isn’t over yet and great bargins exist at your local garden center. Here are some bargains we found today.
It’s Really Raining!!! Forgive our joy but it’s been nearly 2 months since it’s rained around here and we are all extremely grateful, especially for all the gardeners and farmers here in Wisconsin and the Midwest. Yes, most crops are lost or suffering due to the severe drought, but we are jumping around just like children playing in the rain. Isn’t rain exciting? How about another Krispy Kreme doughnut sweetie?
It’s not too late to start a container garden. Despite the severe drought, heat, and a wide variety of garden pests, we decided to install 4 containers. We are going to bury the containers in a mulch bed and plant some summer squash from seeds. They probably won’t mature and produce like our normal crop but we’re adapting to the unusual Wisconsin weather. At this rate it may still be in the 60’s & 70’s for Christmas.
Despite the heat some of our garden plants are thriving, green peppers, tomatoes, egg plant, zeppelin squash, peas, beans, and carrots in July 23rd harvest. But our summer squash plants are in pretty bad shape and the deer have been enjoying some tender leaf areas on our tomatoes. Guess they are looking for juicy tidbits. In our next video blog we will start all over in a new area and see if we can still get some zucchini squash seeds to grow in containers.
Video Blog 296 – We Needed Rain We Needed Rain Badly. Finally some storm clouds sprinkled about ½ inch of rain in our SE Wisconsin location. It’s the first lenghty rainfall we’ve had in the last 2 months. While every drop is welcomed, we’re still far behind normal levels and many Midwestern farm corn crops have already been declared lost. Maybe our rain dance helped out a little bit. Want to help us start a rain dance flash mob - Where & When ???
This has been one of the strangest weather years for farmers and gardeners, one we haven’t seen in our lifetime. Our Wisconsin Drought has many communities imposing watering restrictions with little rain in sight. We had 100 rain drops yesterday and we haven’t seen any rain for over 7 weeks. With very little snow last winter, Lake Michigan is now at its lowest levels in history, causing plants, trees, and shrubs to become deeply stressed. We really need rain soon.
If you’ve been watching our latest Wisconsin Garden Video Blogs you may remember in #284 & #285 we started our first worm farm experiment. Here’s our Worm Condo Update where it’s time to add a second level to their expanding village. Can only imaging that a worm farm real estate agent would really love that niche.
We probably don’t have to tell you how hot it has been! Despite the heat, humidity, and severe draught here in SE Wisconsin it is amazing that things are still growing. Come and go Veggie Picking with our grandson Logan to see what’s ready.
Talk about a really hot 4th of July here in our Wisconsin Garden with record breaking temperatures around 104. Two of our outdoor thermometers now show 107 and they’re in shaded areas We know many fellow gardeners and famers around the world are facing even hotter temperatures. When you add the high levels of humidity it’s a real struggle to keep things growing. Water conservation is a never ending battle and farmer fields are drying up quickly. Let’s all pray for an even steady rain soon!
It’s time to go on a raspberry hunt in our Wisconsin Garden and harvest this delicious seasonal treat. Several video blogs ago, we decided to create a pathway between several hedges of raspberries. See how they fought back with a mind of their own as we forge into the raspberry jungle.
Here’s a quick ladybug update. Yesterday we released the final 4,500 ladybugs around areas of our Wisconsin Garden. This morning we are going to see if they stuck around and survived. Let’s see how many we can find.
Today it’s time for ladybug release #2 where the final 4,500 ladybugs will be spread around different areas of our Wisconsin Garden. The first batch we released was badly affected by the heat and despite watering the plants prior to the release, many didn’t survive. We hope this second batch will stick around.
Training grape vines is an ongoing requirement even for a mini vineyard like ours. After visiting a couple of California wineries we’re trying to establish the multi-layered “T” pattern. With all the really hot weather we’re having we wonder how grape production will be affected. But then again, gardening is a life-long learning process.
Here’s a short strawberry update from our Wisconsin Garden on how all of our new strawberry plants are doing. In an earlier video blog we planted 200 new shoots this spring and despite the really hot weather this summer, they are actually coming along nicely and bearing fruit. Take a quick peek.
Thanks to Barbara and Dave, we received a dozen avocados from their California Coto De Caza orchard. I took an overly rippened one and will conduct an avocado experiment differently than how I root them indoors. Who knows, maybe we can train this tree to withstand our Wisconsin winters.
In our last video blog called “Worm Farm part 1” we used a simple plastic container. Well the Worm Farm Condo arrived today and it’s time to transfer our little red wigglers to their deluxe permanent home. If you’ve never seen a worm farm before, take a quick peek in our latest Wisconsin Garden Video Blog.
CLICK HERE For More Worm Farm Condo Info! Worm composting is an incredibly efficient way to convert kitchen scraps, junk mail and cardboard into nutrient-rich compost for your garden. Master gardeners agree that compost produced by worms will produce the best results and help your plants thrive. The Worm Factory's unique stackable, multi-tray design makes it the most efficient worm bin composter around. Worms begin eating waste in the lowest tray, and then migrate upward as food sources in that tray are exhausted. By allowing worms to migrate upward, the worms separate themselves from the finished compost that is ready for the garden.
You can also order 1,000 Uncle Jim's Worms and a great book by Mary Appelhof! And for those who've ask about fattening your red wigglers, here's a recipe that came with the Worm Farm unit for those who want to raise red worms for your fishing adventures.
Now how many husbands happily surprise their wife with a bag of worms? Mine did, and here’s the temporary home we made for these little red wigglers in our Wisconsin Garden video blog called worm farm part 1. Watch for part 2 “Worm Farm Condo” coming soon. After all, even worms need a place for social networking.
There are many benefits to adding Ladybugs (coccinellids) to your garden that really help eat aphids (plant lice) and many other harmful insects that can quickly destroy your plant investment. My husband ordered 9,000 ladybugs online that arrived today. Last night we spread some of them around various sections of our garden.
Richard and I want to thank everyone responsible for the 120,000 and counting views of our Wisconsin Garden Video Blog. Your supportive comments and encouragement has touched our hearts and made us even more committed to providing many more useful and uniuqe gardening tips and ideas. Thank you for taking your valuable time to watch us.
Now is the most important time to eliminate suckers on your tomato plants before they turn into a tomato bush. If you take the time to pinch off the suckers, you’ll harvest a larger size crop and ward off pesty viruses and diseases, allowing your plant to breathe, grow, and prosper.
FULL 30 Minute Version: With over 117,000 viewers from around the world, many have asked to see our entire Wisconsin Garden so we did this extended June Walkabout video blog version.
For the benefit of beginning gardeners, there are some basic garden tools you’ll need for tending your garden. Here is a small selection of the basic tools we rely upon to keep our garden growing.
It’s been approximately 10 years since we established this plant area of our garden. Now it’s a jungle out there and time to do some major reorganisng and garden cleanup while eliminating invasive plants. It took us over 1 week to finish this massive job. See how it looks now that we cleared the jungle.
If you want to encourage pollinating your vegetables consider adding Alyssum and Marigolds as companion plants next to your tomato, pepper, squash and other flowering vegetables. Here’s how we combine them.
I know I’ve covered this in previous videos but for those of you just starting your garden, I want to share my special planting technique that includes my soil mixture formula that I use when planting tomatoes. Many years ago I started modifiying Jerry Baker’s soil recipe and added several ingredients with great success I thought you might want to use.
Thanks to Julie, one of our viewers, for sending us some of her harvested Lupine Seeds. Julie lives in Maine so today we are preparing an area in our garden just for her seeds and hope they grow as well here in Wisconsin. Thanks Julie for sharing, and we hope you enjoy the seeds we sent you.
Here it is the first day in May and the weather outlook looks very positive, so I’m starting my garden with Peas, Beans, and Kale in the south enclosed raised bed garden area. Again, these are safer plants to get started underground and I can always cover the Kale in the event of a frost.
Every now and then I need to take a break from the garden and spend a lazy afternoon fishing with my family in our local lagoon. Here’s the fun we had early last week. Wish Lace & Logan and Keye & Tania were here too. Come along and bring your pole.
Several of our viewers have asked, is it too early to start planting vegetables? While it’s important to watch weather trends and forecasts we say, let’s start planting the kinds of vegetables that can be safely planted under the soil such as peas, beans, spinach, broccoli, kale, garlic, potatoes, rhubarb, asparagus, carrots, beets, etc. We’d still wait a couple of weeks for tender plants just to be safe unless you have protective covering.
One of my pleasures in gardening is sharing plants with your family, friends, and neighbors. Every year we take an inventory of which perennials plants need to be divided and planted elsewhere or simply shared. Here’s an area of my garden I’m working on today.
Now that the seeds have been soaking for 48 hours it’s time for planting Peony tree seeds in a soil mixture of equal parts seed starter mix and vermiculite. We’ve organized and labeled 32 different species along with 3 mystery Peony seed varieties and 8 exotic rose seeds and are ready for planting.
After 2 years our Raspberry Patch is getting a little wild so it’s time to organize this area of our garden. We’re going to clear out the dead canes and tie this year’s crop to our aluminum fencing. Plus Rick extended the fencing especially for the blackberries. Take a quick peek!
Mother Natures Magic never ceases to delight and amaze Rick and me. Last year we had the sickening task of cutting down several large dead and dying ash trees. And while we’ve planted 22 new trees one of them last year was my favorite, a Japanese Red Maple. Unfortunately it’s so small I decided to call upon Mother Nature to help my dream tree come true.
To celebrate the day we decided to plant 200 Strawberry plants. We prepared the raise beds last summer and they arrived just in time to plant our Earth Day Strawberries. Now we look forward to the rewards gardening has to offer. If you plant them they will come!
Now that we received our order it’s time for Germinating Peony Seeds and prepare the soil they require. With 32 species of Peony Tree Seeds that need to be pre-soaked, we used a simple cup system to keep them organized. Here’s how we did it.
Happy Earth Day Everyone! Here’s our morning breakfast Earth Day Smoothie in honor of Earth Day. Diatomaceous Earth is an amazing silica mineral that we will be adding to our garden plants and at least one tablespoon to our daily diet. We encourage you to do some research if you haven’t already to see all the benefits this food grade product has to offer you and your garden.
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is Earth you can eat as an extremely pure salt water deposit that is very important not only in the garden, but in our diet. These ancient salt-water deposits contain a mix of diatom species that are proving to offer some amazing properties. While these deposits are inconsistent in the US and out of 600 deposits only 4 are considered "food grade" by the FDA standards. We’re about to eat a tablespoon a day and test the results for you.
Well our 2,000 Peony Seeds arrived from China today and wer’e excited to examine these 32 different Peony tree species along with 8 exotic rose seed species. Softing these seeds will be the next step in properly germinating these beauties in a 4-year process of maturing these special plants.
Seed harvesting is really very easy and a great way to save money while expanding your own flower and vegetable garden areas. Last fall we began to harvest some flower seed pods which I decided to open today so that I could share them with family, neighbors, and our amazing YouTube members.
In our ever expanding raised bed gardeing projects, we’re expanding our north garden area and prepping the area for 4 more 4’ x 10’ raised beds. Now that all the materials have been delivered it’s time to build and install our new raised beds. Take a peek at what we accomplished in 6 hours moving over 9,000 pounds of soil, humus, peat moss, and course gravel.
If you’re going to use any music, including background music for your videos you should seriously consider purchasing and obtaining proper commercial background music licensing rights, especially if you intent to monetize your videos on any website to avoid copyright usage problems. Even Royalty Free music can create a problem if you do not have the proper commercial licensing rights. Life too short for unecessary problems.
Last summer we built 6 raised beds for our new strawberry plants. Now we that we know which plants survived the winter we are prepping our beds for 200 new strawberry plants. While we await their delivery we found some bargains at our local Aldi food store.
Last fall (Video Blog 202) I planted some new flower bulbs and thought you’d like to see my garden bulb update. Well now that spring has sprung they are all up and blooming.
April is here and I want to take you on a quick April yard walkabout. The grass is really green and the flowers are blooming despite the frosty nights.
Here’s a quick March 27th hoop garden update. It’s been a couple of days since I planted seeds in our new hoop garden areas and I thought you’d like a sneak peak at how things are progressing. After all the unusually warm March weather, April is having some evening frost warnings which is why I’m happy we built these hoop garden areas.
Here’s a quick starter seed update on how our seeds have germinated after just 5 days in our heated indoor garden area using recycled plastic containers. It’s a simple way to give your seeds a head start and a great project to do with your children and grandchildren.
I’m going to do something I’ve never done before, planting seeds earlier in March. With this unusually warm spring weather now is the 60s – 70s – and even 80s, I decided to plant a variety of heirloom and store bought seeds in our new little garden hoop houses. Come see what I’m planting.
We’ve often talked about building some simple garden hoop houses to begin and extend our growing season here in Wisconsin. With the crazy warm weather we’re having in late winter and early spring, we decided to build them out of PVC tubing and plastic sheet material. Come see how easy these are to build.
For those of you who’ve watch my videos you know I love gourd surprises. Here are some new little gourds my husband surprise me with from several ebay auctions he won.
It’s time for our early spring seed starter selections using a tiny honeycomb planting tray we bought for 25 cents at a local garden center. This is perhaps the most tedious way to start sprouting seeds but a great way to recycled trays and containers that can save money and space.
Every gardener loves to see growth and progress. After our massive heart-breaking tree cutting experience last spring we are delighted to see all of our new replacement flowering trees doing so well. Spring is definitely an exciting time of the year anticipating new life taking hold.
CELEBRATING OUR 250th WISCONSIN GARDEN VIDEO - YEAH!!!
Today we added 2,800 pounds of course sand and 30 cubic feet of peat moss. Each year we begin enriching our garden soil in late spring but after last years hot Wisconsin summer we decided to encourage a more friable soil for our vegetable raised bed garden areas.
Here we are in short sleeve shirt working in our garden areas and starting our March Lawn Cleanup a couple of months earlier than usual. When you live in Wisconsin you appreciate every sunny 70-80 degree warm spring day as another opportunity to enjoy being outdoors. Every spring day is heavenly.
Our Warm March in Wisconsin is breaking records almost every day. It’s a great time to clean up some of the garden bed areas. With temperatures in the high 70’s and low 80’s we love working outside in our garden
If you enjoy hostas then springtime is a great time to rid the nasty hosta slugs. A simple household solution can do wonders. Here’s what I do to keep my hostas healthy.
Despite a windy day, we decided to move our Iris Beds on March 13th. I know, isn’t that unreal for Wisconsin? Normally we wouldn’t be out digging in our garden until the middle of May. It’s been about 10 years since we worked in this area so it was time for a much needed garden makeover. Sorry about the wind feedback at times.
Spring is here so it’s time to get dirty in the garden. Yes, we just released our 21st book this year and WI Garden – Let’s Get Dirty is now available as a helpful guide helping you start your first garden. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or newbie, you’ll enjoy the tips and techniques we use to produce a healthier home grown organic garden.
This warm Wisconsin winter has our garden fingers just itching to get digging in the soil. Every gardener has fun making their seed selections for the coming season. These are the seed packets we came home with after a recent visit to our local garden center. Knowing us, these are only the beginning.
Last month we attended the Garden Expo in Madison and meet Scott Parker who introduced us to his peony seed collection. We had purchased 2 tree peony plants last summer and liked the idea of a peony tree. While it takes 3 years to really develop, here’s how he recommended we start.
I’ve always loved climbing trees and still do. WIth this incredibly mild weather and despite the wind, it’s a good day to prune my apple tree and cut out all those verticle sucker branches. Perhaps this year we’ll actually spray out trees and harvest the fruit instead of feeding it to the wildlife.
Five days ago we had over 4 inches of heavy snow. Today we’re lucky to find a snowflake. It’s warm and windy and a good day to be out in our Wisconsin Garden pruning our bushes and trees. Come see what I’m up to.
Having a Saturday Garden in your community, especially for those of us who live in winter zones is always a delightful trip. We love talking with local growers and entrepreneurs passionate about their products and how bring them to local farmer markets such as this one in West Allis, Wisconsin we thought you would enjoy.
Our Saturday Garden adventure found us talking with Bryon with JenEhr Organic Farm in Sun Praire Wisconsin who is very passionate about their organic vegetables and Sean with Water House Foods Cafe and Bake House from Lake Mills, Wisconsin specialize in delicious whole grain bake goodies some of which are gluten and wheat free with incredible taste, texture, and flavor.
Can you believe this Wisconsin weather? Here it is February 17, 2012 and the daffodils are emerging from the ground far too soon. Go back to sleep plants. Please don’t let this very strange warm and unusal non-winter fool you out of the ground. Shhhh little plants go back to sleep and I’ll sing you a lullaby.
Video Blog 236 – Garden Expo
YouTube REMOVED Without Clarification: This weekend we attended the Midwest Garden Expo in Madison Wisconsin to meet with other garden enthusiasts and vendors. With over 200 exhibitors and dozens of great seminars it turned into a delightful winter treat now that our typical winter temperatures are starting to settling in for a while.
Can you believe this weather? No Wisconsin Winter to speak of around our part of the state. Barely any snow left on the ground. While we haven’t broken many records, we had temperatures reaching the mid 50’s in January and now mid to high 40’s in February. This is turning out to be one of the most unusual winters we’ve experienced.
In just a couple of minute the big game is about to start. And while our Green Bay Packers aren’t playing, Lynn’s in the kitchen mixing up a batch of Chocolate Mushroom Cookies. While that may not be a consolation prize for us Packer fans, they will add even more taste, texture, and flavor to watching this game. Hmmm Good!
Video Blog 233 – Propagating African Violets Propagating African Violets is really more about being delicate than difficult. Selecting the best starter leaf is very important while at the same time not destroying the structure of the remaining leaves on your plant. Here’s my simple but effective approach to propagating this miniature violets..
Transplanting African Violets is easy and something you should do when you see the plant over-growing its container. Success in gardening and plant production is all about the soil appropriate for the plants health. See how this miniature violets have grown and are now ready for transplanting.
Transplanting Avocado Trees after they’ve successfully sprouting from their nut seed is a very important step in their further development. Starting with fresh soil is the key to successful growth. See my method for transplanting my Avocado nut seeds.
Starting Avocado Plants from their nut seed is a great process for children and parents to work on together. It’s very inexpensive and encourages recycling small containers to help the magic begin. The only other thing you’ll need is a sunny window sill, water, and daily patience. Mother nature does the rest.
Talk about Mushroom Heaven, who know so many mushroom could be harvested from this little kit. Once they get growing you could probably stand next to them and watch them grow. This is where Mother Nature can exhibit her magic even over night.
My latest art creation is making a gourd sea turtle. In my Wisconsin Garden Video Blog #215 I started experimenting with cutting my gourds in half, which inspired me to create this little beauty.
Here’s part 2 updating my progress on making my gourd sea turtle. I’m painting the under belly of my gourd and creating patterns for the 3-D flippers I’ll be stuffing with fiber fill. Come see my progress.
In part 3 I’ve finished varnished my gourd sea turtle shell and finished sewing and stuffing the 3-D flippers I’ll be adding to my gourd sculpture. I’m very pleased and like to show you how it’s turning out.
After a lot of trial and error my bobbing head Gourd Sea Turtle is finally finished. If you’ve been following my progress in part 1, 2, & 3 you’ll see some of the challenges I overcame. Now it’s your turn to see “Archie.”
If you like her art project, click the “Like Button” underneath the video or better yet leave her a comment!
Here’s our growing mushrooms update as of day 20. Check how many button mushrooms have popped up and see what happens several days later when they are ready for harvesting.
Growing mushrooms in our basement many years ago was a unique experience. This year our son Keye gave Lynn a Mushroom Kit as one of her Christmas gifts. If you’ve never grown mushrooms before come see how simple it is to get started.
Now that snow has covered our Wisconsin garden we’ve decided to have fun with an indoor winter activity called Aqua Sand. Aunt Marion sent Logan this magical sand to play with and it’s like no sand we’ve ever seen before.
OK, yesterday it was 55 degrees and today south eastern Wisconsin got its 1st snowfall of 2012, totalling 6 inches. We knew it was coming and that our Winter Wisconsin heatwave wouldn’t last. Now the snow related activities, many have been waiting for, can begin in full force.
Here it is January 10, 2012 and it’s going to reach 50 degrees here in Wisconsin. The grass is still green and our son just finished cutting our lawn. What’s even more amazing is that we have no snow in southern Wisconsin, so the earth is keeping us all a lot warmer than usual. Here’s a quick outdoor update.
Well, one of my many wishes came true. I recieved a heated bird bath I had on my Christmas wish list from our son. Despite the unseasonably warm weather we’re having, I decided to set it up in preparation for the cold weather I know will be coming our way soon.
As another year comes to a close, we wanted to share our Merry Christmas 2011 greeting with everyone, especially the thousands of garden enthusiasts who have dropped by to share their thoughts, ideas and supportive comments on our WisconsinGarden.net website. May you and your family be blessed with a healthy, safe and prosperous gardening New Year. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year To All!
I don’t have to tell you how expensive good vanilla extract can cost especially since Making Vanilla Extract is actually super quick & easy. Here’s how we make our own delicious “Perpetual Vanilla Extract.”
Now that I’ve prepared my decorative flat gourds (part 1) it’s time to start my favorite part of the artistic process in deciding how I’m going to decorate this new series of gourds that are meant to hang on the wall.
Normally we think of gourds as 3-dimensional, but I’ve been experimenting with Decorative Flat Gourds. I started thinking of different approach and wanted to create my new series of decorative gourds that hang on a wall. Therefore, I need the gourd to have a flat surface. Here’s part 1 of having more fun with my gourds.
Here it is December 5, 2011 and it’s our area’s first snowfall of this winter season. We’ve seen some amazing weather patterns this year. As we are producing this video a week later, there’s still no snow on the ground and this week the temps will reach 50 degrees. The big question exists, will Santa have snow for Christmas?
Fall is now in full swing and the trees are shedding their leaves it’s time to go prospecting and finding garden gold. Yes, today’s fallen leaves are tomorrow’s garden gold as they decompose and enrich the soil. So get out there and start collecting fallen leaves and recycling nature’s own gifts and treasures.
Now that we enjoyed our first delicious grape harvest starting from second year twigs, it’s time to give them a serious grape vine haircut. After visiting a California vineyard this year we will focus on two types of stem and branch structuring. While we felt badly at eliminating so many new branches, we believe it will be in their best interest.
There are many things that can become gardening hazards from soil, tools, and equipment. But there are also garden hazards you may not see or consider a major problem. Here’s what happened to me this summer and how you can avoid this deadly hazard that’s on the rise.
Tree wrap protection is a very important step when planting new trees in and around your garden especially when you want to discourage rabbit, rodents, and even deer from feasting on them throughout the year.
Fall is a great time to start visiting your local garden center for huge garden discounts of 50-90 percent off the original sticker price. While they may have been passed over by others many great bargains exist as an opportunity to add some different perennials to your new or expanding garden areas.
As you already know, I love creating designs on gourds I’ve grown in my garden. After a year of drying outdoors, it’s time to do my annual gourd cleaning as I prepare them for my indoor winter art sessions. Here’s some quick tips on how to properly prepare your gourds for your next artistic adventure.
Video Blog 207 – Garden Clean Up This year’s harvest is now complete and it’s time for our yearly garden clean up chores. Something you may want to compost and other plants and fruit you do not want to add to your compost pile. Here’s how we handle this yearly chore.
While in the process of making grape juice we wanted to see what would happen if we made grape cider using a mixture of our Concord, Niagara, and Cordoba grapes. What we created was an unusual and delightful drink like nothing we had never tasted before. Absolutely delicious and something we will continue to create.
A neighbor told us about her family preserving grape leaves and using them throughout the year as a meat and rice wrap. Even though it’s fall, we decided to try a little experiment in preserving them using some of the younger leaves.
My mini vineyard was surprisingly productive considering this was the first year for fruit. While we prefer eating seedless grapes, these Concord, Niagara, and Cordoba grapes were rather tasty. Our next step is to control the vine stock.
Video Blog 203 – The Last Tomato Unfortunately, it’s that time of year already. Here’s the last tomato harvest from our Wisconsin garden. It’s hard to believe that the entire growing season is once again complete and now its time to dig out all the old plants in preparation for next season.
The best time of year for planting bulbs is in the fall. Here’s a quick little garden video showing you how easy and simple planting fall bulbs can be. Just remember to photograph your flower beds for future reference.
Fall is a great time to pick and preserve apples by drying them in your oven or food dehydrator. Drying apples is really easy and a great way to pack the kids lunch with a great nutritional snack that is if you can hide them from sight from the rest of the family in the meantime. See how I reduce nearly 5 apples to fill just one quart jar.
As our garden areas fulfill another productive season, come along with us as we take an October Garden Walkabout. See how some areas are still producing while others have already been cleared for next season.
I admit I’ve never tried canning grape juice before, but after doing a little research I decided to try something a little different. I think you’ll find the process rather interesting.
Well it’s been another fantastic growing season despite the summer heat wave. Now it’s time to start pulling out some of the wilted plants as the Squash Season is coming to a close. Remember, squash can last through the entire winter, providing you keep them in a cool place, and pick them before the first frost.
It’s been exciting to begin harvesting some of our grapes. While we have 3 varieties, only the white Niagara table grapes appears ready. They sure are a lot of bunches ready for picking. Not sure what we’ll do with them yet, but we’re discussing possibilities.
What can I say, I Love Sunflowers. I think they are one of my favorite majestic flowering towers. Not only are they prolific, I really want to thank all the squirrels for planting these monsters. You’ll have to see some of our sunflower photos that help complete this video blog.
Every time I think about this recipe it makes me really hungry. Whether eating it as your main dish or a delicious after dinner snack, you’ll always apease your appetite. Unless you really don’t like peaches, you’ll want to follow this simple, easy to prepare, recipe then get ready for delicious dessert tonight.
In an earlier video I mentioned that I buy fruits and vegetables whenever they’re available at a great price. In addition to canning peaches, we wanted to dry some of them in our food dehydrator for a late fall or early winter snack. Here’s how they turned out.
You don’t have to be from the Midwest to enjoy Beer Bread. After all, beer has enough yeast to work it’s magic and raise the dough. Here’s a fast and simple recipe for making this hardy bread. And if you’re hooked on something a little bit sweeter, just add the desired amount of sugar or honey to this recipe.
For the benefit of our viewers and new subscribers who are first time gardeners and for those who’ve never made Tomato Sauce, here’s the final part 3 of the process.
For the benefit of our viewers and new subscribers who are first time gardeners and for those who’ve never made Tomato Sauce, here’s part 2 of the process.
For the benefit of our viewers and subscribers who are first time gardeners and for those who’ve never made Tomato Sauce, we thought we create a 3-part video showing how easy it is to make your own.
One of the great pleaures in growing a garden is being able to share the harvest with family, friends, and good neighbors. It’s been our goal to encourage others to start a home-grown garden by example. This year we’ve been blessed with a bountiful harvest and the opportunity to share it with others.
Around here we love those garden toads eating all those bugs, especially mosquitos. Give them areas in your garden where they can find a little protection and enjoy the work they do on your behalf. Makes me want to give this little toad a kiss right now. Who knows what Prince will appear!
We recently did a video blog on canning peaches (#170) from seconds we purchased at a local farmer’s market for $2.40 a pound. One of Wisconsin’s largest food stores offered near perfect peaches for $0.88 a pound. So we immediately purchased 2 cases, approximately 44 pounds. Sometimes you need to take advantage of Peach Bargains when they are available.
This year was the first year we planted a couple of Sweet Pea Tomatoes in our garden. Because they are so tiny, and because our other 64 tomato plants were so productive, we’ve kind of ignored these incredibly sweet tomatoes until today with the help of our grandson Logan. Here’s two ways we decided to preserve them.
Many years ago my father gave me a pack of Russian Sunflower seeds. They commonly grew to around 16’ tall. Since then the squirrels have planted sunflower seeds all over our property and while the majority now seen to be around 7-8 feet, somehow these giant sunflowers at the end of our main driveway are already over 10 feet and still growing. It’s now grown another 2 feet since I posted this video.
In response to our subscribers who were seeking alternatives to using Cool Aid for color and sweetening, we’re using concentrated orange juice and we are experimenting by marinating our zucchini in different alcoholic mixes to see how they taste after being dehydrated. A final touch is rolling them in Countrytime Lemonade Mix.
Many gardeners love bite-size tomatoes in salads and of course for summer snacks. But what do you do when you have more than you’ll ever eat? With the help of our grandchildren, Logan & Ashli, we’ll try drying them in a dehydrator then chopping them up into little bits or even grinding them up into powered tomato seasoning to add on our baked potatoes, eggs, pasta, garden salads, soups, sandwiches, pizza, etc. Yummy!
The winter snow is flying, it’s 20 below, and you just brought up a jar of delicious canned tomatoes from last summer ready to add this taste bud elixir into another great meal. Yes, no matter what time of year it is, when you take the time to can tomatoes, you can always revisit the taste summer even when the winds are howling.
Many years ago one of Rick’s students introduced us to spaghetti squash and we’ve been growing them in our gardens ever since. The contents of this squash are very unique. With minor preparation, once cooked they release their magical spaghetti-like strands of nature’s own healthy pasta replacement. Treat yourself. f you’ve never tries one take a look at how easy they are to prepare for your next spaghetti dinner. Thanks Nora.
Despite this long hot summer, our 66 tomato plants seem to love it. Frankly, we thought this growing season might have been a bust. The soil in our raised beds have baked themselves like adobe bricks and yet our tomatoes flourished. Take a quick look at the bounty of hot tomatoes we picked this morning.
There’s nothing like fresh Salsa from the garden. Think about it, most everything is right there ready for the picking; tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, oregano, cilantro, and even garlic. And if you’re lucky enough to live in an area that can grow fresh fruit, lemons, limes, mandarin oranges, you’re ready for action. Don’t forget the chips, and you’re ready for a fresh excuse to through a party for your palette.
Gardeners are always experimenting with ideas and recipes that expand their garden dessert possibilities. Today I’m testing out a new recipe. If you enjoy sweet, chewy, and tangy treats then you’ll love seeing how I make Zucchini Candy. It’s a wonderful surprise your tongue will find hard to believe.
Cautionary Tale: Here’s a couple of important things I learned about drying peppers from mild, medium, to flaming hot. While drying peppers is pretty straight forward, if you’re working with some of the hottest peppers known to man, be fully prepared for some surprises.
Drying zucchini is easy. Simpy pick, wash, and cut up into sections or slices. Then place them on a tray in your food dehydrator and let them cure for several hours as recommended by your dehydrator system. Once dry, simply place them in an air-tight container, preferable glass, and place them in a cool dry environment to enjoy long after the harvest season.
Now that the weather has cooled down to the 80’s with a lot less humidity we can finish transplanting our existing strawberry plants into their new raised beds. Five pallets consisting of 240 bags of soil, 124 bags of compost, 34 bags of mulch, and 2 bags of sphagnum moss. Normally we would have built, dug out and transferred our strawberries in 2 days, but because of the hot weather it’s taken us about one month to complete. But now it reflects the vision we had for them.
If you haven’t already, every garden enthusiast should consider drying or canning your abundant garden harvest. Today I’m drying bananas because they were on sale at our local grocery store. It really simple, easy and fun to do.
Here's a quick August 7th garden update. I don’t have to tell you how hot this summer has been so far. Add the humidity here in the Midwest and it’s downright Hot & Sticky. Hey, it’s summertime and mother nature works in cyclical harmony despite what we want as ideal. Despite the heat, our harvest keeps on providing lots of goodies.
Video Blog 171 – Yearly County Fair My husband promised to take me to my hometown County Fair every year when we got married. This year was no exception. This year will be Rick’s 44th consecutive year. If you haven’t visited your county fair, you may find it quite enjoyable. It even gives you a slight glimpse into what other gardeners are doing in your community.
One of our favorite garden desserts is eating fresh peaches and today I have around 25 pounds ready for canning. Canning fruit is pretty basic and well worth the effort providing you can find time within your busy schedule. All the work is definitely worth it come wintertime.
Here it is July 28 and nearly every thing we’ve planted is now starting to produce a boutiful harvest. Take a look at Today’s Harvest, including a variety of delicious home-grown fruits and vegetables here in Wisconsin
I’m armed and dangerous and ready to head into my squash jungle to do some serious pruning. It’s amazing how 3 little plants can grow so quickly, especially after 2 days of substantial rain. Come see what I’m talking about. It’s a jungle in here!
In this second video watch as we transport several 4’ x 10’ rectangular raised beds to our strawberry patch and put them in position. Once in position we add new soil, compost, and peat moss. Then we begin to uproot our old strawberry plants and plant them in their new home.
Today we started building raised beds for our strawberries. Lynn is about to experience the skills needed to create six 4’ x 10’ rectangular beds and transport them by wagon over to the strawberry patch.
To extend your “Tastebud Season” consider buying bulk of what ever is in season. We just purchased 21 pints of Raspberries and are preparing them for eating for breakfast during winter while the snow flies in February. In this video I’ll show you an easy Raspberry Freeze tip.
For those of you who have no garden, or limited garden space, consider “Subscription Farming”as a way of supporting local farmers in your area and sharing weekly portions of fruit, vegetable, eggs and meats, and what ever else is in season. Check with your local farming community or simply go Online.
Milkweed and the Monarch Butterflies have a place in our eclectic garden some now reaching over 6 feet tall. Take a quick look at this patch of Milkweed in our front yard.
Earlier this spring you may have seen our video where 14 large Ash & Maple trees had to be cut down. Mother Nature has her way of letting us know that she’s still in charge. See what one of our Ash trees is trying to do now.
We met several wonderful neighborhood gardeners who attended our first Brookfield Garden Club meeting and now look forward to our next informal get-together where everyone shares their love for gardening stories.
Anyone who lives in areas with a wide variety of flying insects will relate to creating Mosquito No-Fly Zones. Watch as we complete a second zone for relaxation and freedom from all those pesky critters.
With the temperatures in the high 90’s and the humidity in the high 80’s this past week has truly made for a really Hot Garden. While our temperature gauge reads 120+ this morning it was already in the mid 80’s and climbing. At least a gentle breeze gave some relief to our garden areas.
If you’ve been following the weather, I don’t have to tell you how hot it is, especially when you’re out in your garden. It’s really hot and humid out there and it’s only the middle of July. So I brought some of today’s garden harvest into my back porch for you to see. Well, at least all of my sweat helps water the garden.
Every now and then one of our friends sends us some interesting facts about gardening. Denise recently sent us some incredible facts about the magical properties of cucumbers. Fascinating – Who Knew!
Get ready to harvest this year’s tomato crop. I know I’ve covered this topic before, but for the benefit of new gardeners and being that this is our daily garden video blog, I wanted to present this bried Tomato Care Recap,
Doesn’t that sound yummy? Actually I’m referring to pruning and thinning out tomato plant sucker stems that really drain the overall fruit energy needed to grow larger, healthier, and disease free tomatoes in your garden. Here’s my aggressive approach to giving my tomatoes a serious haircut.
Kids love Transformers and Pollywogs are pretty amazing transformers themselves It’s amazing how many are starting to lose their tails and have started to spread their limbs in our little ponds. Come see.
When I told Rick I wanted to do an update on Pepper Stakes he got very hungry. I had to remind him we were talking about pepper staking, not pepper steaks, although that does sound like a plan for supper tonight smothered with green peppers.
Video Blog 148 – Leaves We Seldom See
YouTube REMOVED Without Clarification: Leaves are pretty sensational once we take the time to see their amazing shapes, colors, and textures. Here’s a beautiful view from Lynn’s perspective of luscious leaves on one of our day trips in Milwaukee.
Our son Keye and his wife Tania asked our help in creating a sidewalk garden for their Bay View home. After a trip to Home Depot and Custom Grown Greenhouse we began our plan of attack. Turned out beautifully! P.S. No Steven’s Point Beer was harmed during the making of this video.
I’ve never grown turnips before and I got a little carried away this spring and now they need some serious thinning. But never fear, all those sprouts will find a way into our yummy tummies.
It has now been less than three weeks since we planted our pepper [lantws and here they come. We love home-made salsa and can’t wait to harvest our peppers, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.
We are so excited to be growing peaches we can’t wait to see how big they grow here in Wisconsin. They are two of twenty-two new trees that replaced the 15 Ash and Maple trees we had to have cut down this year.
After a couple of years the baby strawberry plants have moved from the original soil bed to the bark pathways. After this year’s crop is complete, we will transplant them to their new raised bed areas. Stay tuned.
Now that this year’s tomato crop is starting to do some serious growth, it is time to unroll some of the deer netting and give them a haircut. After all, do you want big tomatoes or a big tomato plant?
Every gardener knows that having a garden is a labor of love. You need to address all aspects of your garden on a regular basis, sometimes daily, weekly, monthly, and sometime once a year. Like any task, you need the right tools. Today it’s time to trim our Lilac bush with an electric trimmer.
When you have giant sedum growing in your garden, trimming them early in June will keep them compact and hearty. See my trial experiment with one’s I about to trim.
Video Blog 134 – Robin Nest Shhh! Guess what I just found nestled in the arborvitae outside my kitchen window. Three baby Robins! Hey who doesn’t like watching little hatchlings! Come take a quick peak at these little feathery cuties.
After spending their entire winter and spring in the cool basement, it’s time for me to plant my Elephant Ear Bulbs. But before I do, here’s what I did it this year!
Help – I’ve never grown grape vines until last summer! I hope I’m not killing them! Last month on trip around California, Rick & I saw how all the vineyards keep their mature vine drastically pruned into a “T” shape. We allowed several stems rather than one and now I’m practicing how to trim them.
After a long cold winter it’s a true delight to walk around our garden in late spring enjoying all the flowers in bloom. Take a quick little walk with me and see what’s in bloom this morning.
After cutting down 14 huge trees this year, we were sick to see the skeleton of our Mountain Ash. The branches seem to have exploded from inside, leaving little trails. Being that this tree really isn’t in the Ash family, it was susceptible to a disease similar to that of the ash bore. If you know what this was, let us know.
Isn’t it amazing when you find gold in your garden? This little gem must have been living in my garden for years. We were told that our home sits on what used to be a huge horse ranch. Perhaps one of the riders many years ago lost it. We’ll take good care of it on your behalf.
Now that the planting season is in full bloom, it’s important to discuss some common garden reminders that control unwanted animals, pests, and diseases in our garden. I hope you’ve considered utilizing some of these tips and techniques in your garden as well.
It’s never too early to expose children to the joys of gardening. Join us as we share the day with our grandson, Logan, who will be helping us prune old flower beds, pull the wagon, till the soil, dig up rocks, and add many more flowers in our expanding flower bed gardens.
Video Blog 126 – Hummingbird Feeders OK, we’ve finished added 7 newly decorated Sheperd Hooks with flowers and 10 new Hummingbird feeders to add to our Wisconsin Garden flora environment in honor this Memorial Day Remembrance Holiday. Thank you Richard for your service as we extend our thanks to all veterans everywhere who have served, both past and present.
Hey, there is a monkey in my Apple tree. What do I do now? I’m glad he seems to be a friendly kid kritter. Please bear with us, no pun intended, as we encourage our grandson Logan’s imagination.
Video Blog 124 – Compost Experiment This is the first year we’ve worked with Paca-Poo fertilizer compost mixture. I’ve decided to compare it against worm casting compost mixture to see if there is any noticeable difference in growth or production. What do you think?
It time for me to grow my own herbs so I decided to grow them in foam containers found at a local grocery chain. They are light weight and very easy to work and I can’t wait to see these tasty treats in our summer soups, salads, and sandwiches.
Guess what we found at our local Farmer’s Market this weekend. This is the first time we came across some magnificent blooming Peony trees developed by a local gardener. Got to be on our top favorite list now!
Video Blog 121 – Deer Netting If you want to protect your new vegetable plants, here’s how I protect my tomatoes in one of my raised bed garden areas. It’s easy, inexpensive, and provides a great deal of protection for your garden investment.
Now that our neighbor, Ginger, has peaked our interest in attracting more Hummingbirds, we’re decorating 7 Shepard Hooks with plastic, silk, fake flowers to capture their attention. Take a sneak peak at how we did it.
Video Blog 118 – Drying Gourd Update Here are the gourds I’ve been drying all winter and spring. While some didn’t make it, and others aren’t completely dry, others are. The moldy surface has left some amazing designs, like the rings of a tree, which becomes the inspiration for my decorating techniques, enhancing what nature has created.
We started with Coi but soon found that the raccoons, ducks, and Egrets where enjoying late evening gourmet feasts. Come along with us as we purchase 144 little feeder goldfish from a local pet store as we restock our little backyard ponds.
Just like you, every gardener needs to have a yearly plan in pre selecting the plants for your garden. A frost advisory has just been issued for tonight so we had to bring all the vegetable and flower plants for the first round of this year’s pre planting selections.
Hummingbirds are absolutely amazing, so small yet so fast. They dart about and stop on a dime in mid air and hover there checking out all of their succulent options in our friend Ginger Becker’s backyard. Watch as Lynn waits to receive her first hummingbird facial.
It doesn’t get better than this, watching our grandson Logan experience the pure joy of childhood running along the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara California with his G-Ma & G-Pa. The joy on his face is simply priceless. Peak in with us and enjoy watching innocence at play.
The finest restaurants often create their own home grown gardens that compliment the entrees of the growing season’s vegetables, herbs, and fruits. Considered America’s Riviera, The San Ysidro Ranch Resort in Montecito California, is consider the 4th top resort in the world serving celebrities and statesmen. Actor Ronald Colemand turned it into a hotel for celebrities in the 1900s. It’s one of those magical places that “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.”
At the end of March we produced Video Blog #91 “Spring Sneak Peak” when our plants just started peaking their little heads out of the ground. Take a peak at how much they’ve all grown.
Last week I started some seeds in the paper pots I made. With a warm heating pad, some sunlight, and a little water, here’s how much they’ve grown indoors in just seven days.
What happens when a beautiful young evergreen trees ends up growing where you don’t really want them to grow. You’re left with three choices; cut them down, leave them, or transplant them. We opted for an evergreen transplant and a second life. Here’s an easy way we did it ourselves.
So what do you do when your bird bath turns scummy? Scrub it clean of course. Here are some helpful tips to safely keep your bird bath clean and provide a safer sanctuary for our feathered visitors.
There are many wonderful benefits to gardening. This includes creating a garden sanctuary for migrating birds. Consider adding a bird bath feature to your flower garden, hanging seeds sacks, bird house, and hummingbird feeders, trees and bushes to create a safe resting place where a variety of birds can rest, refuel, and restore their energy while giving us the pleasure of their company.
Flowering Daffodils here in Wisconsin, mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring with a blaze of brilliant color. But once those blossoms start to wilt it’s time to do some pruning, especially if you want the energy to go back into bulb production rather than going to seed. Take a peak, it's simple.
Whether you have a small or large garden, you may also want to add some hanging flower baskets. It’s a great way to add more color while expanding your garden area. Here’s how I added some wrought iron hangers to the front of our screen porch.
Video Blog 104 – Rototilling My Gardens Every year it’s important to till the soil for your new flower beds and vegetable gardens. From a simple trowel to a Mantis rototiller, here are some thoughts I wanted to share with you that I use gardening as my daily exercise routine. Come on, join in and get your visual exercise right now!
Every gardener needs a plan for selecting the new season’s starter plants. After our 2nd stop at a local garden center here’s are the vegetable and flower plants we will introduce to our garden areas this season. Yes, this is just the beginning and we know we’ll be back for more throughout the growing season.
There’s a very good reason why I wait until spring to uncover my peonies as they start to peak out for the upcoming season. It’s pretty easy to trim back all the old stock and allow the sun to do it’s magic.
The word Garden doesn’t come to mind when you think of Jail, Prison, and Incarceration. But just off San Francisco Bay lies a little island known as Alcatraz. Originally an Army fortress adorned with beautiful gardens, the Bureau of Prisons took it over in 1933, lobbied and trained inmate gardeners to help maintain these historic garden areas. Take a quick little tour of Alcatraz Island with a colorful gardening present and past.
@@@@@ Ta Dah !!! - OUR 100th Wisconsin Garden Video Blog @@@@@
Video Blog 100 – Muir Woods - The Redwood Forest What a delight it is to be producing our 100th video blog here in the Redwood Forest at Muir Woods National Monument and State Park. Rick and I always wanted to see the majesty of this amazing garden that nature provided and mankind had the wisdom to preserve. While the Giant Sequoias are older and thicker, don’t miss the opportunity to visit these taller gems just north of San Francisco. Absolutely Breathtaking!
Here we are exploring the Monk gardens in one of the oldest Mission’s in California. Like us, gardener’s are always curious as the what grows well in different areas of the country and around the globe. Come along with us as we quietly explore the lush gardens of “The Mission” in Santa Barbara California.
I recently came across a great product for making Paper Pots for starting seeds using recycled newspaper. Like a mortar and pestle this garden tool can be a great project for the entire family. See how it is to make Paper Pots for starter seeds for your garden projects.
Isn’t it amazing to learn something new every gardening year? Well, we recently came across Alpaca Paca Poo, now available as fertilizer and will test its performance against other organic fertilizers in our Wisconsin Garden this season. Curious as to what Paca Poo looks like? Come see!
Making your own potting mix for new seedlings isn’t difficult. In fact it’s pretty basic and I’ll show you how to make your own along with a couple of other new ideas you can take home and use in your greenhouse or indoor growing area.
Now that we’re back from opening day, it’s time to show you some of the bounty we brought home. With many more Farmer Market visits this season, this is just the beginning. Here’s our starter plants!
Here it is the first weekend in May and in our city that’s exciting news. Why you ask? Well, as gardeners we can’t wait for our local outdoor Farmer’s Market to start the growing season. Sure it’s a social event after many months of hibernation. But you meet so many interesting people, products, and plants. Here’s a little taste of what we experienced on this Saturday morning.
Out of the clear blue sky came the dark clouds of spring unleashing ice pellets. Living here in Wisconsin the weather can change very quickly. In some ways that could be exciting unless you’re trying to protect new spring plantings. Fortunately, we’ve learned not to start sections of our garden too early because this can happen.
Every gardener knows the benefits of mulching garden areas. Eventually mulch decomposes and needs to be replenished. When a neighbor has a tree cut down, don’t be shy in asking the crew for the ground up goodies. Often they will be happy not having to haul the wood chips away. Here’s an unexpected present we recently received for our Wisconsin Garden
Spring is the exciting premier for unveiling the dormant treasure awaiting gardeners. With great anticipation, I too can’t wait to see what little jewels are peaking out of the ground. Walk with me as we explore a sneak peak into my spring Wisconsin Garden.
Here it is the Sunday before Easter Sunday and we planting 7 more baby trees. We’re adding 2 Autumn Maples, 2 Dwarf Alberta Peach, 1 Bosnian Pine, a Weeping Cherry, and a River Bark Birch cluster. Thanks to the advice of one of our viewers we will be moving 2 invasive flowering Bradford Pear trees to another part of our Wisconsin Garden lot line.
In honor of Barbara & Dave’s wedding April 23, 2011, I’ve crafted this very special Wedding Spirit Gourd Dolls composition for this auspicious occasion. It is with our deepest love that we created this video as a testament to their continued health, happiness, and prosperity for many years to come.
What a shock to see so much sun now that 14 of our large shade trees were removed last week. But they had to go and now that spring has sprung, it’s time to start fresh and plant an assortment of seven new baby trees. Our goal will be to add 3 new trees for each tree removed.
The day of reckoning has arrived. Today is the day we have to say goodbye to 14 large shade trees that have served us well, purified the air we breathed, kept our cool, shared their colorful seasons, and now head for their recycled journey as our new cordwood fence. Thanks to Eduardo, Jer, and the entire removal team, thanks for all your help.
It’s always sad to see a tree cut down. But when you need to have 14 mature tress removed it’s frustrating. However, after 30+ years, we need to have 6 Ash, 5 silver Maples, and 3 Evergreen trees removed from our property. We also need to clear the rotted logs from our cordwood fence and make way for the new ones being cut down this week as we prep our Wisconsin Garden for another new beginning.
My husband Richard, aka RIVO, has been creating many works of sensuous digital art. Here’s a sneak peak at his collection of Flower Garden Art inspired by the endless floral wonders that grace our Wisconsin Garden and the amazing gardens we’ve visited. A musical note, “It’s A Wonderful World” is sung by our son Skye Lukeyon. We hope you enjoy this musical salute to our Flower Garden Art collection.
I don’t know about you, but Rick & I enjoy uncovering new ideas for our garden areas. Here’s a very quick visit to some great garden ideas at this year’s Wisconsin Realtor’s Home And Garden show here at State Fair Park in West Allis. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some of these ideas, including the woven twig wall and the beautiful water garden coming soon to our very own front yard.
Here it is the 5th day of spring and my lips are frozen but I have some serious tree pruning to do. We’ve been ignoring our apple tree for several years and it’s time to remove all the vertical branches before it starts to bud. and it’s important we keep the horizontal branches productive.
Want to grow a sandwich garden? Actually I’m talking about growing sprouts! Delicious, healthy, and quick growing sprouts not only for your sandwich, but salads, soups, and snacks. Here’s a great little kit for under $10 currently available at Home Depot that creates a great year round activity for your entire family to grow, watch, and eat.
Here it is January 3, 2011 and as we are walking through Menards I couldn’t believe they already had the new year’s Burpee Seeds on display. Makes me want to start moving snow and start stirring the sweet smell of warm mother earth in my mind. In Wisconsin, we call this wishful January thinking!
It’s time to bring a little spring into our homes by creating a Betta Garden. It’s simple, fun, and a great gardening project for kids and adults. Join us as we create our Betta Garden from scratch. Don’t miss the end of this video for something very special.
After the winds and snow drifts subsided we started shoveling out the 3-5 foot snow drifts away from the house. We can only remember a couple of snow storms of this magnitude in our lifetime. Thank goodness we didn’t have downed power lines and inches of ice on top of our 18+ inches of snow.
The 2011 blizzard that shut down nearly everything in Wisconsin. We were pretty lucky considering we only had 18” of snow that turned into 4-5 feet drifts around here. It only took 3 of us around 5+ hours to dig out all our walkways and driveways. While Brookfield and the greater Milwaukee area city crews have done a great job keeping the main streets open, the winds continue to cause havoc closing down many sections of the Interstate. For the most part, Wisconsinites are seasoned veterans helping neighbors handling what’s being called the storm of the century. Perhaps the first of many yet to come!
In this video blog I’ll show you an artistic approach to planning, prepping, and creatively decorating my spirit art gourds with lots of different natural and man-made objects.
In this video blog I show you how I prep my gourds giving them a water and bleach bath, firmly scrubbing off the moldy surface then drying before starting the creative process of creating my gourd spirit dolls.
When in Chicago take time to visit the Shedd Aquarium and bring the whole family. Be prepared for great performances with Beluga Whales, Yellow sided Dolphins, Red Tail Hawks, and wonderful exhibits with Penguins, Puffer Fish, Fresh and Salt Water Aquariums, Stingrays, Sharks, Jellyfish, Eels, and an amazing coral reef where you can watch the residents being feed by a diver. It will be well worth a day trip!
Here it is December 31, 2010 and it’s 54 degrees here in Wisconsin. Amazing! Wanted to update the progress of my gourds curing through the winter months and witness all the greenery as all the snow melts. May 2011 prove to be healthy, productive, and prosperous for all. Happy New Year Gardeners Everywhere!
On behalf of Richard and me at WisconsinGarden.net & .org, we wanted to wish everyone the healthiest of green thumbs. May your loving roots be planted firmly in prosperous and productive soil as we all share in celebrating nature’s impressive miracles always greater than ourselves. May you and your family be abundantly blessed.
Although winter doesn’t officially start until December 21, our Wisconsin Garden enjoyed the first blanket of around 4” of snow yesterday December 4th. So for all our warm weather gardening friends we thought we share a cool little video tour around our sleepy and cozy garden areas you’ve only seen in shades of summer green.
We produced our first holiday Amaryllis video about indoor gardening in late October. Well yesterday two of the four blossoms opened and we thought you’d enjoy seeing what’s blooming inside our Wisconsin Garden home.
A block away from the new indoor Farmer’s Market is a Wisconsin gem, the Petit National Ice Center. Many Olympic champions trained here, most notably Gold Medalists Bonnie Blair & Dan Jansen. If you love ice skating year round then this is heaven. Take a quick tour with us.
Even gardener’s need a fun hobby when the growing season ends. Mine is creating Art Gourd Spirit Dolls from last years gourds grown in my garden. An earlier video exhibited the preparation stages. Here’s where the creative process begins.
Join us as we visit one of Wisconsin’s new indoor farmer’s market just opened near State Fair Park in West Allis, WI at the Tommy Thompson Youth Center. In addition to fresh produce and delicious goodies see what we learned from Rolling Meadows Sorghum Mill, Saxon Homestead Creamery, and the Blissful Bakery.
Every now and then our neighbors present us with organic surprises. This organic leaf mulch surprise had to be compressed and covered as we braced ourselves for 60+ MPH wind storm the next day.
Our grape vine experimentation is now in its 3rd season as we discuss the changes we must consider for next year as we look forward to an exciting first harvest. Suggestions Welcomed!
After the first frost it’s time to dig up all tropical bulbs. Several years ago I planted (1) tropical Elephant Ear bulb. See how many I unearthed today and how I prepare them for their winter hibernation.
Absolutely amazing! Here it is October 22, another gorgeous sunny day, and we are still harvesting our final crop of tomatoes and peppers. We didn’t want to worry about frost warnings so we finally decided to pull out all the remaining plants. Despite unprecedented heat wave summer, it proved to be our most bountiful harvest ever. Hope your garden also faired well.
The benefit of growing a garden is in knowing where and how the food you eat was grown. There’s absolutely no comparison eating fresh food from your garden, tasting more flavorable (I know it's not really a word) or nutritious than store bought. After each daily harvest comes the real joy in eating delicious home-grown produce. Here’s how I create a simple yet colorful Garden Stir Fry.
Amaryllis is a dual species that’s been characterized as elegant, mysterious, and sensual. While the taxonomy of this tender tropical plant isn’t technically an Amaryllis at all you’ll have to do some research to uncover the truth. From it’s roots in South America to indoor and outdoor gardens around the world, this bulb is always ready to be pushed into bloom for the holidays.
You know fall has arrived when Chrysanthemums are spreading their majestic blossoms. Their colorful mounds compliment the blazing glory of falling leaves blanketing our property for another crisp autumn season. A time of rest, reflection and anticipation of truly appreciating the change of seasons.
A lot has changed in our neighborhood over the past 30 years. More families are landscaping their properties by eliminating manicured lawn areas with more flower beds and vegetable gardens. Where manicured lawns used to stretch from house to the road, roadside gardens are popping up all over many more neighborhoods. Take a quick walk with us and see what people are doing in our neck of the woods.
I only planted 6 seeds and wound up with a harvest of barrel gourds some even hanging 20+ feet up in the air, clinging to my evergreen trees. Somehow they escaped my attention during this really hot summer. But now it’s kind of like growing your own Christmas ornaments without ever having to install them.
On this glorious sunny mid-October day join us on our field trip to Wisconsin’s Boerner Botanical Gardens. In 1929 Charles B. Whitnall and Alfred L. Boerner shared a dream, to create a magnificent park space specializing in a new field of study Architectural Landscaping, displaying plant materials that would enhance area homes, businesses, industry and municipal sites. Come roam 606 acres of parks, gardens, specimen gardens, hiking & cross country skiing trails, bird sanctuary, golf course, woodlands and lots of family picnic areas.
We were so impressed with last week’s batch of applesauce that we wanted to make some more. But our local Farmer’s Market vendor didn’t bring the apple seconds we needed so Kim sent us over to see Eric at the Basse’s Farm to package 50 more pounds of apples. It was our first visit and we were surprised to see all the goodies this local family run farm had to offer. We’ll be back!
Sunday October 10th in any given Century’s 10th year, only comes around once in every 400 years. If you want to see us in our garden today, as well as, the next time 10-10-10 at 10 minutes after 10 am/pm, you’ll have to wait until the year 2410. Today we pull out the last garden areas, prepare 50 pounds of apples, dry more gourds, and finish cleaning out the little pond. Today is another amazing, sunny 78-degree Wisconsin fall day. Yummy!
Video Blog 54 – Monches Farm Our Specimen Garden Resource
We’re fortunate to live within 20 miles from one of Wisconsin’s premier plant grower who provides new variations along with heritage specimen plants to Wisconsin gardeners. Join us as we take you on a quick tour of Monches Farm in Colgate, Wisconsin located about 6 miles SE of Holy Hill.
After many years we felt it was time to clean out our little backyard pond. It’s served as a fun water feature not only for us, but for our grandson and his friends. We’ve tried adding new water but because of our unusually hot summer we needed to pump it out and start over.
Every garden needs space for inspiration bulbs that open their majestic blossoms even as the snow melts. Start planting bulbs in fall and enjoy your own spring magic show. Come back in Spring 2011 to view the fragrant results.
Saturday is a great day to go to your local farmer’s market and Fall is a great time to make apple sauce. I brought home 50 pounds of apples and filled our kitchen with one of the sweetest aromas fall has to offer. Watch my helper Logan stir and taste test my first batch.
Saturday is a great day to go to your local farmer’s market and Fall is a great time to make apple sauce. I brought home 50 pounds of apples and filled our kitchen with one of the sweetest aromas fall has to offer. Watch my helper Logan stir and taste test my first batch.
Here it is the first week in October, now that the final fall harvest is over it’s time to clear out all the amazing plants that provided a bountiful 2010 Wisconsin Garden for which we are deeply grateful. Now that the growing season is complete it’s time to evaluate, plan, and creating our list of seeds, plants, and goodies for spring 2011.
It’s amazing how many amazing neighbors we meet that stop to admire our ever expanding gardens. Ranjit, one of our neighbors, was inspired to build a Zip Line across his backyard along with his new Swing Jump, and invited Rick and me over to test them out. Afterwards he brought out more treats following up our morning exercise with delicious, healthy and nutritional goodies.
Fall is a great time to also prep your motorized garden tools. It’s important to check and change the oil in your lawn mower and change the air filter, spark plug, and mulching blade often based on your usage. Fall is also one of the best times to fertilize your lawn and even prep your snow blower.
Cattails and Lilly Pads need their seasonal thinning and pruning of the Cats & Pads In My Pond so the fish can see Wisconsin summer sunrises & sunsets.
One minute I'm watering our Wisconsin Garden and who shows up, but GOD. He surely has a better system for instantly watering everything at once BIG TIME!
There comes a point when you can’t eat all the freshly picked vegetable on a daily basis so the next best option is to freeze them. They need to be properly prepared. Here’s how!
Thought you’d enjoying seeing how our new raised bed garden areas are doing, raspberry transplants, new grape vine arbor, and even the milkweed pods that provide and important role in our Wisconsin garden.
We recently gave away hundreds of strawberry plants to our neighbors. Afterwards one of them came back with a wagon full of more garden freebies, just because we put the word out what we were seeking. Don’t be shy asking for things you and your garden want or need.
The growing season this year seems to be progressing a little earlier than usual and it’s already time for harvesting a lot of garden bounty from peas, beans, peppers, raspberries, currents, and rhubarb, with tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and cucumbers soon on the horizon. Come see how things have grown.
There are good reasons for trimming plants and bushes. If we don’t trim the heads off of flowering plants, plant energy will go in making seeds and not expanding the plant roots and overall plant health.
Here’s some helpful tips we learned from Jerry Baker on protecting tree booboos, cuts, & bruises with an effective liquid bandage that helps keep out all those pesky bugs, diseases, and tree rot that prevent healthy tree growth. After all, your landscaping is an important investment worth protecting.
When the harsh winter snows cover your summer garden, here’s a great way for you and your family to relive eating delicious organic strawberries with a flavor that can’t be beat, and all grown from your Wisconsin garden.
Several years ago I was inspired by some gourds I saw at a local farmer’s market which inspired me not only to grow my own gourds, but to turn them into unique works of art. Come and see my technique!
Video Blog 24 – Freezing In Strawberry Heaven Today I picked 18 Pounds Of Delicious Red Strawberries that I’m going to show you how I preserve them for that time of year when the snow flies and my June memories keep my family warm with each and every bite!
Video Blog 23 – Answers Your Garden Questions
Wisconsin Garden Wants To Help Answer Your Questions About Gardening. Let Lynn Know What's On Your Mind And She'll Do Her Very Best To Prepare A Video On The Subject.
Video Blog 22 – Strawberry Fields Forever Wisconsin Garden Episode #22 "Strawberry Fields Forever!" How our little garden patch produces a huge harvest of home-grown, freshly picked Wisconsin Garden strawberries that simply can't be beat for taste or flavor. Stop on by and taste test while they last.
What Do You Do When You Cut Down A Really Big Tree And Are Left With A Huge Stump? We Couldn't Get A Stump Cutting Into This Area So We Came Up With A Creative Alternative - A Backyard Waterfall!
Video Blog 19 - Plants That Divide And Conquer You've Heard Of "Divide And Conquer." When You Have An Abundance Of Plants, It's Easy To Divide Them And Spread Them To Other Areas While Under The Watchful Eyes Of Our Fearsome Guard Dog.
Life Is Always About Making Selections. Gardening Is No Different. It Helps To Know Where You Want Your Garden To Grow, But The Conditions Different Plants Need To Flourish.
Video Blog 17 - Not Just Cut And Dry What Do You Do When Garden Areas Start To Become Too Crowded? Consider Removing And Potting Extra Plants To Sell Or Share With Others! We Encourage Our Visitors To Join A Local Plant Exchange. It's A Great Way To Meet Others Who Share Your Gardening Passions.
Take A Quick Visual Tour Of Our Backyard Wisconsin Garden. Start Where We Picked 81 Pounds Of Strawberry Heaven While Wandering Through Our Raised Bed Garden And Other Points Of Interest.
Don't Mean To Sound Like A Broken Record, But Using Your Grass Clippings In Your Vegetable Garden Helps Your Vegetables, Plants, And Garden Areas In So Many Ways, It's Something You Should Really Consider.
I Don't Hate Cutting Grass, But I Enjoy Creating More Floral, Plant, And Garden Areas. Nearly All Of Our Garden Beds Started By Building BERMS. Some Wisconsinites Call Them "Dead Dog Mounds." Don't Ask Me Why! See How Building Berms Not Only Reduces Grass Cutting Chores But Creates New Garden Spaces.
Video Blog 13 - Frosting For Your Garden What's Cake Without Frosting? So Why Not Give All Your Garden Areas The Delicious Nutrients It Desires, Just Like Frosting On A Cake!
What If You Could Find Gold Right In Your Own Backyard? If You're Into Gardening And You're Not Composting Or Mulching Your Garden And Plant Beds, You Need To Quickly Understand That Mulching Is The New Gold Standard For Gardeners.
You Think Coupons Are Great? Well They Are But It's Even Better When You Can Get It For FREE! Check Out Where You Too Can Get Garden GOLD Just For The Asking! Don't Forget To Bring Your Buckets Or Trailer, Pitch Fork, Shovel And Muscles.
Video Blog 10 - Mulch Bed Gardening This Is The Area Where We Started Really Using And Storing Mulch For Our Gardens Which Now Has Produced A Soil So Rich With Earthworms That One Shovel Can Handle At Least One Day Of Great Fishing. If You're Getting Into Gardening, Mulching And Composing Are A MUST!
Video Blog 09 - Keeping Bugs Bunny Out Here's What We've Done In One Of Our Raised Bed Garden Areas To Keep Most Of The Critters Out Of Our Garden, Especially, Bugs Bunny.
NO, Not That Kind! Grass Can Make A Perfect Protective Bedding For Your Vegetable Garden. Here's Some Tips On How I Use Grass Clippings As Mulch In My Garden.
Video Blog 07 - You’ve Made Your Bed Now Plant In It Your Vision Really Takes Hold When The Planting Season Arrives And It's Finally Time For Your Plants To Establish Their Roots.
I'm Having Fun With My Little Red Wagon, OK My Black Garden Wagon. Makes Moving Things Around Much Easier. Every Gardener Should Have One - They're Great.
Video Blog 04 - Where Great Things Start Every Garden, Large Or Small, Starts With An Overall Plan And Vision That Starts With Selecting Seeds Or Mature Plants Perfect For Your Garden Space.
Video Blog 02 - Giving Your Tomatoes A Haircut Giving Your Tomatoes A Haircut Produces Larger Fruit, Improves Air Circulation, Overall Health, AndKeeps Them Manageable.
Video Blog 01 - Toe-May-Toe vs. Toe-Ma-ToePlanting Different Varieties Of Tomatoes To Expand Your Garden Palette!
92 year young Rachel M. Veitch (FL) and her incredible 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente “Chariot” nearing 600,000 original miles interviewed by Richard on July 14, 2010.
If you’re driving around the Holy Hill area, you must stop in Colgate, Wisconsin and meet metal sculptor, Paul Bobrowitz Jr. Walk around his amazing 6 ½ acre sculpture garden filled with thousands of incredible sculptural works of art both large and small. Don’t forget to bring your camera!
Donald Driver - Goodwill Ambassador - Ribbon Cutting Ceremony September 14, 2010 At The 92nd Street Goodwill Facility In Milwaukee Taking Time To Greet His Fans, Signing 1 of 2 Green Bay Packer Game Footballs I Caught At A Game In 1967 At County Stadium. Thank You DD #80! You've Got A Warm Heart, A Great Smile, And A Wonderful Ambassador For All Goodwill Industry Missions Around The County. Go Pack!
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER Abound in Lynn's Wisconsin Garden
2010 Bumper Crop - 86 Pounds From This Little Strawberry Patch!
This year we believe we will easily surpass this harvest because this area has now over-grown these pathways. We now have at least twice as many plants which we will separate after the growing season, establishing new beds in other areas.
2008 - Previous Record - 81 Pounds!
Some of you have asked what happened in 2009. We were in Las Vegas visiting Rick's mom for several weeks and nearly missed out on our strawberry season. But our son and neighbors didn't let them go to waste. It was nice they saved some for us.
@ WISCONSIN GARDEN proudly presents The Incredible RIVO Art Gallery! @
The "RIVO Digital Quilt" 500+ 38" x 38" Sections That Currently Span The Length Of (5) Football Fields
View sections of the largest Digital Quilt in the world that currently spans the length of five (5) football fields. Each kaleidoscopic section is based upon an abstraction of a person, place, or event in Richard Voigt - RIVO's life. Many compositions were influenced by Lynn's beautiful floral & vegetable gardens.
VIEW 28 THEMATIC GALLERIES (Flowers, Landscapes, Waterscapes, Topographic Celebrity Portraits, Children, Sensuous Models, Black & White Compositions, Abstract Art, Fantasy Mind-Sync Drawings and much more, including his Digital Quilt Series that span the length of 2 Football Fields.
The "Digital Quilt" series was meant to be a multi-layered composition wherein each work was based upon an kaleidoscopic abstraction of a person, place, or object in our life and our Wisconsin Garden environment. Each original canvas section is 38" x 38".
Here’s one of over 200 sections of Richard's Digital Quilt Series inspired by butterflies feeding on a small flower bed outside our kitchen entrance.
DPC # 2626 "Butterfly Circle" by Artist Richard Voigt (RIVO)
DPC # 3899 "Sunflower Bouquet" by Artist Richard Voigt (RIVO)
DPC # 2706 "Mushrooms" by Artist Richard Voigt (RIVO)
DPC # 4038 "Peony On Fire" by Artist Richard Voigt (RIVO)
DPC # 3903 "Luscious Calla Lilly" by Artist Richard Voigt (RIVO)
Take Your Personal Tour And Experience Richard's Unique Art Compositions Today!
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