What could be better on a homeschool mama’s blog this time of year than a “Home and Garden 101″ series (which is happily sponsored by Central Pet & Garden – who are also providing my readers with a 25$ AMEX gift card give away)?
Make sure to read to the end so you can enter to win 25$ – and come back every Friday from now through the next 4 weeks to win more!
I apologize up front for not having as many photos in this post. I was busy taking video instead! Click to watch below…
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After having two babies in two years, my garden and yard became last on my project list. This spring, I decided to get out there again with my now 4 & 2 year old toddlers, the teens, and my tree-whispering, green-thumb husband. Since April, we have tackled the weeds, trimmed the trees, re-vamped the garden, planted new things, and otherwise improved our landscaping. But there’s plenty more work to be done!
While I was at the Blissdom Conference, I met the Central Pet and Garden folks, who offered to allow me to work with them on some campaigns they have this spring and summer to introduce people to their best gardening products. These are products we would have been buying anyway, so I jumped on board. It never hurts to get paid to spruce up your own yard, right? I wish they would pay me for doing my laundry, too…
A month ago I did a give away for Pennington Smart Feed fertilizer and their new clear canister garden-hose attachment. We used that on our trees and garden. Some people suggest fertilizing every month on your yard and trees, and others suggest fertilizing once each season. We are more of the once-a-season type, and usually try to fertilize in spring and early summer before it gets too hot, and then we do it again in the fall and maybe once in winter.
In the past, my husband has used Medina HastaGro (6-12-6) every month on our trees (which he actually measured out and watered in at the base of the tree, which took a bit more work). I don’t think once a month feeding is too much for trees, but I wouldn’t do the same thing with grass because I have heard that when the roots are too thick, it actually prevents the grass from looking really nice. We only fertilize the grass seasonally.
As for moving plants and trees, we normally do that in fall – before the first freeze, or in very early spring – after the last freeze. This year I missed my window with all the baby Vitex trees, so I’ll have to move them this October.
Central Pet and Garden has provided our little homeschool garden with four new products to use in our yard, and I’ve decided to make a weekly garden update and little how-to-video out of using them all – and give away a 25$ Amex to my readers each week (give-aways on Friday, winner’s announced on Wednesdays).
I’ll probably continue to share about the garden all the way through harvest now that it is well established. I can’t wait to dig up the CILANTRO forest and plant new things in my second raised bed, and to see what yummy things end up growing on my plants that are already doing well. The tomato plants have already doubled in size in a month and I have some small hot peppers growing on one of the pepper plants that came without a label. They look like De Arbol or Guajillo peppers right now… jury is out.
This past week we pulled weeds, watered, tried to figure out where the ant beds were, trimmed roses, and used Ironite Plus Lawn & Plant Food on our flower beds and trees.
Ironite Brand mineral supplements have been around for more than 55 years, helping gardeners to develop strong roots and green growth in their grasses, trees, and plants. I hadn’t used Ironite before, but it was just as easy to use as our last fertilizer – attaching to the garden spray hose. The liquid lawn and garden spray is a 6-2-1 fertilizer that feeds through the plant’s foliage and roots (and you don’t have to worry about “burn” if you spray some on the leaves). The formula is supposed to have 1% iron. Your plants need their vitamins, too!
We made a silly little how-to video showing you just how easy it is to use, and giving you an update on how our garden is growing….
If you are doing yard and garden work and want to share your photos on Twitter or Instagram, use the #HG101 hashtag so everyone following along can see them. I’m using this hashtag on Twitter, Instagram, and even Pinterest. In fact, I created a Home and Garden 101 pin board where I’m planning to pin my garden and yard progress this year, share fun gardening and outdoor projects I find online, and more. If you want to follow along, you can.
My 16yo is going to share some about garden pests and beneficial bugs this July. He has a zillion books about bugs and has been studying them since he was barely able to read. He prevented me from killing the unsightly bed of overripe cilantro because he pointed out that the aphids that are all over them are a feeding ground for lady bugs (which I love). He also told us about how fire ants actually FARM aphids and prevent lady bugs from killing them if they can.
I’m not sure I can stand that ugly patch of Cilantro much longer. What do you think I should plant there – now that it is getting hot outside and the summer is near? Texas summers are unforgiving. I’m thinking okra, and watermelon… but I don’t want to water all summer long. Any suggestions?
Our rain fall lately has been great — which works wonders for my water bill, but prevents me from using DE powder on the fire ants. DE washes away in the rain. Which is why I’ll be using a little bit of bug spray on the fire ants if we don’t get enough straight sunshine soon. I have been seeing them on the house – and want to make sure they don’t get inside!
So – how is your garden and lawn coming along this spring? Have you used any affordable and easy fertilizers to keep your plants nourished? Want to win a 25$ gift card each Friday for the next 4 weeks during my Home and Garden 101 series?
Use the easy Rafflecopter below to enter and win!
{ Check back Wednesday, the 22nd of May, to see who won! }
In Him,
Heather
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Disclosure Statement
Central Garden & Pet partnered with bloggers such as me to help educate us all about their products. As part of this program, I received compensation. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the use of the products. Central Garden & Pet believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Central Garden & Pet’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations. A winner will be chosen by random and gift card fulfillment will be handled by a third party.