It's Winter Gardening Again!

We all need a few Gardening tips to help us along from time to time, including myself.

It makes you wonder how some of us actually manage with gardening any time of the year if we have a large garden.

Ok, so here are a few basic tips to be getting on with;

Don't stop picking your fruit until they no longer ripen, something a lot of us forget when winter gardening.

Aerate your lawn and brush sharp sand into spiked holes, this is also about your last chance to give your lawn an autumn feed, don't forget, you will have to continue to mow your lawn but you may have to raise the blades a little in your mower.

Rake up those fallen leaves and put them on the compost heap, cant waste them can we.

If you are thinking about planting some conifers and trees, perennials, shrubs or roses then now would be a good time and also other types of the spring flowering varieties such as pansies and wallflowers etc and bring in any dahlia tubers but carry on with any shrub cuttings.

If you have any hardy perennials then this is also a good time for dividing them.

It is a good time now to be planting your spring cabbage but do remember to cover them with a net unless you really want to fatten up the local pigeons, also plant your autumn onion sets and garlic.

You may also want to dig up any potatoes you have left as they wont last long in the winter frost.

Here's a little tip: Put some grease on any bands you have on your fruit trees, obvious really but too often forgotten.

If you have any tender plants they are not going to last very long if you just leave them out so bring them into the greenhouse.

Another part of gardening is cleaning of the greenhouse glass, yes it needs to be done!.

Make sure that heaters are working - no good waiting until you need your heaters only to find they don't work!

Don't do quite so much watering now and only do it during the morning hours, and also remember those odd warm days when you might have to open your ventilators.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Dominic_A_Ferndale

Bedroom Design Ideas - How To Make Your Bed Set More Comfortable

If there is a place in the house where we can feel comfortable the most, it is the bedroom. Nothing beats relaxing in your mattress while letting it soothe the aches and pains you have acquired during the day.
On the other hand, the mattress or your whole bed set can also be an instrument of discomfort. If you don't get the right mattress set, you cannot get the comfort you are looking for. Let me tell you a few tricks in making your bed set more comfortable.
1. Find out if it is time to change your mattress. A dirty and lumpy mattress has to be replaced already. The knowledge that you are sleeping on a clean bed already calms the brain and the body. Bed bugs and dust mites can take up residence in your bed after a few decades.
Look for a good mattress with comfortable features. When buying, you might want to try the mattress first for a few minutes and measure its initial comfort. Take advantage of comfort trials so you can still change the bed if it proves to be uncomfortable.
2. If you have just purchased a mattress that is too soft, you can try placing wooden platform underneath it or you can just buy a box spring to support the structure of the mattress. The platform and the box spring allow the internal materials of the mattress to support your body better. If you have a bed frame with wide spaces in between slats, some parts of the mattress might dip and sag.
3. Try using a mattress topper with an egg crate design. It helps make a stiff and firm mattress softer. Make sure you purchase one with the same size as your mattress so you can install it properly. Some mattress sets have covers that you can unzip. You can remove the integrated topper and replace it with a new one.
4. Use comfortable bed covers. Satin is a good material. Some mattress brands also use satin materials as cover for the mattress. You can use the same for the bed sheets and pillow cases. The material glides easily on your skin. It soothes tension and stress.
There are also bed sheets and comforters incorporated with silver threads and fibers. According to studies, silver removes tension and negative ions in the body. As a result, your muscles and nerves can feel more relaxed.
5. Try not to crowd the bed with too many pillows. Just place comfortable pillows and bolsters and make enough room for you to move.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_Cassidy 

Home Made Energy Review and Description

Home Made Energy is one of the best known products available for building solar panels and wind generators for home use. It consists of several videos and PDF files that cover the processes involved in every detail.
The videos are well produced and easy to watch, and provide the basic electrical knowledge you need about solar power as well as the details of building the panels you will use to apply that knowledge.
The ebook is over 60 pages and is also well produced. It has a lot of pictures and charts which cover the components you will need and how to hook them up.
There is also a lot of quality materials on the building of wind power generators for those who want yet another alternative.
Home Made Energy is a complete guide to building, installing, and maintaining solar panels and wind power generators designed for the average person who is seeking energy independence, or just a lower electric bill.
While there are many other solar panel products available, it would be hard to find a more complete system or one that is easier to work with. Along with the support it comes with, if you are going to be able to build and install a solar panel getting Home Made Energy would be a wise first step.
Even if you find you don't have the skills needed, you can likely find someone who will help you build one in exchange for the information on how to do it.
It's a lot easier to say you are going to build a solar panel than it is to build one, but you will not be able to say you don't know how once you see Home Made Energy.

Become energy independent! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_Ambers

The Lost Language of Flowers and Foliage

In the mid 1800s, when someone created a bouquet, they created a message too. The message wasn't written in a letter or on a card, but in the flowers and foliage that made up the bouquet.
For the educated at that time, flowers and foliage had assigned meanings. So the combinations used to make bouquets conveyed messages, to be read only by others in-the-know.
The mythical origins of the language explains that they came from Turkey where a French painter wooed a Harem girl. He took her back to France as his wife where she taught European women to speak with flowers and foliage to their lovers. The Europeans then taught everyone else.
Some plant meanings are obvious, like the Venus' Fly-Trap signifying deceit and danger. Ouch! And a Lemon Branch meaning zest or vigor. Zing!
Some meanings are obvious if you know the Latin name for the flower, like the Daffodil. In Latin it's called a Narcissus, named for the vain god. The Daffodil signifies egotism.
The more interesting are the counter-intuitive ones, like a Cactus symbolizing warmth. But if you think about it, the Cactus grows in a warm climate. The prickliness is ignored.
It's interesting to note that some meanings are different than meanings we commonly accept today, such as for the Shamrock. It does not symbolize luck, but instead means lightheartedness.
And the holiday-season favorite, Mistletoe, does not mean a kiss, but instead means "I surmount difficulties". Perhaps the difficulty surmounted is how to get a certain person to let you kiss them, or how to get a certain person to kiss you? Just a thought...
One plant meaning is still commonly known. The Olive Branch is the universal symbol of peace. And you do still hear people say someone is as solid as an Oak. The Oak symbolizes bravery.
While the language of flowers and foliage is a dead language today, the dictionaries for this language still exist and inspire the more romantic, or devious, among us. If that includes you, here are some suggestions.

• A bride's bouquet of Blue Violets and Forget-Me-Nots surrounded by Ivy promises a faithful and true love within marriage.
• A Cabbage Rose and Lupines sent ahead by a date means the person will arrive as an ambassador of love, voracious for your company.
• You could head off the ambassador with a bouquet of Orange Blossoms and Acacia Leaves declaring your chastity (with them) and offering friendship instead.
• If you receive Variegated Tulips with Peonies it could be you have an admirer of your beautiful eyes who's too bashful to tell you in person.
• Watch out for an Oleander Branch with Lavender around a Tuberose. Someone could be trying to tell you to beware and to distrust dangerous pleasures.
• But Hollyhock with Sweet-Peas means someone has ambitions for delicate pleasures.
• A sweet arrangement is Buttercups with Daisies and Magnolia, communicating a childish, innocent, love of nature.
• Even sweeter is Honeysuckle, meaning generous and devoted affection.
• At a time of loss, Pansies with either Red Poppies, Marigolds or Pine Branches tell a person of your thoughts for them of consolation, despair and pity.
• But if the person mourning responds with Mimosa and Elm branches, they're telling you they're still sensitive yet coping with dignity.
• Decorating your doorway with Oak Branches would signify your hospitality to your party guests as they arrive.
• And a gift bouquet for your party host of Sweet Basil, Parsley, Mint, and Sage will not only make the food more flavorful, but also send good wishes for the festivity, and praises the host for their virtue, especially their domestic virtues.
• The earthy combination of Grass and Wheat stocks means there's to be a submission with an expectation of great riches.
• But for the broken heart, try sending the heart-breaker some Lettuce Leaves with Hydrangeas and one White Rose Bud. If they understand the language of flowers and foliage, they'll know you consider them a cold-hearted, boaster who's heart is ignorant of love.

I'll leave you with an Oak leaf with an Olive Branch, or the wish that you're brave enough to seek peace where you now have strife.
This article taken from - http://www.dreamsalivemagazine.com/summer2007/lost-language-flowers-foliage/index.

Vegetable Gardening For Beginners Avoid This Costly Mistake

If you are looking for information on vegetable gardening for beginners then at least you are doing something right. You at least recognise that as a beginner gardener you are going to need some information before you chuck a few seeds out into your backyard and expect to wake up and find a healthy delicious beanstalk the next morning. So well done you have made a great start.
You see I was one of those people who woke up one morning decided we needed to start growing our own vegetables to
a) keep our spiralling household food bill down and to
b) start eating food that we had grown ourselves and that we absolutely knew was not laced with chemicals
As our ancestors have grown their own food for thousands of years without the aid of the Internet or you tube or social network sites, I knew without doubt that it would be very easy. So off to the garden centre to buy the seeds for the vegetables I wanted to plant was I. I spent money on seeds, tools, soil and I also invested in some cool looking gardening clothing, because after all it's important to look like an expert outdoors person when ploughing up your small back yard. Wrong again.
I spent several weekends planting, while my husband and children looked on sceptically. Even as my shoots started appearing I kind of knew that something was wrong, they really didn't look very good or healthy. When the time came to harvest the fruits of my labor, well there really wasn't a harvest at all. I simply had to go around and pull up all my failed attempts, and bin them ready to start again for next season.
So what did I learn? Well the first thing I gained from my experience was the fact that although our ancestors did indeed grow their own food for millennia, that does not mean it is easy for someone who has never done it before. The reason my forbears were good at is was because that was all they had, that was the only way they knew how to get food, and if they were not good at it then they starved. Everyone did it in those days so everyone knew how. It was first and second nature to them.

Fast-forward to today, and it is not first, second or third nature to us in 2010. We really haven't a clue (most of us) how to produce and grow our own food. Our land (as in our backyard vegetable patch) is no longer ready for and able to produce food without some help and preparation.
So before you even think of heading off down to the garden centre or nursery to buy your seeds for whatever vegetables you are going to plant then, do not make the same mistake as I did. Do some research, learn about the type of vegetables you would like to grow, understand what their needs and requirements are and then give them what they need. Make a plan. Remember if you fail to plan then you plan to fail.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Megane_Cullinante