Out back, in the garden...
Book of the Month!
Garden Monthly!
To Ponder
Growing Community
Closing Comments
Garden Notes Archives

WELCOME !!

New Garden Notes Subscribers!!! And you die hards!

Hot enough for ya?? Wow, it surely is here in Oklahoma! I found this, thought some of you might enjoy getting out of the sun and heat and 'messing around with it'....


This is SOOO funny. If you liked Star Wars (the movie) you'll REALLY get a kick out of this!
http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html


Thank you for your support!

As you all know, we joined an eZine Directory back in March. It is just one of our many marketing techniques, but it has turned into a contest! If you enjoy Garden Notes would you please take a minute and please vote for us! They will ask for your email address, but that is just to prevent unauthorized use. They won't send you anything, I promise.

Thanks so much! and Happy Reading!

• About Us
  Rewritten. Okay! The cats out of the bag.
  
  
• Build a Rain Garden
  Rain gardens are specially constructed gardens located in low areas of a yard where storm water can collect.
  
  
• Tomato Reruns
  By the end of summer, our tomato patch is usually pretty ragged-looking due to t he ravages of insects, mites, and diseases. It's also stopped setting fruit due to the heat of summer. However, fall is coming and with it comes a fresh new start on the vegetable garden.
  
  
• Tough and Beautiful Native Plants
  For those of us with environments not particularly suited to growing sensitive or tender nonnatives, there is a wide selection of native flora available.
  
  
• Compost Tea
  Being touted as the next big thing in gardening, compost tea is reported to increase disease resistance in plants, reduce fertilizer and water needs as well as plant stress, and improve soil structure, aeration, retention of nutrients, and cycling of nutrients into plant-available forms.
  
  
• How To Avoid Wasting Your Most Valuable Online Asset - TIME!
  So what are the greatest online time wasters and what can you do to avoid them?
  
  
• Community Gardening
  Reformatted and pages added.
  
  
• The Food, the Bad, and the Ugly
  In a warmed world, even food won't be as good for you.
  
  
• Information About Aphids
  
  

• Fall Bulbs shopping...
  It's getting that time, WAIT till you see the new daffodils!
  Oooo la la!
  
  
• August's Monthly Reminders
  Lots of new stuff added in the 'Zones' listing!
  
  
• We've added many new gifts to our gardening gifts page!
  
  
• And last but certainly not least!
  A FREE Gift!!
  Just for our subscribers... it's timely and it's cute!
  
  

I LOVE these! I'm afraid it's another must have for the garden! I am sooo happy sitting out in the yard in the evening after the sun goes down and it is cool~ The granite is so natural looking and you can't beat the solar energy saving!

Out back, in the garden...

PRIORITY LIST

• Mulched shrubs may not develop mature stem tissue where they touch the mulch. To harden stems so they can withstand early frost damage, remove about 2 to 3 inches of the mulch from the base of the stems in mid-August.
• Plant garlic now for spring harvests

Plant Fall Vegetables
Late July and August is the time to get in that final planting of warm-season veggies, such as summer squash, cucumbers, green beans, chard, and even okra ... but hurry! Potatoes should be planted in mid to late August. I like to start them in 4-inch pots in a bright shady area and then transplant them into the garden in mid to late August. This decreases losses from rot in the hot summer soil. Planting whole smaller potatoes also helps reduce losses from decay.

Order Spring-Blooming Bulbs and Garlic
Bulb-planting time is just around the corner, so study bulb catalogs, then place your order. Choose a variety of bulbs to give you bloom from late winter through late spring. Consider some of the giant alliums, which are real showstoppers in the garden. At the other end of the spectrum are the diminutive early bloomers, like dwarf iris, snowdrops, and crocus. For something unusual in the garden, try some of the fall-blooming crocus, or colchicum. Garlic is easy to grow and should be planted in the fall, too.

Make Fresh Tomato Salsa
Salsa made fresh, not cooked, is a whole different taste experience. Known as "pico de gallo," or "beak of the rooster," it's fast and easy to make. Combine 2 cups peeled, seeded, and diced tomatoes with 1 cup chopped scallions or onions, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 or 2 seeded and minced jalapeno peppers, 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or flat-leaf parsley), and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with tortilla chips or with grilled fish or chicken.

Collect and Save Seeds
Seeds can be gathered and planted in late summer and fall from many old-fashioned flowers, such as love-in-a-mist, hollyhocks, dame's rocket, larkspur, and spider flowers. You also can save seed from some herbs, such as dill, fennel, and lovage. Species and open-pollinated varieties will come true from seed, but seed from hybrids won't produce the exact same plants. Clip the browning seedheads and place them upside down in a brown paper bag. Label the bag with the plant's name, close the bag, and place in a warm, dry place. As the seeds ripen, they will fall to the bottom of the bag. Gather them and store in a clean envelope, labeled with the name and date.

Hint: Your FREE gift will help with this!

Compost Alert

Sprinkle compost starter to speed up composting for fall soil building.

Plants more often wilt from a lack of oxygen than a lack of water. When the soil is compacted, the plant's tender feeder roots and root hairs suffocate. The problem is compounded when the well-meaning gardener assumes this is a sign of water stress and immediately irrigates. Well-aerated soil, enriched with organic matter, allows air and water to circulate freely about the root system creating a vigorous plant.

Just make sure that you get one started if you haven't already. It's the lifeblood of your garden! Not sure where to start? Learn to Compost.

Need an entire compost primer?
Check out our Master Series Gardening Courses!

 Back to Top

B O O K    O F  T H E   M O N T H
 ----------====(*)====----------

How To Grow More Vegetables

For over 30 years, this pioneering work has continued to revolutionise food production around the world. Written for the individual gardener, HOW TO GROW MORE VEGETABLES is the bible on mini-farming, a method that produceshigh yields of food crops in very small spaces while nourishing the soil and reducing the use of chemicals.

This newly revised and significantly expanded edition incorporates the latest techniques and methods. >> Buy It!

G A R D E N   M O N T H L Y
--------===(*)===--------

Check out what goes on in the sustainable garden in the month of August!

 Back to Top

T O   P O N D E R
 -----=(*)=-----

The concept of sustainability also involves eating local, which means buying food from a farm as close to you as possible. This cuts down on the length of time between when the food is harvested or processed and when you eat it. After being harvested, food begins to lose nutrients, so the less time between the farm and your dinner plate, the more nutritious the food is for you.

According to the EPA, pesticide residues may remain on fresh crops and in processed foods like applesauce and ketchup. Minimize your exposure to these toxic chemicals by purchasing produce raised sustainably without pesticides.

G R O W I N G    C O M M U N I T Y
 ---------====(*)====---------

For the next few months, we'll be putting information in this section of Garden Notes for all who have requested information on community gardening and buying locally. Do you know of any events you'd like to share??

We'd like your feedback!

This month we spotlight our own, Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Their website is just chock full of information, not just on their projects, but all over the country and links to many things related to local buying, community gardening, 'slow food', and food security. I won't go into all the details here, there are just too many, but click on the above link to their site and READ!

They say... "Community food security is a relatively new concept that encompasses three broad areas of concern: adequate food and nutrition for all income levels; sustainable agricultural production; and closer farmer-consumer connections through local markets. It is an umbrella term that unites people interested in issues as diverse as public health and nutrition, sustainable agriculture; environmental protection; and “slow food.”

The Kerr Center is committed to helping Oklahomans understand and establish sustainable local food systems. We think that people of all ages and income levels should have the opportunity to eat nutritious, delicious, locally grown foods that have been produced in an environmentally responsible manner. For more information about Community Foods, click on the following links:

Community Food Security: Definitions and Explanations

We at GardenSimply would like to encourage anyone that has strong feelings about getting our food in a healthful and local way to support their local food coops and community gardens.

Want to find one in your state? See the list!

You don't HAVE a community garden where you live? Then START ONE!

 Back to Top

C L O S I N G   C O M M E N T S
 -------====(*)====-------

Don't forget your FREE Gift!!
Just for our {{ subscribers!! }}... it's timely and it's cute!

We have big goals for Garden Simply! Each area of the world has its own unique challenges to gardening. We promise you, our readers; to continue to add to our
reading room as much a variety of accurate and informative help we can to aide you in your pursuits toward a sustainable lifestyle.

Your future is very much in your own hands and we hope to help all to see that the task at hand is very 'do' able! "Every journey starts with a single step...." Walk the road to sustainability... nothing gives more peace of mind than to be able to supply your own needs.

We are pleased to offer products from one of the largest, most dependable, and easiest places to navigate on the web, Gardener's Supply Company. They offer simply everything you'll need to get done what you want to get done.

We incur expenses every month making Garden Simply a truly valuable internet resource and with you visiting our sponsors, it will help us keep it free Garden Note FREE!

Thank you for your support!

As you all know, we joined an eZine Directory back in March. It is just one of our many marketing techniques, but it has turned into a contest! If you enjoy Garden Notes would you please take a minute and please vote for us! They will ask for your email address, but that is just to prevent unauthorized use. They won't send you anything, I promise.


Until next month, remember the words of G.K. Chesterton ....

"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it."

 Back to Top

S U B S C R I P T I O N   M A N A G M E N T
----------=======(*)=======----------

HELP OUT YOUR FRIENDS - - - - - -
People you care about can take charge of their garden by effectively using the information and resources available at Garden Simply, help them learn how -
forward them a copy  of this month's Garden Notes.

Let GardenSimply help you with a plan of action for YOUR garden every month! Get your own Gardening Journal as a FREE gift for subscribing!