Life on an 1800s Farm in Effingham New Hampshire
You wander out to the garden to pick some fresh tomatoes. You find small black droppings on the leaves of your tomato plant. The leaves are gone, but the stem remains. Looks like you probably have tomato worms. Tomato worms feast on the leaves of your tomato plants, which will lead to the plant dying. The tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) is a large caterpillar that … [Read more...]
You should be growing these springtime herbs in your own garden whether it's a window box, patio planter, or backyard garden, each is easy to grow. You'll love having fresh herbs on hand and I doubt you'll want to return to prepackaged once you try them. Mint - How can you possibly go wrong with fresh mint. Spearmint, peppermint, and even chocolate mint are great for … [Read more...]
If your house is like ours, right about now, you are loaded with cucumbers from the garden. What shall you do? While pickles are wonderful, I am about pickled out right now. I've made dill, spicy dill, and bread and butter pickles. Jars and jars of them, to be exact. I've made cucumber salad, cucumber salad dressing, and anything I else I cold think of. I wanted something … [Read more...]
A Bad Rap For A Great Healing Herb Goldenrod has gotten a bad reputation over the years for causing allergies, and hay fever, however, it has been shown that it's pollen does not go airborne. Rather, it is pollinated by bees and other pollinating insects. It seems that ragweed, which blooms at the same time of year is actually the culprit for those allergies. Ragweed has … [Read more...]
Oh, No, It's Raining. Again...What Are You Going To Do All Day? 10 Thing To Do With Kids That Develop Their Imagination The world is mad about electronic gadgets. Television, computers, iPods, iPads, Smart Phones, and Kindles have taken over people's lives. They can't live without them, and don't remember life when they didn't exist. It seems they even have electronics … [Read more...]
Farming was deep in my roots on both sides of my family. “It'll be easy”, I thought. “You just plant some seeds, and watch them grow.” Was I in for a big surprise. No one ever told me about bugs, and pests, and plant diseases. No one ever told me about the weeds, and how weeding will cause you to go gray before your time. Oh, and the animals. Other than a dog, I had never … [Read more...]
Origins of Pumpkin Pumpkin is native to North America, and is a gourd-like squash. It is from the cucurbitaceae family of plants. The word itself comes from the Greek word pepon, which means large melon. In France the word was adapted into pompon, which then the British changed to pumpion. The early American colonists later changed it to pumpkin. Pumpkin seeds dating back … [Read more...]
St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) has been used for centuries as both a healing herb. It has been nicknamed the wonder herb by many of the herbalists of history. It can be used both internally, as well as externally. It was once even used in magical rituals. It is also known in some areas as goatweed, Klamath weed, Tipton's weed, Rosin Rose and Chase Devil, or Devil … [Read more...]
A Wonderful "Weed" To Let Grow Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is a common plant that grows in meadows. It is a member of the legume family. Red clover is well known by it's beautiful purple blossoms. While it can be used internally for coughs, upper respiratory health issues. Red Clover oil is a wonderful herb for healing eczema and psoriasis. Red Clover grows is most … [Read more...]
Lemon balm herb, also called Melissa, has been used by herbalists, and herbal healers for thousands of years. It is equally popular today as it was during medieval times. The name Melissa comes from the Latin name Melissa Officinalis. Lemon balm is a member of the mint family of plants, and is easily grown in any garden. Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as … [Read more...]
