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Category: Gardening And Outdoors

There Is Nothing Like Gardening And Outdoor Life For That Free Nature Feel.

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Published on 1 Comment on Keep Your Little Friends Happy And Healthy With A Sparkling Clean Bird Bath

IT'S EASY THIS WAY!!!

Lets Keep Their Birdbaths Clean So They Will Be Happy - Just Like We Are With Our Clean Baths:)

Safe and Natural Methods for Cleaning Your Bird Bath

We wouldn't want to take a bath in a gunky tub, so we clean it regularly. And while birds may not be quite as picky as humans when it comes to bathing, that doesn't mean a clean bird bath isn't essential for their health and well-being. Knowing how to clean a Bird Bath and what cleaners to use helps keep birds Safe and Healthy and prevents the spread of disease.

Easy Ways to Clean a Bird Bath

Whether you've got a concrete Bird Bath or any other common type, the methods we're discussing should do the trick. First, dump out any water that's in the bath. Take a moment to look over how dirty it is. If it's just a bit mucky, a quick clean with a natural cleaner like vinegar or Baking Soda may be all you need. But if you see some hardcore stains, it's time to bring out stronger cleaners.

Clean It Naturally With Water

You don't need a cleanser for the majority of bird bath cleanings, as long as you keep it relatively clean and well-maintained.…

Published on Leave a comment on What to Feed Ducks and Geese by Happy Wanderer.

They have Lots of Info! They Say: You Can Feed Them These Alternatives to Bread - As a kid, we regularly got rid of stale bread by taking it down to the pond and feeding the wild ducks. Unfortunately, it is really bad to feed bread to ducks, geese, swans, waterbirds and other wild birds. Beyond the harm it causes the birds, it also pollutes the environment. Here’s what to feed ducks instead of bread, and these alternatives are much healthier for both your feathered friends and the planet.

For Too Long, I Didn't Read

Bread is bad for ducks, geese, and other waterbirds. Like really bad. So just don’t.

I have always loved ducks, from when I was a preschooler to the flock I strolled by every day on campus during graduate school. As a kid, my sister and I thought we were being good citizens of the planet by taking our old bread to the ducks at a nearby pond. In school at the University of New Mexico, I often ate my lunch by the duck pond on campus, sharing a few chunks of bread from my sandwich or a few potato chip crumbs with the braver web-footed creatures who approached me.…

Published on Leave a comment on Fight Depression with Exercise – It Can Lift Depressed Moods

By Dr James M. Greenblatt M.D - Psychology Today
Specialising In Depression.

Lately, exercise has been at the forefront of every conversation about health. No doubt this careful attention is due to the increasing concerns over obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

And it's true that exercise can improve our health by reducing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the risk of developing diabetes. Did you realize though that exercise also has amazing positive psychological effects?

Besides the obvious physical health benefits, exercise can also:

A great deal of research dating as far back as the 1980s has shown that exercise can effectively reduce cases of mild to moderate depression. Yet, psychiatrists, particularly those in the US, tend to underestimate the benefits of exercise and rarely prescribe it. British physicians, on the other hand, can actually prescribe exercise as a treatment for depression, with the National Health Service subsidizing some or all of the cost. Imagine being given the green light to take a walk at lunch every day by your doctor!

It's clear that there is no real downside to moderate exercise, so let's get to the particulars.…

Published on Leave a comment on Gardening 2 or 3 Times A Week To Relieve Stress

By SunnySkyz - Based on Survey!

A new study suggests that frequent gardening may be linked to increased health benefits.

According to the study posted on ScienceDirect, gardening just two or three times a week maximized the benefits of better wellbeing and lower stress levels. Gardening Encourages Family Togetherness, and it Keeps You Company if you live on your own too - I love to do this, my plants are great company. Folks, you don't have to have a lot of Plants to do this!

Benefits Of Gardening - Discover Them

The research explored why residents engaged with gardening and the extent to which they recognized any health benefits from the activity.

A questionnaire was distributed electronically within the UK, with 5,766 gardeners and 249 non-gardeners responding. Data was collated on factors including garden typology, frequency of gardening and individual perceptions of health and well-being.

"This is the first time the 'dose response' to gardening has been tested and the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the more frequently you garden – the greater the health benefits," said Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) wellbeing fellow and lead author Dr Lauriane Chalmin-Pui. "In fact gardening every day has the same positive impact on wellbeing than undertaking regular, vigorous exercise like cycling or running.…

Published on

DO YOUR TASTE-BUDS FAVOR GREEK AND ITALIAN CUISINE? MAYBE YOU LIKE OREGANO BUT HAVE NOT HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF TRYING IT FRESH - IT'S REALLY NICE, AND ALL YOU NEED IS A FEW LEAVES. I FOUND THIS EXCELLENT ARTICLE BY A 2nd GENERATION HOME GARDENER WITH LOTS OF EXPERIENCE TODAY. HER NAME IS Amy Andrychowicz from GetBusyGardening.Com

How To Grow Oregano Successfully - Surprise Yourself!

Growing oregano is easier than most people think, and require very little care. In this post, I’ll show you everything you need to know in order to have your biggest and best crop yet!

Oregano is a delicious, useful, and a surprisingly low maintenance herb to grow at home.

Once you understand how to care for it, even a beginner can get it established, and keep it going for years in their garden.

This guide is designed to help you discover exactly what it takes to grow oregano.

You’ll find tons of information, including soil, sun, water, and fertilizer requirements, tips on harvesting, pest control, and much more.

Temperature: 60-80°F
Flowers: Purple, pink, or white, blooms in late summer
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Water: Allow soil to dry between waterings, do not overwater
Fertilizer: General purpose plant food in spring and summer
Soil: Fast-draining, fertile soil

The sprawling, hardy growth and drought tolerance makes it popular as a low-maintenance ground cover.…

Published on Leave a comment on A 60-Minute Walk In Nature Decreases Activity In Brain Regions Involved In Stress Processing

Researchers in Germany have found that a one-hour walk in nature reduces
stress-related brain activity.

The amygdala is the brain region involved in stress processing. It has been shown to be less activated in people who live in rural areas, compared to those who live in cities, hinting at the potential benefits of nature.

Nature Walks Are Good For Your Brain

However, no study so far has examined the causal effects of natural and urban environments on stress-related brain mechanisms.

"But so far the hen-and-egg problem could not be disentangled, namely whether nature actually caused the effects in the brain or whether the particular individuals chose to live in rural or urban regions," says Sonja Sudimac, predoctoral fellow in the Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience (LMGEN) and lead author of the study.

To address this question, researchers from LMGEN examined brain activity in regions involved in stress processing in 63 healthy volunteers before and after a one-hour walk in Berlin's Grunewald Forest and a busy city street using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The results of the study revealed that activity in the amygdala decreased after the walk in nature, suggesting that nature elicits beneficial effects on brain regions related to stress.…

Published on

From FarmersAlmanac.Com

Has all this hand washing left you with very dry or raw, chapped skin? We've got a few natural remedies for that, some may surprise you!

If you’re like most, you’ve been doing some crazy handwashing lately—and topping it off with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer—to keep germs at bay. This kind of frequent hand washing while a reliable way to ward off illness, can lead to dry, chapped skin, according to dermatologists.

Practicing good hand hygiene kills germs, but it also strips away your skin’s natural oils. And for those who experience cold, dry weather, it can be a double whammy. As a result, your hands may even be raw, cracked, and screaming for help. So what can you do? We have a few easy, natural solutions.

First, A Few Hand-Washing Tips

  • When heading to the sink, stick to natural, fragrance-free soaps. You can also try using liquid Castile soap to wash with. Add a squirt to a pump dispenser and fill the rest with water. You can also add a few drops of germ-fighting tea tree oil, and fractionated coconut oil, or “liquid coconut oil,” to help keep your hands smooth.
…

Published on

From BalconyGardenWeb.Com

IT'S AMAZING HOW THOSE MITES SPIN THEIR WEBS FROM FROM BRANCH TO BRANCH OR AROUND TWIGS OAT THE END OF BRANCHES IF YOU'RE NOT WATCHFUL OR EVEN IN NO TIME AT ALL SOMETIMES. SO HOW ABOUT HAVING A LIST OF PLANTS YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM THAT WILL CASE THEM TO GO ELSEWHERE, WHATEVER? THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU WILL FIND HERE IN THIS POST.

Growing Plants That Will Deal With Spider-Mites

#1 Peppermint

Peppermint is one of the best choices for keeping spiders away from your garden. If you didn’t know, spiders are very sensitive to scent, which is how they detect friends and foes. As it happens, a peppermint plant produces intense scents that can penetrate through a considerable area. This widespread scent should be an efficient motivation for spiders to stay away. In short, plants in your indoor/outdoor garden will be free from the potential damages a spider could inflict. However, it would be best to keep in mind that peppermint is an aggressive plant in many ways. So, you have to re-pot the plant if you think the growth is out of control.

#2 Lavender

You do not have to think about repelling or killing spiders to keep a lavender plant in your garden.…

Published on

ABC Everyday / By Zoe Kean

Longer, warmer days are causing plants all over Australia to spring into new growth. But with this welcome growth comes every gardener's nemesis — weeds.

Amanda Sigler, 38, grew their "first ever garden" last summer and has been gaining new skills to keep weeds at bay.

Here are their tips, along with advice from a horticulturalist. 

Prevention is key and cardboard can help

The strongest advice Amanda has for new gardeners is to stop the problem before it starts through weed-wise planning.

"Lay a good foundation," they say.

When Amanda moved into a rental in Moonah, a Hobart suburb, they were faced with an expanse of lawn. After getting the go-ahead from their landlord, they decided to replace the lawn with veggie beds.

They dug up their lawn then lay flattened cardboard over the dirt to stop the grass regrowing. They topped it all off with fresh, premium, weed-free soil.

This strategy gave their new veggies the best chance of growing without competition.

Louise Sales, horticulturalist at the Botanical Institute, a garden run by the Museum of Old and New Art's (MONA) 24 Carrot Garden Program, endorses this method. 

"If you've got lots of weeds [laying cardboard down] is a really good way of suppressing them," she says.…

Published on

By Janet Vargas - Owner Of This Website

DID YOU KNOW THAT 75% OF FOOD WORLDWIDE IS LIMITED TO 12 PLANT CROPS (and 5 animal foods) AND THAT WESTERN COUNTRIES......... MORE INTERESTING FACTS IN THIS POST, PLUS WHICH FRUITS AND VEGGIES THE AFORE MENTIONED ARE AND SOME INSIGHTS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ENCOURAGING BIODIVERSITY HERE IN AUSTRALIA. ON A LIGHTER NOTE, I WILL ALSO MENTION SOME IMPROVEMENTS WE'VE HAD IN OUR FOOD CULTURE IN RECENT DECADES AND RECENT TIMES, TO WHAT WE HAD YEARS AGO. I HOPE YOU READ THIS POST.

According to TheFutureMarket.Com  we only grow a small percentage of Plant Food Crops in Western Countries that does not allow for much Food Diversity in our Diet or our Health. As mentioned, they state that 75% of the World’s Food comes from 12 Plants (and 5 Animals).

In this order, the highest turnover of Plant Foods produced are 1. Sugar, 2. Corn, 3. Rice, 4. Wheat, 5. Potatoes,  6. Soya Beans, 7. Cassava, 8.Tomatoes, 9. Bananas, 10. Onions, 11. Apples and 12. Grapes. We eat only 150 out of 30,000 edible plant species (worldwide). For example, the USA has lost 90% of it’s Fruit and Veg varieties since 1900.…