The Stylish Garden

Fall is My Favorite Time of the Year

2011-09-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

It's Almost Fall!!!

Beautiful Autumn Fall Leaves Mug by cyclegirl
Create a cheap personalized beer mug at Zazzle

Beautiful Autumn Fall Leaves T-Shirt by cyclegirl
Browse more Autumn T-Shirts

Crawfish Merch for Your Event

2010-08-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

Crawfish Boil Party Invitations - Fully Customizable to Fit Your Party Needs:

Crawfish Boil Party Favors - All Fully Customizable:

Frosty Mugs for All That Beer:

Crawfish Boil 2010

2010-08-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

Our crawfish boil 2010 was a big success! Here are pictures of the cook and the food! I got so busy though, I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the night. Maybe next time.

How To Extract Juice From Grapes

2010-07-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

We grow our own grapes for jelly making here in our little Oklahoma garden. We have six grapevines that we bought from Lowes and they have produced nicely for several years. This will be my second year to make jelly.

First wash the grapes thoroughly.

The easiest way to extract the juice from your homegrown grapes is to first place the grapes in a food processor. Pulse the processor as many times as necessary to gently crush the grapes. Don't overdo it.

Now pour the grapes into a pot large enough to hold the grapes. Place pot on top of stove on low to medium heat. Heat the grapes until they begin to boil then reduce heat to simmering.

With a large spoon begin to press the grapes as they simmer. Simmering causes the grapes to release even more juice. Keep pressing until you see plenty of juice forming in the pot.

Now, place a small hand held strainer over a large glass measuring cup. Using a measuring cup will help you keep track of how much juice you're getting. Spoon some of the simmering grapes into the strainer (it's hot!) and begin to press with the spoon so that the juice is running through the strainer into the measuring cup. Get as much juice as possible and return those grape skins to the pot. Mix grape skins back into the pot with the rest of the grapes, reheat and repeat the straining until all juice is extracted.

Voila'!!!

Grape skins are all that's left now.

This Year's Grape Crop

2010-07-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Barring the birds and other pests, it looks like this year we're going to have another pretty good crop of grapes. More homemade grape jelly for us! I just picked my first round yesterday. I brought them in and enlisted my daughter's help to remove all the bad grapes and stems. I washed them off in a large strainer and let them sit overnight.

Tonight, I washed the grapes again and have mashed all the juice out which I will freeze until all the rest of the grapes decide to ripen.

Check back in a couple of days for my how to's on making homemade grape jelly.

Whiskey Barrel Fountain - How to Make It

2009-06-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

We have had ours for several years now and really have enjoyed it. We like drinking our Sunday morning coffee out on the back porch next to it. Here is how to make a whiskey barrel fountain.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5064762_make-whiskey-barrel-fountain.html

Pond Waterfall Leaks

2009-06-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

For the umpteenth time we re-did our pond waterfall. Well, maybe it was four times that we re-thought that waterfall. Each time having to remove bolder after bolder out of the way - very heavy stuff and back breaking work. You see, we kept losing water and couldn't figure out why. Finally I did some serious research. The first three times we "fixed" the waterfall never did we realize the liner was key. We had used the liner for the actual pond section only. We had constructed the waterfall out of three flat pieces of flagstone built in a stair step fashion. We piled rocks all along the sides all the way down the waterfall. Each time we made sure the water was being directed onto the stone pieces and no water was splashing out. Well, I guess that wasn't right. Somehow, even though the flat rocks were pointed downwards and water was flowing into the pond, we were still losing water.

After seeing several pond layouts online, a really good site had all the waterfalls being constructed on top of the liner. Not a separate liner, but the same liner that the pond was built around. We remembered we had rolled the extra liner up when we built the pond. So when we removed all the bolders again and unrolled the liner, we had plenty of length left to place under our waterfall. We then proceeded to replace the bolders this time on top of the liner then rolling the extra liner up on the outsides of the bolders, and low and behold we have not lost any water!

Hopefully this will be the last time we have to build our waterfall....

Bully the Bullfrog

2009-04-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Look what I found when giving my backyard pond a facelift. Tucked inside a concrete block, I stuck my hand in and he slimed me. Since we apparently disturbed his habitat, we placed Bully behind a rock to make him feel like he was hidden. As we worked we kept an eye on him. Once the pond was finished my husband placed him on top of the waterfall where he promptly jumped into the pond. I'm not sure how a bullfrog makes it to town, but here's the proof. Looks like we have yet another pet!

How to Grow Lemon Balm

2009-04-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

Growing the herb lemon balm is pretty simple. All you need is a large planter, a couple of lemon balm plants or a packet of seed, and Miracle grow potting mix. I picked this planter up at Walmart for about $25.00. (It's plastic but you can't tell it!) After a couple of seasons your efforts will look this this. I actually had some chives and a couple of other herbs planted, but as you can see the lemon balm won.

How to Choose the Best Perennial

2009-04-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

And here it is:

This perennial is called a Gaillardia. The common name is Arizona Sun. I have been pleasantly surprised by it. We bought two from Lowe's last summer and they stayed green throughout the winter here and then promptly began blooming in April of this year. This year both plants are three times their purchase size. I'm thinking I need about 4 or 5 more to complete my front border. I really like this! I have not seen them at Lowe's so far this year. I'm going to keep checking back though and if I can't find them Burpee carries them online.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4917745_choose-perennials.html

How to Host a Crawfish Boil

2009-04-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

Every year, or almost anyway, we have a crawfish boil at our house. Crawfish season runs from February to May each year. As long as there have been no hurricanes during crawfish season the mud bugs should be plentiful. We were unable to host a crawfish boil in 2008 due to the numerous weather patterns. Here is an article that will outline how to do this and also a link to another site that gives more detail on how to cook crawfish.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4871195_host-crawfish-boil-party.html

How to Make Compost Out of All Those Leaves

2008-11-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Pound per pound, leaf compost or mold as it is called, is the best soil additive you can use. Best of all, it is free and provided by nature! This article will describe in detail how to make your own leaf mold to help enrich your garden soil.

Gather fall leaves and rake them into a corner of your yard or other area where you can place a wire mesh fence around the area to prevent leaves from blowing away. You may also gather and place fall leaves in a plastic barrel. You may run the leaves through a shredder to make the decomposition time faster, but this is not necessary. Once you have gathered your pile, wet the leaves down. It is ideal to place the bin or barrel out in the elements so that you don't have to rely entirely upon your water hose to keep the leaves moist. Be patient, this process takes many months. Depending upon where you reside, this can take anywhere from 6 months to several years. Give the leaves a good stir from time to time to ensure even distribution of the moisture. If you are having trouble retaining moisture in your bin or barrel, you may remember to line the container with plastic the next time you collect leaves. You can also cover the container with a tarp. Another way to create leaf mold is to use plastic garbage bags or biodegradable leaf bags. Simply fill the bags with compressed leaves. If using plastic garbage bags, cut a few small slits in the bags to allow excess water drainage and allow air to come in. Wet the leaves down while in the bag. Close the bag up and shake bags from time to time to distribute the water. After your leaves have decomposed into a material that looks like soil, you are ready to use the leaf mold in your garden.

Now, How to Store Those Leaves to Use Later

2008-11-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

Leaves are by far the best soil additive we can use. Leaves add bulk and nutrients to our soil. In addition, beneficial earth worms love shredded leaves. This article will outline some ways to store leaves for future use in your garden. God gave us these leaves to use, lets use them wisely.

One way to store leaves is to rake all your leaves into your garden or flower beds. Proceed to wet all the leaves down to prevent them from blowing away easily. Remember to keep the leaves wet until you plan to use them. You can place mesh fencing around your garden to prevent flyaways.

Another way to store leaves is to place the leaves in biodegradable leaf bags. You can either: (1) choose to leave these bags full of leaves out in the weather so that you will have a composted mixture to use in your garden or (2) you may fill the bags and store in a dry area. These bags will also decompose into leaf compost over time if left out in the elements.
Create a compost bin with heavy wire mesh in a corner of your yard. Dump leaves into the bin and keep wet. Over time, a super rich soil additive will be created by natural decompostion processes. This is called leaf mold. Leaf mold is the best natural fertilizer you can find, by far.
You may also create a compost bin using large plastic barrels. Be sure to wet the leaves down every so often. Purchase or rent a leaf shredder and shred the leaves into fine pieces and store in garbage bags. Place in a dry area. Shredding the leaves will greatly reduce the volume so that you can store more leaves with less bags.

Don't Burn Those Freakin Leaves!!!!

2008-11-23T12:40:00.001-08:00

Now that fall is on full swing upon us, you may be wondering just what to do with all those leaves. As you know more and more poeple are finding it necessary to "go green" and thinking more about organic foods. Fall leaves can be used for many things, one of which is as a mulch or soil enhancer in your garden. Leaves are naturally full of nutrients and are also food for many beneficial garden bugs. So lets stop throwing away our leaves and piling up plastic gargage bags full of them next to our curb on trash pick up day. Put them to good use in your garden.

We have repeated the following steps for the last couple of years. The results have been very noticable in our garden. Our soil was once very hard dirt and is now a rich loamy texture - great for vegetable growing.

Put on your gloves and workboots. I recommend shielding your face from the sun with a wide brimmed hat. To burn optimal calories, I recommend making this a manual process. No heavy machinery involved until we get to the tilling part. NO cheating by using lawn mowers or ATV's with trailers to haul the leaves. If burning calories is not something you are concerned with, go ahead, use a leaf blower to direct the leaves into your garden. Using your rake, begin to pile your wheelbarrow full of fall leaves. Make several trips to your garden with your wheelbarrow full of leaves. Dump the leaves randomly throughout your garden. You should have between three to six inches of leaves spread evenly across your garden before tilling. Using your garden tiller, begin to till the leaves into the soil. Work the leaves into the top six inches of soil.
As the leaves begin to decompose into the soil, the nutrients will be released. The beneficial garden bugs will be happy as will your vegetables! There are several ways to store the leaves for later use if you don't want to use the leaves immediately. I will discuss this in the next article.

How to Make a Beer Bottle Wind Chime

2008-10-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a nifty way to recycle those aluminum beer bottles. These make a really nice wind chimes when assembled. Use any empty aluminum bootle such as Budlight, Coors, etc. Here's how to do it. http://www.ehow.com/how_4504079_beer-bottle-wind-chime.html

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Series on Chamomile - How to Grow, Harvest and Use

2008-10-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

I wrote a series of articles on Chamomile. I thought it would be nice to share with you so that you don't have to search all over the internet to find each step. It is one of the most widely grown herbs - pretty easy to grow and once it does it will spread like wildfire. The series here relates to German chamomile which is the taller variety. This variety will grow to be between 2-3 feet tall.

(1) How to grow Chamomile:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4544183_grow-german-chamomile.html

(2) How to harvest it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4544503_harvest-german-chamomile.html and

(3) How to use it:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4544486_use-german-chamomile.html

Flowers in Our Backyard

2008-10-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

Azaleas

Miniature rose bush

Chamomile

Want Hummingbirds, Get Nectar

2008-10-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

As you know, when hummingbirds are migrating through your neck of the woods, they're hungry. So go ahead and feed them already! They love homemade nectar, store-bought nectar and nectar from flowers. Here are a few suggestions so that they will want to keep coming around. http://www.ehow.com/how_4502085_attract-hummingbirds-keep-them-happy.html

Our Backyard Fire Pit and Seating Area

2008-10-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

Yet another project my husband and I tackled one weekend day. We decided it would be extra nice to have a backyard fire pit. Lots of nice conversations have happened in this spot and a few good smores and hotdogs too! Here's how to build this: http://www.ehow.com/how_4513545_build-outdoor-fire-pit-area.html

We Love Our Hummers

2008-10-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

Every year they return, just like clockwork. This year was no exception. We decided to have a little fun with our hummingbirds this year. Ever had one sit on your finger? Check this out! Here's another link: http://www.ehow.com/how_4511941_have-fun-hummingbirds.html

Grape Growing Tips

2008-10-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

My husband and I decided three years ago that we would like to have our own small grape vineyard. I want to learn how to make my own wine. I think that would be just too cool. Anyways three years into it, here's what we have.

Here's how we did this: http://www.ehow.com/how_4513536_small-grape-vineyard-southeastern-oklahoma.html

Birds Ate ALL My Grapes!!!

2008-10-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

This past summer I was awaiting the perfect day to pick our grape crop. One weekend day I told myself I should just wait one more day. The next day I returned and the darned birds had picked all the vines clean but one! I decided no more of this. Needless to say there was no homemade wine this year. Here are some idea to help keep your berries and grapes safe from birds.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4519760_keep-birds-eating-berries-grapes.html

Pesky Squirrels

2008-10-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Yeah, they are cute to an extent, but wait until you find all your tulip bulbs on top of the soil that you swear were once down in the soil. Wait until you catch a squirrel redhanded eating your bulbs. We decided to fix their wagons in a funny, friendly, but safe kinda way. We'll just sit back and watch and see what happens!! I hope this Yankee Feeder gets their attention.

Here is a detailed article that will show you how to build your own squirrel jungle gym:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4539764_even-squirrel.html

The Bees Are All The Buzz

2008-10-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Please help save the bees. I don't think most people realize how important a single bee is. Without bees, it is estimated that a large percentage of our food supply will diminish. We all know how important bees are for pollination. These little guys are disappearing quickly and no one has yet figured out the real reason. Is it pesticide? Is it some kind of weird bee disease maybe like AIDS or something similar?

Here's a link to help attract bees and give them a safe place to "bee". Please check it out. It's very important!!
http://www.ehow.com/how_4528181_attract-bees-garden.html

The Illusive Luna Moth

2008-10-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of a Luna moth? Have you seen the Lunesta sleep aid commercial and noticed the large green moth? This is a Luna moth and this is what I found on the trunk of our pecan tree one day. Apparently spotting one doesn't happen too often. Once they transform from caterpillar to moth they die within a week. Here's a picture of one. Beautiful huh??
Here's a link to learn more about this creature: http://www.ehow.com/how_4511734_identify-luna-moth.html