4 Unknown Turmeric Uses That Can Help You In The Garden

4 Unknown Turmeric Uses That Can Help You In The Garden

Turmeric is a superfood and it has myriads of health benefits but do you know it can be used in your garden, too. Read on to learn about these turmeric uses!

Turmeric is one of the must used ingredients in South Asian cuisines, used to color the curries: For the exotic taste and mild flavor. It has many medicinal properties and used popularly in alternative medicines. This super food is packed with antioxidants and antiseptic properties and also has compounds that help fight cancer, promote brain health, and improve digestion and even more. But did you ever thought that TURMERIC can be useful in the garden? See these turmeric uses to find out!

1. Pesticide

Turmeric is a super food for us but ants and other pests abhor it to the core and avoid totter around it. To repel pests, especially the ants– simply sprinkle turmeric powder around the base of the plant and on leaves or anywhere near the ant traces. Must remember, when using organic products, persistency is the key. 

2. Heal wounds

If you ever got hurt and it’s bleeding you can place a thick paste made of turmeric powder and water over there. Same for plants, got a wound on a tree or shrub due to pruning, use turmeric. Either apply a thick paste or sprinkle turmeric powder on the wound for a natural and safe healing. The turmeric powder will prevent any bacterial or fungicidal disease. It also helps accelerate the plant’s natural healing process. 

3. Get rid of Powdery Mildew

If your plants are suffering from powdery mildew, turmeric will help them. Mix one part turmeric and two part wood ash. Sprinkle this powder on infected plants on a non-windy day. It is recommended to sprinkle this early in the morning because the dew on the leaves will adhere the powder. 

4. Treat Bug Bites

Organic is best! Got bitten by a bug when working in the garden? Add some water to 2 teaspoon turmeric powder and apply it directly to the bite. Turmeric gets absorbed into the skin quickly and reduces the itchiness and cures the inflammation.

7 - List Of Winter Vegetables To Grow Sept. 2016 (URDU/HINDI)

11 Best Indoor Vines And Climbers You Can Grow Easily In Your Home

11 Best Indoor Vines And Climbers You Can Grow Easily In Your Home

Love growing plants indoors? Some of the best indoor vines and climbers that are easy to grow are listed here. 

A house with indoor plants looks more lavish and expensive. That’s a fact!

1. Heartleaf Philodendron

Heartleaf Philodendron is extremely easy to grow and great for beginners. It needs a moderate amount of light and prefers the soil to dry out between watering spells.

2. Ivy

Ivy is one of the best indoor vines. It can easily adapt to many light conditions. This fast-growing vine has evergreen foliage that remains green even in winters. Plant it in a container that is wide and shallow rather than narrow and deep. Keep the pot in a spot that receives bright indirect sun.

3. Pothos

Plants of the pothos family are easiest to grow and most of them can even grow without direct sunlight. They become great houseplants for beginners. Attractive and hardy vine prefers bright indirect light and a draft free place. It can grow in low light and needs moist soil.

4. Betel Leaf Plant

Betel leaf plant is very popular in South and East Asia, especially in the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. This vine from pepper family has many culinary and medicinal uses. It can be tried indoors if space where you want to keep it receives part sun and remains slightly humid. 

5. Jasmine

Many jasmine varieties can be grown indoors. If you keep this most fragrant vine in a bright spot where it receives some hours of direct sunlight daily, it’ll grow. The selection of jasmine varieties you want to plant indoors depends on the climate you live in. For colder regions, Jasminum polyanthum is the one you can try, whereas in tropics most of the plants from this species will grow.

6. Creeping Fig

It’s a slow growing creeper with small, leathery dark green foliage. Vigorous-growing, clinging, dense branches adhere to any surface and look enchanting. Be careful not to overwater creeping fig. Let the soil dry out before watering.

7. Arrowhead Plant

This elegant vine like houseplant prefers to be in a spot that is bright, needs moderate watering. Allow the soil to dry out between watering spells and make sure not to overwater it, as it may lead to root rot.

8. Hoya (Hoya spp.)

Beautiful waxy foliage and fragrant flowers, hoya looks stunning when grown indoors. The plant has low watering needs and doesn’t mind if you forget to water it occasionally. The trailing stems of this plant is approximately a foot in length along with clusters of aromatic waxy flowers.

9. String Of Pearls

Growing string of pearls is easy, it is a low-maintenance creeper. This succulent tolerates prolonged drought and does well in a bright light position. You can also combine it with other houseplants to create a great appearance or it can be grown in a hanging basket.

10. Black Eyed Susan Vine

Black-eyed Susan vine can be grown indoors. Depending on your climate, this annual or perennial flowering plant can add a dramatic appeal to your rooms. Keep it near a window, where it receives a lot of sun.

11. Inch Plant

Also called “Wandering Jew” or “Purple heart”, this wonderful houseplant has beautiful trailing stems with attractive zebra patterned foliage that look stunning. Grow it in a pot or hanging basket, it’ll thrive. You can also keep this plant in dim light, but the markings on the foliage will fade.

6 - Visit To Plant Nursery Sept. 2016 (URDU/HINDI)

5- Visit To Seed Store Sept. 2016 (URDU.HINDI)

Involving Kids To Gardening & Nature | 9 Clever Ways

Involving Kids To Gardening & Nature | 9 Clever Ways

Involving kids to gardening and nature can have many benefits that you may not recognize initially. It is not difficult too if you learn and apply some of these clever tips given here.

The importance of outdoor play is something parents are very familiar with. It does not only improve a kid’s physical abilities and motor skills but also his social and emotional abilities. Aside from playing outdoors, the benefits of nature and green living cannot be discounted. Just by simply being surrounded by lush landscapes, greens, flowers, and a flowing river can make a child more creative and can give him a fresh perspective.

There are many things to help your kids appreciate nature. These tips don’t require much, only the eagerness to show kids just how wonderful the world is.

1. Learning while walking

On your next trip to the grocery, church or school, leave the house early and walk. Tell them something about the tree that you pass by every day. Is it as old as grandma? Pick a rock and play with it. Pick a flower and put it behind your little girl’s ear. It would be great if parents could do a little research about the community and nature in general so kids can learn even without them knowing. One of the ways to help your kids appreciate nature is by telling them cool trifles. Satisfy their curiosity with information.

2. Bring nature to bed

Children love stories. When it’s time for bed, read them stories that would introduce them to the wonders of nature. This is important to introduce your kids to nature so they won’t feel like you are pushing the topic down their throats. With stories, a scientific lesson becomes more interesting. If possible, use children as heroes in the story so that they can easily relate to it. This will give them the idea that children and nature are partners in making the world a better place.

3. Mix technology with nature

You don’t just tell your kids to put their gadgets down. It does not happen that way. Try to ask them nicely by using technology to appreciate nature. Use GPS technology in your next scavenger hunt. Use cool binoculars when bird watching or introducing them to stars and constellations. Tell them to use their tablets to sketch the butterfly they saw. Tell them to use the smartphone’s camera to take pictures of things that are green. This is a good way to engage kids to connect with nature.

4. Embrace green living

You can start with their toy choices. Go for wooden and cloth toys over plastic products. Teach your kids to eat healthy while they are young. Bring them along with you when you go to the grocery and let them pick their choice of vegetables and fruits. Educate them about the health benefits of each fruit. If kids know that such healthy food choices can make them stronger and smarter, they will know better than take fresh produce for granted. Use organic and natural cleaning agents around the house so you can let the kids help out.

5. Bring the outdoors in

People living in the city normally complain about not having much access to the outdoors. For them, outdoors mean major highways, malls, and their condo community. But there are many ways in which condo living helps your kid connect with nature. Start by bringing in some potted plants and fresh flowers inside the house. The use of plants in your condo or home ranges from deodorizing indoor air and allowing healthier airflow to making your space look alive and vibrant. It also helps that these days, condo living does not mean being stuck in a cramped living space. Major condo communities are now investing in more open spaces, lush landscapes, and outdoor facilities.

6. Play outside every day

This tip will require effective time management skills from parents but it surely is worth it. You don’t have to go to a community playground. A few minutes playing in your garden or porch will do just fine. If your kids are into sketching or painting, build them their own art station out front and let nature inspire them. Ride a bike in the neighborhood. Let them get their hands dirty.

7. Create DIY masterpieces

One of the ways to help your kids appreciate nature is by teaching them how to repurpose, recycle and upcycle common school or household items. Upon finishing a box of cereal, have a DIY session and turn that box into a seed starter or pencil holder. Make wonders with scratch papers. Do something fancy with the clothes they have grown out of.

8. Start a collection

Kids love collecting things. Why not encourage them to collect nature-inspired items? It could be pinecones, petals, leaves, a pretty rock, shells in the beach, or a twig. Children are very protective of their collection and such an activity will make them appreciate the great outdoors more. You can assign them a corner or a shelf in the house where they can keep and protect their valuable collection.

9. Go on an adventure

Make the outdoors an integral part of family adventures. Stop going to malls and movie houses on weekends often. Go on a road trip, bathe under a waterfall, go on a family hike, fish or simply camp out in your backyard. The activities need not be expensive but closer to nature. You just have to be creative. Your kids will surely love the beach and the mountains as adults and will go out of their way to protect them.

Reducing screen time and encouraging kids to play outside is one of the many challenges of modern parents. But it is all worth it. The benefits of nature and green living cannot be bought from the App store. They require time and dedication. Let your kids experience what you have experienced as a child and give them the gift of an exciting and fun-filled childhood.

13 Plastic Bottle Vertical Garden Ideas | Soda Bottle Garden

13 Plastic Bottle Vertical Garden Ideas | Soda Bottle Garden

These 13 plastic bottle vertical garden ideas will interest you if you are a creative person, DIY lover and love to grow plants.

This way you can use plastic bottles to make something amazing out of them. Repurpose those old bottles, which you usually throw away to grow your favorite plants either indoor or outdoor and help to save our environment.

Here are 13 inspiring plastic bottle vertical garden ideas to make a vertical soda bottle garden.

1. Window Farm

If you love DIY ideas and you have a green thumb then starting a windowfarm is a smart idea. A windowfarm will let you do a lot with the little amount of space you have. The indoor windowfarms allows the crops to take full advantage of the light and vertical space available at the windows.

2. Plastic Bottles on Walls

Follow this amazing idea for growing small leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, fenugreek and spinach, herbs and medicinal plants. This plastic bottle vertical garden is made of by stringing the bottles horizontally in a grid along an interior wall, which then filled up by substrate and herbs.

3. Plastic Bottle Tower Garden

A remarkable kitchen garden with plastic bottles with minimal means and efforts. It can be set up easily and does not require regular watering.

4. Growing Cactus in Hanging Plastic Bottles

Do you want to create a low maintenance vertical soda bottle garden? Follow this idea. All that is required is bottles cut in half, cactus plants or succulents, and many colorful threads to get a really cool decorative effect.

5. Half Plastic Bottle Vertical Garden on Wooden Frame

Use two-liter soda bottles, cut them in half and use the neck side. Turn them upside down. Adhere the bottles to a wooden frame and arrange them in such a way so that the open neck of the bottle will drain out the water into the bottle below it.

6. Green Soda Bottle Vertical Garden

Here’s another idea to create a vertical garden using the plastic bottles. It is a great way to reuse old plastic bottles and to introduce some greenery to a small urban space.

7. Another Vertical Garden

One more wonderful idea to make use of plastic bottles, more useful if you don’t have much space on the ground.

8. Bottles Hanging on String

A hanging plastic bottle garden to make full use of vertical space.

9. Plastic Bottles Hanging on Net

Another useful idea on using plastic bottles vertically.

10. Inspiring Plastic Bottle Garden

Plastic bottles are mounted on the wall for utilizing the vertical space. Bushy and trailing plants like lettuces and strawberries hide the structure, creating a nice ‘green wall’ effect.

11. Hanging Soda Bottle Garden

Another innovative and great looking plastic bottle vertical garden. Bottles are hanging horizontally, attached through the strings.

12. Vertical Plastic Bottle Herb Garden

Want to grow herbs but you don’t have space? Well, even a wooden plank is enough. All you need is some plastic bottles, hooks, nails and hammer and you’re all set to grow your own herbs. 

13. Pyramid Plastic Bottle Garden

A vertical pyramid garden made of plastic bottles.

What To Grow In Winters

General Overview Of Bilal Mirza's World Rooftop & Kitchen Garden Sept-6-...

How To Setup Rooftop & Kitchen Garden Sept-12- 2016 (Urdu/Hindi)

8 Surprising Sugar Uses In The Garden You Don’t Believe Are Possible

8 Surprising Sugar Uses In The Garden You Don’t Believe Are Possible

Are you surprised or not? Sugar can be used in the garden! We’ve listed 8 uncommon ways to use SUGAR in the garden.

1. Use sugar to clean dirty hands

You can always use hand wash (probably it’s the best option too) or other chemical cleaning product to clean hands after gardening, but do you know sugar is one natural solution to get your hands cleaned easily. 

To clean, use 1 tsp of sugar and little water and wash as normal. This works well for cleaning soiled, greasy and oily hands.

2. Make cut flowers last longer

Adding sugar in the vase can increase the longevity of cut flowers. Just mix a tablespoon of sugar in the vase of water and all done. Sugar nourishes the blossoms and helps them to last longer, however, this solution also promotes the bacterial growth, which can make the water smell bad and negatively impacts the cut flower. To prevent this from happening, add a tablespoon of vinegar to the vase.

3. Natural trap for pests

Fruit flies and house flies can cause a lot of problems in the home and garden. If you are battling with them in your garden, try this sugar fly trap. This solution also works well for other insects that are attracted to sweet things.

To make this, boil the 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup honey and 2 tablespoons of water in a saucepan over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Dip pieces of kraft or brown packaging paper in the mixture, then hang them to try with a drip pan underneath. 

4. Get rid of nematodes

If the plants in your garden are wilting and dying for no reason, check out their roots for knots that are caused by nematode feeding. You can use the sugar as it encourages the activity of beneficial microorganisms and bacteria that may create a hostile environment for the nematodes. You can also grow marigolds to prevent nematodes!

To get rid of them, sprinkle 5 pounds of sugar for every 250 square feet of garden.

5. Grass stain remover

Got grass stains on your clothes after working in the garden? They can be very challenging to remove but if you have little sugar and water you don’t need to worry.

Take 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl and add enough warm water to it to make a paste. Apply this mixture on the stain, let it soak for at least half hour, and then wash normally. 

6. Ant Killer

If you want to get rid of ants, try sugar. Combine 1/2 cup of sugar and 1-1/2 tablespoons Borax and pour it in 1-1/2 cups of warm water. Soak cotton balls in this mixture and place in areas where ants are. Ants love sugar so they’ll surely get these balls and the borax will kill them.

7. Feed the butterflies, bees, and hummingbird

Found a bee or any other nectar feeding creature? You can help it by feeding a clean solution of sugar water! 

8. Feed Plants

Give your plants extra nutrients with a solution of vinegar, sugar, and water. First, mix 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of sugar for every 8 ounces of water. Then feed your plants as needed!

How To Make Tags For Plants & Sowings - Sept 08 2016 (URDU/HINDI)

Vegetable Sowing Chart

Here is the vegetable sowing season Chart In English.
As Some of my friends wanted this in English.

How to Grow Fenugreek | Complete Growing Guide

How to Grow Fenugreek | Complete Growing Guide

Learn how to grow fenugreek step by step. 

Fenugreek or ‘Methi’ is native to Southwest Asia and widely cultivated for its medicinal and culinary uses. It is an all purpose plant. Seeds are used as spice, dried leaves as herb and fresh small leaves as vegetable. It tastes like spinach or even better.

Difficulty: Easy

Growing Season: Spring and summer (year round in tropics)

Other Names: Trigonella foenum-graecum (botanical name), methi, samudra methi, shanbalile, abesh, hilbeh, hilba, helba, halba

Growing fenugreek is easy, whether you live in a sub tropical or tropical part of the world or in temperate or colder part. It can be grown both on grounds or in containers. You can also grow it on windowsills in small pots, on a balcony or terrace.

How to Grow Fenugreek

Create Fenugreek bed with cilantro or grow it alone. You can cultivate it from seeds. It’s easy even for beginners.

Sow seeds ¼ inches deep in a good potting mix or soil. 

Remember, fenugreek hates to be transplanted. Leave 2 inches of space for each plant while sowing seeds. They’ll sprout quickly and you’ll see seedlings just within 2 – 4 days.

*Buy best quality seeds from garden center or online. You can also buy it from grocery stores or spice shops as its seeds are sold as spice but beware of poor germination rate.

*You can directly sow seeds but if you’ve bought them from grocery stores, soak them overnight to increase germination rate before sowing.

Growing Fenugreek in Container

You can grow fenugreek in containers. It’s similar to cilantro or parsley. Take a shallow wide planter at least 6 inches deep (fenugreek has shallow roots) with good drainage. Fill it with good potting mix. You can use compost, sand and soil too. Sprinkle seeds all over it and add a thin quarter inch layer of soil over them.

Growing Climate

Fenugreek grows well in warm and hot climate, when temperature ranges from 50 to 90 F (10 C to 32 C). If you’re planting it for seeds, grow it in spring. If you’re cultivating it to use as a vegetable or herb then you can plant it anytime between spring to mid fall.

Requirements for Growing Fenugreek and Care

Fenugreek prefers neutral soil with pH level around 6 – 7. Plant it in a spot that receives at least 4 hours of sun with shade in afternoon. Do regular watering, let the soil dry out between watering sessions and care not to over-water the plant to save it from root rot. Fenugreek does not require fertilizer however, you can mix manure or compost in soil while planting.

Pests and Diseases

Fenugreek does not have many pests and diseases. Some pests that attacks it are aphids, powdery mildew, charcoal rot and root rot. You can easily save your plant from these problems by using organic pesticides regularly and watering properly.

Harvesting Fenugreek

Within 20 days fenugreek will be ready for first harvest, chop up its leaves to use as green leafy vegetable and prepare delicious recipes or air dry it to use as herb. Leave the twigs, which will grow up again within 15 days, you can do this up to four times. To harvest fenugreek seeds you’ve to wait for 2-4 months, depending on the growing conditions.

Uses

It’s sweet and hot aroma like pepper and crunchy sour taste somewhat like spinach ,creates a magic. It is popularly used in Indian, Persian, Egyptian and Ethiopian cuisines, to prepare tastiest recipes. Fresh seeds used to sprinkle on salad and dried seeds in pickles.

Planting Strawberry | Growing Strawberries

Planting Strawberry | Growing Strawberries

Sweet, sharp and crisp; strawberry is the only fruit you can grow everywhere: In hanging baskets, borders, in upside down planters, window boxes, pots, and garden beds. Plus, ‘Planting strawberry’ is easy too, so why not grow your own and enjoy it fresh.

Difficulty: Easy

Soil pH: Slightly acidic, around 5.5 – 6.8 pH

Choosing right variety

Choose whether you want to grow strawberries as annual or perennial. 

There are three types of strawberry varieties: 

June bearer or summer fruiting, which bear fruits once in a year in summer and grown as annual. This type of varieties produces juiciest and biggest strawberries. Everbearing varieties bear fruits twice in summer and fall. The third type of varieties are called day-neutral, this type of strawberries are hybrids and grows well all year round if right growing conditions are provided.

Planting Method

Basically, there are four methods to plant strawberries.

Runners: These are thin pieces of roots with a few leaves; runners are the cheapest source to plant strawberries.

Misted Tips: Plant grown from misted tips are less prone to disease and grows better, actually misted tips are the tips of the mother plant.

Cold-stored runners: Runners stored in cold store for a long period are used for planting after winter.

Potted plants: You can buy potted plants from garden centers; this is the easiest method to grow strawberries.

Soil Preparation

Find out whether your soil is alkaline or acidic; amend your soil if it is alkaline. Strawberry prefers rich loamy soil, make it more loam using compost or manure, rotted sawdust and organic matter. You can also use coffee grounds and compost tea to increase soil acidity and fertility.

Planting Strawberry

Choose a planting method that suits you and buy a plant from a reputable source. Prefer less windy, frost free and fertile spot with good drainage that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight for planting.

Plant strawberries on raised beds in rows leaving space of 15’’ – 18’’ between plants and 3 – 4 feet between rows because most of the strawberry verities develop many runners.

If you’re growing a day-neutral or everbearing strawberry variety then only leave 6 inches space between plants and allow only two runners to grow from the mother plant, because everbearing and day-neutral varieties have fewer runners and small fruits, this will allow the mother plant to grow more vigorously.

Make sure while planting that you don’t plant it too deep so that its crown (the point where the stem and root of the plant join) or leaves won’t be covered in soil. After plantation, add mulch to prevent weed and keep up moisture.

Strawberry planting is the key for a healthy upright plant, take special care that you plant it at the correct depth.

Watering and Fertilizing

Water deeply and frequently without letting the soil dry out completely, avoid overwatering. When plants are establishing, forming flowers and fruits, water requirement should be increased. *Don’t water from overhead as this can cause crown rot and loss of the plant.

Strawberry roots are shallow so they need moisture frequently in growing season, drip irrigation method is favorable.

Feed the plants with 10-10-10 fertilizer twice, once when the growth begins and after the last harvest. Use half of pound (230 Gm) for every 100 feet rows. You can also feed plants with potassium-rich liquid fertilizer every other week during the growing season.

Care

Don’t allow your plant to bring out so many runners, for better yield.

After every growing season cut back the plants’ foliage to one inch, this will not only refresh the plants but also discourage the possible fungal diseases.

Strawberry plants after the third year of cropping produce fewer fruits and become more susceptible to diseases and pests. After this period rotate your strawberry crop and grow new plants.

Avoid planting strawberries on the site where plants of Solanaceae family (egg plants, tomatoes, peppers) were previously planted.

If you’re growing strawberries as perennial, pick off the flowers to discourage fruiting in the first growing season to encourage better yield in the next seasons.

Mulch heavily around the bedding in the winter when the temperature reaches the freezing point, as the temperature below 30 F is damaging for the strawberry plant.

Harvest

After a month of blossoming, fruit is ready to be picked. Pluck off a fruit only when you see it red and ripe, harvest regularly because once a fruit is ripening, it rots quickly.

Pests and Diseases

Birds are the main predators, they love berries, use fruit cages or nets to get rid of them. Powdery mildew, gray mold, spider mites, and slugs are the common pests that infect the plants.

Strawberries are also subject to fruit rot, root rot, and fungus. *Use row covers to protect plants from pests and temperature drop.