Fall is for Gardening Too!

While the rising temperatures in spring send people digging in the garden, many people take advantage of the fall for gardening too!  Broccoli, turnips, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, peppers, lettuce, garlic and so much more!  Depending on where you live, your fall garden may need to be portable to protect from the elements.  Consider a gardening cart or a vertical gardening system with multiple planting pods as well as levels.

 Check out this fall garden from Hollis & Nancy's Homestead (their videos are great!)--

Are you planting a fall garden?  If so, share with us what you are planting, pictures and videos and you may be featured here!

Do you mushroom? I mushroom!

 

Mushrooms are, by far, one of my fav foods!  Particularly, I love mushroom quesadillas with white cheese- if you haven't tried them, they are the best (psst... keep reading and I'll tell you how to make your own).  Mushrooms have many health benefits and are delish in a multitude of dishes.  But did you also know they are very simple to grow?  We recently added a new product to our offerings!  Check it out!

The 12" Shiitake Log is the gift that keeps on giving!  Just one log will produce for two or more years.  Each log is inoculated with Shiitake mushroom spores in holes that are carefully drilled and then wrapped in FDA-food grade cheese wax.  Each log has its inoculation date stamped on it.  

Why Shiitake mushrooms?  They are THE gourmet favorite-- delighting dishes from pastas to stir-fry meals to salads-- and more!  They are a healthy and yummy addition!

Our Shiitake Mushroom Logs were recognized in Real Simple Magazine as a "Best Gift" and there sure were right!  These make a great gift for friends, family... and yourself!  Click HERE to order yours today-- shipped directly from the greenhouse.  In a short while, you will be enjoying "fresh from the log" Shiitake mushrooms.  

And as promised, here's a yummy mushroom quesadilla recipe for your upcoming Shiitake crop! 

Cheese and Mushroom Quesadillas

INGREDIENTS

· 2 tablespoons olive oil

·  1 pound Shiitake mushrooms (cleaned and sliced 1/4-in thick (about 4 cups)

·  1 to 2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced

·  1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

·  Salt

·  8 (6-inch) fresh flour tortillas

·  8 ounces Mexican melting cheese

·  1 cup salsa

Directions 

Filling: In a medium skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and chiles, stir well, and cover. Continue to stir every minute or so, replacing the cover each time for 4 to 5 minutes. Uncover, and let briskly simmer until all the liquid has evaporated. Taste and season with salt. Add the cilantro now. 

Griddle-baking the quesadillas: Heat a nonstick griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. Turn the oven on to its lowest setting. One by one, make the quesadillas: Lightly brush 1 side of each tortilla with oil, then lay it oiled side down on the hot griddle. Spread with about 1/4 cup of the cheese, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the mushroom mixture down the center of the cheese-covered tortilla. When the cheese begins to melt (but before the tortilla begins to crisp), fold the tortilla in half along the line of the filling. Cook, flipping the quesadilla every minute or so, until the cheese is completely melted and the tortilla crisps, about 5 minutes in all. As each quesadilla is done, transfer it to a baking sheet and keep in a warm oven. Enjoy!

 

My Favorite New Product

GreenStalk Stackable Gardens

The Newest in Vertical Gardening 

I'm so excited to introduce our customers and readers to the latest in Vertical Gardening: GreenStalk Stackable Gardens! I love these planters and I want to tell you why these are different from any other stackable garden you may come across.

• Features a simple watering system-- The internal watering system ensures that each tier receives sufficient water. So simple! 

• More growing spaces-- Unlike other stackable gardens, GreenStalk features six growing pockets per tier. GreenStalk has a three, four or five tier option (as well as color choices of black or stone with more to come soon). With the largest option, you could essentially have 30 separate growing spaces!




 
• Made of durable, high-quality materials-- No worries about investing in a system that you have to replace next year. GreenStalk is guaranteed not to fade, crack or break for five years.





• Perfect for all your growing needs--GreenStalk Vertical Garden is perfect for flowers, plants, strawberries, kale, eggplant, green beans, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, herbs, peas, lettuce, zucchini, squash, radish, spinach, potatoes, greenery, corn, carrots, peppers, watermelon, beets, broccoli and more. Perfect for all your growing needs!

These are just a few of the awesome features of the GreenStalk Vertical Gardens.  Hop over our website at 855Sheller.com and check out more features or to place an order.  As always, free shipping.  Jot me an email with any questions and Happy Gardening!

GreenStalk Dimensions and Capacity



GreenStalk is a Kickstarter-funded project!

Teach A Child To Garden

 

 Delight on a child's face must be one of the most rewarding feelings that a gardener can have when that sheer happiness is result of your garden. That tops right up there with knowing that you helped teach that child to garden. You are doing something magical for them. They get to see their efforts pay off and have pride in working with their sweet little hands. They are learning a life skill that will serve them well. It is proven that when a child helps you grow vegetables and fruits, they are more likely to eat them. They will beam with pride at what they have accomplished and eat healthier in the process. It reminds me of a proverb, but I am going to change it up a little....

A wonderful thing about working with children is that YOU don't have to be a perfect gardener, you just have to be willing to spend time together. As adults, we sometimes forget that things that are not new to us, are new to them. They see the world as full of amazement and wonder. So, get out there, get dirty, and have fun! What if you don't have a lot of space? That is ok also. Whoever said you have to dig in the ground to have a garden? Container gardens are just as wonderful. Any container that will allow moisture to flow through can work. If you are a beginner gardener yourself or want to teach your child about healthy eating, we have a wonderful middle ground. A garden that sits right on your counter top AND will encourage healthy eating.

A Sprout Garden is simple to start, easy to care for, and shows super fast results. You can go from planting to eating in just a few days. We offer a 3 tray Sprout Garden kit that has everything you need to get started, trays, seeds, and instructions. Add sprouts to your salads, sandwiches, and even in your smoothies for a great boost and pick-me-up. You don't have to limit the kit to only sprouts, grow broccoli, garbanzo, lentils, and much more. The added bonus of stackable trays is that you can not only grow many different things at once, but they take up very little room.

Come visit us at

 www.lawn-gardening-tools.com 

to have your kit shipped right to your front door.

Do You Container or Vertical Garden?

Do you love the idea of a garden of colorful and beautiful flowers or delicious and healthy vegetables, but you can't dig, have limit space, or have never gardened before? 

Well, those reasons are exactly why we love vertical and container gardens. I want to share a few things we love here.It is always important to check your climate zone guide for the optimal planting time. We are in South Alabama, so we can wait a little longer than our friends up North. I preferred to transplant rather than grow from seeds when I was fist learning. It was much easier for me, especially when the time came to be put into the ground or my container and I was scratching my head wondering when it sneaked up on me. (Or I decided on a whim that it was planting day Don't judge!) If you want to start from seeds, then you must already be working with them during the heat of the summer. Bonnie Plants are my favorite to work with when buying them at transplant stage. The ones I will share with you today are wonderful hardy (can tolerate hard frost 25-28°F) and semi-hardy (light frost 29-32°F) vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

Fall/Winter crop bounty

Herbs are wonderful. I like to use fresh herbs as often as possible to give flavor to my dishes. Parsley, Sage, Chives, Lavender, Cilantro, and Mint are a few great cool weather herbs. Mint and Lavender have such a wonderful fragrance to them and a mixture of the 2 will give you beautiful greens and purples to enjoy as well as fresh seasonings to Autumn meals or mixed to make soaps and potpourri.  I love to use Cilantro in Salsa and Pico De Gallo. It has a distinct flavor that is refreshing. Chives make a great addition to soups. I could go on and on! A wonderful thing about Herbs is that with full sun and proper watering, they keep on producing all season! You can harvest and dry them to enjoy year round. I like to use the FloVert wall mounted planter. It has 5 pockets so you can separate your herbs because some herbs try to crowd others out. FloVert is natural and flexible as well as easily attached to walls or railings. Even if you only have a small balcony, you can still have big taste.

Lavender

Cineraria was made for the shade, so with gloomy or overcast days, you will not have to worry. Cineraria can grow up to 2ft high and wide with Daises that range in varieties of color like white, red, blue, purple, and pink. Regular water and loose, rich soil will produce a beautiful flowering plant. Pair it with greenery or even some herbs for even more beauty. A wonderful container for a beautiful display would be WallPots. The offer 3 flexible, but durable pockets so you can mix and match your garden. WallPots are lightweight and very easy to hang on your patio walls or fences.

Cineraria Variety

A family favorite of ours is Cabbage. We love to eat it in a variety of ways like steamed, grilled, baked, or in soups. Cabbage is very easy to grow, but needs a larger container because they like their space. The rule of thumb is 12-24" between plants and 1-2" of the main stem buried. This is easily achieved with a large pot or bucket that has a drainage access. You will want a soil with good compost to help retain moisture. Cabbages demand a lot of moisture to produce good heads. Careful not to over water though, you never want your plants just standing in water, but with a nice, really moist soil. You will average about 1-1.5 inches of water a week if it doesn't rain. When the head of the cabbage is formed and firm, cut it from the base of the plant. The Trio Life 3 Tier Vertical Planter is a neat system that won't take up a lot of room. Plant your Cabbages on the bottom tier and you still have 2 more tiers for more yummy goodness.

Thank you for joining us today. We always love to hear about what you are growing. Hop on over to our website, www.verticalgardeningsystems.com/, to get started with your very own cool weather garden. Also, if the mention of Pico De Gallo has your mouth watering, you can visit our friends over at Southern Garden Tools blog for the recipe.


                                     

Are You Growing A Cold Weather Garden?

It is nearing Fall. 
That means crisp, cool weather, beautiful trees as they change colors, coffee on the back porch.
 *Sigh* 
I Love Fall.

Here is my dilemma, Winter follows directly after Fall. The pretty colors all seem to fade away to leave a sometimes bleak and dreary scenery. It is often reported that people experience the "Winter Blues", which is caused by those shorter days and the colorless scenery. 

We just so happen to have a solution that may help. Have you ever heard of Vertical Gardens? It is a novel idea that is sweeping the world. When you are short on space, lacking yard to plant a garden, or just want to beautify your outdoor area or a wall in your home, a vertical garden becomes the perfect choice. Now, I bet you are ready for me to tell you how a garden will help with the Winter Blues. Simmer down! I will tell you! Use the vertical garden system to choose which plants you like and create your own little living garden right on a wall, fence, or balcony. I have scoured the web and found so many beautiful cold weather flowers!!! The *POP* of color and life can brighten your mood. Live plants drastically improve our quality of living.

 *A LITTLE TRIVIA*

Did you know that indoor gardens with live plants drastically improve our quality of living? The average person spends approximately 90% of their time indoors, so make that space as healthy as possible. Live indoor vertical gardens and plants improve indoor air quality, which can often times be more polluted than outdoor air quality. Indoor plants and gardens have been shown to improve productivity and performance while lowering stress and negative feelings. They even create natural noise reduction. Indoor vertical gardening is about so much more than beautifying your space. It is about beautifying your life because life was meant to be lived beautifully. 

I am going to share a few of my favorite cold weather flowers with you. These are a few "less known" winter flowers. Popular flowers include the Pansy, Snapdragon, and Violas, but I wanted to share some you many not know much about. I have made all of the following plant names clickable so you can learn even more about them from the websites that helped me learn about them.  
Cyclamen are very hardy during cold weather. Its delicate white, pink, or red flowers are often said to resemble shooting stars or butterflies. Great for full or even partial sun and normal regular watering. They are considered a favorite as a container grown flower, so planting in your vertical garden is just perfect.

Cyclamen

 Hellebores are considered by many as an "idiot proof" flower. I personally need this type so I can plant them, water, and forget.. They are not a one season flower either. Hellebores are great for Winter and Spring. Requiring very little maintenance, this is a perfect beginner flower.

Hellebores

 Now, for my favorite flower, Poppies! I adore them. You will mostly find them in red, but I have also seen blue, white, and pink Poppies. They grow tall and majestic. In Iceland, you can find fields of them growing sometimes 1 to 2 feet tall. With their simple beauty, Poppies have been known to symbolize peace and hope. For a unique flower in your garden, Poppies will fit the bill.

Poppy

There are a few ideas to get you started. The beauty and color of each flower is sure to bring a smile to your face and peace into your heart, but I bet you are wondering, "Well, yeah, but how to I bring my walls to life?" Luckily, we offer everything you need to get you started at our website, www.verticalgardeningsystems.com. We offer Indoor AND Outdoor options!

Our indoor favorites include Woolly Pockets. They are perfect for indoor use because they do not leak, yet they will still nurture your plants.

A beautiful arrangement in the Woolly Pocket

Popular favorites for outdoor living walls include FloVert 

FloVert

and the aptly named WallPots.

WallPots

These 3 options, along with many, many more are available at www.verticalgardeningsystems.com. Get started now and enjoy all the way through Winter!