April Garden Chores

They make sense even to me, black-thumb that I am!

Garden Chores By Month: April from An Oregon Cottage

In the Rock Garden

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Poppies!!

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Yes, I Like Lavender. A Lot!!

How to Dry Your Home Grown Lavender

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

You can easily dry lavender flowers for use inside the home and enjoy the fragrance all year round!

Steps

1. Get a pair of sharp garden shears and a ball of string.
   
2. Cut matured lavender flowers just above the leaves, getting the longest stem possible on the flower.
   
3. Without crushing the stems, tie each flower separately, close to the cut end with a long piece of string. Leave about 3/4" between each stem. This will ensure that when you hang them to dry, air will be able to circulate and that the lavender will not rot or go moldy while drying.
   
4. Tie the ends of your string together to form a loop.
   
5. Hang the chain of lavender, ensuring the flowers point toward the floor, in a dark dry place for about a month.
   
6. Untie the lavender from your piece of string when it's dry, and use in dried flower arrangements, or chop up for potpourri.
   

Tips

• Lavender can discourage moths, so hanging the lavender in your clothes cupboards will not only smell nice to you, but could also save your clothes from insect attack.
  
• If you use half-hitch knots, you can re-use your piece of string numerous times.
  
• Drying time is weather-dependent. If you live in a humid area, they may take longer to dry out.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Dry Herbs
  
• How to Grow Healthy Plants
  
• How to Grow a Tomato Plant
  
• How to Grow Elephant Ear Plants
  
• How to Grow Basil from Seed
  
• How to Grow Cuttings from Established Plants
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Dry Your Home Grown Lavender. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

From the Plant to the Kitchen

How to Prune and Harvest Lavender

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Pruning and harvesting lavender is easy. You don't have to be scared of killing it. It is helpful, however, to understand that pruning and harvesting aren't the same thing. Here are some handy tips for pruning and harvesting lavender with some success.

Steps

Pruning

1. Learn to prune lavender the correct way. Cut back the green growth to within a few inches of the woody growth. Remove all the dead leaf matter, along with any stringy twigs and any other plant clutter.
   
2. Wait for the new growth to appear. Do not overwater or place in direct sunlight. However, do ensure that there is adequate access to light to stimulate growth.
   

Harvesting

1. Cut the lavender stems that have flowers. Do this early in the morning, after the dew has dried but before the heat of the sun draws out too much of the essential oils (you will want those intact to evoke the scent in your home).
   
2. Dry the lavender in bunches or on screens.
   
3. Dry and store in a cool, dark place. Some varieties are best for stems and others for flower buds.
   

Tips

• The bits you have cut off can make cuttings. Put them in a tray of soil, water them occasionally, and they should grow.
  

Warnings

• Watch your fingers. The sharper the secateurs, the better.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Dry Flowers
  
• How to Dry Fresh Grown Catnip
  
• How to Grow and Pick Melons
  
• How to Harvest Sweet Pea Seed Pods
  
• How to Make Violet Eye Cream
  

Sources and Citations

• For a good complete article, see Lavender care and tips
  
• Lavender Oil Profile
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Prune and Harvest Lavender. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

These Cookies Sound Really Good!

How to Bake Lavender and Lemon Cookies

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Lavender and lemon make a delightful combination for homemade cookies. Guests will not be able to resist taking at least two.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon (about 1 gram) dried lavender flowers; must be culinary suitable and chemical-free
  
• 1 cup (227 grams) butter (ensure it is at room temperature)
  
• 2/3 cup (67 grams) sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla extract
  
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) lemon extract
  
• 1/4 teaspoon (.5 grams) grated, fresh lemon rind (ensure lemon has been well washed)
  
• 2 cups (250 grams) flour (all purpose/plain)
  
• 1/8 teaspoon (.75 gram) salt
  
• Frosting of choice (optional)
  

Steps

1. Grind the lavender flowers. A mortar and pestle is easiest but you can also use a coffee grinder reserved only for food grinding use.
   
2. Cream together ground lavender, butter, sugar, both extracts and the freshly grated lemon rind.
   
3. Add flour and salt.
   
4. Mix the ingredients together. Combine until dough is soft. Add a little extra flour if the dough remains sticky.
   
5. Refrigerate the dough until firm. This may take 1 - 2 hours.
   
6. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC) before removing dough from the fridge.
   
7. Flour a clean surface, lightly, in preparation for rolling the dough.
   
8. Roll dough out. A quarter of an inch (.635 cm) is an ideal thickness.
   
9. Cut cookies.. You can use a cookie cutter or just make balls.
   
10. Arrange on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
    
11. Bake 12 - 15 minutes. Cookies should only be lightly browned at the edges to retain delicate flavors.
    
12. Remove and cool on wire racks.
    
13. Frost as desired.
    

Tips

• If you have purple food coloring, this can make a delightful complementary frosting for the cookies.
  
• If using fresh lavender, add about twice as much.
  
• If using a mortar and pestle, adding some of the sugar to the lavender may help you grind it finer.
  

Things You'll Need

• Medium mixing bowl
  
• Mixing spoon
  
• Cookie sheet
  
• Parchment or baking paper
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Bake Cookies
  
• How to Dry Your Home Grown Lavender
  
• How to Prune and Harvest Lavender
  
• How to Enjoy a Lemon Italian Ice
  
• How to Make Lemon Pie
  
• How to Make Lemon/Lime Water
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Bake Lavender and Lemon Cookies. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

The Salvation and Downfall of Ireland

How to Celebrate the International Year of the Potato

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

"As wheat and rice prices surge, the humble potato is being rediscovered as a nutritious crop that could cheaply feed an increasingly hungry world."[1]The United Nations declared that 2008 is the International Year of the Potato. The celebration of the International Year of the Potato (IYP) is intended to raise awareness of the importance of the potato, as well as agriculture in general, in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment. This article provides some ways for you to join in the celebration of the humble spud.

Steps

1. Learn about the reasons why the potato is an important food crop. The humble potato is being rediscovered as a potentially very useful food crop that can be easily grown in many parts of the world as a source of nutritious food. The benefits of potatoes include:
   
   • Global nature - they have been transported all around the world and are grown almost everywhere
     
   • Ability to feed the hungry - the potato is able to produce more nutritious food per area of land and in harsher environments than any other major food crop, providing “up to 85 percent of the plant is edible human food, compared to around 50% in cereals”.[2]
     
   • Nutritious - potatoes are good for you. They are rich in carbohydrates which provide long-term energy and they have the highest protein content for the root and tuber family, “with an amino-acid pattern that is well matched to human requirements”.[3]
     
   • Increasing future demand - there is an increasing trend in eating potatoes around the world, indicating that potatoes will become more and more important as a substantial food crop.
     
   
   
2. Learn about the different varieties of potatoes. There are many varieties of potatoes and different potatoes are suitable for different uses. There are potatoes suitable for baking, roasting, boiling, mashing, steaming and frying. Ask at your local potato distributor for information on the best types of potato for your cooking needs.
   
3. Learn about the nutrition benefits of the potato. Potatoes have received a lot of bad press from those insisting that potatoes make dieters fat but this bad rap is undeserved. Potatoes are low in fat; it is what you put on a potato can make it fattening but by themselves, potatoes are not a fattening food and can easily satisfy hunger cravings quickly in small portion. Potatoes contain many micronutrients, including vitamin C, iron, B1, B3, B6 and minerals such as potassium, phosphorus and magnesium, and contains folate, pantothenic acid and riboflavin. In addition, potatoes contain valuable dietary fibre and antioxidants to help prevent age-related diseases.[4]
   
4. Note the effects of cooking styles on potato nutrition. The method that you use for cooking potatoes impacts on the nutrition level of the potato.
   
   • Boiling causes a big loss of vitamin C, especially for peeled potatoes
     
   • Frying potatoes and making French fries/chips reduces the mineral and ascorbic acid content and causes the potato to absorb a lot of fat
     
   • Baking causes a higher loss of vitamin C than boiling but retains other vitamins and minerals.[5]
     
   
   
5. Make some potato recipes at home. Get cooking! Almost everyone loves the potato in some form or other and you can put your culinary skills to use cooking potatoes at home. Look for potato recipes on wikiHow and share some of your favourite potato recipes here and with family and friends.
   
6. Grow your own potatoes. Potatoes are really easy to grow and children can also join in the fun of planting them and watching them grow. For more details on growing potatoes for yourself, see our article Plant Potatoes.
   

Tips

• The Bangladesh army is including a 125g potato per member of the army regardless of rank to supplement a decreasing rice diet.[6]
  

Warnings

• The starch in raw potatoes cannot be digested by the human digestive system, so avoid eating potatoes raw.
  
• Avoid potatoes with green skins. The green indicates the presence of glycoalkaloids, which are toxic. These areas are not destroyed by cooking, so cut away green areas prior to cooking or discard entirely green potatoes.
  

Things You'll Need

• Potatoes - different varieties
  
• Resources and information about potatoes
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Plant Potatoes
  
• How to Grow Potatoes in a Wire Cage
  
• How to Bake Potatoes
  
• How to Make Fried Potatoes
  
• How to Make Roast Potatoes
  
• How to Celebrate the International Day for Biodiversity
  
• How to Help Protect Biodiversity
  
• How to Understand the Concept of Biodiversity
  

Sources and Citations

• International Year of the Potato - Official website for IYP
  

1. ↑ IYP, Why Potato?


2. ↑ IYP, Why Potato?


3. ↑ IYP, Why Potato?


4. ↑ IYP, Potatoes, Nutrition and Diet


5. ↑ IYP, Potatoes, Nutrition and Diet


6. ↑ The NZ Herald, Weekend Herald, Let Them Eat Spuds, pB6

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Celebrate the International Year of the Potato. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Flutterbys!

How to Create a Butterfly Garden

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Add beauty and life to your garden with the inclusion of flowers and plants that attract butterflies. There is a range of specific plants that entice butterflies, are easy to care for and are attractive for the garden. It is important to include “Host Plants” to ensure that the butterfly larvae (caterpillars) have a home and “Nectar Plants” for the butterflies to feed upon.

Steps

1. Research first. Find out which butterflies are common in your area. Observation over a few days and the use of a butterfly field guide will help you in this pursuit.
   
2. Choose “Host Plants” for your garden. Note from your research what the caterpillar (larvae) of the local butterflies eat. Two excellent examples are:
   
   • Milkweed - this attracts the Monarch caterpillar; and
     
   • Parsley - this attracts the Black Swallowtail caterpillar.
     
   
   
3. Choose “Nectar Plants” for your garden. Nectar plants serve as the food source for the butterfly. There is a variety of possible plants and some of them are shown here. Excellent choices include:
   
   • A Butterfly Bush - this is suitable for a Swallowtail. Large plant: 4 feet (1.2m) tall, 6 feet (1.8m) wide, make sure it is hardy in your area. Some varieties are considered invasive, so make sure, if you purchase one of these, that you keep it dead-headed to prevent seed production.
     
   • Swamp Milkweed - suitable for the Snowberry Clearwing. This plant grows 3 feet (.9m) tall and 18 inches (.5m) wide. It also serves as the host plant for Monarch caterpillars.
     
   • Joe Pye Weed - this is suitable for the Swallowtail. It grows to be a very large plant - 8 feet (2.4m) tall and 4 feet (1.2m) wide. It is a perennial.
     
   • Aster - Asters grow to 3 feet (.9m) tall and 2 feet (.6m) wide. It is a perennial. Butterflies especially love native varieties.
     
   • Bee Balm - this plant grows 2 feet (.6m) tall and 18 inches (.5m) wide. It is a perennial.
     
   • Zinnia - this plant is attractive to a range of butterflies and they especially like the tall varieties. The plant generally grows 4 feet (1.2m) high and 1 foot (.3m) wide. It is an annual and is easy to start from seed.
     
   • Pentas - suitable for Swallowtails. This plant grows 2 feet (.6m) hight and 3 feet (.9m) wide. It is an annual in cold climates.
     
   • Heliotrope - this plant attracts a range of butterflies. It grows to a height of 2 feet (.6m) and a width of 1 foot (.3m), although it is possible to contain it in a pot. It will remain a perennial in temperate zones but is only an annual in cold climates.
     
   
   
4. Plan garden on paper. Draw up a plan, or decide where to add these suggestions to a current garden. Keep in mind the full grown size of plants during this planning stage.
   
5. Purchase plants or seeds from garden center. You can also get these plants and seeds online. Choose robust and healthy plants to give them a good start.
   
6. Plant your butterfly garden. Make sure to keep new plants and seeds watered until plants are well-established or seeds germinate. Keep the weeds at bay, to give the plants a good chance.
   
7. Observe and enjoy the butterfly activity in your garden. Watch for female butterflies laying eggs on host plants. Make notes in a record book of the butterflies that you observe and, if you can, take photographs to add to your record book. A digital record book can be a useful and simple way to do this and can be added to over the years. Observed changes in the types and numbers of butterflies coming into your garden can be information shared with biologists, ecologists and climate change specialists who use local variation information to ascertain species increase or decline, as well as temperature fluctuations and change.
   

Tips

• If there are Monarch Butterflies in your area, they are very easy to attract. Swamp Milkweed (noted above) or Tropical Milkweed (annual in colder climates) are excellent host plants for them. The Tropical Milkweed can be started from seed in the winter.
  
• Monarchs are very fascinating butterflies. Their migration pattern is one of nature’s great stories. Indeed, you can participate in the migration by helping to track the Monarchs that arrive in your part of the world. Report your own observations to this map.
  

Warnings

• Always avoid planting potentially invasive species of plants. These plants can spread miles beyond the garden walls and wreak havoc on native ecosystems. If they are planted they will spread.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Create a Rustic Flower Garden
  
• How to Raise Butterflies
  
• How to Arrange Six Flower Buds
  
• How to Grow a TickleMe Plant
  
• How to Make a Fairy House
  
• How to Grow Iris
  

Sources and Citations

• Glorious Butterfly - Butterfly Gardening and Raising Monarchs.
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Create a Butterfly Garden. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Dandelion Wine

How to Make Dandelion Wine

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Dandelions are in season during the summer and spring months, but they lend themselves deliciously to a beverage you can serve year-round. April and May are the best months to harvest dandelions for the purpose of wine making in the Northern hemisphere.[1] Try it out and taste it for yourself.

Ingredients

• 1 package (7 g) dried yeast
  
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) warm water
  
• 2 quarts (230 g) whole dandelion flowers
  
  • Using 2 quarts+ of just the petals can make for a less bitter wine.[2]
    
  
  
• 4 quarts water (3.785 L)
  
• 1 cup (240 mL) orange juice
  
• 3 tablespoons (45 g) fresh lemon juice
  
• 3 tablespoons (45 g) fresh lime juice
  
• 8 whole cloves
  
• 1/2 teaspoon (1.25 g) powdered ginger
  
• 3 tablespoons (18 g) coarsely chopped orange zest; avoid any white pith
  
• 1 tablespoon (6 g) coarsely chopped lemon zest; avoid any white pith
  
• 6 cups (1200 g) sugar
  

Steps

1. Wash and clean the blossoms well. Think of it as a fruit or vegetable; you don't want bugs or dirt in your food. Remove all green material.
   
2. Soak flowers for two days.
   
3. Place the blossoms in the four quarts of water, along with the lime, orange, and lemon juices.
   
4. Stir in the ginger, cloves, orange peels, lemon peels, and sugar. Bring the mix to a boil for an hour.
   
5. Strain through filter papers (coffee filters are recommended). Let the wine cool down for a while.
   
6. Stir the yeast in while the wine is still warm, but below 110 degrees F.
   
7. Leave it alone and let it stand overnight.
   
8. Pour it into bottles, poke a few holes in a balloon and place over the tops of the bottles to create an airlock, and store them in a dark place for at least three weeks so that it can ferment.
   
9. Optional: Rack the wine several times. Racking means waiting until the wine clears, then siphoning or pouring the liquid into another container, leaving the lees (sediment) at the bottom of the first container.[3]
   
10. After that time, cork and store the bottles in a cool place. Allow the wine time to age. Most recipes recommend waiting at least six months, preferably a year.[4]
    

Tips

• Pasteurization uses sixty-five degrees Celsius for half an hour to avoid changing character.
  
• Pick the flowers right before starting so they're fresh. Midday is when they are fully open.[5] Alternatively, you can freeze the flowers immediately after harvesting, then pull off the petals right before preparing the wine.[6]
  
• It may take more than three weeks for your wine to ferment if your home is cold. But, be aware though, fermentation at higher temperatures may change the taste of the wine, and can lead to higher levels of fusel alcohols, which can cause hangovers. Warmer temperatures can cause many other problems like strong yeasty flavors, rancid odors, bacterial contamination. Generally fermentation should be done at room temperature or lower (50-75 F or 10-25 C).
  
• This recipe will produce a light wine that mixes well with tossed salad or baked fish. To add body or strength, add a sweetener,raisins, dates, figs, apricots, or rhubarb.[7]
  

Warnings

• Avoid using dandelions that may have been chemically treated. Also, try to stay away from dandelions that have been graced by the presence of dogs, or that grow within 50 feet of a road.
  

Things You'll Need

• Balloons
  
• Coffee filters or straining paper
  
• Empty, clean wine bottles
  
• Large beverage container to strain liquid into
  
• A large pot you can boil the dandelion mixture in
  
• A place to store the fermenting wine
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Cook Dandelion Greens
  
• How to Store Wine
  
• How to Pair Food and Wine
  
• How to Make Blackberry Wine
  
• How to Brew Simple Wild Berry Wine
  
• How to Make Strawberry Wine
  
• How to Brew Cheap Wine
  

Sources and Citations

• Texascooking.com - Source of information
  

1. ↑ http://winemakermag.com/feature/196.html


2. ↑ http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/dandelio.asp


3. ↑ http://www.thecompostbin.com/2006/05/how-to-make-dandelion-wine.html


4. ↑ http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/dandelio.asp


5. ↑ http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/dandelio.asp


6. ↑ http://www.thecompostbin.com/2006/05/how-to-make-dandelion-wine.html


7. ↑ http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/dandelio.asp

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Dandelion Wine. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Il Papa’s Rose

GardenMessenger:



“Another important rose launched recently in the United States, just before I started this blog, is named for the late Pope John Paul II. It was raised by Jackson and Perkins, Medford, Oregon, who this year are celebrating 130 years in the nursery business. The rose, which was especially selected by the Vatican to honour the late pontiff, is a luminous white with refreshing, somewhat citrus-like fragrance. Ten percent of the net proceeds from the sale of each rose will be put at the disposal of the Vatican, who have indicated that it will be used for charitable work amongst the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa. This first year there are a limited number of 2,500 bushes available.”

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