Tipsy Pots click here for step by step  directions and PDF file.




  


















Instead of using soil you can use one of these to make the pots lighter.

• Coconut Coir
• LECA (Hydroton or clay balls)
• Perlite                                                                                                                             When watering the water should flow from the top all the way down. This would be perfect for strawberries.                

I have finally found green house plans!!I will need to make a few modification for venting and make it twice the length to fit an aquaponic system.

Barn Greenhouse








   



visit Ana White web site for this project and lots of other great stuff with free plans.
Barn Greenhouse click here.




I still have not figured out what type of aquiponic system to go with yet.I think I am going to go with a wood base with a pond liner. I have found a pump but not really ready to call it a day on pumps I have a lot of questions about which is going to be the best for my system. The pump has to pull the sediment of the bottom of the tank to feed the plants. I sometimes feel the more research I do the more questions I have.

Went to Ikea  and found bins for my practice aquaponics system like in this video! They were like 6.00 for the grow beds and 12 for the larger on thats on wheels stay toned my video will follow soon.

Time to plan the garden?

                                                                          


Strawberries look so good. The pink banana on page 52 looks so pretty I might just grow it in the flower garden.
Haven't looked thru the entire book but my list is getting bigger by the minute.

How to save corn for winter!

 Cristina tells how easy it is to save corn click here to visit her site she has really good tips!

How to save summer corn for winter use

by Cristina on August 14, 2012

I love summer corn in the summer. Grilled in its husk, sweet corn is a divine lunch or an unbeatable side with a dinner of, well, anything.
But, I also love summer corn in the winter. I eat sweet summer corn in winter soups and stews and chilies. I sauté corn with peppers and onion and butter for a bright and slight sweet side dish. I mix corn with peppers and cheeses and tomatoes for wintertime enchilada casseroles.
Yes, sweet summer corn is one of my favorite wintertime ingredients.
And, saving it couldn’t be easier.
Really. This is not hard to do.
You will need corn. You will need some way to cook that corn (grill, stove, oven, firepit, solar oven, laser beam… your choice). You will need a pair of hefty thongs. You will need a knife and cutting board. You will need some sort of freezer-safe container. And, you will need a freezer.
That’s it.
First, we cook our corn. For my favorite technique, check out my recipe for Perfect Grilled Corn.
Or, go your own way. I won’t hold it against you.
But, if you’ve got a grill, I encourage you to at least try grilling your corn. It’s worth it.
This is what I had to say on the matter in my recipe for Perfect Grilled Corn:

Why grill corn? Three reasons:

First, cooking on the grill keeps the heat out of the house. And, since corn comes into season about the time summer is at its meanest, keeping heat out of the house is a good thing.

Second, grilling gives corn a smokey sweetness that I especially love. Maybe you prefer the pure corn flavor of boiled sweet corn. That’s fine. We’re all welcome to our opinions. For me, it’s grilled corn. Yum.

Finally, third, grilling corn is just easy. You don’t shuck the corn. You don’t worry about the silk. You don’t clean the ears or fuss about a big pan or worry about spilling boiling water between the stove and the sink. Easy. Easy is good. Especially when easy is also tasty.

Whatever your preferred technique, this is the moment when you will cook your corn. Go ahead and get it started. I’ll wait.
Is your corn cooked? Sweet. Turn of the grill and let the corn cool. If possible, let it cool outside. You can even leave it right on the grill, with the lid up. Assuming you don’t still have live coals under the grill, that is.
Let your corn sit a good long while. Thirty minutes. An hour. There’s no rush. You’ve already cooked it.
Use this time to weed the garden. Or, walk the dog. Or, drink a gin and tonic. Up to you (I suggest the g&t, though the dog disagrees).
Ok. Is your corn cool enough to touch? Good. Let’s shuck!
You can do this outside, if you’ve got a picnic table and less mosquitoes than me. Or, you can do this inside, if you don’t mind the mess and do mind the bugs. Up to you.

Once you’ve shucked your corn, you’re ready to start saving the harvest for winter use.
Grab a cutting board. A big one.
Grab a knife. A sharp and sturdy one.
Grab a freezer-safe container or a plastic freezer bag. A clean one.
Ready? Let’s do this!
Some people have fancy corn husker things that slide down the husk and slice the kernels from the husk in a single go. I’m not one of those people. I’m betting you probably aren’t either. Though, if you are, by all means use that fancy corn husker. That’s what it’s there for.


Easiest way to husk an ear of corn sans husker, I’ve found, is to first cut the ear in half, cross ways. Then, set the half-ear vertically, with the cut end down. Pick up your knife. Starting at the top of the half-ear, slice the knife down the length of the ear, between the kernels and the cob. You want to find that sweet spot between kernel and cob, so you’re removing as much kernel as possible without also cutting into the cob. After a few tries, you’ll figure it out.
Rotate the ear a tiny bit (say, the equivalent of two or three rows of kernels) and repeat. And, repeat. And, repeat.
Keep going until you’ve sliced all the kernels from that half of that first ear. Then, continue with the second half of that first ear. Then, start the second ear. The third…
You get the idea.
A single ear of corn will give you about one cup of cut kernels.

Those kernels add up quickly. As you cut them, add them to your freezer-proof container. This could be a plastic freezer bag, a food storage container or anything else that’ll keep the air out and the corn in. I have used freezer bags and glass food storage containers. Both work great.
Fill up your freezer-proof container with corn. Freeze it. Repeat as necessary until you’ve saved enough corn to make it through the winter (I do this over a course of several weeks, buying about six to twelve ears at a time).
That’s it.
[Oh. And save those cobs, too. Because, check it out: Corn Cob Stock! I haven't made this yet, but I will. How can it not be wonderful?]
When you need corn for winter recipes, you can treat your home-frozen corn like any other frozen corn. Just add it when the recipes calls for it, cook, and enjoy.

Homemade seed starters..

You can make seed starters with things you already have! 

While looking up information on a homemade compost barrel (very cool but that will be a later blog) our power went out! What are we going to do now with no T.V.,computer, or radio? Well we went out side..OMG my middle daughter says. We found time to rake up the leaves and clean up the yard and have fun as a family(imagine that). I learned our Media make us loss a lot of quality family time:(

She is showing off the caterpillar we found.

This is the best rain barrel demo... he walks you step by step

Chicken coops

I have been thinking about getting chickens.I finally found our city ordinance that allows us to keep chickens.So now that I know I can have a max of 6 hen NO roosters and only as long as neighbors don't complain. Its time to research what I need to do. There are a ton of web site here a good list of sites that I found helpful.
I typed in pellet coops and found this really nice coop hand made from free yes free....wooden pallets. To see a 3:30min video click here 

The chicken chic  click here has great tip this is a must read before building your coop some of these tip will save you time. She also has a full tutorial on common condition that hen develop such as prolapse vent and foot sores.

I just need to find out what kind of chickens will do well in South East Ohio.It gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Autumn and spring bring a mixture of both!It could snow on a Monday and be 90 by Wednesday. The saying goes if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes.