I have not personally ever had an indoor water garden. One, I’ve had my son around for the last eight years, and as a baby, I’d never want to chance a tot falling into indoor water (kids can drown in under an inch of water and in just minutes) two, it seems like a lot of work, and three I like being outside.

That said, I’ve been seeing a mess of indoor water garden news lately and some of them look pretty fun, and since Blisstree Gardening aims to discuss all things gardening, I thought I’d offer some good links to …read more

Gardening is often promoted as an inexpensive activity, but in truth it’s not always easy to garden on the cheap. That said there are some areas where you can cut gardening costs big time.

Save your old seeds (check to see if they still work).
Compost for homemade soil – even if your yard is small you can compost. In fact, you can compost indoors if you want.
Don’t buy new – garden tools, gardening books, pots, and so on. Most gardening supplies can be easily found at thrift stores. You can also borrow from or share garden tools with friends. It’s also …read more

It’s not often you see entire documentaries surrounding gardening, let alone a movie that covers politics, community gardening, and activism all rolled into one. However, “The Garden,” offers this and according to Grist, it’s a must see, in spite of some issues, and a Grist recommendation is good enough for me. This film was also nominated for an Oscar and has won plenty of other awards.

The Garden is the story of one 15 or so acre community garden plot in L.A. The garden was started in 1992 after the Rodney King riots and was going strong for 12 years. …read more

Visitors and residents of New York have a few more weeks to check out The Edible Garden, an exhibition and celebration of cooking and gardening at the New York Botanical Gardens.  The exhibit is a celebration of growing and eating delicious food, and includes displays, demonstrations, education, and lots of special events designed to help you understand how to grow, prepare, and enjoy garden-fresh produce.  Whether you have space to grow it yourself, or must enjoy it from the labor of others, this tribute to our edible gardens is sure to inspire you.
What will you see?  For details consult the …read more

I’ve noticed a version of Wordless Wednesday that some people are calling Wordy Wednesday. As a long time fan and sometimes participator of the Word-less version, I think think it’s time I give Word-y a try.
Here’s a shot of my tomatoes…
 
I started my garden early and was all set to go the all-natural GroGood way, but nothing was really happening and my front patio smelled like cow poop. Yuck. Dear neighbors, I am so very sorry.
I broke down and bought the MiracleGro plant food. It always works for me. I have a limited space and there’s only so much you …read more

I’ve been enjoying some cherry tomatoes off my tomato plant out front. The pots and planter have taken on a minature  jungle look which the neighborhood cats enjoy exploring. I’ll take some photos this weekend and show you what I mean with a more in-depth GroGood update.

In the meantime, check out The Oldest, Largest, Garden Party in America’s History that they are running over at BEEKMAN 1802.
They are helping theLandreth Seeds company to celebrate their 225th birthday.
Add your garden to the Interactive Garden Party Map and enter for your chance to win a 37-piece Ultimate Yard and Garden Tool Collection, a …read more

Truman made a wormery. That’s his name for a worm pile. It’s basically a container with dirt and leaves and all the worms he could pry out from under the steppingstones out back. Worms don’t particularly bother me though I’d prefer not to touch them. I am learning that they serve great purpose in the garden and so I am encouraging Truman not to keep his new pets in captivity for too long.
If you want to make a wormery with your kids, I’ll share my expert knowledge and save you time from scouring the Internet yourself. Worms like dirt. The …read more

Since gardening has become so popular this year, with more people raising gardens during this time of economic slowdown, it only seems natural that gardening themes are of interest in crafts.  How can you incorporate this into what you’re doing…just for fun or for making items to sell? 
What can you make or create?

Wall hanging quilts with gardening themes.
Cookbooks with recipes for the produce from the garden.  Perhaps you’ll add your own artwork.  (This also can be made in e-book format.)
Gardening aprons or kitchen aprons with fruit and vegetable designs.
Gardening smocks and t-shirts.  Screen print designs on them.
Gardening journal for recording planting, harvesting, …read more

I wrote last week that we’re trying our hand with a container garden on our patio. We live in the desert southwest and know the odds are against us with our little experiment, but last night while tending to one of the tomato plants, we spotted something:

A sweet little green tomato! It’s the only one in the pot so far though a few of the other pretty yellow flowers have started to drop off. I don’t remember specifically which tomato this is, though we know it’s a regular-sized type, and we’ve got some cherry tomatoes in the other container.
The …read more

Often art trends follow the current events of a country or the world. What topics are “hot” now that you can focus on?

Gardening, especially at the White House
Dogs/pets and the Portuguese water dog at the White House
Immigration and immigrants
Graduations
Weddings
Pirates
Taxes – I suppose I could do a page in my Page-a-Day Tea Book book on the recent TEA parties, protesting higher taxes, reminiscent of the Boston Tea Party of pre-Revolutionary War days.
Environmental topics

What can you do in the way of art projects to encompass current topics that could have appeal?

Collages
Paintings in various media
Scrapbooks
Quilts and Fabric Art
Needlepoint
Sculpture
Papier Mache
Beading
Encrusted embellishments
Altered books
Mixed media
Jewelry

Have …read more