The Camp Garden

It is still winter, but the journey of the summer camp garden begins now!

[summercampgarden]

A Kinda Quick Guide to Companion Planting

Why You Should Try Companion Planting Companion planting establishes symbiotic relationships between fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers in your garden. By grouping certain plants together, both ...

[summercampgarden]

Straw Bale Garden Set Up for 2016

[summercampgarden]

Reading the straw bale gardening book for the fourth time in preparation for laying in the summer camp garden... whew. 

[summercampgarden]

Purple Garden in the Making! 

[mothernaturenetwork]

How to create a year-round garden filled with color Want a garden that blooms all season long? Use this chart as your starting point.

[summercampgarden]

Digging up Yukon Gold Potatoes

[summercampgarden]

First Tomato

[biggreenthumb]

Regardless of what type of plants you are growing, you must get into the habit of monitoring the soil’s pH levels on a regular basis. Allowing your garden to become too alkaline or acidic can have devastating consequences to the health of your plants. But how exactly do you lower the pH of a...

[summercampgarden]

DIY Copper Rings for Slug Defence

Copper rings deter slugs and work well but the manufactured ones are expensive. Maddy shows you how to make them for free.

[summercampgarden]

White Icicle Radishes and ripening Strawberries 

[tear-xenon]

Mesmerizing MRI’s of Fruits and Vegetables 

http://offbeat.topix.com/story/11415-20-mri-scans-of-fruits-and-vegetables-these-are-both-mesmerizing-and-vaguely-terrifying

[biodiverseed]

#botany #science #garden science

[allotment86]

How to make a Terrarium in 4 steps …

The size of your container will affect the amount of materials you will need and use:

1. The first layer is rocks, which you can purchase at pet, garden or craft stores. Add enough to the bottom for adequate drainage.

2. The next layer is activated charcoal, which you can get at pet or garden stores (it is used in fish tanks). Add a thin layer over the rocks.

3. Depending on the depth of your container, you will next add soil. Leave enough room for your plant’s roots. 

4. Next is your plant(s). Make sure they are not touching the glass as it will make them brown. One of the trickiest things is finding the right sized and shaped plants. If it won’t hurt the plant, you can divide it and use only a section because it needs room to grow.

5. If your container is going to be closed, you can add moss around the sides of the plant. Open containers with succulents or cacti should be carefully filled in with pebbles on top.  

6. Top your creation with a whimsical inhabitants like Yoda or dinosaurs!

If you’d like to see one made, watch this Martha Stewart video . It’s a good thing.

via  The Notepasser.

[summercampgarden]

The peachicks hatched today! We have three new babes, but one of the littles wouldn't pose for the photo op! 

[summercampgarden]

Our new hive is ready to pollinate the garden! Melissa is Greek for Honey Bee. 

[skunkbear]

Close-ups of butterfly wing scales! You should definitely click on these images to get the full detail.

I’ve paired each amazing close-up (by macro photographer Linden Gledhill) with an image of the corresponding butterfly or moth.  The featured lepidoptera* are (in order of appearance):

Madagascar diadem Hypolimnas dexithea (photo by Michel-Georges Bernard)

Comet moth Argema mittrei (photo by Axel Strauß)

Sunset moth Chrysiridia rhipheus (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Giant Blue Morpho Morpho didius (photo by Didier Descouens, Muséum de Toulouse)

Rippon’s Birdwing Troides hypolitus (photo by Robert Nash, Ulster Museum)

*Lepidoptera (the scientific order that includes moths and butterflies) means “scaly wing.” The scales get their color not from pigment - but from microscopic structures that manipulate light.

The great science youtube channel “Smarter Every Day” has two videos on this very subject that I highly recommend:

[nybg]

The scales of a butterfly resemble the very flower petals they tend to alight on. Or the scales of a fish. Depends on how poetic you’re feeling. Can’t wait to see the lepidoptera returning to the Perennial Garden for warmer months. —MN

[mothernaturenetwork]

What to expect from the first lunar eclipse of 2014 The moon will go through twelve phases of an eclipse across three and half hours, so have some coffee next to your telescope.

[summercampgarden]

Onions, Marigolds, Peppers, Tomatoes, Marigolds, Radishes