How to grow amazing Hostas

I never really wanted to grow Hostas. I mean, they look nice and all but I just wasn't the greenery type. I preferred plants that were full of blooms, useful herbs or ones that produced vegetables. Shade gardening was never really my thing either, till we moved. When you live in the middle of the woods though you have a lot of shady areas to plant in and what better plants to take up space than a hosta?

The hostas were already here when we got here though. There were two different varieties of hostas in the one garden bed. One was all green and the other was green and white. I learned pretty quickly that they were easy to care for and filled in large spaces well. 

That was enough to let them stay when I redid the flower beds and they have remained there for 10 more years.

I also learned that hostas (also known as plantain lilies) are really easy to divide, transplant and move around. They do not require a delicate hand when doing such things although they will recover more quickly if you're gentle! 

Forgetting them in a bucket for a week after digging them out of the garden might not be their favorite activity, but they will survive! Not that I know anything about that. lol

How to grow Sunflowers

Nothing says summer like the bright, sunny faces of a sunflower! They're just so cheerful. While a whole field of sunflowers are absolutely mesmerizing, they can be just as stunning when grown in smaller clumps or even alone. I have been adding sunflowers to my landscaping and gardens for years. They are simple to grow and there are varieties that will fit almost any space.

In fact they are one of the easiest to grow food crops. You can easily harvest the seeds for yourself, to share with your chickens or even the wild birds.

There are several types of sunflowers you can grow for seed or flowers. I've grown everything from the black oil sunflower seeds that you commonly buy for bird seed and the common mammoth sunflower, to ornamental Teddy Bear sunflowers and a pretty Tigers Eye variety. 

The larger sunflowers obviously produce more sunflower seeds. They also produce larger seeds. Each sunflower head produces between 1000-2000 seeds!

Smaller ornamental varieties don't produce as many seeds but the seeds they do produce are still edible. Many of the sunflower varieties have been developed more for the flower than the seeds, so you might have to try a few varieties and see what produces the most seed for the type you want to grow. Unless you're only in it for the flowers...then absolutely choose by color, flower size etc.

Ornamental varieties are often small enough to fit into flower gardens or even containers. Which is great because no matter what the size of the garden spot you have you can find a sunflower to fit!

Natural Remedies For Bad Breath

Recently I woke up in the morning and I had the worst taste in my mouth. Seriously horrible! Since I couldn't motivate myself to get up I lay there and wondered what in the world caused my mouth to be so gross today? I mean, if I could taste it then my breath must be horribly stinky!

So what causes bad breath and is there any way to actually 'cure' it for good? Better yet...what kind of natural remedies for bad breath are out there? 

Obviously good oral hygiene goes a long way towards keeping bad breath at bay. Still, as many as 1 in 10 people currently suffer from bad breath.

There are only a few things more socially awkward than having to keep a lid on your mouth (literally) all the time, for fear of being repulsive.

Bad breath can interfere with your personal and professional relationships if you're constantly talking away from people or not getting close for fear they can smell it. 

That kinda stinks...no pun intended.

One bin, always ready compost method

Having an ample supply of good rich compost is a garden necessity. Compost has many uses, and all of those uses will result in nicer plants. It can be expensive to buy though and making your own free compost can be time consuming and hard work. 

I'm pretty busy in the summer, so spending hours and hours turning compost piles isn't exactly the best use of my time. Plus I just don't have it in me to manage several different compost piles. Instead I use a one bin, 10 minutes every week, easy method of composting, and it works perfectly!

I didn't want to mess with a bunch of bins or have a huge unsightly compost pile. I did need my own compost though. Compost is necessary for a healthy garden, especially an organic garden. Instead of the traditional high and wide wooden bins I went with concrete block and a bin that was much shorter and longer. It works out well for me. Here's how to build one...

2 ingredient natural bug bite remedy

Summer is here and with it comes a ton of bugs that love to bite us! Of course those bites itch and we want to stop that itch so we use a bug bite spray or ointment. Unfortunately most of them are loaded with a bunch of chemicals that we just don't need to be applying to our skin. Natural bug bite remedies are a better choice but many of them require a bunch of different ingredients that you may not have on hand. 

That is why I created a 2 ingredient bug bite salve using things you already have!

Because how are you going to buy a bunch of ingredients to try to save money, by making something homemade? The fact is though, that there are several herbs that can help take away the itch and sting of a bug bite. If you have them all, then go for it, but only one herb is really necessary! 

I actually grow several herbs that are great for this purpose and I'll link down below to some more complex recipes. Today though I wanted to go super simple with 2 ingredients you probably already have.