The Benefits of Gardening Brought to the Classroom

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Start a School Garden and Share the Benefits of Gardening With the Children in Your Community

benefits of gardeningIt’s an idea that has been literally and figuratively growing around the country – planting a school garden. School gardens augment learning across several disciplines. A quality school garden requires up-front planning and time to invest in the process, but the benefits of gardening are well worth the effort. Here are a few benefits that will hopefully inspire you to research a school garden for your community.

Getting Kids Active

A school garden is a great way to get kids interested in being outside and digging in the dirt. School gardens make the facts of cultivation come alive for students. Kids benefit from turning the soil, pushing a wheelbarrow, pulling up weeds and raking mulch. Plus, they enjoy it! So if you like the idea of children being more active – a school garden is a terrific idea.

A Multi-Discipline Appeal

Apart from the physical exercise and fresh air that come with planting, there are academic benefits of gardening to be realized. The school garden lends itself to teaching on science and biology, conservation, mathematics, nutrition, art and even creative writing. All these disciplines can use the school garden as an interest-ready springboard for teaching.

Improved Interest in Healthy Eating

Children will naturally be interested in tasting what grows in the garden. Among the many benefits of gardening is an increased willingness of kids to try new fruits and vegetables. Larger gardens can provide enough harvest for all the children to at least sample fresh produce. Once kids are invested in seeing how things grow, they develop a heightened interest in exploring local farm to table foods.

Indoor or Outdoor Achieves Similar Results

Not every school is located where year-round gardening is possible. Some schools have utilized raised beds for spring gardens. Others have devised indoor gardens that can be attended throughout the school year and allow children to grow and harvest more than one crop. The fact is that indoors or out, the benefits of gardening are there to be had.

At Kincaid Plant Markers we are excited about this trend toward school gardens. We know it is a big undertaking but one which offers tremendous rewards. When you’re ready to put your seeds in the ground, we hope you’ll let us participate. Order our quality markers to help identify plants. We would love to be part of helping students reap the many benefits of gardening.

Equip Your Loved One for Gardening at Home This Christmas

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Last Minute Gift Ideas for Those Who Enjoy Gardening at Home

gardening at homeChristmas is just a few days away. Maybe you’ve put a major dent in your Christmas shopping list or maybe you haven’t even gotten started. Whichever the case may be, if you have an avid gardener on your gift list, we have a few suggestions to help you choose the perfect present. Check out our last minute gift ideas for those who enjoy gardening at home and take the worry out of gift hunting.

Home Gardeners Love to Read About Gardening

Just about everyone who turns the soil enjoys reading about new ideas, better techniques and proven methods. Give your home gardener a gift that satisfies their interest and you will have hit a home run. You could give your gardener a gardening magazine subscription or a book devoted to gardening “how to” – either way they will enjoy hours and hours of reading pleasure. Look for books on topics such as herb gardening, organic gardening or flower gardens that attract pollinators.

Home Gardeners Appreciate Good Tools

A new gardening tool is always welcome. Ergonomic hand tools, larger mechanized gardening tools or even garden statues are sure to please the one for whom you’re buying. In fact, a new pair of rubber gardening clogs, a kneeling pad, a sun hat or utility apron would also look great under the tree this Christmas.

New Containers are Always a Great Idea for Home Gardeners

Ceramic pots are fabulous. Most home gardeners enjoy spreading their bounty around – on the porch, on the patio, by the mailbox and along the drive. But pots can feel like a luxury. So why not treat your favorite gardener to some lovely new containers this season? Ceramic pots, unique, one-of-a-kind, pots or pots that reflect the gardener’s design preferences. Get them excited for spring planting by giving them someplace terrific to show off their skills.

Plant Markers are Every Home Gardeners Favorite Gift

We’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you that nearly every gardener likes to identify plants. That’s why we’ve built an entire business around creating plant markers that look great in the garden season after season. If you are out of time for shopping, it’s still not too late to give a gift that will truly enthuse the one who enjoys gardening at home. At Kincaid Plant Markers we offer gift certificates in any denomination of $10 or above. Order yours today!

Herbs for the Holidays

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Fun New Ways to Gift Your Herbs This Holiday Season

herbsEven though you may have moved your garden indoors for the winter, there’s still many wonderful ways you can put your efforts to good use. Of course, if you have an herb garden you can be using your herbs all winter in your own cooking. But there are some really great ways that you can share what you love with those you love too. Here are some suggestions for gifting your herbs this holiday season:

Fragrant Honey

Herbed honey is a unique and wonderful treat. Make your own and give it as a gift. Just place your herb of choice in the bottom of a jar and then pour in the honey. Place in a sunny window and allow to steep for two to three weeks, turning the jar every so often to move the herbs around in the honey. Lavender, thyme, rosemary, lemon balm or mint all work great! Savory honey is delicious atop chicken or in homemade sauces. Sweet flavored honeys are fabulous on crunchy bread and in hot tea.

Herb-inspired Wrapping Paper

Make your own wrapping paper letting your garden herbs serve as the fresh design. Place several sprigs of an herb (stem included) across the face of white paper and then top with a second sheet of paper. Use a hammer to pound your design. You’ll know you’re finished when the color begins to bleed through your top sheet.

Homemade Bouqet Garni

Give a cookbook or collection of recipe cards and adorn your gift with some fresh herbs.
Bouquet garni can be made with four sprigs, parsley, four sprigs thyme and one bay leaf wired together or try three sprigs parsley, two sprigs fresh rosemary and one bay leaf. Wrap them nicely in a cheesecloth or leave as an actual bouquet tied into the bow of your gift. Bouquet garni is fabulous for flavoring soups and stews but even nice with braised meats.

An Herb Wreath

An herb wreath makes a great gift topper and a gift in itself. Once it is taken off the gift, it will dry into a lovely wall hanging. Just use the wire from a closet hanger (or 18-gauge floral wire) to form a wreath of whatever size you choose. Next, snip fresh rosemary and thyme into two or three inch lengths and attach them to the heart with paddle wire. Your wreath will look and smell terrific.

At Kincaid Plant Markers we know that gardeners love to garden. And they love to explore new ways of sharing their passion with others. We think these uses for herbs are a great way to share your love of gardening with others. We’d suggest tucking in some of our sturdy but attractive plant markers with any of our suggested gift adornments to give your holiday gifts some extra appeal. Order today and have them in time for gift-giving!

Now is the Time to Prepare Your Garden for Spring

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You Can Prepare Your Garden for Success With Raised Beds

prepare your gardenNow, after the final summer harvest and before the first hard freeze, is a good time to prepare your garden for next Spring. One way to ensure that next year’s garden is easier to manage while yielding even better results is to establish a few raised planting beds. If you clear space and construct them now, Spring planting can be the proverbial “breeze”. Here are a few reasons to try your hand at raised bed gardening:

Convenience

Raised garden beds can be any size you choose, just be sure that you can reach the center of the bed from any of its sides. This will make weeding, watering and harvesting a snap next year. Also, be sure to give your raised beds an edge that is wide enough for you to rest on. If you can sit while you prune, weed, water and pick you’ll be surprised how much more motivated you’ll be to work in the garden all summer.

Improved Soil Content

Raised bed gardening is a great way to provide the very best soil environment. You mix the soil as you add it to the bed so that it has an ideal content for water drainage, nutrition and care.

The soil in a raised bed is considerably more loose than the dense, compact dirt of in-ground plant beds. This means that your plants’ roots will breathe better and get better nutrition. Aerated soil allows plants to better absorb nutrients.

Loose soil also means that your plants will have an easier job spreading their roots. That is a good thing since a stronger root system means a healthier, sturdier plant. If you want a lush garden, make it easy for roots to spread, grow and get fed.

You’ll also find that it is far easier to enrich the soil in a raised planting bed. Not only will you have less work turning the soil and mixing in the additives, but you will have far less waste from those supplements washing out or off of the hard ground of a dug-in planting bed. Not to mention how much simpler it is to calculate the amount of additive needed for a bed with distinct dimensions!

Plant it Your Way

With raised planting beds, you’ll be able to plant exactly what you want, in the amount you want, where you want. By using Kincaid Plant Markers as you plant, you’ll know exactly what is where even before tender shoots appear. Later on you won’t have to bend over to find what is a plant and what is a weed. Order your plant markers and prepare your garden now and when Spring finally rolls around you’ll be prepared.

Gardening at Home During the Cold Days of Winter

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Extend Your Time Gardening at Home With a Cool Greenhouse

gardening at homeWondering what to give yourself this Christmas? What about a build-it-yourself greenhouse with some quality plant markers to identify your plants? A greenhouse will allow you to get something you’ll be able to enjoy 12 months a year. For those who enjoy gardening at home, there’s nothing like having your very own greenhouse right in the back yard.

What is a Cool Greenhouse

A cool greenhouse doesn’t mean that your greenhouse is trendy, it only means that it is unheated other than by the sun. Heated greenhouses can run up large power bills while a cool greenhouse will provide lots of winter growing options without adding to your winter heating costs. In fact, many gardeners choose to construct their greenhouse right up against their home in order to heat-share. So while a cool greenhouse isn’t an inexpensive present, neither is it one you’ll have to keep paying for winter after winter.

What Can You Grow in a Cool Greenhouse

The list of wonderful things you can grow in your winter greenhouse is inspiring. Whether you are a vegetable or flower enthusiast, you’ll enjoy gardening at home in deep December and frigid January if you know what to plant. Here’s a starter list of suggestions:
Flowers
Amaryllis and Christmas cactus may not be big surprises on the winter grow list, but you can also enjoy nurturing beauties like hyacinth, pansies, azalea and primroses in your cool greenhouse.

Vegetables
Nearly any cool-weather veggies will do wonderfully well in your winter greenhouse environment. Think about enjoying leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, parsley, kale and cilantro as well as delicious root vegetables like beets, radishes, turnips, garlic and carrots. You can also successfully produce tasty broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage.

Why Build a Cool Greenhouse

If you prefer gardening at home, you already know that fresh tastes best. You also know that potting around with growing things is good for the soul. Gardening isn’t a pleasure that needs to be limited to a few brief months of the year. A greenhouse extends your growing season. You can grow to harvest all winter or merely use it to get a jump-start on spring planting. Either way, your own greenhouse gives you more of what you like best about gardening.

At Kincaid Plant Markers we salute those hardy gardeners who look for ways to keep digging. We make it our aim to keep you and your garden looking your very best. Our quality plant markers will keep you organized and professional-looking whether you grow in pots or in the ground. Order yours today.

Plant Markers Make the List of Gardening Gifts This Christmas

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Gardening Gift Suggestions for the Gardner in Your Life Include American-Made Plant Markers

plant markersIt’s crazy but it’s true. Holiday shopping time is upon us. If there is a gardener on your Christmas list, we’ve come up with a great handful of gift suggestions. Our comprehensive list includes items from inexpensive stocking stuffers to fabulous, over-the-top gifts that will leave them speechless. Don’t be intimidated if gardening isn’t your own hobby – we’ve put together a selection that is sure to have at least one sure-fire winner whether it’s a visit to the gardens of Versailles or bright new plant markers!

Just a Little Something

Looking for one or two garden gifts to tuck into the Christmas stocking of your favorite horticulturalist? Why not slip in a packet of vintage seeds or colorful spring bulbs? Luxurious hand scrub and lotion also make excellent gardening gifts. If you can’t think of anything else, a gift card for the local nursery is always welcome.

Reading Material

Looking for something to wrap and leave under the tree? Do they want to focus on organic gardening? Herbal gardens? Bonsai? Why not find a book by a reputable author on the gardening subject that most interests them? A beautiful coffee table book is also an excellent choice. If you can’t find the right book, perhaps a one-year subscription to their favorite gardening publication would do the trick.

 

Tools Make Great Gift Ideas

Fun, new gardening tools are always welcome. Here’s our list:

  1. New set of fabulous gardening gloves.
  2. A well-made trug for gathering produce at harvest time. Choose one that is suited to what your loved one grows: a deeper design will safely cradle fruit and rounded produce while one that is shallow and wide will accommodate flowers, herbs and leafy vegetables.
  3. A high quality garden knife.
  4. A new kneeling pad. Look for one with a unique design just for fun.
  5. Plant markers give that added expert touch to a well-tended garden.

Something Grand and Unexpected

If you’re looking for a gift on a somewhat grander scale, you might think about buying tickets to a gardening show or event in another city. A gift sure to elicit major “wows” would be a trip to one of the country’s major botanical gardens. Bigger still would be a grand tour of Europe’s finest horticultural destinations.

At Kincaid Plant Markers we’re excited about gardens and the gardeners who tend them. That’s why we make the very best plant markers. Visit us and see how affordable a quality gardening tool can be. You may be surprised to find that plant markers could be among the season’s most prized gifts.

Pumpkin Gardening at Home

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Gardening at Home to Grow Your Own Jack-O-Lanterns, Pie Filling and More

gardening at homeIs there a fruit more emblematic of fall than bright, orange pumpkins? These wonderfully varied squash come in a range of sizes and even colors and can be used in a number of ways from decorating your porch to adorning your Thanksgiving table. Pumpkins are also a good source of vitamins A and C. So, if you’d like a fun gardening at home project, pumpkins are a great choice.

Planting Pumpkins

You can plant pumpkin seeds directly into prepared soil. Plan to get seeds into the ground at least 14 weeks prior to your first frost. Plant pumpkins in rows, two seeds per hole about three feet apart. Choose a location that receives strong sun and provides well-drained soil. As you plan your pumpkin patch, keep in mind that vines will extend as far as eight feet.

Harvesting Pumpkins

Harvest your pumpkins when the vine begins to die off and the fruit’s exterior is resistant to fingernail pricks. Cut the pumpkin from the vine leaving at least one inch of stem. To extend the life of your pumpkins, place them someplace with a steady temperature of 70-80 degrees for 14 days. This will “cure” most varieties.

Choosing Pumpkins

When gardening at home with a pumpkin patch, the real question is which type(s) of pumpkins to raise. The smallest and largest sized pumpkins are great for use as ornamentals while the middle sized ones are best for eating.

Miniature pumpkins – Appealing in their minuteness, these squash are perfect for decorative groupings. You can also hollow them out and use shells to serve flavorful dips or hot autumn soups.

Pie pumpkins – The squash of choice for soups, pies, grilled wedges and other recipe needs.

Oilseed pumpkins – These offer a smaller size with attractive green striping. Oilseeds are perfect for horns-o-plenty or other fall arrangements. While the flesh isn’t particularly flavorful, the seeds are great for roasting.

Carving pumpkins – Choose medium to larger sized pumpkins for growing your own jack-o-lantern. The bigger pumpkins aren’t as tasty for cooking, but they are the perfect choice for decorative uses.

Giant pumpkins – The largest pumpkins are nice for setting out on entryways and porches though less desirable for cooking.

Labeling Pumpkins

When you’re gardening at home you don’t have to grow just one type of pumpkin. You could decide to plant a few varieties for different uses. Kincaid Plant Markers can help you identify each variety. We offer three lines of quality plant markers that fit any budget from which to choose, but all bear our signature promise of attractive, long-lasting service.

Identifying Flowers for Your Fall Garden

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Enjoy Identifying Flowers That Will Bring Beautiful Color to Your Fall Landscape

identifying flowersAs a gardener, you’ve likely spent the summer weeding, watering, trimming and harvesting and may be ready for a break during the winter season. But once the gloriously colored leaves fall off the trees, looking at a grey landscape can be dreary. So we’ve taken this opportunity to provide you with a list identifying flowers that will add glorious fall color to your landscape for very little effort.

Fall flowers, whether perennials or annuals, will perk up your landscape right up until the first hard frost and, in some cases, even beyond. Here are some of our favorites along with basic planting information.

Mums are popular autumn flowers. The plants grow in zones four through 10 as long as you offer a spot with full sun. These bushy beauties can grow up to five feet tall. If you plant in the ground rather than pots, you’ll want to divide them when they grow bigger and become crowded. Once they’ve finished blooming, cut them down to just eight inches above the ground and cover with mulch or sand.

Hardy True Geranium has a larger bloom with more pansy-like petals than the common geranium grown during the summer. True geraniums grow in zones three through nine and reach one to two feet in height. They like sun but can handle partial shade. Identifying flowers with nameplates is fun when you introduce unusual varieties.

Aster is a daisy-like perennial offering shades of bright blues and pink. They offer cheerful pops of color when the garden gets drab. These flowers do well in just about every grow zone, enjoy full sunlight and grow from one to five feet tall. Snip blooms for a pretty bouquet.
Decorative Kale and Cabbage offers low-growing color and texture. The plants are an attractive vibrant purple or creamy white with frilly leaves. The decorative veggies grow in every zone and frost will only brighten their colors. They prefer sun but can do well in shade and look terrific grown in clusters. They do well and look nice in pots. In the ground be sure to change locations from year to year to avoid disease issues.

Black-eyed Susan does best in zones three through 11 and starts blooming in summer but keeps going strong into fall. The flowers are great for attracting butterflies, bees and even bird life. They enjoy sun but can exist in partial shade.

Tickweed or Coreopsis will reach one to two and a half feet tall and grows in all zones depending upon variety. The blossoms attract bees and butterflies. Pinch dead heads to encourage new blooms or leave seed-heads and birds will come too.

Identifying flowers that are low-care and high impact for fall is like a treasure hunt. Some will do well in your zone and garden area, some not. But since they are treasures, you’ll want to name them and celebrate them. Less common beauties like Sneezeweed, Russian Sage and Japanese Anemone need labels. At Kincaid Plant Markers we offer the sturdy nameplates your garden plants deserve spring, summer and fall!

Winter Gardening Tips for Growing Vegetables Indoors

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You Can Still Have Homegrown Food During the Cold Months With These Gardening Tips

gardening tipsSummer and fall don’t need to be the only seasons of homegrown bounty. Eating garden-fresh can still happen when the winter months arrive. You can grow tasty nutritious vegetables indoors if you know what to plant and where. Here are our gardening tips for keeping your thumb green and your table fresh from November to March.

Location, Location, Location

In the same way that you carefully choose your outdoor garden space, you’ll need to pick the choice locations indoors for your winter growing. Location is all-important since plants need light in order to grow. A sunny window is ideal. Other locations with indirect light can work, but you’ll probably want to augment with special grow lighting to maintain constant light and temperature. Many vegetables thrive on 10-14 or more hours of sunlight which can be hard to get in the dark of winter, so adding some artificial lighting can make all the difference between a leggy or leafy plant and one that actually produces blooms and fruit.

Home Sweet Home

The next most important component for your indoor garden is quality soil. All indoor plants need well-drained soil. This usually means a pot with drain holes at the base and a saucer underneath to trap the leakage. However, you can also place small stones or pebbles in the bottom of a container without holes for the same effect. Rich soil is key to making your indoor garden home sweet home. Quality soil typically will be made up of dirt plus sand plus compost.

Gardening Tips on What to Grow Indoors

Some vegetables do better inside than others, so here is our suggested “winter grow list”.

  • Try a dwarf avocado tree. These darlings can grow up to 10 feet tall.
  • Cherry tomatoes do well in an indoor setting. You can try growing Sweet Million tomatoes up a pole or indoor lattice. Dwarf french pole beans also work well trained along an indoor guide.
  • Bush beans are the easiest to grow and pick from a large indoor pot.
  • Root vegetables grow well in winter and can be grown successfully in pots. Consider beets and radishes.
  • Sweet, tender potatoes can do fine grown in a large plastic sack. Use rich soil and leave space at the top to add more as the plants mature. Potatoes only need five or six hours of sunlight to produce.

Once you’ve prepared your soil and picked the ideal location, you’ll want to clearly identify each plant. Using garden markers is the sure-fire way to help you identify your plants. Kincaid Plant Markers offers stainless steel labels that will identify each plant whether you use them indoors or out. Our quality markers will still be looking great years from now. So on our list of winter gardening tips we must include: the right location, the right soil and the right name plate. Winter isn’t the end for gardeners; it’s just a new environment.

The Benefits of Gardening Preparation This Fall for Next Year’s Harvest

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Tricks to Reap the Benefits of Gardening in Raised Beds

benefits of gardeningIf you are feeling sad to be hanging up your gloves and trowel for this summer’s gardening season, we have good news. There are things you can do this fall to stay busy outdoors and help you prepare for your garden next spring. The air is cool and crisp and it’s a great time to prepare your raised gardening beds for next year’s garden. The benefits of gardening in raised beds are many and the work can be minimal. Here are some tips for gardening in raised beds:

Why Raised Beds?

The soil in raised beds tends to stay loose, rich and optimal for growing more so than soil found in ground level gardens. You never walk on the soil in your beds so you never have to deal with soil compaction problems. Another benefit is the ease of weeding. When you build your beds according to prescribed measurements you’ll be able to do your weeding easily from any side. With a wide enough plank, you could even sit on the edge of your bed to do your weeding. In addition, all of your watering and feeding will directly benefit your plants since none of it will be washing onto the walking path.

The Right Size

To get all the benefits of gardening in a raised bed you’ll want to construct them in the size that is easy to manage. If your bed(s) are no larger than four feet across in any direction, you’ll be able to do your weeding and harvesting with ease. Build your beds around 30 inches high to give the best depth of soil and most comfortable height for gardening. If you use rot-resistant materials to build your beds, you won’t have to repeat the process for many years to come.

Ease of Preparation

Soil prep for a raised bed is a simple process. The “lasagna” method is an easy way to prepare your soil and fall is the ideal time to begin. For this method simply make sure grass and weeds are down to the ground. Next, lay newspapers or flattened cardboard on the bottom of your constructed bed. You can hose down the paper layer or drop mounds of mulch to keep the paper in place. Now you have a great spot for all those leaves you rake in the yard. Empty your coffee grounds into the bed. This is your wonderful new compost pile. Non-protein kitchen scraps, newspaper, leaves, grass clippings – all can go directly into the bed and left to decompose until next spring. By then you’ll have a good layer of rich earth that you have made with relative ease.

Benefits of Gardening with Plant Markers

Your new garden will be tidier, easier to manage and look far more professional if you use garden markers. By using Kincaid Plant Markers to designate each plant, you will easily be able to tell which plant is where. Markers help you avoid “weeding out” desirable plants by mistake while helping you space your plants at optimal distances. They also make your garden look terrific. Order yours now so that when spring arrives all you have to do is drop some seeds in your well-prepared beds. It couldn’t be much simpler.