Even as we are still seeing snow on the ground and freezing temperatures in the air, we are already dreaming of how we're going to revive our backyard garden. It's slushy and muddy back there right now and there's dead leaves and dead vines on the beds. It's looking downright dismal, to tell the truth. But this weekend, the story will take a drastic turn. The weather is forcasted to be in the 70's and it's going to be sunny. We'll be back there for sure, cleaning the beds and getting them ready for the planting season.

We don't use a any store bought fertilizer or pesticides in our backyard. We try to grow everything as organically as possible as we can. We have resorted to pesticides in the past when some insect infestations got too out of hand, but whenever we can, we try to not use anything at all.

This year, we are looking into organic pest control and other organic gardening products if we have to use any chemicals at all. Safer Brand offers organic alternatives to your usual arsenal of gardening and cleaning products. For instance, when the weather gets warmer, the ants start coming into our house, laying aphids on the plants and just creating a great nuisance overall. When they get bad, we've had no qualms about getting Raid and spreading it wherever they are infiltrating. If you've ever smelled Raid, you'll know there can't be anything good in that can. You know it has to kill everything in its wake! And that's good, mind you. You want them little suckers dead. However, that same poison that kills them can also kill you and that's not good. Not good at all.

Safer Brand has a alternate product that is just as lethal to ants but safer for humans. They have ant and crawling insects killer that come in aerosol form or powder form, just like the kind you normally buy at the store. They are safe to use and they are environmentally friendly. You can even use them on your edible gardens and suffer no ill effects, just a pest free harvest. Compare the prices of the Safer Brand products and the leading products in most stores and you will find the prices to be quite similar.

I have, and I'm sure you have seen these peppers on those forwarded emails of weirdly shaped vegetables too. I thought they were just another accident of nature, but apparently they are real plants albeit very rare plants. According to the Chilli Willy website (yes, there is one!), "The pepper itself is a very rare plant species, which was originally native to the American states of Texas and Louisiana, and only really found in the private collections of very few gardeners."

Now if you want to own one of these rare plants, you can buy your own chili willy online. For £1.75, you get 5 seeds that you can then germinate. If you need them, they also have a germination solution and pollinating brush sold on the site.

I'm thinking this would make an unusual gift for a gardener with a sense of humor :)


Visit our new blogs:
Amoores.com
Cooked from the Heart - our new food blog
Our New Backyard - garden & photo blog
Found Not Lost - about all the things we 'find' worth talking about

You've heard me talk about our backyard and our garden gazillions of times. Half of the things we cook up in our kitchen came from our garden. Food is not the only pleasure we derive from our backyard though, we enjoy sitting out there because it gets us closer to nature. We enjoy watching the birds forage and the butterflies flit from one flower to another.

Right in our backyard, we get to enjoy robins, finches, humming birds and even a couple of doves. Occasionally a few ravens even come by for a visit. Oh and a hawk and an owl make an appearance every once in a while too. I'm sure they come because of the garden but also because of the birdfeeders and the bird bath we have situated around the garden. The girls wanted to build a bird house for the longest time, but we haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm thinking of just buying one to put out there.

Now that winter is approaching, it's even more important for us to take care of our furry friends. Their food source will be greatly diminished and winter time is actually when we put out bird food for them. If you'd like to get your own birdfeeder, make sure to check out birdFeeders.com and browse for an appropriate bird feeder for your avian friends. They require different types of food and vessel so make sure that you do your research before buying one. You can also read up on the helpful articles on the website regarding bird watching, bird feeding and more.