Butter Squash

The yellow squash is completely gone, this week we have a new butter squash with unique shape. It is the second generation growing off the seeds from grocery store fresh produce, a good way to recycle.

Happy Gardening & Blogging!

Easy Care Houseplant - Snake Plant (Sansevieria) - Clean Indoor Air

I never realized I have 2 pots of Snake Plant (Sansevieria Trifasciata) at home until Stephanie asked me a week ago. It is also known as Tiger's Tail,とらのお, espada-de-são-jorge, I don't know why most people call it Mother-in-law's Tongue :P
It is one of my indoor collections, I bought it 2 years ago because it is care-free, only requires low light and water once a month or every two months. Yes, it tolerates neglect! If it gets too much sunlight, it will fade the foliage to a yellowish green. My mom said it can produce lots of oxygen, and most people put it in the house or office. I think it can help to clean indoor air, but I'm not sure about its healing properties. There is an article mentions using snake plant leaf extract as an antivenin agent. I call it energy-free "nature's air purifier" for our home.

Mature plant height 4'
HOUSEPLANTS HELP CLEAN INDOOR AIR

Top Houseplants for Improving Indoor Air Quality

List of air-filtering soil and plants

Spanish Lavender

Everlasting Spanish lavender - continue to bloom for almost 3 months, still going...

Multi-colored tomatoes

These tomatoes almost dead, lesson learned...
Q: Why?
A: Too much fertilizer

Broccoli

Eating broccoli can reduce risks of heart disease, cancer. It protects against lung disease, build the immune system, and good for pregnant women because it contains folic acid. Vitamin C in broccoli can prevent polyarthritis. It is also good to help with rheumatoid arthritis. Its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory factors are great for asthma patients.
After reading all the good stuff................Here is the bad news, what is wrong with my broccoli?
Pop quiz of the day:)

1. Clubroot
   
2. Downy Mildew
3. Aphids
4. Cabbage Root Fly
5. Caterpillars
6. Cabbage worms, Cabbage loopers
7. Cutworms
8. Root Maggots
9. Flea Beetle
10. Aphids
11. Slugs and Snails
12. Damping Off
13. Bacterial soft rot

Hints:
Diseases of Broccoli
Broccoli - Diseases, Pests and Problems

End of Season Tomatoes

These are some of the tomatoes in my garden, it's almost end of the season. Enjoy them before they are all gone. What are you harvesting this week?

Prayer garden in bloom

A beautiful church garden in downtown

The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of a bird for mirth
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywere else on earth


The down of the morning for glory
The hush of the night for peace
Walk and talk to God in a spiritual garden
Take a moment to say a blessing prayer.


*Photos are taken with camera phone

Green Bell Pepper

First green bell pepper in the garden
Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

* Bell peppers (of course! :)
* Salt
* 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* Chopped onion
* Chopped garlic
* 1 tsp of dried oregano
* Fresh ground pepper
* 1/2 cup ketchup
* Add all seasoning mixed into ground beef and stuffed the bell peppers
* Add 1 cup chopped tomatoes and some cheese on the top
Place in oven and bake for 35 minutes

Yellow flowers - color of sunshine, joy, happiness, intellect, and energy

This is a closeup of the mini yellow flowers. They are glowing and welcoming the warm humid summer. What can you get from a dollar in the era of recession? Some happiness from Lowe's deal hunt, yellow color of sunshine, surprise, and long lasting blooms; that's a lot more than McDonald's dollar meal :-)

*Thanks to MsRobin tell us the name of this flower - Moonbeam Coreospis.

White Lily, lis blanc

White Lily

What Fassbinder is it?
The one-armed man walks into a flower shop and says:
What flower expresses days go by
and they just keep going by endlessly
pulling you into the future.
Days go by
endlessly
Endlessly pulling you into the future.
and the florist says:
White Lily.

Laurie Anderson Lyrics : 5 / 5

Which One You Don't Have to Buy Organic?

I don't have to get certain organic produce from grocery store, because those are home grown in my garden:

• green onion
  
• squash
• spinach
  
• blueberry
• blackberry
• raspberry
• cantaloupe
• spicy globe basil and Thai basil
• pepper
  
• fruits: lime, plum, peach, nectarine
• tomatoes
• chives
• stevia herb
• rosemary
• mint
• parsley
• what else?

Don't buy organic potato, carrot, sweet potato, onion, corn, unless they are almost same as the regular price.

The Clean 15: Foods You Don't Have to Buy Organic

Bermuda Grass

We pick Bermuda grass for our lawn because it is a drought resistant warm season grass, and it has an extensive root system that protects high traffic areas. I dream to have carpet grass that does not require mowing and minimal maintenance, but it probably won't survive the cold winter. What type of grass do you have? Types of Grass
Types of American Grass
All About Lawns
Tips For Achieving A Great Looking Lawn, Without Being Fake Grass

Acrocanthosaurus (Acro), Dinosaurs

We really enjoy another visit to the natural science museum. This is Acro, Acrocanthosaurus atokensis skeleton. This skeleton is extremely rare. It is the most complete Acrocanthosaurus skeleton ever found and the only real Acro skeleton on display in the world.
Acrocanthosaurus means "high-spined lizard" and atokensis describes where the first specimens were found in Atoka County, Oklahoma. Acro got its name from the extension on its vertebrae. Acro lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 110 million years ago.
The specimen was found in southeastern Oklahoma in 1983. It is called the "Terror of the South" because of its range; Acrocanthosaurus lived in the southern half of North America. Fossils have been found in Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, and Maryland.
Bones may tell us what dinosaurs look like, but the tracks tell us how they behaved. Look at the tracks drawn from a real trackway found in Texas.

Pruning Blackberry Plant

Blackberry plant needs pruning short after harvest, but a long sharp tool is required due to the dangerous thorns. These are what I cut from the plant; some gardeners said dead canes can spread disease, so I have to take those to the dump.

Summer berries, baies d'été

The last crop of berries are now ripening under the summer heat. Try to enjoy it before the berry season is over!

Summer Roses, Roses d'été

Summer can be sweltering, but when I take a walk in the executive mansion garden, the old-fashioned rose garden lets me forget the hot summer heat.

The Color of Summer - Purple Flowers, Violettes

In the mood for purple flowers? I decided to take a walk and see what I found: