Island Grown at Home

Tuesday, June 30th, 2020

Caring for your Plants

Take care of your plants, and they will take care of you.

Watering

Use a watering can or a hose with a gentle shower attachment

It's best to water your outdoor plants in the morning when it’s less hot so the water will soak into the soil before it evaporates.

Water the soil around your plants, rather than watering from above and getting it on the leaves

Weeding

Start by identifying which plants are supposed to be growing in your space. Any other plants that have popped up that you don’t want there are called weeds.

When pulling out weeds, hold them from the bottom, as close to the soil as you can and pull straight up. Try to get all the roots out of the soil so the weed doesn’t grow back.

Fertilizing

Fertilizer is food for your plants. It's best to add fertilizer to your soil in the spring before you plant so the nutrients have time to absorb into the soil, but you can also fertilize once a month throughout the growing season.

Coffee grounds can be used to fertilize acid-loving plants like blueberries, lilacs, carrots, and radishes.

Activities

Pressing Flowers

In the summer when flowers start to bloom, don't you wish you could save them forever? Pressing flowers is one way of preserving your favorite blooms to enjoy all year long.

Materials: A large book (try a dictionary or encyclopedia), blank paper (find some in your recycling bin, or use an old paper bag), some of your favorite flowers and leaves

While collecting flowers, try to gather a variety of shapes and colors. Make sure they're dry and remove any bugs and dead leaves.

Open your big book to the middle, and place one sheet of blank paper inside. Arrange your flowers on the paper, making sure they fit on the page and aren't touching each other. Place another blank piece of paper on top, and then gently close the book. If you have lots of flowers to press, repeat in another section of the book.

When all your flowers are pressed in the book, leave it in a safe spot and place some heavy objects or boxes on top. Leave your flowers to be pressed for at least

2 weeks.

Make art with your pressed flowers by putting glue on a piece of paper and gently sticking your flowers to the glue. Use them to make greeting cards, or put your flower art in a frame!

Resources

More Resources

Some fun ways to use your pressed flowers

How to choose a fertilizer

Homemade garden fertilizers you probably already have at home

Find an interesting insect? Use this bug identification site to ID it

Find all Plants + Bugs of the Week

Recipe of the Week

Celebrate June with a recipe featuring herbs , a June Harvest of the Month!

Herbal Sun Tea

Tea bags- around 2 per quart of water

Cool water

A container for brewing- a large ball jar or a pitcher with a lid works well

Honey/sugar (optional)

Lemon (optional)

Combine tea bags and water in your brewing container, and place in the sunlight for 3-5 hours. Using cold water makes the tea brew more slowly than tea made with hot water, which results in a milder flavor. Keep your sun tea in the fridge when it's done brewing, and drink within a few days