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It was a beautiful day in NW PA. The leaves are just past their peak, but still beautiful and almost haunting in their appearance.

photo credit: Spudjnr123

As I was doing outdoor chores and picking up the yard and gardens and preparing them for winter I was distracted by last years gourd collection. The gourds were dry early this summer and I cut and cleaned the interiors about a month ago. I have about 20 I have selected for bird feeders or for hanging plants.

I still need to sand and clean the exterior and seal the insides (if used for plants) to prevent the gourds from attracting moisture and slightly molding. You should not seal the interior of a bird feeder. The sealer will affect the seed and hurt the birds.

You also need to use a pot inside the gourd if you want your gourd planter to last several seasons. Gourds and water really do not mix well, unless the gourd has been sealed on the inside and out.

photo credit: timlewisnm

If I get my outdoor chores done this week I will start on my gourds next week. I have an art show coming up that I would like to display some of the finished gourds.

I have grown gourds in my gardens since my very first garden and each year they add interest and usually a few horror stories for my family member to tell the neighborhood. Many people consider gardening to be a bit boring, but they haven’t visited my gardens!

Here’s a link to my one gourd garden that that still pops up in local neighborhood conversations. Grow your gourds on swing sets.

And one more fun thing to try with gourds is shaping them while they grow. Creative gardening: Shaping your Gourds

I’ll share a few of my finished gourds in a few weeks.

Technorati Tags: country living, fall gardening chores, gourd crafting, Gourds, grow gourds on tee-pees, shaping gourds

Have you ever thought about getting into hydroponic indoor gardening as a hobby or money making scheme?

photo credit: Ryan Somma

Below is a list of advantages to hydroponic indoor gardening when compared to traditional soil based gardening:

1. Once you have made your initial set-up costs, hydroponic gardening is around 20% less expensive to run.

2. You can plant more hydroponic plants in a smaller area. This is because the roots do not need to grow as large as they have easier access to nutrients. This is despite your plants actually growing larger too!

3. Maintenance time is greatly reduced! There is of course no need to water hydroponic plants and weeding doesn’t exist either! All you’ll ever need to do is pick the plants once they are ready!

4. The yield is year round and permanent as you have full control over growing conditions and you will have made them optimum for whatever you are growing. This is great for when it’s off season as you can sell them for higher prices.

5. You can grow them anywhere; basement, living room, bedroom, corridor, attic, greenhouse, garage or rooftop.

6. Your hydroponic indoor gardening will result in a crop that is on average 40% larger. This is because you have created the ideal environment for them and they have constant access to nutrients.

7. As you will not be watering them, there is no danger of them being over or under watered. This is a common mistake with many novice gardeners.

8. For the reasons listed above, your plants will grow up to 50% faster. This is great if you have a large family to feed or you’re planning on selling them.

9. There is no need to have a garden for hydroponic indoor gardening. So if you live in the arctic or the desert you’re fine! More realistically, if you live in a high rise apartment block you can still do it!

Hydroponic Indoor Gardening is a fun and exciting hobby which you can realistically make a lot of money from! If you’re interested then you should learn more about Hydroponic Indoor Gardening!

Technorati Tags: environment, gardening, greenhouse, greenhouses/coldframes, home hydroponics, Hydroponics, plants, science

I plan on doing a lot more indoor gardening this year. One reason is home grown food is healthier and my produce will have no chemicals and the other reason is our summer was pretty much non-existent and my garden was reduces in size to deal with the weather.

photo credit: Handolio

So I am not burned out on gardening this year and there are areas I want to experiment in. One area is small space gardening techniques, growing a variety of plants in a small space to see exactly what I can successfully grow.

Another area is hydroponic gardening.

When I first read about hydroponic gardening I was put off on this style of gardening. The list of chemical made me think the food would be toxic! But as I read more these are chemicals in the soil and are needed to grow. We also need these chemicals in our systems to be healthy.

So this winter I will be experimenting in different styles on hydroponic gardening. Vertical gardening, growing walls and greenhouse hydroponic will all be in the plan.

photo credit: _foam

So if you are a pro in hydroponic gardening join in and offer suggestions.

And if you are a novice, like me, be prepared for an adventure.

In the next few weeks you will see a lot of articles by guest writers who know about this topic than I do. And hopefully in the late winter and spring I will have a wonderful garden to show off.

Technorati Tags: gardening experiments, greenhouse gardening, healthy gardening, hydroponic gardening, indoor gardening, small space gardening