You work hard to create and maintain a garden, but pests can quickly wreak havoc on your produce. Being aware of the signs, effects, and treatments can help quickly save your plants and avoid pest problems in the future. Most insect issues are cyclical and happen at very similar times each year. Being aware of certain issues that your plants may be susceptible to and how to treat them is a great place to start along with having an integrated pest management (IPM) solution. Picking varieties of plants with a higher resistance to insects will level the playing field even…
Gardening and landscaping is a fun, healthy, fulfilling hobby that benefits our communities and our world. Here are some tips on creating a beautiful landscape and outdoor space at your home. Getting Started The number one advice to new gardeners is to be creative and have fun! Use colors, styles, & plants that appeal to you. Incorporate garden art, structures, & seating areas to enhance the garden. Design an outdoor space to be enjoyed by the whole family. The more a garden reflects who you are and the things that you love, the more fun gardening becomes. Find a garden…
Ingredients: Purple cauliflower floretts Rainbow carrots, halved Beets, sliced Avocado oil Sea salt & pepper Directions: Toss vegetables in oil, salt and pepper until coated. Roast at 350 for 15- 25 minutes until desired tenderness Pesto Ingredients: 4 C spinach/ carrot tops/ parsley 2 TBS Tuscan Herb olive oil 1/4 C avocado 1/4 C walnuts 1/4 C water 1/2 tsp sea salt 2-3 garlic cloves Directions: Pulse in food processor until desired consistency. Serve with roasted vegetables. Recipe courtesy of Robin Cook- Cook2Flourish
Ingredients: 1/2 C sugar 2 tsp Sweet Streams Lavender 1 C softened butter 2 C Janie's Mill Artisan Pastry Flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1 C powdered sugar For the Icing: 2 tsp KC Vanilla Co. vanilla Heavy Cream Directions: In a food processer, pulse sugar and lavender until fine. Cream together sugar mixture, butter, vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients Chill for 30 minutes before rolling out, 1/4" thick. Cut to desired (these are best smaller). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack immediately. To make the icing, stir together…
Raised garden beds are an excellent way to organize your garden! They help keep your bed weed free and can keep predators, such as rabbits, out of your garden. They also allow for much easier access since their height alleviates the need to bend over. Most beneficial of all, they’re fairly easy to make! Preparation There are several ways to prepare your area. You can till the Earth and use a weed-barrier cloth on the area you want to place the beds. This will kill the grass and weeds underneath. Another way to prepare the ground is a method called…
Weeds. They’re inevitable. If you have a yard, you’re going to have weeds. But, instead of chemicals and weed killer, try an environmentally friendly alternative like fabric. As you’re starting to update the landscaping around your home and prepare flower beds, consider a landscape fabric or weed mat to help control weeds. Colonial is your on-stop shop for everything outdoors. Our Hardscapes department has a great selection of fabric. Let’s run through a few options that will be best suited for your yard. Types: Woven Black- This material is a woven, geo textile, non-permeable landscape fabric.Non-Woven Grey- This weed mat…
Tips & Tricks on Seed Starting As the seasons change from winter to spring, the days get longer and warmer, we start to get that itch. The itch to go outside, to play in the soil, to plan our gardens, to think about color, lawn care, and outdoor living. So, as you start to think about preparing your garden, here are some tips for starting seeds. Having the Right Tools Using the correct tools for the job ensures success and proper growing. Always make a list of what you'll need when starting seeds. Check the garage or tool shed to…
1) Calibracoa 'Minifamous Neo Double Plumtastic' Calibracoa 'Minifamous Neo Double Plumtastic' sports two tone purple complementary colored double flowers on a strong plant that will trail up to 10" over the course of the season. 2) Calibracoa 'Hula Gold Medal' Calibracoa 'Hula Gold Medal' will trail to 10" over the season, all the while showcasing large single flowers of deep gold surrounding a large deep orange band within the flower. 3) Petunia 'Bee's Knees' Petunia 'Bee's Knees' will easily win the hearts of petunia lovers everywhere. The most robust yellow petunia to date, 'Bee's Knees' will delight with enough vigor…
Putting Brambles to Bed During the harsh Midwest winter months, it's important that just as we cover perennials or garden vegetables, we protect our berry plants. The crew at Colonial Farms is diligent about selecting the opportune time to get the berry plants in our bramble patch covered. The berries at Colonial were bred in Clarksville, Arkansas where it only gets below 10 degrees one night every few years. In the Kansas City area, it gets much colder even though they were bred 4 hours south of Blue Springs. If it gets below 10 degrees, the risk of freezing your…
Soil is life. You’ve heard us say it. You’ve seen it on our t-shirts. But, is it really something we believe in and practice? YES! At Colonial Gardens, we 100% back the notion that healthy soil is the root of all things living. Soil itself is even a living thing. The produce you see in the Colonial Farms Market, the starter plants growing in the greenhouse, the apple trees blooming in the orchards are all created from the very notion that soil is life. But it’s just soil, there’s not much that really needs to be done to it right?…
