I've split the gardening pages from my website (christinedemerchant.com) to a different page, DirtOnMyHands.com . Navigation was getting confusing, if you want boats, cats and various experiments then go here to christinedemerchant.com
Dirt on My Hands - My Gardening Pages
What's New?
Distilling Fresh Catnip to get catnip essential oil
I distilled fresh catnip oil to get essential oil to add to my insect repellent recipe. It was a success. My apparatus was simple stuff I had around the house.
Growing Parsnips
Not only are they delicious but they can be picked late in the fall or in spring.
Have you ever wondered how potentially Rabid animal bites are treated?
I was bitten by an unknown stray cat and got treated for potential rabies. Not much fun. Both cat and I survived.
Pink Slime Mould in my firewood
I found pink and yellow slime mould growing on a piece of firewood.
Growing Cardoons
This year I grew a cousin of the artichoke called Cardoons. It is popular in Mediterranean Cuisine. It grew very well but was annoying to prepare. It makes a nice ornamental plant though.
Butterflies in my Back Yard
Sorting out my summer photos I found I had some nice butterfly photos
A visit to the Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory
A great place to visit and take the kids. Don't forget your camera
Plants that attract bees
A sampling of plants that I have found that attract a lot of bees and other pollinators
Simple DIY Irrigation System
I put together a simple irrigation system for my raised beds. Some drip and mostly soaker hose. It's been working really well and saves a lot of time and some money.
Does using newspaper mulches add heavy metal to soil
I Did some checking and here is my report
Making Charcoal at Home
I make charcoal for the garden and also for burning. I'm planning to try and cast aluminium after I launch my boat. This is how I make charcoal in the woodstove. Easy and safe.
Growing Milkweed
I updated my milkweed growing page and added several new photos
LED Lights
I made a light to help start seeds inside. It cost me about 20 dollars.
Photographs of spiders in my back yard
I was looking at some of my summer photographs and decided to share a few of the spiders. Spiders are some of my favourite insects and they do a tremendous job keeping my garden pest free.
Diatomaceous earth is one of the safest garden insecticide there is
What is it? How do you use it? How safe is it?
Hummingbird Moth look like miniature hummingbirds the first time you see them
I saw them for the first time this summer and thought they were the most delightful bug I had ever seen.
12 Plants that can feed you through the summer.
If I could only plant 12 varieties of plants these would be my choice.
Jerusalem Artichokes
Jerusalem artichokes are amazing vegetables. They are nutritious, easy to grow and encourage probiotic bacteria in the gut.
I visited the Royal Botanical Garden in Burlington, Ontario
What an amazing place.
Raising Monarch Butterflies from Eggs, part 1
This is as close to magic as it gets for me. Amazing.
