When I eat or see a nice patch of rhubarb my mind goes back to when I was about 8 years old and had rhubarb for the first time, right from our home garden. Living on a farm we had a huge garden behind the house.

My kid brother, a year and half younger than myself, and I would raid the garden for stalks of rhubarb and then we would break off a piece of the block of rock salt the cows would lick and then enjoy the sensation. My face could contort into some funny shapes but it was so good.

Here in New Brunswick we have a patch of rhubarb out behind our garage. It was there when we bought our home but it’s not in the garden as there was no garden yet. It’s been a few years now and we have a home garden started and now we want to divide the rhubarb patch and move it to the home garden area because the rhubarb will get so much more direct sunlight during the growing season. As it is now it only gets about an hour of sun at high now and then the garage blocks it for the rest of the day.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to divide and replant rhubarb so I had to do some looking through some of my old home gardening magazines but I managed to find a helpful article in May 2000 Canadian Gardening magazine. It was a short little article by Heather Apple called Raising Rhubarb, but it showed me all I needed to know. Those are the articles I like, right to the point.

Propagating Rhubarb Crowns Or Segments

Credit where credit is due, so I will be following Heather’s example, from her article in May 2000, mentioned above.

The main reason we are going to move part of our rhubarb patch is so that it will get full sun instead of an hour or two a day.

We Need Good Drainage And Rhubarb Loves Full Sun

We plan to transplant behind our new home garden where the drainage isn’t the best but with a bit of work, like we did for our garden, it will be great drainage and of course full sun for most of the day.

The soil can be somewhat acidic which works great for us as our soil is very acidic.

Spacing And Depth For Planting Rhubarb – 2 ft Apart – 2 ft Deep

Because rhubarb can grow so large you want to give it some elbow room to grow. For this reason you should give each segment or crown about three feet around it.

Make the hole about two feet across and a foot and half deep. This is the time I actually dig deeper and replace most of the dirt with top soil and compost because our soil is dense clay and needs work.

Be sure to give at least six inches of compost or well decomposed manure in the bottom to give those root the best chance to get strong and healthy. That’s what is going to grow you that rhubarb you want.

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It’s the end of February once again and the sun seems to be shining just a bit brighter. My little home garden is calling me and I can’t think about much else, other than fishing of course but that’s a different blog topic.

I can almost see the snow disappearing, although this is New Brunswick and I know we will have a snow storm or two yet but that snow usually disappears almost as fast as it piles up.

I keep looking out my home office window but I still can’t see our garden yet. The snow is melting really fast in the raised bed where our strawberry plants hangout.

We have two raised beds that are only a few feet apart but I can instantly tell which is getting more sunlight. I guess that’s why we get strawberrys two weeks earlier than our other strawberry patch.

The second raised bed is still under a thick blanket of snow. It really shows why location is so important.

The first raised bed, still covered with snow, is close to our property fence to the east and doesn’t see much sun in the early part of the day, while the other is facing the north property fence and gets sunlight for most of the day, at least two more hours of sunlight.

Even though our second raised bed doesn’t get as much sunlight each day it’s still a raised bed and heats up sooner than most other areas in our home garden so we still get flowers growing sooner.

As the ole saying goes, a lot of water has passed under the bridge, since the days growing up on a farm. I was a boy that was full of energy and was always getting into something and then out came the old first aid kit.

My big sister took great pleasure in torturing me with anything and anything that would cause pain. My mom on the other hand had that magic touch and used herbs to soothe me. My sister knew what to do to ease the pain and help me heal, she just liked to see how much pain I could endure without screaming.

Herbs were used instead of all the crap drugs we use so readily these days. Perhaps you didn’t know that many of the medicines that you buy in the drug store have herb plants in them? Wouldn’t it be a lot easier and cheaper if you grew your own healing herbs? By using herb plants from my herb garden to fill my medicine cabinet, I have saved a lot of money.

I am already starting an indoor herb medicine cabinet and plan to increase the number of herbs we grow in our home garden as well. Stock up on some Mother Nature’s meds for the winter months.

Home Gardening Tips: Get Your First Aid Kit Growing

Do you have any of these issues? Try herb plants!

• Coriander, chervil and thyme all help awesome for aching joints. For a cheap antibacterial, use calendula, lavender, lovage, marjoram, oregano or peppermint.

• Do you have bad breath? Parsley, mint, anise and sweet cicely will help everyone breathe easier.

• Constipation is never any fun. Help get the kinks out with fennel or dandelion.

• It’s amazing how many herb plants will help with flatulence, such as peppermint, summer savory, lemon balm, ginger, caraway, coriander, beebalm and lovage.

• By the end of the day I can usually go for some chamomile tea for my frazzled nerves. Some other herb plants that could assist include dill, goldenrod, lavender and lemon balm.

• Not much can is better than thyme for helping with your Saturday morning hangover. It works better than the raw egg/tomato juice drink people might tell you to drink.

• Can’t cure your hiccups? Give dill a try It not only has a fabulous flavor; it also works like a charm.

• To take care of your insect stings, even mosquito bites, experiment with aloe, goldenrod, hens-and-chicks and summer savory.

• Unable to sleep? A lot of the same herbs that will calm your nerves can help here too, but chamomile and dill are most likely to help you with your insomnia.

• If you suffer from seasonal allergies or nasal congestion, sage, horseradish and violet are good choices. To clean out your sinus passages in no time at all, experiment with a little horseradish.

• Indigestion and stomachache respond well to dill, fennel, lovage and of course peppermint.

Please do not be alarmed with all these treatments—they isn’t snake oil! You don’t believe me? Experiment with it for yourself!

• Aloe Vera: I have two different aloe vera plants that are always suffering from me breaking off bits to treat burns (including sunburn) and mosquito bites. As a succulent, aloe vera does not need very much in the way of creature comforts and I have to be mindful not to over-water it myself. If you’ve planted your aloe vera in a pot, but sure it has well-drained soil and lots of light. You’ll also want to make sure that it stays firmly rooted by packing the dirt around the stem.
• Chamomile: As one of the more popular medicinal herbs, chamomile is good for both mental and physical ailments.. Chamomile comes in two types (German and true or Roman chamomile), both of these herbs will self-sow if you allow it, which can reduce the amount of time you’ll have to spend replanting these perennial herb plants.
• Horseradish: Just a whiff of this will clean you out, and quickly. As a member of the mustard family, horseradish has a peppery flavor that does not attract horses at all. Although the leaves can grow to 2 feet long, it is the root that is important for the herb gardener.

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows and be sure to leave your own home gardening tip in a comment below.

Here is more information on Herb Garden Kits. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.

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There are lots of challenges to overcome for anyone who tries to create an organic vegetable garden. The process could take several seasons, but when results finally appear, the homegrown veggies will be the tastiest you’ve ever had. Organic gardening in fact makes the oldest form of plant cultivation, it is not at all expensive and it can be undertaken by any one preoccupied with developing a hobby or improving health. Click through here for extra info about vegetable gardening tips .

The size of the organic vegetable garden is not important: it can even range from a few feet on the house roof or balcony to several acres. The first step to take in the organic gardening direction is the purchase of organic seeds that are presently scarce on the market. The problem is that in order to have a real organic vegetable garden, the seeds ought to be free of chemicals or irradiation residues. Therefore, ask around in your town or order them on the Internet.

The benefits of an organic vegetable garden are manifold. Firstly when there are no pesticides or herbicides included in the plant cultivation, the crops remain unaffected by the chemicals, the soil keeps its properties for several years and the creatures living in it will aid to the regeneration of the garden. Furthermore, the organic vegetable garden presents the advantage of dealing with the needs of the family in a very safe, cheap and easy way. In caseone also runs a farm together with the organic vegetable garden, there are even more benefits to it. You should find additional worthwhile info relating to organic vegetable gardening here.

For instance, the profitability and the quality of the crops can be increased by using the manure as a fertilizer. Moreover, everything one needs for an organic vegetable garden should be available from local stores; the costs are definitely not high and the necessary items come for very decent prices. Don’t ignore the tips available in gardening books because lots of the tradition is lost and we need to revive it. Just a relevant example here: think of the fact that corn and beans grown together as very practical; you won’t need any sticks for the beans because they will climb on the corn stalks.

The seeds, the soil and the organic compost will all play an important role in the development of the organic vegetable garden. Do not overlook any of these aspects and your home enterprise will be both successful and rewarding on the long run. You will acquire stacks of extra worthwhile info on vegetable gardening for beginners here.

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Solar lights will transform your garden, for outdoor use solar lights have many advantages it’s obvious why solar lighting is becoming so popular. Solar lights have so many uses, landscape lights, path lighting, security lighting, decking lights, highlight plants and trees. Because solar lighting is so versatile and easy to move, it is simple to alter lighting effects. wiring is not needed for solar lighting, they are  very versatile and simple to change around, it is simple to vary lighting effects.

Solar lights require no maintenance.

Solar lighting is maintenance free, an occasional wipe to clear dirt covering the solar panel, and can be bought in many styles at very low prices. You do not even have to think about about timers, or turning the lights on. During daylight hours solar lights switch off and then charges the batteries, then when it gets dark, they come on automatically. Most are fitted with an on/off switch so you don’t have to have the lights turned on. Solar lights incur zero running costs, no wiring to purchase and no timers.

Solar lights are very versatile.

As solar powered lighting does not require wiring, it means you can try various effects, highlight different plants at different times of the year.

Solar lighting can be installed in areas where it would be hard to install wired lighting such as on wooden fences or buildings. Because there are no wires, no heat generated, solar lighting is safe and convenient to fit anywhere. The lack of wires also means you do not have to plan where you are going to put your solar lights and lay wires ready. How about a BBQ with a gas grill and solar lights for evening entertainment outdoors with maximum portability. Place solar lights around your patio furniture and enjoy your garden after in the evening after dark

Solar lights are safe.

As solar lights require no electricity, solar lights are absolutely safe. You don’t need to worry about children and pets finding a cable with the insulation bitten away by a rodent. With no wiring, you are able to dig your garden with no worry about slicing a cable.

Solar lights are perfect for bordering paths, especially when there is no ambient light and a path is hard to see and follow. Solar lights will come on as soon as it starts to get dark, lighting the way, making it easy and safe to walk up the path.