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Drinking nature is an unquenchable thirst. Berri Clove
Gardening For Beginners Can Be Very Rewarding
Gardening is a wonderful hobby, which kind of grows on you. Often people stumble upon this hobby when they are depressed, or find themselves aimless with too much free time on their hands. Sometimes, gardening is taken up as a therapy to unwind from a tough routine or over-stressful life. Whatever is the reason for you to take up gardening, you will find that it makes a wonderful hobby one that not only relaxes you like no other leisure occupation, but also fills you with an extraordinary satisfaction.
Gardening For Beginners - The Starting Point
When you decide to take up gardening, you will need a few basics both in knowledge and in equipment. For knowledge, you can use the Internet which has an almost inexhaustible amount of information on this subject; and for implements you go to the closest gardening shop and ask for a kit for gardening for beginners.
This kit will have all that you need for that first time contact with the earth. Some of the must-haves that the gardening for beginners kit would consist of are seed trays or pots with adequate drain holes, plastic bags, multi-purpose compost mixture (you could also use vermiculite, which is much lighter than the compost and easier to use), labels for your plants and plant seedlings, and a medium sized watering can with a fine rosette.
This is the minimum that would be required to get you started. Once you start, you can gradually add other implements to your gardening for beginners kit, as and when you find the necessity for it. It will take you some time to cross the level of a beginner to that of a veteran. However, the trip would be extremely rewarding and enlightening.
People often describe gardening with meditation. This is because this hobby does indeed trigger a communion with the Providence. You feel in charge, when you are gardening, you feel happy, you feel satisfied and you start thinking why. Very soon, you gardening hobby would turn your thoughts into introspection and even if you are in no way a philosopher, your understanding and perspective about life will change.
Not everyone who are gifted a gardening for beginners kit, would take it up as a lifetime hobby; however, those who do, will find that it enriches them beyond words can express. Gardening, as most hobby gardeners would say, is a sublime way to learn about Nature. It is something that everybody should experience, at least once in his or her lifetime.
Five Great Things To Do With Coffee (Besides Drink it!)
By Hannah Jennings
 I have developed quite a sophisticated palate in my older age. I like my beer dark (Guinness), my wine strong (Zinfandel), and my coffee dark, but not burned.
I also like to not waste things. It pains me to toss the last drops of coffee down the sink. Coffee doesn't grow on trees (Well, it does actually, but not here in the US). I have found several uses for the remainder of the pot after my slightly-over-doctor-recommended- acceptable 3 cups of coffee.
Use #1 - Freeze in ice cube trays to make iced coffee with. Watery coffee is gross. Especially when you start with the perfect mixture of coffee and milk. Then the ice melts and it is just, well, yuck. Frozen coffee all but eliminates that problem. Sure, the coffee is a bit stronger toward the end, but oh, so preferable to the alternative.
Use #2 - Use instead of water in all chocolate and desert related recipes. Chocolate cake with coffee in the mix is like having a dark, rich, indulgence that doesn't require you clean up after him. It is just that good.
Use #3 - Occasionally waters your plants with a 50/50 water/coffee mix. The caffeine is good for acid loving plants. Other houseplants like African Violets can benefit from the nutrient-rich compounds. All of my plants, from the violets to the roses, are always a little perky a few days following the once-a-week mix.
Use #4 - In the morning use a little coffee in your facial wash to both awaken your senses, lift your mood, and tighten those lines that formed during the night. The acid will help slough off dead skin cells, and create a more radiant you. Then you can drink your cup of coffee (or three) and feel how great you look.
Use #5 - If you use organic coffee, then saves those grinds. I use an old sour cream container and then once-a-week deposit the remains in my garden. Our soil here is very calcium rich so the acid in the coffee seems to really balance things out. If you find that you have a lot of acid in your soil naturally, then save the grounds to add to a neighborhood compost pile.
See, coffee isn't just excellent for drinking. There are a lot of really great uses that will help you stretch every dollar you spend. Waste not, want not and all that sort of a thing that our grandparents knew about. Besides, it means that I get to create more reasons to go to my "Happy Place."
Hannah Jennings is the Co-Founder of Nectar of Life Organic Coffee Company. Nectar of Life is a gourmet coffee roaster that specializes in shade grown, certified Fair Trade organic coffees. Visit their website at www.nectaroflife.com to learn more.
Choose a pair of gloves that will keep your hands protected and clean. In order for the seeds to emerge from the earth, a conscientious gardener should study the soil and determine how the soil should be treated for optimum growth of the plant. When you think of the most beautiful mansions, you probably think of a beautiful green lawn surrounding the home. |
