Home, Garden, Backyard Organic Farm

Create storage space without expensive renovations

2009-03-26T20:42:00.001-07:00

Are you the disorganized type like me? Do you have your things scattered all over the house cluttering up your home? Are your visitors greeted by shoes and sandals scattered on the floor in front of your home entrance? I hope the above is not descriptive of you, but unfortunately it fits me to a T. Well, I did discussed that issue with my architect and he came up with a plan with plenty of storage space. That is great, only snag is it will set my bank account by a huge amount.

What to do? Simplest is to create storage space out of existing space like under the bed. Yes, how about Bed Risers like the ones shown in the photo below:

With bed risers raising the bed higher thus creating more storage space under your bed, you can store much of your clutter under the bed.

For even more storage space without spending a bundle on house renovations, how about Room Dividers to screen off portion of your home like your bedrooms, behind which will become your storage space?

I think these are great ideas to manage clutter in the home. And finally those messy shoes and sandals. Simple, get Shoe Racks like the one in the photo below which you can hang behind doors. Presto, you have created storage space out of almost nothing:

Say bye-bye to expensive home renovations.

A Paradise Home with Swimming Pool

2008-10-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

You have a home and a garden. What else is required to turn an ordinary home into a paradise? Perhaps a swimming pool? Water seem to have a magical calming effect on human. Wouldn't be like paradise if you can sit in your living room and when you look out of the window you see a nice inviting swimming pool like in the photo below:

Photo of swimming pool is property of Aslu

Imagine on a hot day being able to change into swimming gear and stepping out the house right into cooling water. Health experts all agree that swimming is one of the best form of aerobic exercise. With a swimming pool in your front or backyard, you can have the best aerobic exercise every day of the week if you so desired.

Yes it can be like paradise. However, neglect maintenance of the pool and you can very quickly end up with a headache instead. For maintenance, you will need Swimming Pool Supplies such as pool pumps, filters, cleaners, heaters, salt chlorine generators, etc. You should try to find a reliable source of swimming pool supplies to keep the swimming pool in healthy clean condition.

Modern Furniture and Love Seat etc.

2008-10-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

The above photo of modern furniture's Mies Pavilion Loveseat attracted my eye. Why? It looked mighty familiar. I remembered drawing a 3D model of exactly the same design with AutoCAD and teaching Furniture Technology students "Introduction to CADCAM" (CADCAM = Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing) many years ago. I distinctly remembered the shape of the legs. It was exactly the same design but called a different name. It was more than 30 years ago and I can't remember the name for that seat anymore. It is a nice simple but elegant design.

At modern bedroom, I found more designs of simple elegant furniture design which would be easily amenable to 3D modeling which can also easily be done by students, like the example of a modern platform bed below:

At modern living room however, I found some challenging design like the ZU-drop stool below:

While the spherical shape will be easy to model using what in 3D modeling "primitives", the complex curve surface of the top of the stool will be very difficult to duplicate.

If I ever get the time, I would like to create a 3D model of my house with 3D models of all the furniture, modern or otherwise. I have some antique furniture with carvings that will be extremely difficult to model.

Bathroom furniture, cabinet, fittings, basin, tap

2008-07-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

Organic farm needs lots of attention and lots of work, much more than what is needed in conventional farms where you just spray poison to keep pests away or add artificial fertilizers. After a hard day's work in the backyard organic farm, I think you deserve to retire to a beautiful bathroom to get all the garden soils that has attached to your body. How about brightening up your bathroom by adding Bathrom Furniture such as the Bathroom Cabinets in the photo on the left in this paragraph.

I have seen some beautiful basin that comprise a large plate of see-through glass and a sunken depression. It looks very modern. Now if you are not prepared to do fairly substantial renovation, it is difficult to change your present standard basin to something more modern. However, you can try to add some modern Bathrom Basin like that see-through toothbrush holder in the photo.

Commercial Mailbox for Home, Condominium, Appartment, Shophouse

2008-07-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Photo of is property of dcJohn

If your home is in a condominium, instead of having a single mail box, it is likely your mailbox will be one of many like the Commercial Mailboxes you see above.

Now even if you have your feet firmly planted on earth and staying in conventional single or double-storey landed home with a garden, perhaps you may be interested in security as perhaps you often get valuables like cheques, etc., being sent via conventional snail mail. In this case perhaps a high security Commercial Mailbox like the one you see in the photo below:

In many parts of the world, shophouses are popular where you may have a commercial shophouse on the ground floor and residential units in the higher floors. In this case, each residential unit may have its own mail box among many Commercial Mail boxes.

Moving House - Furniture Removal and Discount

2008-06-28T00:16:00.000-07:00

Moving House

This, moving house, is one thing I dread. Small personal items are OK and easy to move, but when it comes to bulky electrical appliances and furniture removal, that is a different "kettle of fish".

Removal Services

The first thing one need to do is to draw up a list of bulky furniture that will be involved in the removals. Check the local classified for removal quotes and see if they give a discount. A discount given can make a great difference in your removal cost.

Photo of removal van is property of Gareth Saunders

Then prepare for the great day. Most of the small items should be organized and packed into small boxes like the above for easy removal.

Tips on moving house from Gareth Saunders

One thing I've found really helpful, if you're packing bits and pieces yourself is to organise for yourself a "packing box".

This is a small cardboard box (say 30cm x 30cm) into which you throw all the tools that you need when packing, such as:

1. Parcel tape (and parcel tape 'gun' if you have one -- they can be really handy); Gaffa tape can be handy too
2. Stanley knife (or pen knife, or scissors)
3. Cable ties or string
4. Screwdriver(s): flat blade and Philips/cross-head
5. Envelopes to put unscrewed screws and bolts into
6. Labels for sticking to boxes
7. Permanent marker pen (black)
8. Gloves (to protect your hands when lifting certain items)
9. Measuring tape (you'd be surprised how handy these are!)
10. Sheets of paper, for making notes/notices/labels/etc.

If you put everything back into the Packing Box when you're done packing something you'll know where everything is the next time, rather than having to hunt round the house for where you left each item.

I've moved house a number of times in the last few years and have found this approach really useful.

Gareth

Moving House Removal Furniture

2008-06-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

Housewarming present - authentic imported furniture

2008-06-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

Housewarming presents (gifts)

My daughter will be moving into their new home coming July. I have been giving her digital presents like digital secretarial bird for her birthday present. If I give her one more digital present for her housewarming, I think I might get clobbered over the head. Now I need to think of something more solid than a digital secretarial bird. Perhaps a real solid designer modern furniture for her new home may soothe her feelings. But what kind of furniture?

Furniture for kids

I have a grandson Lewis Chew who is just going to be 1 year old. But I suppose I can get some furniture for kids which either will fit his age now, but most likely they already have them. Perhaps I should get him furniture for when he grows up to be a toddler or teenager.

Furniture for the entertainment center

I know they like to relax by watching television, etc. Perhaps I should get them some furniture for the entertainment center. My first grandchild already is able to recognize himself in photos and videos and I believe ready for watching TV. Perhaps his parents can now introduce him to Sesame Street with him sitting on a toddler seat for the entertainment center.

Father's Day Presents for the Home and Garden - decorative relaxing items

2008-06-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

My attitude regarding presents or gifts

Go to My first grandchild at his grandfather's birthday gathering. Unless one have the courage to list down what one may want for his or her presents, it is not uncommon for items which are either left in a corner to collect dust or one gets duplicate or even triplicates of the same item. That was the reason I started Environmentally Friendly Presents or Gifts.

My wish list for Father's Day

Father's Day is celebrated on the third Monday of June which is just round the corner. Let me set up my wish list for Father's Day.

Photo of rope hammock is property of Yard Envy's rope hammock

Another on my wish list is decorative bird houses so I can put them beside my rope hammock and enjoy the birds while rocking and relaxing on my rope hammock. I would suggest something similar to the one you see below:

Photo of decorative bird house is property of Yard Envy

This is the last one on my wish list for the time being, is a teak patio furniture for my own relaxation as well as to entertain guests. Teak or Tecktona grandis is a very durable timber as well as being very beautiful with nice grain and can be polished to a smooth shinny surface. It will outlast me and it will pay my children good to get this for my father's day present as they will be buying them cheap while teak trees are still plentiful. By the time they are ready to take over, teak will be so scarce that it will be too expensive for them to buy it due to supply-demand with the scale skewed heavily over to the demand side.

Reader's Digest Gardening Family safe Section

2008-06-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

I started reading Reader's Digest 30 over years ago. Reader's Digest is a great publication and provided great reading for condensed version of family safe and inspiring stories and was my favorite printed magazine. However, time has changed, and almost everything has gone online. Reader's Digest is no exception, and here is [Reader's Digest]'s Gardening Section.

My other blog is Natural Remedies or Food as Medicine. Reader's Digest have an easier natural remedy - Gardening to Beat Diabetes. You don't have to eat anything, food or medicine, just gardening to keep in shape.

I have another blog - Enviroman Says, an environmental blog. Not surprisingly, Reader's Digest have an answer to that too - Going Green at Home.

I remembered clearly Reader's Digest had a section - "Laughter is the best medicine". Reader's Digest has continued that tradition online by have a section "Funny, Clean Jokes and Cartoons. Its online version is Laughs! So after a strenuous day at the garden, relax and enjoy some family safe cartoon at Reader's Digest Online.

Mailboxes, problems and solutions

2008-05-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

My problem mailbox is still a problem. See the photo below:

See the letters sticking out? Well, for one, a passer-by can just take it away. Another, when it rains, the letters will get wet. So what may be a solution?

Perhaps mailboxes like that wacky one shown in the photo below?

Photo of is property of Tommy

The slot definitely looks much larger than mine and I guess the postman will have no problem stuffing my mails all the way into the mailbox. But where can I get such mailboxes? Wonder if whitehall products may have something similar as they sells all kind of mailboxes, address plaques, even other things like home and garden decor, personalized doormats, even bird baths and bird feeders. I think I should check out that website and see what they have to offer in terms of mailboxes which will not leave my mails sticking out, liable to be stolen and getting wet when it rains and I did not take my mails into the house.

Playground equipment in the home for children and grandchildren

2008-04-22T03:24:00.000-07:00

Are your a parent, meaning you have children, or are your a grandparent with grandchildren? Well, I am both, well, at least a grandfather of one with another on the way. I use to have swing sets in my garden. That was once upon a time a long time ago. They are now all grown up and in fact one of them have become a parent herself and another one will be a parent soon. Where have the swing sets gone, I do not know. But my grandson will soon grow up together with the one on the way, and when they are big enough, I will probably want a swing set in my home for them to enjoy just like their parents when they were children. However, this time, I will probably go for a tire swing as I am environmentally conscious and believe in reduce, REUSE and recycle and there are lots and lots of used tyres waiting to be REUSED.

However, for the moment, they are not big enough to be able to sit on a swing, and I would probably have to think of something more suitable like other playground equipment that they would actually be able to enjoy. Then perhaps I will get more frequent visits from my first grandson and my soon to be born second grandson.

ShopWiki, Wikipedia or Google of online shopping

2008-04-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

Practically every surfer on earth knows about Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia which humbled the mighty Encyclopedia Britannica. The latest is online shopping Wikipedia for home and garden.

ShopWiki for Home and Garden

What exactly is this Shopwiki.com? According to the website, it looks like a revolutionary Wikipedia, or more accurately the Google of online shopping for home and garden knick knacks and other stuff. Most general online shopping wait passively or semi-actively for products to be included in their website or perhaps actively canvass for paid insertions in their websites. Not so for ShopWiki, says the owner of ShopWiki. ShopWiki is proactive. They don't sit on their butts and wait for merchandisers to come to them. They say they have spiders to crawl the Web for products, just like the search engines. Not only that, ShopWiki will place everything a shopper might need irrespective of whether they earn anything from the insertions. In this way, they say, they can have a pretty comprehensive range of products available for purchase online. Don't know about you, but to me, that sounds pretty revolutionary.

Now I used to make pretty delicious turbo-broiled chicken for myself and my family using my own invented and unconventional recipe (I am an unconventional man). What I did was to use a juice extractor to extract the juice out of peeled garlic. Use the garlic juice extract together with seasoning like honey, tom yam paste, oyster sauce, etc., together with the garlic pulp (I try my best to use everything, throw nothing away), for marinating the chicken for a few hours, then turbo-broil it in the turbo-broiler. Note that garlic is a very powerful natural antibiotic and I am confident that I can marinate for a long time without any problems. With this unconventional method, a recipe you will find nowhere else, not only will we have healthier chicken to eat as quite a lot of the chicken fan would have dripped to the bottom of the pan, we also ended up with an aromatic and very tasty chicken which my whole family loved. Don't know about you. I love the smell of garlic.

Only problem is, both the turbo-broiler plus the juice extractor are no longer with us. That makes me itching to look for replacement. Look for replacement. Perhaps Shopwiki.com has the perfect solution. There is a search box in that site. Let us give it a trial. I typed "turbo broiler" into the search box and searched. Result? turbo broiler search result from ShopWiki.

How about juice extractor? They have that too. A search revealed fruit extractor ShopWiki search result which turned up 237 results, a pretty impressive figure.

Epoxy floor coatings for the home

2008-04-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

What is epoxy?

I got familiar with epoxy when I had to teach "Adhesive and Adhesion before I retired as an associate professor. Epoxy is a very versatile thermosetting polymer which is not only used as a very good adhesive, but is also used in coatings, paints, making various types of composites which when reinforced with fibers like fiberglass, are then used for things like industrial tooling, molds, marine applications, aerospace even including outer space.

Epoxy floor coatings

Epoxy resins can be used for high performance flooring which include heavy duty industrial flooring as well as domestic decorative flooring. Epoxy may be combined with marble or colored chips to make terrazzo flooring or colored aggregate flooring. For existing floors, the versatile polymer may be used as an epoxy floor coating. If you are a handyman prepared to get your hands dirty and save some money, perhaps diy epoxy floor may be in their consideration.

I used to make homemade CNC machines, but those were desktop mills and lathes which I even play with in my bedroom. It is extremely fascinating to be able to type a few lines of codes into the computer and watch the machine do exactly what you commanded. However, with desktop CNC machines, you can only fabricate tiny items. There are many I know who bought used heavy duty mills like the one you see in the photo below:

Photo of 3 axis milling machine belong to Bill Ohl

buy stepper or servo motors, fabricate their own motor controller (actually even the same one I made for my desktop 3 axis mill can be used), convert the manual 3 axis milling machine to CNC (Computer Numeric Computer) and machine all kinds of very respectable size stuff.

There is no way I can put that monster into my bedroom, not even the living, dining or kitchen. If I ever get such a monstrous machine, the only place I can put it will be in the garage. And when you are doing machining, you will be moving lots of heavy stuff around. For such purposes, applying garage floor epoxy would be a great idea.

Patio furniture for your home

2008-03-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

I can just imagine myself relaxing in a patio furniture like the one you see in the photo at the left of this paragraph (note: photo is property of Patio Furniture.) For me, it will be almost like being in paradise, cool breeze blowing to cool you down, fresh air, gazing at nice green, and if I get wealthy enough, perhaps even gazing at my own home swimming pool. But on second thoughts, no home swimming pool for me, for I have a Zero Waste blog and I have to live up to what I publish. Green garden OK, but a hardly used swimming pool that need expensive maintenance, hateful chemicals, lots of water which can be put to better use, a definite No No. By the way, that is one of the Laguna Collection you see in that photo.

Incidentally, I had a bungalow (detached house) designed by a Harvard University trained architect who added a pergola, but I was stupid enough to take it out of his design, much to his disappointment. Otherwise, I might be enjoying myself in one of that patio furniture under the pergola in my very own bungalow (detached house). In my country, there are what they call terrace houses (houses all connected to each other in a row with a common wall and roof), semi-detached house (2 houses joined at a common wall and sharing a common roof) and bungalows (as mentioned above, a stand alone house).

Plants beautify and green your home and garden

2008-03-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

Most people like greens, that is, trees, plants, flowers, etc. In the first place, these are the living organism that gives us the live essential - oxygen. Some even claim that looking at greens help our eyesight. Whatever it is, it makes a house cozy, beautiful, green and simply natural. One can put plants in the outdoor - in the garden. One can even bring them indoor, and a home with its interior decorated with indoor plants is a much more pleasant home to be in.

Of all the countries I visited, the one I am most impressed with is Switzerland. There are many things I liked about Switzerland, one of which is their beautiful Swiss Chalets which normally are beautifully decorated with flowers like the one in the photo below:

Photo is property of Irene

Window box planters

In my country too, we have Window Box Planters like the one you see in the photo below:

The photo above is property of Peter Chen. You are free to use the photo provided you make an an active link to Peter Chen, this post or Home, Garden and Backyard Organic Farm

Indoor plants and indoor planters

I like indoor plants in both homes and offices, like those below:

Above photo is property of Clarissa Ines

Having Indoor Planters makes a home or office become so much more natural, pleasant, and just..... (at a loss for words). I am not very sure about this, but many think that indoor plants help put more life giving oxygen into homes and offices. Whatever it is, I think homes and offices with indoor plants are refreshing. Nothing more to add other than I just like it.

Garden plants and garden planters

Having green plants in the garden is also nice. What is a garden without plants? However, one can plant plants in the ground or grow them in Garden Planters. I think growing plants in garden planters have the advantage of mobility. You can move them around. Don't like it here? Move it over there! With plants rooted into the ground, you will have to dig them out, making sure you don't damage the roots too much, and transplant them, plus you have to pray that they survive the transplanting.

House renovation, contemporary and modern bedroom furnitures

2008-03-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate in having bought a house in the early 70's. Property prices have increased so much, but salaries did not keep up. If I am to purchase a house today with current starting salaries, I will be in great difficulties.

However, that does not mean I do not have problems. My current house need renovations and I faced many dilemmas and indecisions. If I do renovate the house, do I do it in a way to fit my style of living and what I like or do I renovate it according to what the majority of potential buyers may like? That will be the issue that will determine how the renovations will be done. If I design it according to what I like, it will be in contemporary style and will suit the climate of my country, not what is in fashion. However, I am no longer young. My children may decide to continue to stay in the house or may decide to sell it and purchase their own. If the decision is to sell, I will not get the price I want for the house because generally the majority of home purchasers are looking for modern stuff plus stuff which are in fashion which is usually not suited to the climate of my country.

Whatever it is, I will probably going to need new Bedroom Furniture. The reason is I have ended up with a strange combination of bedroom furnitures because all of them were bought over a long span of time and do not complement each other.

If my decision is to renovate it with the possibility of the house being eventually sold, I would probably have to purchase a new set of Modern Bedroom Furniture.

If I decide to renovate my house according to what I want, I will probably have to purchase a new set of Contemporary Bedroom Furniture

Tough decision. Maybe so tough that I may eventually end up not renovating the house at all as one of my children said in a family discussion about the house that if there is any possibility of selling the house, then might as well not renovate it at all. That is fine with me as I am quite satisfied with my home as it is even though it can do with a lot of improvements. The next question will be, will those children still living with me be able to stand the condition of our home as it is without renovations. Let use see what happens in the future.

Discount, innovative, coaster furnitures and such

2008-03-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

Had a peep at this furniture online merchant Home furniture and something perked my interest. Having a blog with blog title Zero Waste, I would be obviously be interested in saving money and it appears that site offers Discount Furniture plus Lifestyle Solutions where I spotted "patented Cradle Converter® and patented Vise-Protection System®" and I have another blog titled Patents and innovative products. I am all for patent as I myself have 2 patents, won the MINDS-Henry Goh Environmental Innovation award plus helped my university win a silver and bronze medal from the Geneva International Invention Convention. It would be nice to have both innovative plus discount furniture in my home.

Further, I like Coaster Furniture as I can roll coaster furniture all over the house without begging Sylvester Stallone with his bulging muscles to come to home to help move the furniture. What convenience. No need to depend upon Sylvester Stallone, Hercules, reluctant helpers, etc. I can move the coaster furniture anywhere I like all by myself. Does that interest you? If not, let me know why by leaving a comment in this post.

Mailboxes, Address Plaques for your Home

2008-03-05T01:02:00.000-08:00

We may be living in the era of Internet and emails, but while the volume of snail mail (physical mail, letters in envelopes) is still here with us, and will be with for a long time. I, I am sure, will continue to receive checks in envelopes via the conventional mail system delivered plus that unavoidable junk mail. BTW if you are fed up with junk mails, the wastage and the environmental problems it caused, hope you will sign the Online petition to abolish junk mail.

Now snail mails or conventional mails can only be delivered by slipping the mail under your door (not feasible if your garden and home is fenced up or for bulky physical mails) or into mailboxes.

on the set up of your home and garden, your preferences, perhaps your budget too, there are various types of mail boxes you can use for your home. I use what they call a column mailbox because my garden is fenced up with a pair of swing gates hinged on two columns or pillars on both sides of the gates, and the column mailbox is incorporated into one of the column or pillar. Now I don't know about your country, but in mine, road signboards are difficult to find or missing, and the great majority of the houses, if they bother at all, put only the address number on the column or pillar (some, especially shop houses, don't even have numbers). This can be frustrating especially if you can't find the road signboard and you don't know what road you are on. This is where address plaques with both number plus the road incorporated into the address plaque and screwed onto the column or pillar can be very useful for guests looking for your house, or even for those looking for other houses on the same road.

instead of going for column mailboxes, especially if you live in a country which is relatively crime free and you can afford to leave your garden and home unfenced, you can opt for curbside mailboxes. Note that the garden and home in the photo is not fenced up and the curbside mailbox is just beside the road for the convenience of the postmen to drop your important mails into the mailbox. Wish I can have that for my home, but that is a dream.

Vacation away from the home

2008-02-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

Should one remain homebound or housebound all our life? This question is perhaps best addressed to a housebound housewife. An employed working husband gets to go to office every working day, plus probably all expense paid business or company (vacation) trips or incentive vacations. But a housebound housewife?

A house is a home, and a home has a family and I think a family should take time off for a vacation together. This is especially in these modern times where family members do not get together as much as they should as they are caught up with their work, studies, friends, sports, nightclubbing, etc.

I have traveled around, and as a family even when I was a married student in Belgium. I, my late wife, my eldest daughter, at one time, even our unborn baby, traveled together to London, Paris, various parts of Nederland, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee only invented the World Wide Web in March 1989, well before we were in Europe, even before I traveled to the United States. And even if I had been traveling shortly after 1989, the World Wide Web wasn't as well developed as now. I believe initially, it was limited to the researchers. I work at a college (now upgraded to University). I had to do research. In those early days, I don't think that privilege was extended to me. Even after the
World Wide Web was opened to the public, I remembered the frustrations as searches turned up all kinds of irrelevant results. And online commerce or e-Commerce, was not well developed like they are today.

I also remembered having to waste precious (and expensive) tourist time hunting for suitable accommodation upon arrival at a destination. Tourist time is expensive because we have to pay for travel, for accommodation, for food, and the time is meant for touring the place we visit, not for hunting for suitable accommodation that fits our budget. The picture now is different with many online booking accommodation like Vacation rental homes. If you and your family is ever going to get away from your home for a well deserved vacation, I would advice that you book your accommodation before departure. This is speaking from experience.

Lake Tahoe, United States of America

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake located smack between California and Nevada in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the United States. I had been there before, but traveling alone. The water in Lake Tahoe is crystal clear and views of the surrounding mountains is beautiful. It was winter when I was there and I went up to a ski resort, but did not ski. There are plenty of ski resorts in Lake Tahoe. Maybe I should have tried a bit of sled riding as there are public and private sled parks around Lake Tahoe. It seems some ski areas even have Snow tubing and Snowshoeing. I have an idea of what Snowshoeing is involved, but what exactly is snow tubing? I have also heard that now you can go Snowmobile riding, but I don't think I would want that. It is not environmentally friendly.

I understand there are lots of outdoor recreation and tourist attractions in Lake Tahoe in summer. Many go for water sports in from late spring to early autumn. Lake Tahoe's largest city is South Lake Tahoe on the California part of Lake Tahoe. This is where many of water sport enthusiasts head for, the other being the smaller Stateline, Nevada. Lake Tahoe even have its own Coast Guard to ensure visitors' safety.

I have never been to South Lake Tahoe, and if I ever have any plan to go there, I will probably book my accommodation online at South Lake Tahoe.

Whistler, British Columbia, Canadian

I have been to Switzerland thrice, and the best memories I have was my visit to Grindelwald, a winter resort. There is great similarity between Grindelwald and Whistler of British Columbia, Canadian, another mountain resort town in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains about 125 kilometer north of Vancouver. I would love to return to Grindelwald, Switzerland, but Whistler, Canada, looks like a better alternative, a change. It looks like Whistler vacation rentals lined up.

Why use a coffee maker when instant coffee is so convenient

2008-02-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

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Handy sewing machine for my home

2008-02-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

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My family needs a dishwasher

2008-01-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

Problems in the house

My daughter is the only female in the house and her company keeps her very busy from Monday to Friday. The other 3 are myself and my 2 sons. One is in the college and another one has just started working and cannot afford to slack from his work. That leaves only me because our Cambodian maid has been taken by my daughter whose life now revolves around "youngest blogger" in the world. I am glued to the computer, hates housework, and don't know how to cook. So what can I do? Walk to the "chap fan" (literally "mixed rice" or sometimes referred to "budget rice") restaurant. I buy back ready cooked food for myself and my family. We eat the meals. Then what is left? The dishes. They need to be washed. Who is going to wash the dishes? That is a hard question to answer because dish washing is a chore that all busy people hates. More problems. My daughter has a simple surgery done on her sole, but it was not too successful and the problem surfaced again. This Friday, she have to do a second more extensive surgery on the sole. She is already limping around the house. Don't know what is going to happen after Friday.

Solution to "who is going to do the dish washing" problem

So what is an easy solution? The Dishwasher Reviews of course. Do some online window shopping, pick a choice, empty my bank account a bit or a lot depending on what the children chose (unfortunately the oldest in the house is no longer the sole decision maker), install the dish washer. Load it up with the dirty dishes, push some buttons, and withing minutes, the job is done. No more fighting over whose turn it is of do the dishes.

Playground equipment for my garden

2008-01-15T04:25:00.000-08:00

What are gardens for? For grass lawns, flowers, plants, trees? For adults only? No, that should not be the case. Family often have young children. Even if the children have grown up, married and moved away, there may be grandchildren who come to visit. What are they to do? Only play within the confine of the interior of the home? No, the garden is for them too. They should be able to run around in the garden, play games, have fun. I have a grandson, the "youngest blogger" in the world and one more on the way. They need space to play when they pay me a visit. But a bare garden is not much fun to play in.

I would have to think about getting some playground equipment for the garden. Wonder what they would like. Let me think back to my childhood. I used to love to "fly" like Superman on a swing like the one below which is similar to those swings I "flew" on when I was a kid:

I should look around for suitable swing sets and perhaps consult my children which one might suit my grandchildren, my garden and my bydget.

However, over the years, I have seen, heard and read much about what is happening to our environment, the wasteful consumption patterns that have disastrous effects on our natural resources, I have become environmentally conscious and aiming for zero waste. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in the year 2003, some 290 million worn tires need to be disposed. Used tires are very durable and due to the huge amount of waste tires generated, represent a major environmental problem. Used tires are hard to recycle. The best alternative to to find some way to reuse them. Why don't I do my bit for the environment and get a tire swing. I think my grandchildren will love them and the environmentalists will love me for helping keep one more used tire away from the landfill.

Sound proofing your home

2008-01-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

Why would you want to sound proof your home?

They may be various reasons why one would want to sound proof one's home. The most obvious answer is for privacy, for it is not pleasant to have sound originating from one room filtering into another room. Some rooms which particularly need soundproofing are entertainment areas such as specialized music room or TV room and home theater. Children's rooms and play areas are also good candidates for sound proofing. If you happened to have a DIY enthusiast in your family with his own workshop with noisy equipments, that is another good candidate for sound proofing. Politicians would be the one who may be paranoid about getting good sound proofing for it would do them no good to have political rivals eves dropping on their conversations.

What are suitable materials to be used for sound proofing?

There are a number products that are used for sound proofing among which is Sound engineered drywall (SED). Sound Engineered Drywalls (SED) are flexible in use and can either be used in place of regular drywall or for existing homes, applied directly over existing drywall surfaces. According to Supress Sound Engineered, their trademarked Supress® Sound-Engineered Drywall™ are of safe, non-metallic construction and will thus not interfere with cellular reception, wireless network, SmartHome, or Home Theater wireless (RF) operation and equipment links. This is important for me and I believe, for many other households, who have computers networked with wireless connections. Supress Sound Engineered also claimed easy score, snap and install operations which require no specialized equipment, meaning low labor cost. They are also Fire-rated (ASTM E 84 and ASTM E 119). ASTM short for American Society for Testing and Materials, a reputable international standards organization for standards for a very wide range of products. It is important to use sound proof drywall that comply with internationally recognized standard organizations like ASTM. Non-toxic, biodegradeable, anti-mold properties are also claimed for their dry walls although no mention had been made if they comply with relevant standards.

A side benefit of sound proofing your home with sound proof drywall include covering old, rundown walls and ceilings which may need repainting or refurbishing with fresh, new materials and save you the expenses of refurbishing and repainting the walls and ceilings.

Decorate your walls with decorative wall decor

2008-01-04T02:42:00.000-08:00

I have been writing stuff about the garden, the little backyard organic farm, the home frontage, electrical appliances, blinds for the windows, furniture, bathroom fittings, all kind of stuff. What did I miss?

The one that most home owner missed. I have left out the wall!!! What is a home with a blank wall? Simple answer, no fun home. A wall cannot be blank. It needs to be decorated. A wall can tell story. A blank wall tell a very dull story. But a wall decorated with imagination and creativity tells an exciting story and makes the home more comfy and pleasant to come home to. So let us decorate the wall.

But how? Here are various possibilities:

metal wall decorations

There is something about wrought iron. It exudes an atmosphere of the good old times. History. Wrought iron is pure iron with a very small carbon content and some slag. It has a "grain" similar to wood, and who don't like wood?

That is one possibility. Others are decorating your wall with architectural elements and metal wall art or iron wall grilles.

Wall candle holders

>Ever had a power failure, when you have to grope around in the dark because some careless contractor dug at the wrong place and broke some underground electrical cables, or some switch tripped at some electrical transmission station? Scramble around for candles, light them up and stick them of some sardine cans for emergency lighting. Well, a better idea may be to get some wall candle holders. Not only will they decorate your house, they will come in mighty useful during an electrical outage. Don't you think the wall candle holder looks pretty? Maybe I can even use it for the Digital Candlelight Vigil for a good cause. At last I now have something that may equal or exceed that of my Australian friend Mike who started a digital candlelight vigil for cancer victims.

Decorative Wall Mirrors

Is your home cramped? Staying in a tiny apartment or condominium maybe? Want to get rid of the cramped feeling and create a sense of spaciousness. Easy. Get some decorative wall mirrors. If you have opted for the wrought iron wall decor for a rustic look, the decorative antique mirror you see in the photo will complement the wrought iron wall decor plus the reflected images will create a sense of space. If you have furnished your home with modern furniture, etc., you can opt for modern wall mirrors. they will all achieve the same objective. Make a cramped apartment into a home that has the atmosphere of a spacious bungalow.

If you have been reading my previous post, you will know that I am environmentally conscious and prefer to shop online using my 24 hour broadband environmentally friendly Internet. In any case, I have no car as all my cars have been given to my children who needs it for their work. When will we ever get a new economic model where one don't need to travel so much for work? Anyway, all the above are either online merchants you can purchase what you want without stepping out of your home, or if you want to promote a cause with a candlelight vigil, you also don't need to travel. It can all be done in the comfort of your home, and in an environmentally way too.

Address Plaques and Residential Mailboxes

2007-12-17T18:47:00.001-08:00

House Address Plaques

I have been preoccupied with the inside of the house so far. An examination of the outside showed that the house frontage can do with some improvement. First is the house number. It used to be chrome, but that has tarnished to black. Not going to impress any visitors. The photo gave more credit to the blackened house number than what is really due to it, as it is more black than gray, and not very visible. Sure can do with some improvement.

This one looks more like what my house need. Not only is the house number shown, the name of the road is also displayed. I remember the time I have been utterly frustrated when searching for a house. Frequently, the road name is often missing plus the sign displaying the road name for the whole road (responsibility of the town council or city hall) is either missing or very well hidden. Caused one to burn up more precious and expensive fossil fuel than is necessary and leads to much wastage of time. Looks like I should get something like this for my house which is available from Address Plaques. However, I think I should look at more choices of Address Plaques. When you are shopping around, one big advantage is that you can take your time to browse through all the available choices and do some comparison shopping.

House mailbox

My mailbox looks pretty worn and rundown too, don't you think? Maybe it might be worthwhile to change to something more attractive. Maybe that will make the postman more happy to deliver my mail to my mailbox and not go deliver to the wrong house and what has frequently happened before. And my poor neighbour have to take the trouble of doing the job for the postman and deliver my mail back to me. Wonder what is behind his smiling face. In his mind, was he really thinking of a dagger or something for putting him to all the trouble?

This one looks much prettier, plus it has the house number incorporated into the mailbox. Make economic sense. Buy one, get two. Special offer. I think I should go for one of these Residential Mailboxes. Perhaps they have something similar that is both a mail box plus a house number cum road address. Buy one, get three. That is what I call economic sense.

Whirpool Dryer for my home

2007-12-17T00:49:00.000-08:00

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Dryer for my home

2007-12-15T02:47:00.000-08:00

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Vacuum cleaner for my home

2007-12-14T14:30:00.000-08:00

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Dishwasher in My Home

2007-12-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

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Sewing machine in the home

2007-12-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

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Modern Furniture for the Modern Home

2007-12-11T15:25:00.000-08:00

Types of furniture

I was a lecturer in the Wood Technology Department but ended up in the Furniture Department when that was transferred to a remote branch campus. So I know a thing or two about furniture.

Furniture can be classified according to its function, such as furniture for storage, for seating, for providing a surface such as a desk, for dining, for sleeping, etc.

One may also use the raw material to make the furniture to classify them, such as wooden furniture, cane furniture, metal furniture, leather furniture, fabric furniture, even plastic furniture.

Furniture may also be classified according to periods such as classical furniture, neo classical furniture, modern furniture, colonial furniture, etc.

For a modern home, the Modern Furniture would be more fitting. Such furniture may be for the living room, dining room, bedroom, children room or the kitchen.

Bedroom furniture

My doctor said I need to get more sleep to stay healthy, so for the moment, let's focus on furniture for the bedroom. The focus of the bedroom will of course be the bed. I don't know about you, but for me, I like the sleek, clean and simple lines of the platform bed. Platform beds are beds are simple structure with a base comprising a raised, flat, hard, horizontal surface to support a mattress with slats or solid paneling. They do not use box spring or any mattress foundation. That is all I need and it looks modern, clean and nice.

Living room furniture

Here, the focus will be the lounge set. I have had a cane sitting room set that have lasted me 30 years and has served me well, but its bindings are coming off and the nails are getting loose. Perhaps it is time to get something new for the impending New Year. I am thinking of a Full Leather Sofa Set. I don't like fabric sofa as they are hard to maintain and easy to stain. I think leather sofa set like the Aida Ultra Modern Full Leather Sofa Set you see in the photo on the left is comfortable, elegant looking and easy to maintain. Leather also softens and improves with time.

Well, these are the two places I spent the most of my time in and is most important to me. I will leave the rest perhaps to another time.

Massage chair for your home

2007-12-05T18:49:00.001-08:00

After much hard labor in the garden, or after a stressful day at work, it will be nice to retreat to a home equipped with a massage chair. Or perhaps some members of your family may experience some body ache, or over strained themselves at too enthusiastic exercises, etc. All can benefit from having a massage chair in the home.

What is massage all about?

A massage involves the manipulation of soft tissue which can cause a change in the surrounding tissue and structures or release the stiffness a too stiff joint.

Benefits of a good massage

A good massage can help alleviate body ache and improve range of motion. Some says it may even enhance body immunity by stimulating the lymph flow. The lymph system is one of the body’s defense system. A good massage my improve the condition of the skin, increase joint flexibility, reduce depression and anxiety, enhance tissue regeneration, pump oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs, improve circulation, reduce spasms and cramping, relax and soften injured, tired, and overused muscles, release endorphins which are the body’s natural painkiller and promotes a sense of well-being and some claims it can relieve migraine pain.

How to massage

Massage can be manual using hands, sometimes even the feet and the body weight where a masseur thread on the person being massaged lying on the floor or on a bed. Some also use vibrators. But manual massage can be pretty hard work, and for a real massage, you may need a trained masseur.

Massage Chair

Here is the easy way out. Get a massage chair. No hard manipulating with the hands. No hard work. Just sit in the massage chair, switch it on and relax. What other can be easier than that?

Here is one you may want to consider - Panasonic Massage Chairs. Most of my electrical appliances are under the Panasonic brand. My Panasonic television lasted my for ages without problems. My microwave oven is Panasonic, so is my refrigerator. My son bought a Panasonic digital camera - SV-A510. It produced pretty sharp photos. Only problem is, you got to have a steady hand. Shake and you get a blur photo.

I recently purchased another digital camera for myself. I would not mention the brand or the model for fear of being sued. I took some photos. It was supposed to be a 5 megapixels camera. Plus anti-shake compensation. Pretty impressive. But the first few photos I took in its original large format is all very grainy. However, for my use, it is enough because I have to resize it down to upload to the web. When resized downward, it is sharp enough. But my children are not satisfied. So I took it back the camera shop to complain. They told me Panasonic digital cameras uses the Leica lens, the best. The one I bought uses the manufacturer's own lens. Anyway, here is another case where getting a Panasonic brand product turned out to be better.

You may want to take a look at the new Panasonic EP30005 massage chair. If you are the type who like to check out various option first before making a purchase decision, look at Panasonic EP series of massage chairs. Take your time. Good habit to do some researching before putting your money down.

Home, Humidity, Dehumidifiers and Products Review

2007-11-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

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Plasma and LCD flat panel televisions

2007-11-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

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Use gift cards to avoid waste and prevent headaches

2007-11-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

Buying gifts for family, friend, relatives, colleagues. It is a task I hate. For one, I have to scratch my head for a suitable gift to buy. For another, I would have to drive around to shop for them in shopping malls, etc., burning up precious depleting fossil fuel which result in green house gas emission and contribute to global warming. If you are a regular visitor of my blogs, I have a soft spot for the fragile environment, our one and only Spaceship Earth with no lifeboat. Where can we go if something bad happens to our only Spaceship Earth with no lifeboat. Migrate to the moon? That is science fiction and beyond reality.

Some people like shopping for and receiving gifts. I don't. I don't have even a tiny talent for gift ideas and would be hard press to come up with some very good gift ideas. If I need to get gifts for people, I would rather pay for it and leave the choice to them, for after all, they are the ones who are going to use it, and will have a much better idea of what items would be of use to them. Further, there is no need for gift wrapping, for that means using paper, which also means cutting down trees to make the paper. And after unwrapping the gift, what do they do with the gift wrap paper? I used to unwrap the gift slowly, trying my best not to damage the gift wrap paper, and keep them for reuse. But I don't really know how many people on the receiving end will appreciate my effort at conservation and reuse.

You may also know I hate waste. One of the reason I hate buying gifts is because I can never tell if the gift I buy will be of use to the receiver, or if it will be left in a corner to languish, unused. In fact, I have an issue with receiving gifts as you can see from this post: My first grandchild at his grandfather's 58th birthday gathering.

But popular gift cards may be a different story. In the first place, the gift receiver gets to choose his own gifts. In the second place the gift cards merchant has taken the trouble to take into account the preferences of his customers and the gift cards listed the popular ones there which is there as a result of the decisions of a wide spectrum of customers and would thus probably represent collective wisdom, and thus ending up with a gift card that are of use to the receiver is better.

Of course, you are free to search the whole selection of all gift cards available. Not only that, at this site, on the left sidebar, you will see gift cards categorized according to price range and store.

Have a particular preference for a particular store like Amazon Gift Cards? Amazon, the most successful online merchant I believe is one with the widest selection of gifts, and thus the best chance of your gift recipient will be able to get something that he or she needs.

The gift cards merchant also have provided a search box for you to search for gift cards according to the search terms you input. Plus you can do all this online from the comfort of your home right in front of your computer. No driving around to shop for gifts in shopping malls, etc., burning up precious depleting fossil fuel emitting green house gas emission and contributing to global warming. ZERO WASTE.

So many products: Product Reviews will help

2007-11-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

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Flat Panel Televisions Review

2007-11-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

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Personalized items for your home and garden

2007-10-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

Human have a strange predilection. They don't want a standard Ford car that can have any color you like, except that it must be black. Witness the many highly personalized vehicles we have on the roads. The most innocent ones is the personalized vehicle plate.

Well, house proud home owners are no different. Give them a choice to get something specially personalized for their home, and I am sure they will jump for it. Probably that is the reason why this online merchant address signs offers personal housewarming gifts. It says housewarming, but you don't really need to have a housewarming party as an excuse for getting things like personalized door mats. Imagine what a creative home owner can do with that. Think of funny punch lines and make your visitors smile (and hopefully laugh heartily) when they step into your home. Or leave subtle hints on do's and don't's on the door mat. If you don't have that creative juice in you, perhaps you can persuade Roland's Housewarming Gifts star a "Creative Department" to do that for you, at a charge of course. I will make this suggestion to them once I publish this post, hope that it become another profit center for them and perhaps some pocket money for me.

For the garden (or more accurately, the front of the garden), or on the front wall of your home, perhaps you can get Personalized Mailboxes or custom address plaque.

Clothes Dryers Reviews

2007-10-23T03:18:00.000-07:00

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Wall Mounted and Locking Mailboxes for your home

2007-10-21T05:17:00.001-07:00

Mail box for a home is important. That is where important mails and letters from loved ones and friends are delivered. If it is a secure mail box, that is even better, for then you don't have to worry about mails going missing. And don't forget aesthetic. I am sure you don't want an ugly mail box right in front of your home for every passerby to see. One ugly mail box can spoil the look of an otherwise beautiful home. Don't sting on mail box.

You can have a a choice of more than 1500 different type of mailboxes at mailboxixchange.com. For residential mailboxes, the most suitable ones are wall mounted mailboxes. You can have mailboxes of different shapes and finishes, made of stainless steel, aluminum or other materials. And with their 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, you can make your choice and order with peace of mind that you will get a mailbox that you will be happy with. And not only that, you can be sure you will get the best price, for they have an exclusive 111% Guaranteed Price Match. That 111% sound strange, but what they meant is that if you can find the same mailbox being sold at a lower delivered price, all you have to do is to email their sales staff to report a Price Matching. Give them the store's name, the item, and the location of the advertised item so that they can verify their delivered price, that the item is new, they are in-stock and are dealers of that particular item plus the item has the manufacturer's warranty. Once that have been verified, they will not only match the lower price, but even give you a 11% discount on the difference between prices. You can even profit from your "misfortune"!!!!!

If you are worried about your private correspondence stolen by your nosy neighbour, look at their selection of Locking Mailboxes.

Some home owners may have a business and need commercial mailboxes. No worry. This online merchant, mailboxixchange.com, have a wide selection of commercial mailboxes.

Now, what else do you want. Curbside mailboxes to make life easy for your friendly postman? They have that too. Go check their site.

Luxurious bathrooms for your home

2007-09-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

After laboring hard at your backyard organic farm, it will be nice to retire to a luxurious bathroom to clean yourself up. After working at the backyard organic farm, you will probably have picked up some dirt and worked up sticky sweat. A bath is imperative, but having a nice bathroom to clean yourself up will be a just reward for your hard work.

A luxurious shower enclosure will help to a great extend to keep the bathroom floor dry and non-slippery. A wet and slippery bathroom floor is one of the common causes of home accidents, leading to needless injuries and suffering and probably incurring medical bills you can ill afford.

Having a natural Birch wood bathroom fittings will give a luxurious and warm atmosphere for the bathroom, and you can enjoy your clean ups with feelings of happiness, well being, prosperity and all the positive feelings.

If you are just starting constructing or renovating your bathroom or bathrooms, consider getting a complete bathroom set and save yourself the headache of having to make decisions on the choice of many separate components of the bathroom or bathrooms.

Natural ways of pest control for backyard organic farmer

2007-09-18T01:33:00.000-07:00

A backyard organic farmer need to know natural ways of pest control. A well know method of natural pest control is to attract bird to your backyard garden which may help eat up the pest that otherwise will eat up your hard work.

This online merchant, The Stainless Steel Store has a range of outdoor stainless steel products which include a stainless steel bird feeder which just might do the job of attracting pest eating birds to your backyard organic garden.

You will probably need to water your plants for them to thrive. If you want a watering can that really last a long time, they have a large stainless steel watering can that comes with a 5 year warranty from the manufacturer.

Busy in the day and have no time for your backyard garden but will like to work on it at night? No sweat. Get a stainless steel candle lantern to light the way. It also comes with a 5 year warranty from the manufacturer.

Looks like all their products comes with 5 year warranty from the manufacturer, but I wouldn't be surprised if they last much more longer than that. That is the way I like things - to last. I still have my clothing from many, many years back. In fact I had a singlet from participating in the Penang Bridge marathon from 20 plus years back which only recently got misplaced. I don't like to throw away things. I think it is much more environmentally friendly to get things that last a very long time, like stainless steel products. You contribute less stuff to the landfill.

Stuff for your backyard organic garden

2007-09-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

I have a Paypal account with a significant balance. I will like to use it to do some online shopping, so looking for online merchants for getting things for the home and garden. Here is just such a site offering great stuff for home and garden.

One of the principle of organic garden is to use nature for pest control. For example, you would like to attract birds to your backyard organic garden so that they will eat up the pests that would otherwise eat up your organic produce you work so hard to grow. One nice and aesthetic way would be to place a bird bath in your backyard organic farm. The above site has a section offering a wide selection of ShopWiki bird baths.

Other ways to control pests are to have vegetation that attract insects that may eat up the pest for you free of charge and labour, and I think having a nice hedge around your backyard organic farm may do the trick. But hedges need to be trimmed, otherwise they will become an eyesore. I will be good to have a hedge trimmer to make that task easy. There is again a great selection of hedge trimmers at ShopWiki hedge trimmers

There are other offerings for the home and garden at ShopWiki. I believe you can find anything you may conceivably need at ShopWiki. All you need to do is to get online and surf to that site.

Organic Farming in Florida and others

2007-09-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

Organic agriculture in Florida is a rapidly growing industry with many certified organic operators, including certified organic growers, value-added growers, and processors. The State of Florida has a few organisations connected with organic products, including

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/

Florida Certified Organic Growers & Consumers, Inc. (FOG) at
http://www.foginfo.org/

Sweetwater Organic Community Farm
http://www.sweetwater-organic.org/

Bee Heaven Farm - Pikarco
http://www.pikarco.com/

University of Florida Centre for Organic Agriculture
http://organic.ifas.ufl.edu/

Jessica's Organic Farm
http://www.jessicasorganicfarm.com/index.htm

The University of Florida have announced that they are offering an Organic Farming Major. This is a double plus for Florida organic farming because there will be more trained organic farmers and also more research on organic farming methods and practices will be conducted.

If you want to observe organic farming in Florida, pay that sunny state a visit. Book your accommodation at Florida vacation rental homes. However, don't confine yourself to organic farming because Florida is a great place for a well deserved vacation.

Consider popping over to Orlando, the world capital of theme parks, especially if you have your family with you. With the world renowned Walt Disney World Resort which is the largest and most visited recreational resort in the world located there, your children will love you for it. But adults will enjoy the resort too. There is also the Universal Studios Orlando. Disney have two water parks, six golf courses, a sports complex, an auto race track, twenty resort hotels, numerous shopping, dining, and entertainment offerings in Orlando. They also operate an extensive public transit system of buses, boats, and monorails.

If those great tourist attractions interest you, book your accommodation at Orlando vacation rental homes.

But Florida has more than just organic farming and great theme parks to offer. You must have known of Miami Beach through that famous and popular TV show, Miami Vice. Many of the shots were filmed in South Beach, now a thriving tourist spot with a great beach, busy night life with lots of night clubs and restaurants, and a magnet for fashion shoots. So expect to see beautiful models posing for photographs there. Miami Beach is also famous for its Art Deco architecture, which also attracts photo shoots.

For Miami Beach, the place to book accommodation is Miami beach vacation rentals.

Growing Fruits And Vegetables The Way Nature Intended Them To Be

2007-08-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

Growing Fruits And Vegetables The Way Nature Intended Them To Be

By George Hapgood

Gardening can add more quality to the way you live and even to some extent may also add quantity to one's life. There are many benefits of gardening, particularly organic gardening that can make one can forget about whatever is bothering him or her.

Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature.

Why would one want to indulge in organic gardening?

1. Organic gardening is less boring.

One can easily make his own compost from garden and kitchen waste. Though this is a bit more time-consuming than buying prepared chemical pesticides and fertilizers, it would surely be one rewarding activity.

2. Less health harming chemicals on the food that you and your family may consume.

Pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose kill living things. One of the best known benefits of organic gardening is the zero tolerance for pesticide use. This is the most widely know reason for the boom of organic gardening and is also the best of what we get from the benefits of organic gardening.

3. Less harm to the environment.

Organic gardening has residual effect on ground water. The Environmental Protection Agency says that 38 states have cases of contaminated ground water.

The protection of the topsoil from erosion is another concern dealt with the practice of organic gardening.

The Soil Conservation Service says that an estimated 30 - 32 billion tons of soil erodes from United States farmlands every year. Commercial farming causes this.

4. Cost savings

One does need to buy costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. One example of organic fertilizer that one could make use of is as lowly as the stale coffee and coffee grounds. If one wishes to attract off aphids from vegetables, plant marigolds.

One frugal garden pest spray could be concocted through mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap and 1 cup of cooking oil. Put 3 tablespoons of this mixture in 1 quart of water and spray on plants.

Mulch, which is used to keep moisture in and weeds out, could be in the form of grass clippings and pine needles.

5. Organic gardening makes one feel better knowing he is doing his part in safeguarding the future of the next generations.

On the average, a child ingests four to five times more cancer-causing pesticides from foods than an adult. This can lead to various diseases later on in the child's life. With organic gardening, these incidents are lessened.

About the Author: You Too can have a green thumb. Visit Georges Blog here http://www.push-button-online-income.com/gardening

Source: www.isnare.com

Gaines Mailboxes to complement your backyard orgarnic farm

2007-08-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

A backyard organic farm does not exist in a vacuum. It exist in the backyard of a home, and a home have many components - the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the facade and of course the curbside which is its connection to the rest of the world.

While email have largely displaced the so-called snail mail, they are still essential for certain correspondence which cannot be transmitted via the Internet, and for that, you need a mailbox.

Gaines Mailboxes offers a great range of mailboxes which you can chose and order online. They have tried to meet the customers' needs including packaging a drill bit with their products so you don't need to hunt for one of the correct size, or worst, to have to venture out of your house to buy one just to install their products.

They have also come out with a range of mail boxes including the Keystone series of mailboxes, an example of which is the Black with Verde Brass Signature Keystone Series Mailboxes, the Gaines Mailboxes: Black with Satin Nickel Classic Pedestal Mailbox Package, the Gaines Mailboxes: Metallic Bronze with Verde Brass Classic Mailbox Top, the Gaines Mailboxes: Black with Verde Brass Signature Keystone Series Mailboxes and others. You can browse through their website to see their whole range.

Organic Food: As Healthy As You Can Get

2007-08-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Organic Food: As Healthy As You Can Get

By Barbara Camie

Healthy food grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, chemical preservatives or genetically engineered DNA is Organic. It is more labor intensive. Organic farming doesn’t use herbicides and other chemicals. So the yield is much smaller and to buy, more expensive. But organic foods are high in vitamins and minerals, tempting a good population to include these diets in their lifestyle.

Benefits of Organic food

• No pesticide, fungicides residues on food

• No synthetic residuals built into plants

• No genetically engineered organisms

• Realistic flavors

• High in vitamin

• High in minerals

• Higher in anti oxidants

The ‘Organic-certified produce’ is grown, harvested, stored and transported without the use of any synthetic chemicals or fumigants. They are processed according to uniform standards and USDA accredited organizations verify it.

Organic farming vs. Conventional farming

• Traditional farmers use chemical fertilizers in the soil to grow crops. Organic farmers build soil with natural fertilizer

• In traditional farming, insecticides are used to kill the insects and diseases. Organic farmers use insect predators and barriers

• Traditional farmers control weed growth by applying synthetic herbicides but crop rotation, tillage, hand weeding and mulches control weeds in Organic fields

Organic foods are not completely chemical free, but the pesticide residues will be much lower than those found in produce manufactured with synthetic chemicals.

About the Author: Barbara Camie, Agriculture Organic Food Specialist, Phentermine Weight Loss Managment Group http://www.phenterminehome.com

Source: www.isnare.com

Mailbox for your home

2007-07-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

Backyard organic farm can only exist in a house, and all houses must have mailboxes for you to receive letters from the postman. With the advent of the now pervasive Internet, shopping online is a great convenience, and one which I prefer where feasible. If you are shopping for mailboxes, Mailbox Exchange is a great place to do it online. They have a wide variety of mailboxes and mailbox posts you can chose from, and from a long list of manufacturers.

If you are busy with your backyard organic farm, you are likely too busy to keep watch on your mailbox, and there is every possibility of letters being stolen from your unguarded mailbox. You may want to consider Locking Mailboxes. With that, you can continue tinkering with your backyard organic farm without worrying about letters being stolen.

You may also want nice decorative Address Plaques and Numbers for your house to make it easy for visitors and postmen to locate your house and to give a good first impression.

If you are a fussy house-proud home owner in addition to being a backyard organic farmer, you may even want to consider their Curbside Decor Products. With all that, you will then have an attractive home, nice organic produce from your backyard organic farm plus have peace of mind that your letters are safe and wouldn't get stolen.

Blinds for your home

2007-05-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Blinds are an attractive and practical window treatment that enhance the look and feel of your home or building. They can let light and air in during the daytime while enhancing security by keeping them closed at night. Blinds gives a geometric elegance to any window while the consistency of horizontal lines is attractive. They also provide privacy when you need it.

guaranteedblinds.com have a large variety of blinds for your windows which you can choose and shop conveniently online. They have Cellular Shades, Wood Blinds Faux Wood, Natural Wood and Bamboo Blinds, Real Basswood Blinds, etc.

The best part of it is now they are having a May Sales Extravaganza offering 10 to 15% off their blinds. If you are planning to get blinds for your cozy home, this month is the best month for you to grab some bargains from guaranteedblinds.com

Nice Interior for your house to complement your nice backyard organic farm

2007-05-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

After a long, hard day at the backyard organic farm, I am sure you would like to relax in a nice interior to soothe your aching muscles after all the hard work. However, interior design is not for everybody to dabble in. If you want a real nice comfortable interior, you have to depend on a professional interior designer.

Interior designer in Longbeach, CA can help you in this task. Long Beach CA Interior Design is run by Sara Arndt. You can read about Sara Arndt here: About Sara Arndt or examine the projects she has successfully completed at Past Projects.

You may want to know about how Sara Arndt goes about undertaking an interior design project. You can get an idea about the process and practices she follows when she undertake an interior design project at Sara Arndt Interior Design services and practices.

Mailbox for your house to complement your nice backyard organic farm

2007-05-01T05:14:00.000-07:00

You may have a nice backyard organic farm in your house, but you would also want to present a pleasant facade to your house, and that normally include a presentable mailbox. If you are looking for a mailbox for your house, Mailboxixchange has a wide variety of mailboxes for you to choose from, and for your convenience, you can select and buy them online. Mailboxixchange not only have Wall mounted mailboxes like the one you see in the photo, but they have Single-unit mailbox and Post Packages, Multi-unit Mailbox and Post Packages, Mailbox Posts, etc.

Mailboxixchange don't just have a wide variety of mailboxes to choose from, they also have Address Plaques and House Numbers and Curbside Decor.

With the wide varieties of things for your house front and curbside from Mailboxixchange, you will not only have a nice backyard organic farm, but a very presentable facade or curbside.

Use CouponChief.com to save on your gardening supplies

2007-03-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

Need some gardening utensils or supplies for your backyard organic farm. Get free coupons to save on your purchases at CouponChief.com. You can find coupons to save on your home and garden supplies at Home and Garden coupons. This you can do at your convenience at home online.

At CouponChief.com, there is a search box where you can search for the items you need. I tried searching for "seed" and came up with this page: Search result page for "seed". One of the link lead to Henry Fields coupon where you can get $10 off for purchases of $30 and 10% off on Blueberries.

A search for "organic fertilizer" turned up this page: Search result page for "organic fertilizere". Following a link there to Gardens Alive showed that you can save $20 off an order of $40. That is a very substantial discount of 50%.

A search for "gardening tools" resulted in Search result page for "gardening tools" with a long list of links. You can try following those links yourself and see what is available.

Use CouponChief.com for substantial savings for your gardening supplies for your backyard organic farm.

Take a rest from organic farming. Watch some movies on your LCD, Plasma TV, etc.

2007-03-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

Take a rest from organic farming. Watch some nice, enertaining movies on your TV. You will get maximum viewing pleasure from watching TV with a LCD, plasma or rear projector TV screen.

Have you bought a LCD, plasma or rear projector TV screen? If you have, you will know that it is a hefty investment, and you should do everything within your power to get the best out of it and to protect your hefty investment.

Get PixelProtector^TM, a DVD based premium screen diagnostic and calibration tool for all types of LCD, plasma and rear projection TV screens. You can get optimal performance for a large flat screen TV and preserve the life of your TV set with PixelProtector^TM. For a cost of a single DVD from PixelProtector^TM, you can prolong the life of your television set and save a bundle in repair or replacement costs.

PixelProtector^TM has many features that will ensure your television is correctly calibrated to gain the sharpest and most colourful image your TV has to offer. If you have a 3 year or new LCD, plasma or rear projector TV screen, getting a copy of PixelProtector^TM will ensure your TV lasts the test of time through correct calibration, diagnostic tools and tips for setting up.

PixelProtector^TM can help resolve common issues with plasma TV like Image burn in, Ghosting and Setup. With with LCD screens include, it can help resolve common issues like Trailing or blocking effect on screen (pixilation), Pixel drop out and Unnatural image blacks are dark grey. Common issues with Projection screens include Alignment, Picture saturation and Blown bulb. You can read how PixelProtector^TM can help resolve these issues at PixelProtector^TM Support

Organic fertilizer for the dragon Fruit cactus

2007-03-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

I have written a post about planting dragon fruit cactus in my backyard garden at Cultivating dragon fruit cactus in my backyard garden (click "BACK" button to get back to this page). The cacti need to be fertilized, and since the title of this blog is backyard organic farming, I need to use organic fertilizer, and not artificial fertilizer.

I hope you willl not be squeamish about this, but I urinate into a 5 litre bottle leaving about 9/10th empty. I leave it to ferment for a week, then dilute it with water and used it to water the cacti. I fill the bottle again with water both to rinse it and also used it to further water the cacti and start the cycle all over again. I hope this will help the cacti grow quickly and start fruiting early.

Wedding Anniversary Celebrations for backyard organic farmers

2007-03-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

If you are cultivating a backyard organic farm, it is unlikely you are a bachelor or a spinster. You are most likely to be married, and for married couples, there are wedding anniversaries to celebrate and invitations to send out. Rhodes Island Wedding Resources can make the task easy for you.

Backyard gardeners can be of any age, and you may be celebrating your Golden (50th) Wedding Anniversary, or Silver (25th) Wedding Anniversary, or other wedding anniversaries. You may also want to incorporate your photo into the wedding anniversary invitation cards and that can be done as you can see from Photo Anniversaries.

Whichever one it is, you can probably find the right type of wedding anniversary invitation cards from Rhodes Island Wedding Resources.

If you happen to be a happily married backyard gardeners planning to celebrate a wedding anniversary, may I wish you a very happy and auspicious celebration.

Pamper yourself after a hard day's work at the backyard farm with nice ceiling fans and bathroom accessories

2007-03-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

Got nothing much to post on the backyard organic farm. The dragon fruit cactus are growing, but very slowly, so nothing new to report.

Well, if you do a lot of backyard farming, you are likely to feel hot and uncomfortable after your strenous farming, and having a nice fan to cool you down or having a nice bathroom with nice accessories to clean up will be very pleasant.

Well, if you are looking for new or replacement fans, or bathroom accessories, you can shop for one at the Farrey's Online Shop. Farrey's have a 30 days return policy, so I suppose you can shope with some confidence.

There is a wide range of fans for you to choose from. Examples are
Ceiling Fans and Ceiling Fan Accessories by Casablanca Fan Company,
Ceiling Fans and Ceiling Fan Accessories by Craftmade,
Ceiling Fans and Ceiling Fan Accessories by Ellington
and many more. You can check them out at Farrey's Online Shop

Farrey's also offers Bathroom Products and Bath Hardware

Ater a hard day's work at the backyard organic farm, you deserve to be pampered with these luxurious items.

Backyard organic farming and window blinds

2007-03-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

A big advantage of growing a small organic farm in your backyard is that you get to grow your own vegetables without pesticides and artificial fertilizers. And you probably get lots of exercise too. However, the disadvantage of a backyard organic farm is that it may be unsightly as compared to a garden cultivated for aesthetic purpose.

This is where putting blind on your window can come in useful. With the blinds, you have the choice of shutting out the view of your backyard garden. You can actually shop for window blinds on line. A good choice of an online dealer in window blinds is guaranteedblinds.com. They have a wide choice of faux wood blinds which combine the beauty of wood with the durability of polyvinyl, real Basswood blinds which can take on various wood stain to match your interior, natural wood and bamboo blinds with a choice of open or closed weaves, Cellular shades for small and medium size windows, and Bella^TM Roman Shades available in a wide choice of fabric, color, style and varying level of light control.

There are other choices, and you can get a quick online quote. All you need to do is to select the product and enter the dimensions of your window (see screenshot below. Click to enlarge).

At guaranteedblinds.com, you can also request for free samples.

Cultivating dragon fruit cactus in the backyard

2007-02-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

I am retired and my daughter thought it would be a good idea to get me more active in gardening, so she brought back some dragon fruit cactus cuttings for me to plant. I don't know anything about dragon fruit cactus, so I did some searching. I found out that there were various species, and mine could possibly be Hylocereus undatus
a.k.a. Pitahaya or Strawberry Pear. Pitahaya is the Spainish name for the fruit. I was told there are some with yellow flesh and some are red. It seems the red ones are better. I was told the one they brought back is the red flesh type.

Further, I found it is not a free standing cactus, but a vining one. The plant may creep over the ground or climb onto trees or wooden poles using aerial roots. My search revealed that those who cultivate the cactus uses wooden poles for support. However, the house I am staying in was developed from a former rubber estate and prone to termite infestations. I was thus reluctant to plant it. My son-in-law came up with the idea of using plastic pipes and tying the growing cactus to the pipes.

So the next day I walked over to the nearby hardware shop and bought some plastic pipes. However, I made the mistake of purchasing the small 1" diameter poles, and I doubt the pipes would make a good free standing support for the cactus if it is partly buried in the ground. The maid, a Cambodian, got the briliant idea of leaning the pipes against a dividing wall in the garden. Below is a picture of the growing cactus, the pipes, and the dividing wall:

Hard-Times Gardening – Sustainable Without Fertilizers

2006-11-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Hard-Times Gardening – Sustainable Without Fertilizers
by: Jim Kennard

I teach the Mittleider Method of vegetable gardening. It’s often called better than organic gardening, because we use only natural mineral nutrients, and eliminate weeds and pests without pesticides and herbicides. In addition, virtually nothing is left to chance – much different from those who depend on the unknown composition of manure and compost as their only source of food for their gardens.

I teach the Mittleider Method of vegetable gardening. It’s often called better than organic gardening, because we use only natural mineral nutrients, and eliminate weeds and pests without pesticides and herbicides. In addition, virtually nothing is left to chance – much different from those who depend on the unknown composition of manure and compost as their only source of food for their gardens.

I’m asked occasionally if the Mittleider gardening method is sustainable in the long run, “since it seems to be based on the availability of modern day fertilizers.” Since some folks feel that today’s fertilizers may not always be available in the future, how viable is this system for ongoing sustainability in the long run?

First, the Mittleider method is NOT dependent on commercial fertilizers for viability. Our experience around the world for over 40 years, however, is that everywhere we have been - including several countries in Africa, Armenia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Russia, and 23 others - fertilizers have always been available.

The careful use of natural mineral fertilizers increases a family's gardening yield many times - sometimes as much as 10 times what they were growing without them. This is what has allowed America to change from one person feeding 4 or 5, to one person feeding 100 other people. So why would we NOT use them?? And why would we not want to teach people in the developing countries to use them - unless perhaps we WANT them to stay in the 19th century?

We recommend people obtain enough natural mineral fertilizers and seed (a #10 can of 15 varieties of heirloom seeds is available at www.growfood.com) for at least one extra year's garden. Mineral Fertilizers keep almost indefinitely, and they cost very little, compared to the yield they produce. Small storable packages of micro-nutrients are also available at www.growfood.com.

Here’s how you can grow a productive and healthy garden using manure tea. Get a large burlap bag and a 55-gallon barrel. Find cow or horse manure (chicken or turkey is twice as hot, so less will be needed), and fill the bag 2/3's full. Place the bag in the barrel and fill it with water. Let the manure "tea" soak or "steep" for 24 hours, then use the tea to water your vegetable plants.

Replace the bag of manure in the barrel and let steep for 48 hours. Use the tea, then dump the spent manure out and dig into an unused portion of the garden - it has almost no nutrient value, but can improve soil tilth.

Remember to plant your plants a little further apart when using this method, because they will be competing for less available nutrition. In addition, every watering should be with the manure tea for your plants to be healthy and thrive. You should expect to grow a smaller garden, and spend some time finding manure.

If manure just isn't available, consider saving kitchen scraps and human waste. Many countries do it all the time, so it's not the end of the world. And all clean, healthy plant residue should be saved and properly composted for re-use in the garden - again preferably as manure tea.

The Food For Everyone foundation teaches the Mittleider method of organic gardening. Know as the poor mans hydroponics you can increase your yields five to ten times. Tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, berries you name it these nutrients will produce the best results.

I’m asked occasionally if the Mittleider gardening method is sustainable in the long run, “since it seems to be based on the availability of modern day fertilizers.” Since some folks feel that today’s fertilizers may not always be available in the future, how viable is this system for ongoing sustainability in the long run?

First, the Mittleider method is NOT dependent on commercial fertilizers for viability. Our experience around the world for over 40 years, however, is that everywhere we have been - including several countries in Africa, Armenia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Russia, and 23 others - fertilizers have always been available.

The careful use of natural mineral fertilizers increases a family's gardening yield many times - sometimes as much as 10 times what they were growing without them. This is what has allowed America to change from one person feeding 4 or 5, to one person feeding 100 other people. So why would we NOT use them?? And why would we not want to teach people in the developing countries to use them - unless perhaps we WANT them to stay in the 19th century?

We recommend people obtain enough natural mineral fertilizers and seed (a #10 can of 15 varieties of heirloom seeds is available at www.growfood.com) for at least one extra year's garden. Mineral Fertilizers keep almost indefinitely, and they cost very little, compared to the yield they produce. Small storable packages of micro-nutrients are also available at www.growfood.com.

Here’s how you can grow a productive and healthy garden using manure tea. Get a large burlap bag and a 55-gallon barrel. Find cow or horse manure (chicken or turkey is twice as hot, so less will be needed), and fill the bag 2/3's full. Place the bag in the barrel and fill it with water. Let the manure "tea" soak or "steep" for 24 hours, then use the tea to water your vegetable plants.

Replace the bag of manure in the barrel and let steep for 48 hours. Use the tea, then dump the spent manure out and dig into an unused portion of the garden - it has almost no nutrient value, but can improve soil tilth.

Remember to plant your plants a little further apart when using this method, because they will be competing for less available nutrition. In addition, every watering should be with the manure tea for your plants to be healthy and thrive. You should expect to grow a smaller garden, and spend some time finding manure.

If manure just isn't available, consider saving kitchen scraps and human waste. Many countries do it all the time, so it's not the end of the world. And all clean, healthy plant residue should be saved and properly composted for re-use in the garden - again preferably as manure tea.

The Food For Everyone foundation teaches the Mittleider method of organic gardening. Know as the poor mans hydroponics you can increase your yields five to ten times. Tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, berries you name it these nutrients will produce the best results.

About The Author
Jim Kennard is the president of the Food for everyone foundation and a principal author for the organic gardening website How to Organic Garden.

Malabar spinach experiment

2005-10-31T20:21:00.000-08:00

Bought more malabar spinach from the wet market this morning, cut off the big leaves for soup tonight, planted the cuttings along the fence. Posting it for the record here so that I can see how long it will be before I get my first harvest. Then found a little leftover cutting. Decided to do a little experiment. I put it in a glass of water to see if left like this, the cutting will grow roots. If so, I will replant it in the garden later. Just for fun.

UPDATE: Tuesday 8th November 2005

The cutting has sprouted 2 strands of white roots. Only 1 week. Very fast.

New logo for blog

2005-10-31T15:25:00.000-08:00

Noticed the difference? The appearance of the blog has now greatly improved because the text title has now been replaced by a colorful logo. This logo is by courtesy of Franco of freelogo.blogspot.com. The original logo he did was in black and white, but he has kindly added color. Not only that, he helped me put the logo into the heading. Very satisfied.

UPDATE: 5 February 2007: I have migrated to the New Blogger, and the graphic title is no more.

Keeping pests at bay the organic way.

2005-10-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

Sometime back, I had tried my hands at growing my own vegetables, but most of them except Malabar spinach (or Ceylon spinach) were attacked by pests. I was reluctant to use chemicals so I feeble attempt at home-grown vegetables was mainly aborted. Perhaps there is a solution.

According to CETDEM, pest infestation is not a problem but a symptom of imbalance. When symptoms appear, one should find out what causes it and remove the disturbing factors (Preventive measures). One can also carry out physical, biological and botanical controls (Control measures).

What are the disturbing factors? They include an imbalanced Agro-Ecosystem (caused by monoculture) and an imbalanced Soil Ecosystem (caused by a lack of organic matter, continuous cropping, use of agricultural chemicals which kill micro-organism). The solution will be, of course , to create a balanced agro-ecosystem and a balanced soild ecosystem

Balanced Agro-Ecosystem

The most important role is diversity and the methods include

diverse cropping to increase the diversity of the population of predactors
inter-cropping, including scattered planting of insect repellent and medicinal plants like basil, marigolds, ginseng, mint, serai citronella.
planting perennial trees to attract insect-eating birds
non-use of agrochemicals

Balanced Soil Ecosystem

Methods to create and maintain a balanced soil ecosystem include
crop rotation
regular supply of organic matter like mulch, green manure, compost
avoid mixing raw organic matter with the soil
non-use of agrochemicals

Physical Controls

Hand-picking done by catching the insects and other predactors like snails and removing them
Light trap done by putting a light above a container of water so that the insects are attracted to the light and fall into the water
Net cover. Covering the crops with a net to protect them from insect attack.

Biological Control

Attracting birds (by planting trees) that eat the insects

Natural Pesticides

ash
tobacco dust or leaves
neem leaves and seeds
chilli
pounded garlic

To control aphids, one can make a spray by soaking 250 gm of tobacco, 30 gm of soap flakes in 4 litres of water over 2 nights, sieve, then dilute with 1 part filtrate with 4 parts water.

Using pesticides, however, is not recommended by CETDEM.

Source: Organic Farming Publications
(CETDEM Organic Farming Project).

Note: Organic Farming courses and training are conducted by CETDEM. For more information, go to Courses and Training

Nutrient content of Malabar spinach

2005-10-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

Since I am planting Malabar spinach, I might as well post some information about the nutrient content found in Malabar spinach for my own as well as readers benefit. The information was taken from http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/742/4902.pdf which gives the nutrients per 28 gm and per 90 gm for the fresh and boiled Malabar spinach. I have edited the content to per 100 gm for both for comparison purpose.

Table: Nutrient Content of Malabar spinach

Nutrient	unit	per 100 gm (fresh)	per 100 gm (boiled)
Calories	kCal	21	21
Protein	gm	1.8	1.7
Carbohydrate	gm	4.3	4.3
Fat	gm		1.2
Calcium	mg	168	56
Potassium	mg	143	228
Sodium	mg	46	16
Vitamin C	mg	36
Thiamine B1	mg	0.07	0.06
Riboflavin	mg	0.07	0.012
Niacin	mg	0.07	0.12

Malabar spinach is a good source of vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron. (Evaluation of Tropical Leaf Vegetables in the Virgin Islands)

Mulching

2005-10-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

What is mulch?

Web definitions for mulch Any loose material placed over the soil to control weeds and conserve soil moisture. Usually this is a coarse organic matter, such as leaves, clippings or bark, but plastic sheeting and other commercial products can also be used.

The advantages of mulching is the avoidance of water loss through evaporation, increase microorganism in the soil, increase water retention, prevention of soil erosion during rainfall, prevention of nutrient loss, prevention of the soil becoming baked hard and cracked.

The disadvantages of mulching is in excess, it may prevent adequate air flow, encourages pests and fungal diseases, shelter slugs and snails.

Instead of dead materials used as mulch, a living leguminous crop such as velvet bean (mucuna), green gram (mung bean), dhaincha (sesbania aculata), groundnut and soya bean may be grown as a cover crop. The advantages is that there will be no need to collect materials, it is more effective and long lasting, it also provides nitrogen fixation to the main crop and it is a way of using solar energy to produce biomass, a source of soil fertility.

Precaution to take when using dustbin as compost bin

2005-10-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

I just noticed one troubling thing - the lip (Note: LIP, not lid) of the upturned dustbin being used as a compost bin collects stagnant water. This mean trouble, that is, aedes mosquito breeding. One will have to drill holes at the lip to prevent water collecting. Will have to do that this afternoon if it doesn't rain. To make clear what I am refering to, look the PHOTOS. The lip which used to be facing downward is now at the bottom facing upward.

(Update: done. Drilled many holes. No water collecting now.)

Malabar spinach can be grown from cuttings!

2005-10-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Posting photo of the new leaves sprouting from the freshly planted cutting. Somehow, it is really pleasurable to watch your efforts grow. And it is only 10 days ago when I planted the cutting and it is already grown so vigorously! Looked like I'll have to transplant the cuttings soon. If nothing else, there is one thing I learned, Malabar spinach can be grown from cuttings!

Here are the photos I promised

2005-10-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos I promosed:

Compost bin converted from a dustbin. The lid has been replaced by a heavy flower vase because our Beagle is too inquisitive and is able to topple the bin if it is only covered by a light plastic lid. Note the numerous holes drilled into the side for ventilation.

COMPOST BIN

MALABAR SPINACH CUTTING

BACKYARD GARDEN

Bananas from our backyard.

2005-10-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

A quick Google search for the term "define organic farming" produced the following: " web definitions for Organic farming: Agricultural production system without or with only limited use of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers."

We have been doing a limited amount of farming in my small garden, all completely without any pesticides or synthetic fertilisers. So going by the above web definition, we have been already practicing organic farming on a limited scale for some time. We have, among others, 2 banana plants in our backyard, planted by our previous Indonesian maid. Some 4 large combs of bananas were harvested a few days ago and allowed to ripen naturally. I must say, the bananas tasted real nice, fresh and sweet, a world of difference from those we purchase from the market, which we presumed were ripened using ethylene gas (carbide). Eating produce from our own backyard, I must say, is sheer satisfaction.

Making compost

2005-10-06T05:57:00.001-07:00

This tiny forray into planting the hardy Malabar spinach got me fired up and all enthusiastic. I decided to try my hands at making compost. Taking the idea from CETDEM Organic Farming in Malaysia book, I took a fair size plastic dustbin and drilled holes in its side and lid (for ventilation). Then I used a jig saw to saw out the bottom so I got a truncated conical cylinder with 2 open ends. This I put in the garden upside down so the bigger end is in contact with the earth (the bottom is open so that "mini" and microorganisms can get into the bin to help decompose it).I then filled the bottom with about 4 inches of dried leaves. On top of this dried leaves I put the little bit of kitchen waste that I have, will cover that with more dried materials and some earth when I have more kitchen waste in the bin. I then close the top with the lid to keep excess rain out.

According to the book "Organic Farming in Malaysia" by the CETDEM Organic Farming Project, the ratio of dry materials (dried leaves), wet materials (kitchen wastes) and earth have to be 6:3:1.

Will post a photo when I get my hands on the digital camera. In the meantime, to get some idea of how the contraption look, have a look at this link: compost bin. Mine will be the same except that it does not have that hatch door at the bottom, and it has plenty of holes drilled into the side.

Latest update: I have discovered a troubling fact. Compost bin made in the manner above tend to collect rainwater, which can lead to mosquito breeding. The water can collect in the lid (spelled L I D) as well as the upturned lip (spelled L I P). One should take precaution to drill holes in appropriate places to avoid this dangerous situation. See Precaution to take when using dustbin as compost bin.

Update: Here is the photo I promised:

First attempt - planting malabar spinach

2005-10-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

Although I have said that I am putting off organic farming for a while for the dengue fever outbreak to blow over, I decided to try to plant the Malabar spinach, yes that maintainance free plant, as it will not involve me spending much time in the garden. As mentioned in my previous post, I have been trying to get my hands on some malabar spinach berries (or seeds), without much luck. This morning, I decided to try my luck at the wet market to see if I can get some seeds, also because I heard it can be grown from cuttings (vegetative propagation). Couldn't get any seeds, but the vegetable seller confirmed it can be grown from cuttings. So I purchased some (RM1.60 or about USD0.60 worth). I have cut off the leaves and planted the stems into pots. Time spent in the garden - 10 minutes. Will put up some photos when I get my hands on a digital camera. In the meantime, if you are curious how the Malabar spinach looks like, plus a brief description, follow the link below:

Malabar Spinach or Indian Spinach - basella alba, b. rubra, b. cordifolia

Dengue fever outbreak in Malaysia

2005-10-04T02:25:00.000-07:00

My plan to do a bit of outdoor gardening has now to be put on the backburners for a while as there is a dengue fever outbreak in Malaysia currently. There have been 752 reported cases of dengue fever last week, 50 percent more than were reported in the last week of August, triggering emergency measures to prevent the disease reaching epidemic proportions. Health Minister Chua Soi Lek told local media 1,000 reported cases per week would constitute an epidemic. He said: "if this trend continues, it will not be long before it reaches 1,000 cases and an epidemic is declared." A total of 70 people have died in Malaysia of dengue fever so far this year. I don't want to be the 71st.

Maybe I'll do a little composting in preparation for the days when the dengue fever outbreak is brought under control.

Latest as at 4/9/05: "The number of suspected dengue cases have risen from 752 to 1,023 last week. The nationwide death toll now stands at 73, as compared to 62 fatalities in the same period last year". The Star

Why using artificial fertilizers is no good.

2005-10-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

Artificial fertilizers contain nitrogen, phosporus and potassium (NPK). Nitrogen occurs as nitrites, nitrates and ammonium. The nitrite form is very toxic and if taken in by humans in drinking water or in food, enters the bloodstream where it interferes with the ability of the blood to carry oxygen. Nitrites can also form compounds that is carcinogenic (cause cancer). Nitrates, though less toxic than nitrites, if taken in by cattle, young animals and children, may be converted to nitrites in their stomachs. Also, if there is too much nitrogen in the soil, it is absorbed into the vegetables in the from of nitrates which may be converted into nitrites under certain conditiions. When one eat these vegetables, the nitrites are digested and converted into nitrosamines whcih can cause stomach cancer.

Organic Farming

2005-10-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

What is organic farming?

Organic farming is a crop production systems that generally exclude the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals. To the maximum extent feasible, organic farming systems rely on crop rotations, crop residues, animal manures, legumes, nitrogen fixation, green manures, off-farm organic wastes, mechanical cultivation, and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity, to supply nutrients to plants, and to control weeds and pests. Organic farming uses renewable resources by recycling by-products from household, agricultural and other human activities.

Why organic farming?

Organic farming does not use poisonous pesticides or artificial fertilizers and produces safe, nutritious and tasty food. By working in harmony with nature, one is contributing towards human and environmental health.

Why grow our own vegetables?

By growing our own vegetables, one can be sure that the food we put on are table is safe and free from pesticides. Homegrown food is cheap, nutritious and truly fresh. You will save money.

Introduction

2005-09-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

This will be my little experiment in organic farming under tropical Malaysian conditions in my little home garden. Will be reporting here my progress and whatever relevant here as I go along. Be patient as this may take some time as I am doing this only as a hobby and for the moment, will not be of high priority.

BTW I used to have a very hardy plant in my garden - Malabar spinach, which need practically no maintainance as it is not subject to any pest attacks. Further, the leaves and stems is tinged purple, and probably have tons of antioxidants and other components which is expected to be healthy. It is great for making soup. Unfortunately, it is no more and I am now looking for the seeds to plant again. If any of you visitors have the seed and can spare some, do let me know by leaving a message in the comments section.

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