Happy Birthday Roots ‘n’ Shoots 2#

My paint doodles
I know that warts are missing!
Can't seem to paint them on correctly :)

So the blog is 2 years old today. On this special edition birthday post I generally give a good rant, not anything specific or too sciency – my OCDness also needs a break sometimes J

So I am going to start off with two cool new sites I found:

1    1.      Down to Earth

Sustainable Living

This blog is maintained by a very inspirational lady who is striving to live sustainably. You won’t necessarily get garden-specific information here, but it worth a look-see for her methods to simplify your life.

2    2.      MyFolia

MyFolia.com

This is a website that provides online-based tools for organising your garden and ‘tracking’ your plants. You fill in your garden(s), load the plants and keep track of who is productive and who isn’t. Also keeps a dairy of when and where you planted what (You think you’ll remember, but you don’t really J). It will take work from your side to maintain this, but it does help a lot! You can catch me there and my lasted doings in the garden.

Ok, I know I said no science, but this wasn’t that hard to whip up – MyFolia had all the info already I just put it to good use J

Here is a table of all the plants (germinating & growing) in my garden, which families they belong to and how many of them.

Then a Pie chart of the types of plants I grow:

So, I suppose this info is generally useless, but it was fun and interesting to make!

*Insert comments on my lack of social life* J

Oh! You can become a Folia Supported (Donate money) and they'll do this (plant reports) and more (harvest tally & planting time line) for you! J

Now for a garden update. The garden has had a major make-over, I have moved the greenhouse, since nothing survives in there for too long (too hot & no bugs get in for pollination!). The greenhouse has been used for something else, I will report on that later…

Greenhouse moved & replaced

Garden Panorama! - so rarely do I get to use this camera function :)

Whisker Flowers have migrated

Then the pumpkin patch has expanded and we have acquired a 5000L tank! Phew, that is a lot of water! Now we can get lots of vegies going and make it through the winter on mostly stored rainwater. Also, we don’t have to haul water from my main garden’s 1000L tank all the way to the pumpkin patch anymore – cuts down on lots of effort and saves time for more veg growing J

Monster Tank

New patch under construction
P.S: The chickens are convinced I should feed
them every time they see me

On to some interesting blog stats:

Here are the links to the top posts: ...and the likely reasons why

Eggplant - This post is famous for that one cartoon picture of the eggplant there
Praying Mantis - It gets hits due to the origami fold instructions at the end
Sistas in da Coop! - Mostly hits from South Africa concerning our native chickens: Koekoek, Boschveld ...
Peppers - Info on Blossom end rot & holy sunburned green peppers
Basil - Likely for the rooting in water part
Parktown Prawn - Just because anyone in Highveld knows the horror of having one in your house!
Amphibians - Has a nice comparative picture of a toad vs. frog morphology
Potato - Chitting of potatoes
Carrot - Powedery mildew on carrot tops
Rosemary - Pruning instructions (albeit one/two sentences) for most herbs

I think that the eggplant post is likely going to stick to the top spot - like a perpetual pendulum! Some really strange things for which these posts are famous for - hopefully the content is read as well, and its not just a smash and grab picture scenario J Links to the most popular pages are above in the 'Page bar' for your convenience. Also please feel free to check out my other posts @ the Index & Info page.

The Whisker Flowers are multiplying!
- and competing for sun worshipping

Last year's B-day post:   2012 Happy birthday Roots 'n' Shoots

I have run out of nonsense! So I hope you will stay with Roots 'n' Shoots until its next birthday and will enjoy content (and pictures) along the way.

- Me Out -


Follow me on Twitter @ Roots 'n' Shoots for blog updates and other interesting stuff!

____________________________________________________________________________________

If you enjoy the content please share with fellow gardening enthusiasts via the various sharing buttons at the end of posts/pages! Else you can vote for posts through the Google reactions bar at the end of articles. To stay up to date I have provided several reader and social networking platforms with which to subscribe: Twitter, Pinterest, RSS Feed Reader or Email/Follow directly using the Blog Followers or Follow Your Way widget on the left hand side toolbar. Thank you for reading and please feel free to ask if questions arise - I appreciate comments and ideas too! J
____________________________________________________________________________________