GMG's Friday Find: A Farmer's Market in your kitchen!

August is a bountiful month, a time when our gardens are teaming with fresh veggies and fruits, the flowers and herbs are plentiful, and winter still seems far away.  Yet in a few short months the produce will dwindle….what’s a lover of fresh veggies to do?  You can bring the growing cycle inside with an AeroGarden!

What’s an AeroGarden?  A very cool product with grow lights and drop in plug and seed pods.  You add water and the provided nutrients.  The seeds germinate in as little as 24 hours and the roots grow into air and water.  It’s easy, dirt-free, and you can grow almost anything, anywhere and anytime.   With this handy device you can grow salad greens, herbs, tomatoes, peppers , flowers and more!  The AeroGarden reminds you when to add water and nutrients and the grow light automatically turns on and off to provide the “sunlight”.  You can also use cuttings from your summer garden as well as start seeds for spring planting. 

The benefits of indoor gardening are huge. Indoor air is cleaned, fresh herbs are used as needed with no waste, delicious vegetables are available and fresh flowers brighten your day. And if that’s not enough, you save money on grocery shopping.

Now you can have fresh vegetables, herbs and beautiful summer flowers all year round…and when winter dumps the freezing rain, snow and cold temperatures on your outside garden, no worries…the yum of fresh produce  is still growing inside. What do you think? Does all-year-round fresh produce appeal to you? 

~~Peggy, Garden Media Group

The Big Time for Four Garden Media Group clients: Better Homes & Gardens

Public relations is an oxymoron -- an uncontrolled discipline. Until you actually see something materialize either in print, on air or online, you just never know if your hard work and perserverance will pay off.

But for four Garden Media Group clients, our wonderful staff's hard work paid off big time this month: Better Homes & Gardens. The magazine has a paid circulation of some 7.6 million! That translates into about 25 million readers -- and that doesn't count all those people reading it in their doctor's office. And its online reach is more is about 2 million. WOW!!!

The hot new 'Pink Lemonade' blueberry from Briggs Plant Propogators was a full page in the magazine and a great offer in the BH&G GardenStore.

Costa Farms, the largest grower of indoor plants in North America, got a nice plug for its O2 for You Houseplants with a Purpose educational campaign.

And the new SimpleGarden from Fertile Earth was featured in a full page spread about gardening indoors. Looks like it might be in a few upcoming books as well.

And Campania, one of BH&G's favorite container and outdoor accessories companies in the world, another hit this year.

A big thanks to our good friends at BH&G!

And way to go to the ever persistant Stacey, Lynne and Karen.

Suzi, Garden Media Group

Putting Orchids to bed for Winter

As many of you know, my husband and I are moving in the next couple of weeks -- not far. Just across town. One of the things that sold me on the house was the attached greenhouse. The previous owner it filled with orchids, so now I'm on a new quest: To become an orchid grower!

I've never gardened in a greenhouse before so it was nice to find these tips from the Steve Asbell that he posted from the St. Augustine Orchid Society.

General Growing Tips. Short days and cold nights necessitate adjustments for both plants and growers. Reduce water and fertilizer gradually until you reach your winter target, about half that of the summer levels. Don't fertilize winter dormant orchids and most dendrobiums after Thanksgiving. Prepare your plants for their winter home. Inspect them, remove dead leaves and sheaths with a sterile tool, and spray for pests if necessary. Protect them when temperatures are projected to drop below their winter minimum acceptable temperature. Consider removing shading from the greenhouse to allow more light during the winter months.

For more tips on wintering over cattleyas, dendrobiums, oncidiums, Phalaenopsis, vandas. , click here.

For even more detailed growing instructions from Costa Farms, one of the largest orchid growers in the US, visit Orchids are Easy.

Suzi, the orchid grower
Garden Media Group