Inchin Bamboo Garden

Growing herbs, especially basil, in your square foot garden is an excellent way to have a kitchen garden right outside your back door. Herbs mixed with fresh vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, leeks, and beets is easy to do with Mel Bartholomew’s method of square foot gardening.

If you haven’t picked-up a copy of Mel’s book entitled All New Square Foot Gardening, you really shouldn’t delay. In it, you will find a wealth of information about growing basil. Along with learning to grow basil, you will find helpful information on growing other herbs like cilantro, mint, and oregano. There are many varieties to choose from.

Basil, particularly ‘Sweet Genovese’, is the best for Italian pesto. But, be sure and experiment with basil flavors like cinnamon, licorice, and lemon which are also good in many dishes. Six plants of “Sweet Genovese’ will yield enough leaves to make pesto all summer long without you being overwhelmed. Of course, it’s easy to freeze any variety of this wonderful herb if the need arises.

Another variety to try, especially if you are fond of Asian cuisine, is ‘Siam Queen’. A spicy Thai basil, with an intense flavor and fragrance all its own, makes it a great choice. Another great choice is ‘Holy Basil’ which was introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century as a culinary and medicinal herb. You will want to experiment and have fun growing all the different varieties of basil in your garden.

Many varieties of basil seeds are available …

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A little known reality of home décor is the fact that some items in your home contain toxic substances that can actually have a negative impact on the health of you and your family. Carpet, upholstery, and even window blinds are just a few of these items, so it’s important to know what you have in your home and whether there is any risk to your health. Fortunately, there are a wide range of environmentally friendly products that do not contain unnecessary chemicals, and non-toxic window blinds are one example. Aluminum blinds, honeycomb cellular shades, and bamboo shades are examples of non-toxic window blinds that are safe and have minimal impact on the indoor air quality of your home.

Of course, homeowners don’t always realize that they need to consider safety when purchasing new blinds, and oftentimes, their main concerns are style and affordability. Still, even non-toxic window blinds are constructed from a variety of materials making them an excellent choice regardless of your style preferences or budget. Let’s discuss some of the most popular varieties of non-toxic window blinds.

Aluminum Blinds

Aluminum window blinds are a hugely popular choice for homeowners because they are affordable, durable, and available in a range of colours and styles. Indeed, aluminum window blinds are the most common non-toxic window blind found in homes today. Because they are long lasting and lightweight, these flexible window coverings stand up well in any condition. They resist corrosion, they are easy to clean, and they provide excellent …

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Well, you’ve finally found the perfect set of wind chimes that you’ve been looking for. You have hung them in the perfect spot in your garden or on your patio and have been enjoying their beautiful sounds. But now you should have some tips on how to care for them.

For most people, spring cleaning is a yearly regimen as they get ready for summer, perhaps the favorite season of all for wind chimes. Windows are opened and fresh air is let in as the cleaning starts indoors. But we also have to remember that there is something important outdoors that needs our attention too. Our beautiful sound makers need to be cared for as well so they can continue to bring us those wonderful relaxing sounds, because even the best made ones will weather over time.

The manner in which you care for your wind chimes will depend on what kind you have. Here are some tips.

If you have bamboo wind chimes, these should be brought indoors if you have a harsh winter or during extreme weather conditions. Cleaning is simple and any build-up of mold or dirt can be easily be removed by wiping with a damp cloth. Once spring arrives, you may want to apply a coat of varnish for further protection. Even though most bamboo wind chimes are threaded on rot-proof nylon lines, it is a very good idea to check those lines from time to time because even these may wear through over time. …

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We all want to be environmentally responsible now and move toward an eco-friendly lifestyle and most of us are willing to compromise to do so. However, there are many areas of our lives where compromise between ecology, comfort and pleasure, just doesn’t work.

One of these areas is fashion. We are all aware of both ethical and environmental concerns in the products that we but yet, many of us know that it is very difficult to feel confident if we don’t feel great in our clothes.

Eco-friendly clothes have been around since the sixties and many of us are put off by the notion of tie-died hemp shirts and other hippyesque eco-friendly clothing.

However, eco-friendly fabrics have moved a long way from hemp and grass skirts. On of the most surprising new eco-friendly fabrics is made from one of the most unlikely of materials – bamboo.

Whilst incredibly woody and strong material (bamboo is widely used for scaffolding in the far-east) it is also extremely versatile and makes the ideal fabric.

Bamboo clothing is also incredibly comfortable and looks and feels just like cotton. However, while cotton is farmed and grows only in certain areas, it is a limited resource. Bamboo though, grows anywhere.

Bamboo, is in actuality a grass and is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet (it grows several inches a day) so is highly sustainable. Furthermore it has some remarkable qualities. It is thermosensitive meaning it can store heat in cold temperatures whilst allows …

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Most people have perceptions that eco-friendly bedding includes only organic cotton sheets and costly bamboo bed sets. If you happen to be one of them, then it’s time you should modify your opinions. The reason lies in the controversy whether bamboo should be regarded as eco-friendly bedding. A situation whereby bamboo sets are considered as eco-friendly occurs when they are not heavily processed. On the other hand, there are some bamboo sets that went through chemical processing to produce a softer form and as a result, it is rather argumentative as to whether they should be considered as eco-friendly bedding.

In addition, if you believe that the designs of organic cottons are limited and only include a few varieties, then you might be wrong too. There is actually a kind of organic cotton which is deemed to be the best, as well as the most underrated eco-friendly bedding, and it is the organic flannel. Organic flannel is produced from woven organic cotton which helps to provide warmth during cold wintry months. Thermostats can be quite redundant if you use these organic flannel sheets, and you will be surprised if you realize how much expenses can be reduced if you stop using thermostats. One highly recommended bedding would be the organic charcoal flannel bedding. This kind of bedding uses high quality materials and offers a contemporary and classy look.

The German woven flannel weights approximately 6 ounces. It is made from high quality yarn-dyed organic and the ultra softness is what …

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Garden lights offer the ability to illuminate your garden and garden decor in an almost magical way, creating faux shadows, elegant backdrops, all the while highlighting the best parts of the garden for all to see.

Beyond this wonderful use of garden lighting, there are actually a few practical reasons to consider using them, even if you aren’t the garden type or consider yourself artistically inclined to set up such a thing.

What practical reasons am I talking about?

Safety! I mean this in two ways.

First, safety in the sense of providing light in areas where it might be dangerous or risky to move about if there were no light. This includes obviously the garden but also areas where garden lighting accessories or outdoor lighting accessories have become extremely useful; namely, stair lighting! Attaching solar powered stair lights is a brilliant idea. And even just having walkways and pathways in the yard lit up is going to make it easier and safer to walk around.

The other type of safety that garden lights provide is a deterrent for theft and burglary. Simply put, if your yard and things are lit up then you are less likely to find yourself the victim of a thief, who would just as well find it easier to move on to the next house that is shield in darkness. Of course, garden lighting is not a security plan in and of itself, but knowing that it acts a potential deterrent is a nice perk …

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