Featured Gardening

How to Grow Family, Food, and Fun – #GroSomethingGreater

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I used to have what I called a “black thumb.” Meaning – the total opposite of a green thumb. As in, I killed every single thing I tried to grow. My mom would give me houseplants that she was sure would survive my lack of skill – but they were all a total fail. I found some luck finally with cactus and succulents – the type of plants who need VERY little care or watering. But, this year, I decided I needed to learn from my mom {who’s a total gardening ninja, seriously} – so she’s helping me create a huge fruit and veggie garden, we’ve planted a dozen fruit trees, and are working on lots of flower and container gardens around the yard. Yay!

One of the things that seriously makes a garden grow better is Miracle-Gro. Sure, this is a sponsored post. But that photo above is a giant bag of Miracle-Gro that I bought myself. Why? Because my mom, the gardening ninja, reccomends it. And if she says it works – you know it works.

It works all through my garden – helping our new trees bloom earlier and grow quicker…

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Posted by Meagan Paullin on April 23, 2014 Filed Under: Featured Gardening | No Comments

How to Create a Vertical Hanging Succulent Garden

Gardening inspired by Pinterest – Learn how to create your own succulent container garden… I’d always heard about the free workshops at the Home Depot, and they sounded super fun, but I’d never actually attended one before. Why? Well, I don’t really know. I suppose just because I’m always so busy. I always said, “Next month I should check that out…” Then a few weeks ago I was invited to help host one of the Do-It-Herself Workshops here locally. It was all about gardening inspired by Pinterest, and would be teaching attendees how to create their own succulent container gardens. The Home Depot experts would be on hand to share tips and advice – and they wanted me to offer up some fun design tips, to help the women at the event learn how to make their garden unique. I am SUCH a fan of succulents – {remember the ones I planted in mason jars recently?} – so of course I jumped at the opportunity!

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Posted by Meagan Paullin on May 28, 2013 Filed Under: Featured Gardening, Busy Mom Solution, Outdoor Living |

Plantsmart: The Garden Gadget That Gives Anyone A Green Thumb

Smart Garden Helper

Plants. They’ve been around since the Paleozoic period, so why is it so hard to keep them alive for one stinkin’ summer? Weeds grow without an ounce of effort, but when it comes to having flowers and plants that will make the neighbors green with envy you may need a little help from our newest find–The PlantSmart Digital Plant Care Sensor from Black & Decker. It takes the guess work out of gardening by giving you tons of invaluable gardening tips.

The Plantsmart – From Black & Decker – Saves the Day!

Stick the sensor into your soil for 24 hours and this cute little device will evaluate your soil, sunlight and temperature. Then just plug it into your computer for a detailed analysis of what’s at the root of it all your gardening woes. Even better, it will give you access to a database of thousands of recommendations for exactly which flowers and plants will thrive in your backyard. It also gives you great ideas for container gardening and wisdom when it comes to window boxes.

Watch this week’s Twirl as our resident gardening expert goes head to head with this remarkable garden gadget. You might be as surprised as she was at the results.

What do you think?

I do not have a green thumb. I have more like, the black thumb of impending disaster or something. My mother is a Master Gardener, so I was a hopeless disappointment to her. I love plants, I used to try so hard to grow my own garden, and keep my pretty flowering houseplants alive… Yet I never really succeed.

My secret weapon!

But now – I have a totally amazing vegetable garden. My mother helped me get it started, and helps me keep it up. The carrots and peppers breath a sigh of relief when they see her accompany me, since they know now that they are in good hands. A big reason I had such trouble getting started is that I really had no knowledge about things like soil types, how much sunlight was needed, when to water, etc. You know, the basic things you do to keep your plants alive. So this little gadget was like having my own little gardening wizard – helping figure out exactly what I needed to do! I could finally impress my mother by picking the right plants for the right place, AND keeping them alive. But shhhh…. Don’t tell her my secret!

More gardening help from technology!

Pocket Garden: This fun app will help you plan, organize, and track your veggie garden! With suggestions for proper plants, you’ll save a ton of money by finding the perfect plantings for any plot!
Get Growing: Another great app – This one helps you really see the value of growing your own food. You will be amazed by how just a few fruits and veggies can take a real bite out of your grocery bill! {Yep, pun totally intended!}

Carley's Byline Pic

Digitwirl.com Rocks my Socks!

Digitwirl is the weekly web show that offers simple solutions to modern day problems. In 3-minutes, Digitwirl brings busy women the very best time, money, and sanity-saving technology, and then teaches them how to use it, step-by-step. Digitwirl was created by technology lifestyle expert Carley Knobloch, who uses lots of technology to manage her busy life as mom of two and entrepreneur. Become a subscriber to get weekly show alerts and exclusive deals at Digitwirl.com, or follow Digitwirl on Twitter at @digitwirl.