For the Smart Money Cookie

A frustrating task that must be done when cooking with an outdoor fire pit is getting the fire started. Normally you would start by loading the fire pit with wood and allow them to burn down to coals. This is a drawn out process that may take half a day or longer. Instead of wood some individuals may prefer to use charcoal, but it doesn’t require a lot of coals so most people stick with wood and besides wood is cheaper. You will need to burn enough wood to produce about a foot of coals to be most effective and efficient for cooking the meat.

There are other accelerators in the market, to startup your outdoor fire pit, either liquid or solid. It saves a lot of time using them, but there are some downsides. They are highly flammable so they should be handled with care, and also they must add some chemical taste to your cooking.

Before putting the meat in the pit it must be flavored. Some individuals like to flavor their meats with spicy rubs, paprika, salt/pepper/lemon rub, or barbecue sauces the preference is the cooks’. After flavoring the meat it is time to wrap it. When wrapping the meat you must decide what you want to use to wrap it with. There are several products that can be used for this step. Different items that can be used are aluminum foil, banana leaves or large leaves, and wet burlap material.

Kitchen remodeling is so much more than choosing a paint color and cabinet style. Your kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home. It’s the room where you prepare meals and snacks for your family and more often than not, where the entire family gathers together to catch up on the day’s events, do homework, and simply spend time with one another. Such an important room should have a design that is comfortable and facilitates ease of movement for all those important tasks and activities. Kitchen remodeling is inarguably one of the best ways you can accomplish all of that as well as dramatically increase the value of your home.

Even if you aren’t thinking of putting your home on the market soon, looking toward the future marketability of your home is always a wise decision. Kitchen remodeling is a sound investment because it allows you to enjoy the benefits today while being assured of your home’s marketability tomorrow.

When considering kitchen remodeling there are few areas of the room that you might want to concentrate on first. One of the most important aspects to kitchen remodeling is the actual kitchen design itself. From small kitchen remodeling designs to French country designs and even contemporary and European kitchen remodeling designs, there are a lot of options available. Deciding between all the different kitchen designs can be half the fun of kitchen remodeling.

It can also be a difficult choice to make. Start by becoming familiar with each of the features offered by various kitchen remodeling designs. If your kitchen is small, and adding additional space is not an option, a small kitchen remodeling design can help you take advantage of and maximize the space that already exists. This usually occurs through innovative use of lines, patterns and accessibility for frequently used items that helps you to keep the clutter to a minimum.

French country kitchen remodeling designs incorporate soft and subtle color tones to create an environment in your kitchen that speaks to the soul as well as your appetite. Nature takes a prominent role in this kitchen remodeling design; bringing the outdoors inside. Some of the most easily recognized features in a French country kitchen remodeling project are the artistic use of open shelving and the infusion of rustic warmth through exposed woodwork.

If functionality is more your style; your best bet in kitchen remodeling designs may lie in a contemporary kitchen design. These kitchen remodeling designs are typically sleek and simple with a wide use of stainless steel appliances and fixtures. Contemporary kitchen remodeling designs usually have an open feel that takes its cue from both natural lighting as well as bright overhead lighting.

About the Author

About the author: Connie Lyn is a freelance writer. For more information
about Kitchen Remodeling go to
http://www.1-kitchen-remodeling.com

As westerners, we are often compelled to try to control and plan all design aspects of what we want when constructing something. We try to anticipate every little detail so we don’t make a mistake. Although you will still need to organize and draw out your Japanese garden design, plus determine the shape of your landscape and what you desire for your garden, you should also allow yourself to “go with the flow” and let it “speak to you” as your garden takes shape. In other words, allow for improvisation and ideas to emerge rather than being rigid in sticking to your original design plan.

Before any work begins within the yard itself, a basic garden plan should be drawn up to help you formulate your ideas and the placement of elements. There are several questions you need to address to help with this process:

1) Do you already have an existing garden in the area where you wish to incorporate a Japanese garden style? If so, what type of garden is it (flower garden, English garden, rustic wildflower garden, etc.)?

2) Will you be able to integrate your current garden into the new Japanese garden plan? What aspects and features will remain and what will have to be moved, replaced or removed entirely?

3) What style of Japanese garden are you most interested in - tea garden, courtyard garden, stroll garden, pond and island garden, Zen rock garden or a combination of two or more? For very small areas, you will most likely stick to only one style. For those that have a large landscape, you can have your choice of any of the styles to suit your desires and landscape area.

4) How large is the area of the site that you are considering using? Does it have natural hills and valleys? Are there any elements, such a stream, already present? Take a good visual view of your selected site and note down all the details on paper. Take measurements as well, so you know the exact area size you will be working with.

5) What elements and features are important to you? For example, do you wish to add a waterfall, water basin, or a rock arrangement? Would you like one small area to feature a Zen garden? Is a stepping-stone pathway that leads to a gate appealing?

6) Will you be building this garden by yourself or will you have help? The size, design and amount of work to create your Japanese garden will affect this answer. Obviously, building a very large stroll garden by yourself would take forever and be impractical.

7) If you plan to use large boulders or plant more mature trees (rather than saplings), how will you get them into your garden? Is there room and access for large machinery to help with placement? Keep in mind boulders and large trees are extremely heavy.

Will your garden be formal, semi-formal, or informal (rustic)?

9) Many Japanese gardens are actually built around a theme. Do you have a theme in mind for your garden? An example of a theme would be a miniaturized version of “The Bridge To Heaven”, which is a marble and stone bridge that spans the famous Dragon Beard Ditch in China. This bridge was built over 600 years ago to allow the Ming and Qing emperors to cross over on their way to the Temple of Heaven. Your theme could even revolve around a smaller replica or area of an original famous garden of Japan. Read books and view photographs of existing gardens to get some ideas.

10) What do you want to achieve with your garden? Will it be used primarily for meditation? Do you wish to incorporate a strolling pathway with new visual delights beyond each curve? Do you want the invigorating sounds of water, such as a waterfall or fast moving stream? Will it be a place to sit quietly and contemplate nature? Understanding the concept behind the garden design is important.

In conclusion, these types of questions should be contemplated carefully and answered thoroughly before you begin to put your design down on paper, otherwise you could end up with a garden that holds no meaning for you or your visitors. A Japanese garden should have a “reason for being.” What are your reasons?

(c)2005, Rose Smith owns Gardens From Japan, where you can learn incorporating a Japanese garden design in your own backyard. Visit www.gardensfromjapan.com for more information.

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Planting a garden full of red flowers is the best way to attract
these beautiful jeweled birds.

Plant bee balm, butterfly weed, columbine, cardinal Flower,
coral bells, cosmos, dahlias, four-o’-clock’s, fuchsias, morning
glory, petunias, zinnias, trumpet vine, or honeysuckle. A web
search will reveal many more.

Be a hummingbird magnet by having as much red in your backyard
as possible. Besides flowers use gazing balls, backyard
furniture, ribbons, and other yard decorations. Create both sun
and shade areas in your hummingbird garden. Offer an abundance
of nesting materials to encourage nesting females. Hummingbirds
prefer downy like materials, spider webs, ferns, moss and
lichens for their nests. Make certain that there is always fresh
water available for drinking as well as for bathing. Set up
misters. Hummingbirds love to take “leaf baths,” rubbing against
wet leaves or just sitting on a branch having the mist fall upon
them.

Avoid pesticides. These chemicals kill the insects that
hummingbirds eat for protein and can also sicken or kill the
birds.

Add plenty of places for the birds to perch. Hummingbirds spend
around 80% of their time sitting on twigs, shrubs, and other
available resting places.

Provide red hummingbird feeders hung about thirty feet apart
throughout your yard. Never fill your feeders with anything but
a sugar-water mix of 1 part white sugar to 4 parts boiled water.
Do not use food coloring or artificial sweeteners of any kind,
and never, never use honey which can develop a fungus which can
be fatal to hummingbirds. Clean and refill the feeders every 3
days. More often if temperatures are above 85 degrees F.

Hang the feeders on a pole in a flower bed or on a porch or deck
near flowers hummingbirds are attracted to.

You can also tie 18 to 24 inch strips of red ribbon to the
feeder. The blowing ribbons will make it easier for the
hummingbirds to see.

Place feeders at various heights. Some hummingbird species like
to feed at heights of 12 to 15 feet, while others feed on low
growing flowers and prefer feeders placed closer to the ground.

Avoid hanging feeders in direct sunlight, which will cause
nectar to spoil more quickly.

Once a week the feeder must be washed with vinegar and water or
a 10% chlorine solution and scrubbed clean.

Create a separate feeder for Bees and wasps. Fill it with a
mixture of 3:1 or even a 2:1 ratio of water to sugar. The
insects have a very strong preference for rich, high-sugar
mixtures and will quickly decide to use the feeder with the
higher sugar content.

To repel ants, apply vinegar or powdered cloves to ant trails.
Put adhesive tape applied sticky-side-out to the hanging wire.
Experts advise that petroleum jelly not be used because the
greasy substance gets onto the birds and make it hard for the
birds to clean their feathers properly. Use ant traps instead.

For more information visit:

http://www.apluswriting.net/garden/hummingbird.htm

Like our farm, Highland Hill Farm, Dublin Pa. is located in an
eara with lots of clay. We therefore like plants that grow well
in clay. Arborvitae, in particular the American Arborvitae is
one of our favorites. Here is why. The hardiness zone for the
American Arborvitae is from zones 5 to 8. Its evergreen with
rapid growth rates that in ideal conditions can be up to 1.5
feet per year. Site requirements for the American Arborvitae is
sun to partial shade, moist well drained soil but does well in
clay, and needs protection from wind . Its texture is fine with
its form conical being narrow to broadly pyramidal, reaching
from 30 to 40′ in height to 6 to 12 feet in width. The leaf is
green graceful foliage. It keeps its foliage color in the winter
but can tend to bronze alittle in the winter. The American
Arborvitae flowers/fruit are .5″ erect female cones. The
American Arborvitae has strong wood, casts dense shade, and has
red bark when young. Arborvitae do not tolerate salt spray.
These arborvitae should outlive even your children.