An Afternoon Snack for Your Yard

Your kitchen is full of green thumb magic that’s just waiting to be unleashed! For starters, check out these fast food fixes that will help get your garden in tip-top shape: 

Apple juice. If your lawn is looking spotty or lighter in color, pay attention—it’s begging for food! So give it a hearty meal of this down-home fertilizer, then stand back and watch it grow: In a large bucket, mix 1 can of beer, 1 can of cola (not diet), 1 cup of apple juice, 1 cup of lemon-scented dishwashing liquid, 1 cup of ammonia, and 1 cup of all-purpose plant food (15-30-15 is good). Pour 1 quart of the mix into a 20 gallon hose-end sprayer, and apply it to everything in your yard to the point of runoff. Repeat every three weeks during the growing season, and you’ll see fantastic results! 

Muffin cups. After you’ve used paper muffin cups for their intended purpose of baking, you can still put them to work in your garden. Just toss ‘em into the compost bin or bury them in the soil, muffin crumbs and all. In no time, they will decompose into plant-pleasing snacks.

Peanut butter. You’ll love making these treats—and your fine-feathered friends will love eating them! Simply mix peanut butter with enough whole-wheat flour to form a dough. Shape the dough into baseball-sized mounds, and freeze them. When you're ready to hang one in the yard, cut a section from a mesh produce bag, and wrap it around the frozen sphere. Tie the bag closed, and hang it from a sturdy tree branch. You'll have a blast watching the birds flock to your yard!

For more fun tips and tricks using common kitchen products, check out our bestselling book, Supermarket Super Gardens. You can even try it out for a full 21 days with our Free Preview!

Your Fall Yard To-Do List

Brrrr...the weather is starting to turn chilly! And your yard and garden are begging for a little TLC before winter arrives. So take care of this Fall To-Do List as soon as possible. Here’s what you need to get done:

• If Fall has been dry in your area, give your plants a nice, long drink so they don’t go into the winter with parched soil.
• Dig up tender bulbs, such as gladiolus and dahlias, and store them indoors for the winter.
• Remove all dead or dying foliage from your beds. Dispose of any woody stalks, diseased, or insect-ridden matter, and send the rest to the compost pile.
• After fall clean-up, spray all of your perennial beds with this mixture:  1 can of beer, 1 can of regular cola (not diet), and ½ cup of dishwashing liquid. Mix all of the ingredients in a bucket, then apply liberally with your 20 gallon hose-end sprayer.
• Once the ground freezes, mulch beds with chopped leaves, composted manure, salt hay, or pine needles.
• As soon as Jack Frost has visited your garden, remove all summer annuals to the compost pile. Sprinkle 1 pound of bonemeal and 1 pound of Epsom salts per 100 sq. ft. of flower bed. Let it set for a week, and then till the soil under.
• Mulch your roses with leaves, straw, and soil, or cover them with Styrofoam cones.

Once you’ve got your garden beds all settled in for their long winter’s nap, you can turn your attention to warmer thoughts—like lighting a fire in the fireplace, and curling up with a good book and a cup of tea! For some great reads this season, check out our selection of bestselling home, health, and garden books at www.JerryBaker.com!

Hosting a Memorial Day BBQ?

Hooray! It’s Memorial Day weekend! Warm summer weather is here in all its glory, so take full advantage of it by getting outside as much as you can. But before the gang arrives for the big holiday cookout, make sure your outdoor furniture is ready for company. Here’s how:

Sponge down aluminum furniture with a mix of warm water and dishwashing liquid. Pay particular attention to the joints and crevices of the frame, and sponge the cushions or webbing with the same mix to freshen up the seats. Finish by rinsing everything off with a garden hose until all the soap bubbles are gone. 

If a nearby shade tree has showered your patio furniture with sap or pollen, dissolve the sticky mess with a mix of 1 part glycerin and 1 part warm water. Wipe the furniture with a clean, moist sponge. 

To clean canvas chairs or chaises, wet the fabric with a garden hose, rub a scrub brush across a bar of soap, and give the canvas a good going–over. Rinse thoroughly, let the chairs air-dry, and you’re done. 

Spruce up grungy outdoor cushions by wiping them down with a mixture of 1 teaspoon of borax, 1 teaspoon of dishwasher detergent, and 4 cups of warm water, soaking the seams and creases. Let the solution sit for 15 minutes, then rinse it off with a garden hose. Set the cushions on end to air dry. 

You’ll find even more solutions for cleaning everything from A to Z in our jam-packed bestselling book, Speed Cleaning Secrets! It’s filled with over 2,000 terrific tips to get your whole house (indoors and out!) clean as a whistle. Just visit our website at www.jerrybaker.com to try it out for a full 21 days, absolutely FREE!

Happy Memorial Day!