_{My mom, Hive account@lizziesworld who passed away on the 20th June 2020 joined this blockchain community in June 2017. Her blog posts were never long, but almost every single day for three years, she shared her gardening knowledge, tips and adventures. I have now decided to compile a few of these "snippets" randomly every week and re-share them with all of you on Thursdays... because that was "our day"... as most of you know.}

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LIZZIE'S SNIPPETS No. 2

A weekly gardening blog, with content originally written by and now dedicated to the memory of my beautiful mom.

The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God’s Heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth. - Dorothy Frances Gurney

The Quality of Compost

Published October 14th 2019

Some things go unnoticed when it comes to using compost. The best compost is the compost that you make yourself, but obviously there are those people that just do not have the space or time to do this and therefore ready made compost is purchased. This is fine too if the supplier can assure you that it is good organic compost.

However, one must be aware that some composts may have pesticide residues and other harmful ingredients - this then gets taken up by the plants and passed on to you when the plants are harvested and eaten. The same applies to kraal manures.

By making your own compost is by far the best way to go as you then know exactly what went into the making. For those that have very small gardens it is a great idea to start a worm bin for all your kitchen scraps. The worms break everything down and leaves you with the worm castings which is fantastic to feed your plants on - plus you also get the worm tea which is diluted and watered on the plants.

Today, we are always looking for healthier options when it comes to our food, so it makes sense to be aware of what you are feeding your plants on. A good idea is to have your soil tested as many soils may contain very bad substances such as lead. If this is found,it would be best to grow veggies in raised beds or containers where you can use good soil and compost.

Sharing a few gardening tips

Published October 10th 2019

Once the growing season really kicks off, gardeners get very busy, but sometimes knowing a few tips can make a huge difference, so I thought that I would share a few of mine.

Snails - We have these little visitors and if left unchecked, they can cause havoc in the garden. I do not use poisons in my garden and find the following methods work well. Take the outer leaves of a cabbage and place on the lawn in the evening - the snails love them and in the morning you turn over the leaves and there you will find many snails having a cabbage party - just lift up the leaves and dispose of them. If you are a beer drinker, place a few shallow bowls filled with beer in among your plants and this will attract the snails and slugs - you can then dispose of them.

Tea Bags - Don't throw these away - keep them and dry them out and then you can use them to put into your pots instead of drainage chips.

Seed Sowing - Some seeds are very fine and it can be difficult to sow them evenly - just take some coarse river sand mixed with compost and mix your seeds into this and then sow into the garden.

Rose lovers often find that their plants get infected with red spider mite especially during very hot weather. To prevent this simply place your sprinkler underneath the plants so that the foliage gets watered from beneath.

Brown patches on the lawn is normally caused by the lawn caterpillar - just make a soapy solution and pour over the area - the caterpillars will all float to the surface and can then be disposed of.

Plants turning yellow - This can be a lack of magnesium in the soil - sprinkle some Epsom Salts around the plants and water well and then repeat after a couple of weeks until the leaves have changed back to a healthy green colour.

Spring Onion greens

Published July 18th 2019

Due to the fact that I grow my spring onions in containers together with other veggies, I just harvest the top greens and do not pull out the entire onions. I love the mild taste of these onions and they are so easy to grow - a sunny position, well drained soil and some organic ferilizer and they will thrive. Once I have harvested the tops, they will regrow very quickly and then I have an ongoing supply to use as needed. I just love having veggies that are cut and grow crops. When I have harvested them, I chop them up and put them into a container in the fridge where they will keep for days.

Add these to soups, scrambled eggs, - and other egg dishes, potato salad, stews, sandwiches, garnishes and much more. There are people that do not like onions, but the spring onion has a much milder taste and is really well worth trying and even kids will enjoy them.