Gardening on the Moon ( GOTM )

Written by Jeff

We finish our exploration of the P. Allen Smith Garden Home website. Part I of the web tour can be seen here:
http://www.gardeningonthemoon.com/2008/10/08/p-allen-smith-garden-home-website-part-i/

All pictures courtesy of P. Allen Smith

Weekend Projects
A variety of relatively easy projects are presented for the home gardener. Some are very easy while others are more involved. I have made several rustic rose trellises highlighted in this section (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=900). The first one will take a little bit of time and others will be finished in much shorter time after the procedure is understood. After I made my second trellis, I began to vary the design to suit my needs. Only a few tools and materials are needed. Instead of roses, I grew moon flowers on a number of my rustic trellises.

Kitchen Garden
Those who like to grow herbs and vegetables will find inspiration among these articles. Just perusing the topics will provide new ideas to try. For those who don’t want to devote a major amount of space to vegetable and herb gardening, they can try growing several plants in containers. There is advice to be found in Vegetable Gardening In Containers ( http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=42 ), but don’t stop reading there.

Plant Library
This is a bit of a misnomer since it isn’t actually a library where one might expect to find books about plants, gardening and related subjects. It is, however, still a very valuable resource for gardeners. It serves as a compendium providing information about a large variety of plants. Clicking on the “p” button at the bottom of the page and then clicking on Penstemon brings up a page about the culture of this plant which happens to do very well in the desert area with enough water.

What makes this a very good starting point for finding information about plants is the variety of information: Zone, Height, Soil requirements, Light requirements, Good bedfellows (partner plants), etc. Generally after reading this page, I can decide whether this is a plant I wish to try in my garden.

In The Home

This tab provides articles about doing things in and around the home. The topics are quite varied. Do you want to know how to grow a pineapple? Well the information is presented at this link http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=30. If you want to try the unusual, you can have rye grass containers in your home (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1036) I find this section a little thin, but new articles are added over time so there is always more to anticipate.

Food and Recipes

Recipes are a regular feature in P. Allen Smith’s newsletter, but this section of the website discusses the background and use of herbs and vegetables. The section discusses the vast array of chili peppers (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=16240) as well as the virtues of blueberries (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=16236). I don’t find many recipes listed here, but perhaps they will be archived at a later date.

Lifestyle

Among the variety of topics covered here are how-to articles such as Plant a Seed which provides a project to involve youngsters in the thrill of gardening (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1111), short book reviews such as an illustrated panorama of the song America the Beautiful in a book with the same title (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=929) and an article teaching how to make Pinecone birdfeeders (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=99), another project children will enjoy!

Source Guide

This page provides links to the manufacturers of a variety of items used and discussed by P. Allen Smith in print, video or television.

Videos

Many of us are visual learners and these videos will guide us through the steps necessary to complete some projects or develop better planting choices. The variety of topics is large and readers are encouraged to explore.

NOTES: Many of the video topics are similar to those offered in the other sections of the site. When exploring the videos, don’t forget to click on the arrows at the bottom of the window to see more. In some sections the vertical scroll bar is also active to reveal more choices.

If you sign up for P. Allen Smith’s Newsletter, you can find inspiration in your electronic mailbox every week. Find the link and sign up form here http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1611

Other site areas of potential interest on the P. Allen Smith website:

Allen’s Journal – articles and videos (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1613)
Newsletter Archive (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1612)

Recipes (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1623)

Television (http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?id=1631) Where to watch P. Allen Smith on TV.

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

P. Allen Smith Garden Home Website – Part I
http://www.gardeningonthemoon.com/2008/10/08/p-allen-smith-garden-home-website-part-i/