-James Gordon- Greetings again all! It's time for another installment in the Intro to Hydroponics blog series. So far in our last two blogs we have had an introduction to growing hydroponically, water quality, pH manipulation, pH meter calibration, and nutrient amalgamation. We have covered a lot! We’ll take it a bit easier this blog, with our focus on measuring dissolved salts to find out what strength our nutrient solution is after we mix the nutrients into water. From there we will talk … [Read more...] about Intro to Hydroponics: Know Your Own (Nutrient) Strength!
Organics: A Better Way to Grow
-Tim Leisman- Organic growing can be intimidating to the newcomer. When I came to Fifth Season, I wasn’t exactly new to organic gardening - I’d helped my mom in the garden many summers, complained about the smell of the manure she would buy to till into the soil every so often, then watched as plants thrived under her care. However, I never took the time to learn exactly how and why she put bone meal into the garden. Have you ever wondered why organic products cost much more in the stores and … [Read more...] about Organics: A Better Way to Grow
Helping your African Violets to Bloom
-Pam Scott- When I was a small child, my grandmother's kitchen window was always full of beautifully blooming African Violets. Their ruffled flowers of deep blues, periwinkle, pinks, purples and lavenders made me think of fluffy party dresses. Their velvety leaves always tempted a forbidden touch. These plants were always in glorious full bloom. People marveled at what a “green thumb” my grandmother had, as she seemed to have natural gifts with these fussy little exotic plants. It wasn't … [Read more...] about Helping your African Violets to Bloom
Home(brewing) for the Holidays
-Dan Toot- Let’s talk about Hygge. Translated from Danish it roughly means: a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being. Folks, I think we’ll need quite a bit of Hygge as we enter this fast-approaching, still-weird Holiday season. Hard to believe we’re already talking about it, but for a homebrewer, thinking about the process of making a beer, it’s practically here! So I’m here to help the homebrewer plan their gift-giving options … [Read more...] about Home(brewing) for the Holidays
The Many Ways of Using Hemp Flower
-Kylie Holloway- As the popularity of CBD continues to rise, many people are turning toward using hemp products for healing anxiety, stress, chronic pain, etc. The flower of the hemp plant can be used in many ways - by smoking, or by being made into oils, salves, and even food. At Fifth Season, we often get questions about other ways to use our CBD hemp flower, rather than smoking it. One of the easiest, cheapest, and fun ways that you can utilize the magical healing properties of this … [Read more...] about The Many Ways of Using Hemp Flower
Intro to Hydroponics Part II: Nutrients and pH
-James Gordon- Hello again everyone, and welcome back to another Fifth Season Blog on hydroponics. Last hydro blog, we kicked off with an introduction to growing hydroponically and talked about water quality and pH manipulation. Today we are going to talk about feeding, pH meters and calibration, and nutrient amalgamation. So again, let's keep an open mind, maybe take some notes, and hopefully this will be a good tool to reference. As we said in the previous blog, to start, we need clean … [Read more...] about Intro to Hydroponics Part II: Nutrients and pH
Propagating Garden Annuals for Some Winter Gardening Fun
-Pam Scott- It's hard to believe that we are working our way swiftly through fall, yet the nights are getting cooler, the days are noticeably shorter, and the sun is much lower in the southern sky than it was a few weeks ago. After a rocking growing season this year, we are beginning to close down the flower garden for the season, bringing some plants indoors to winter over and letting the rest of the garden go to seed for food and shelter for birds and insects. This is the beginning of a … [Read more...] about Propagating Garden Annuals for Some Winter Gardening Fun
Weird Houseplants
-Ginny Shafer- Anyone who has seen my “human teeth” earrings knows that I love all things strange and macabre, and the popularity of Halloween tells me I’m not the only one! In honor of All Hallows Eve, I want to take some time to highlight a few of the creepiest house plants we regularly carry at Fifth Season. Ficus microcarpa The first thing I thought when I saw this bonsai is that its bulbous, twisted trunk looks just like a mandrake out of the Harry Potter series. As any Harry … [Read more...] about Weird Houseplants
Elizabethan Style Mead
-Ryan Blankenship- Mead could possibly be one of the oldest styles of alcoholic beverages known to humanity. Pottery vessels discovered in northern China that dated back to 7000 BC had chemical signatures consistent with honey, rice, and organic compounds associated with a fermented beverage. Fast-forward to the 16th Century, and we find that most of the meads created during Elizabethan times usually contained honey, herbs, fruits, and even hops. The majority of the alcohol content in this … [Read more...] about Elizabethan Style Mead
Intro to Hydroponics
-James Gordon- Good day all, and welcome to this week’s blog! Today we are going to tackle the basic principles of hydroponic growing. First, we’ll go over some of the common hydro systems. Then we’ll introduce the basic necessities your system of choice will use. So let's keep an open mind, maybe take some notes, and hopefully this will be a good tool to reference as you start growing hydroponically. So first things first. What is Hydroponics? Hydroponics is the act of growing plants … [Read more...] about Intro to Hydroponics
