GenAcres Homestead

How to Clean Birdhouses, Birdbaths and Bird Feeders One of my favorite parts of being out in the garden is listening to the sounds of nature, especially the chirping of birds. The last thing I want to do is make them sick by not giving my feathered visitors clean birdhouses,  feeders  and watering holes.

When I have the time to sit back and enjoy what I've created in my garden, one of my favorite things to do is enjoy the sights and sounds of the birds. Growing sunflowers is one of the best ways I have found to draw the feathery visitors in. Which birds do sunflowers attract?    A variety of birds can be attracted to a garden by growing sunflowers. These include Cardinals, Chickadees, Titmice, House Finches, Grosbeaks, Nuthatches, Goldfinches, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Pine Siskins, to name a few. Why are sunflower seeds nutritious for birds? Sunflower seeds are rich in protein, vitamin B-complex, Vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, iron, magnesium, and Zinc. Not every sunflower type is the best food source for birds. Ornamental sunflowers, although they come in a wide variety of colors and sizes, produce edible seeds, but they're very small. If you're looking for sunflower varieties to harvest for nutritional edible seeds for both bi

   When is it Time to Divide my Hosta? Hostas continue to be one of the most popular and easy-to-care-for perennials in Zone 3 through 8 gardens.  It's no secret that many gardeners want to divide their hostas to spread the hosta love around their own garden or to share divisions with other hosta lovers.

How to Minimize Transplant Shock Transplant shock is a natural occurrence whenever a plant is uprooted from its former home and moved to a foreign environment. Moving a plant from one place to another is not as simple as digging it up, plopping it in the ground and hoping it will be fine. Plants that undergo too much transplant shock can be open to diseases, pests, and can weaken them to the point where they never fully recover. If they are food plants, you may notice a smaller harvest or no harvest at all.

Azomite for the Home Garden One of the most important things a gardener can do to have a successful harvest season is to make sure your soil is full of every nutrient your plants will need. Gardeners seem to be much more familiar with N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) than they are micro nutrients and trace minerals. Micro nutrients and trace minerals are very important to build soil to attain healthier crops.

  Part Sun?  Part Shade? Determining Sunlight Exposure in Your Yard Determining the sunlight exposure in your growing spaces can be less confusing if you know the reason behind the sun exposure terms used on seed packets and plant tags. 

Composting 101 A Little Art and a Little Science Composting, in a nutshell, is turning your waste into nutrient-rich soil for use in your garden. You can read about the subject in such depth as to make your head swim and find it to be quite overwhelming. But whether you start with a compost bin or a designated 3 foot by 3-foot area, knowing a few basic principles will help you achieve that rich, earthy-smelling soil amendment that we all want.