Casa Garden

If your space and schedule allow you to grow more than a couple of plants at one time, more likely than not, you’ll be interested in non-flowering ornamentals as well as their showier counterparts. Even if they’re not as flamboyant as their flowering cousins, they can be grown with ease, propagated simply and acclimated to almost any environment.

Quite often, foliage plants are the anchor in any indoor or outdoor garden. This is partly because they don’t put all their energy into sexual reproduction and instead put on vegetative growth, sometimes year-round. Foliage plants are commonly available in hundreds of species and thousands of varieties.

Gardeners can chose nearly any leaf structure, leaf color, growth habit, height, width — you name it! The plants described below will grow almost anywhere, and, consequently are also available almost anywhere.

Ficus elastica, or India Rubber Plant, is a very popular selection, though it does have its detractors. A healthy and well managed India Rubber Plant can almost fill a small room. The huge leaves — sometimes almost a foot long — are succulent and secrete a white juice. Rubber plants can be air layered when they get tall, or else they would take over their entire surroundings. While they do well in almost any climate, ficus trees love moisture but can be injured by over watering.

Another selection, Sansevieria, or Snake Plant, is a favorite as well. It thrives at room temperature and, if necessary, can grow in complete darkness. The leaves are mottled yellow and green with edges of brighter yellow, and they grow out of the thick stem. Sansevieria don’t appreciate over watering either, but they’re easily propagated from cuttings.

Both Tradescantia and another species called Zebrina are relatively unrelated plants that are commonly called Wandering Jew. Both plants have long, pointed narrow leaves, which are striped with white or yellow and grow from a succulent vine. The best way to display the Wandering Jew, especially Zebrina pendulata, is in a hanging basket, where it will thrive, though it can be grown almost anywhere else because it is so hardy, though it appreciates a warm, indoor climate. All Wandering Jews do flower, but the flowers are small and the plants are mainly kept for foliage.

Mexican foods, like many other foods, can be boiled, grilled, or fried. These are modern Mexican cooking styles but Mexican traditional cooking techniques were rather different.

Long ago, the natives of Mexico did not have ovens as we have today. They would have to cook foods by an open fire pit.

The food would be placed in iron pots before cooking. This Mexican cooking method is similar to how we cook food on the grill these days. The Aztecs steamed and boiled their food in two handled clay pots before the Spanish introduced iron cooking pots. These two handled clay pots were called xoctli. The pot would be filled with food and then heated over an open fire. A lot of foods were fried and Mexican cooking features frying to this day.

Today in the present, it is a lot easier to cook Mexican dishes. It takes less time to prepare the foods. If someone wants to make homemade tortillas, there are iron pans that make it easy. Flans are made simply using spring form type pans. Long ago, it was a long process to make masa, which is a dish that includes a certain type of corn that has to be grinded. Nowadays you can purchase a metal grinder that helps grind the masa.

When you are making Mexican cooking recipes, the oven is perfect for many of them. You can bake meat, fish, and vegetables easily. You can also cook foods in a pot of water with added spices. A lot of Mexican recipes can even be made in a crock pot or slow cooker. Large steaming pots simplify the tamale cooking process. They take a long time to cook so a large pot means you can cook more at once, instead of in smaller batches.

Another cooking method for Mexican cooking recipes is the grill. This is an excellent way to cook Mexican food. A similar cooking method was used many years ago and it was called “barbacoa.” This consisted of steaming meat, which was hung over boiling water in a deep pit. Cactus leaves and banana leaves were wrapped around the meat before steaming it. Today, grilling allows the sauces and spices to mingle well and flavor the whole dish. Fajitas are an easy Mexican cooking recipe and turn out wonderfully on the grill. The taste of grilled food is similar to the flavor of authentic Mexican food cooked on a barbacoa.

Hundreds of years ago, Mexicans used a “metate y mano,” which was a large tool made from stone or lava rock. These tools had a slightly concave surface and were used to mash ingredients together. A “molcajete” was a similar tool and is a type of mortar and pestle.

When you are cooking Mexican food, you need to stir. Wooden spoons have been around for hundreds of years and are still found in almost every kitchen today. There are many different types available, depending on the type of Mexican cooking recipes you are making. Some spoons are better for stirring thick sauces and others are better for moving sauting onions and garlic around in the pan.

Mexican food has a rich history behind it. The methods might have been modernized, but the food is still traditional. Depending on how the foods are cooked, you will taste different flavors and textures. There are many Mexican dishes to cook and enjoy.

If you’re looking for an interesting houseplant, try bamboo. Though it can be challenging, it is attractive and strong and spreads prolifically.

The first step in growing bamboo is preparing the pot. While there are some smaller species, most bamboo plants grow extremely high. You won’t see much growth in the first few years, however, so a medium-sized pot should do.

Once you have selected your pot, it’s time to get the soil ready. Bamboo thrives in well-drained, acidic soil, so choose a loam soil low in clay content. A soil testing kit will allow you to test the pH. You can also improve the soil by spreading a couple of inches of mulch on the surface and adding earthworms to the pot to decay the leaves and increase soil aeration.

When the plants mature and begin to shed leaves, allow them to remain on the soil to increase moisture. Another good surface soil treatment is groundcover. Choose one that is high in nitrogen and silica, both of which bamboo requires to thrive. Some gardeners add nutrients to the soil with chicken manure, though many don’t like the odor, especially if the plant is kept in or very near the house.

Bamboo may be planted year-round in fairly warm climates, but gardeners in colder climates should wait until mid-spring. If you plant later than this, the bamboo won’t have enough time to become established before cold weather returns. Be aware, too, that if you keep your bamboo inside near a window, heat can be drawn away from the plant by the cold window, though heavy mulching will offset this effect somewhat.

Because bamboo spreads quickly, it is important to make sure it doesn’t become root-bound. Even if you use a large pot, you will likely have to re-pot at some point. Some opt for smaller species to keep the plants from outgrowing their containers too quickly, or will use a long planter box to create a neat row of plants.

Watering carefully is crucial for bamboo grown in containers. Proper watering practice is critical for container-grown bamboo and palms like the Rhapis excelsa. Because bamboo evolved in very moist climates, it cannot tolerate much dryness. Be sure not to soak the soil, either, though. Experiment and observe until you have found the watering schedule your plant responds best to.

Be aware, too, that new bamboo plantings must be watered more frequently. Though twice weekly waterings are the norm, some plants only need one watering each week. About one half gallon of water is needed for a five-gallon pot. Watering more often than this may damage the plant, causing it to drop too many leaves. Don’t worry if the leaves yellow and fall in the Spring, though; this is normal.