Shawn King

Patio Gardening February 8, 2021

A Stroll Through Kings’ Patio Garden

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As my garden begins to flourish it gives me a great sense of pride knowing that dedication and commitment has paid off. Now I can light up a nice cigar and have a nice cup of coffee or glass of cognac and sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

My first attempt at gardening was during the year of 2020 the year of the great pandemic where many people as myself chose to confine the majority of daily life to their homes to survive a deadly virus . After months of being bored by coming up with everything my family and I could think of to entertain ourselves during which we referred to as being in a locked down I came up with the idea of gardening. After the thought of that idea the next day I got into my SUV drove to Home Depot and bought everything that I thought I needed to start my garden spending just over $454.00 on garden tools, plants, fertilizers and soil.

When I returned home my wife glazed over what I had bought and she then asked me how much did I spend? I responded and said under my breath a little over $454.00 and she responded and said, over $454.00, you know we are in the middle of an pandemic and we agreed on a spending budget. I then responded with a way out and said but boo this is food and it will be all organic. She responded and said yea ok right, do you have any idea what your doing? my response was yep and I then said how hard can it be. Dig a hole drop the plants, fertilize, water and in a few months we are good to go.

Although I had some success with a couple plants my first run out the garden gate was a disaster. I ended up overwatering plants, underwatering plants, burning up plant roots with over fertilizing, having bug wars and killing plants by over spraying them with neem oil. It was an investment that went straight down the tubes. My wife notified me by telling me that I needed to find a more productive hobby. Defiant as I am I set down inhaled, exhaled and begin to read, read, read on how to grow a successful productive garden. Reading paid off and now I am along with my wife is very confident that I can grow a great garden. Lets take a stroll through my patio garden, enjoy.

I like to remind my victors my garden pics are not photo shopped.

Italian Carmen Sweet Red Peppers

Italian Carmen Sweet Red Pepper Harvest

Banana Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, Green Peppers

Habanero Pepper Harvest

Banana Peppers, Cheyenne Peppers, Pepper Mint, German Oregano, Parsley, Thyme

Romain Lettuce Grown On Racks

Romain Lettuce Harvest

Kale Grown in Retainer Wall

Kale Grown in Pots

Broccoli Harvest

Cabbage Harvest

Romain Lettuce, Red Romain Lettuce, Leaf Lettuce, Kale, Cabbage Leaves, Beefsteak Tomato

Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry Tomato Harvest

Beef Steak Tomatoes 1

Beefsteak Tomatoes 2

Beefsteak Tomato Harvest

Beefsteak Tomatoes

Beefsteak Tomato Harvest

Beefsteak Tomatoes

German Oregano

Basil

Rosemary

Sage

Parsley

Aloe Vera

13 Feet Tomato Plants

Black Berry Plant

Mix Lettuce

Romain Lettuce in Pots

Beefsteak Tomatoes in Pot

Green Bell Pepper in Pot 1

Green Bell Peppers in Pot 2

Green Bell Pepper In Pot 3

Carmen Red Pepper Plants

Green Peppers in Pot 1

Cabbage

Kale in Container

Rosemary, Green Onion, Sage, Curly Parsley, Kale

Early Girl Tomatoes in Retaining Wall

Strawberries 1

Strawberries 2

Strawberries 3

Strawberries 4

Strawberry Harvest

KEEPING IT 100 February 2, 2021

Advantages of Home Patio Gardening

OVER COFFEE

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Convenient Access There are a few advantages a novice home patio gardener can benefit from that can lead to yielding a great vegetable and fruit garden harvest. The number one advantage of home patio gardening is – convenient access. I can access my patio garden from my kitchen back door which conveniently allows me to inspect my plants every day throughout the day. Two steps outside my kitchen door and I am standing in my garden. This easy access has increased my knowledge and interest in gardening which has led to a great harvest. No walking in a big back yard, farm or planting fields.

Fenced in Patio I have a vinyl fenced in patio which has a few benefits to home patio gardening. Vinyl fencing is a great way to keep down insect vs wood fencing where insect love to live. Having a closed in patio with a fence as such also helps reduces the intrusion of those disease carrying destructive varmints such as rats and mice. The fence can also provide shade to plants on very hot summer days. Another great advantage of having a closed in patio is that I can spray down my fence with a liquid home insect repellant before planting to help reduce insect invasion. If your a novice gardener and you happen to have a closed fenced patio you have a great start to a productive garden.

Note: be sure that no insect repellant ends up in your garden soil are on plants from spraying or rain water flowing insect repellant in your soil or on your plants. Remember fencing is not 100% proof repellant to insect or varmint intrusion; the goal is to keep intrusion activity down, under control which is durable.

Retaining Wall Ledges Taking advantage of a retaining wall ledge can increase your garden harvests. The retaining wall ledge is a great place where I like to grow my strawberries.

Patio Garden Racks Patio garden racks are perfect to increase your garden harvest. it is a great way to create more growing space and perfect for growing your favorite urbs. Another advantage of garden racks is that they present to you a bird eyes view to inspect your plants and also reduces those creepy crawling insect intrusions. the great thing about garden racks is that you can adjust shelves to your preference.

Planting in Pots The single greatest advantage of growing in pots is that pots can be moved around and also create space with different pot sizes to your liking.

Fenced in Patio

Retaining Wall Ledges

Patio Garden Racks

Planting in Pots

The Harvest My family love home cooking and we love to dabble and experiment in creating many different dishes for our enjoyment. We also love the convivence of stepping out on our patio and harvest some of the great fresh organic herbs that enhance the awesome flavor of our creative dishes. Cooking daily with excess to natural oils of fresh herbs absolutely takes our favorite meals to a more enjoyable experience.

Italian Sweet Carmen Red Peppers

Sauteed in olive oil, sprinkled with bacon bits, green onion, parmesan cheese, sea salt and black pepper.

Growing Kale January 8, 2021

Part-2 Growing Organic Curley Kale On My Home Patio

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There are 4 basic conditions that play a major role in successful gardening: 1. Weather 2. Water 3. Plant Nutrition and 4. Insect control. Considering these conditions when gardening will apply to what type of plant you want to grow; which will require some research to assist in yielding a great harvest.

Kale & Weather Conditions Kale is a cool weather plant that can survive temperatures as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit, but the ideal temperature to grow kale is between 55-75 degrees. I have grown kale in the spring/summer months and in the fall/winter months. Both planting seasons yield different results.

Kale- Spring & Summer Harvest There are a few key factors a novice gardener may consider growing kale in the spring/summer months:

The cool temperatures of spring can yield a great tasting kale harvest; but get ready for a challenging insect battle as temperatures warm up heading into the summer.
As temperature’s rise above 75 degrees heading into the summer months kale becomes slightly tougher and slightly bitter to taste, though very much edible.
Fluctuating high temperatures can cause watering challenges. Over watering in high temperatures can lead to plant disease or root rot that can kill your plant.

Kale- Fall & Winter Harvest In my opinion the best time to grow kale is in the fall/winter months:

The cooler the temperature the sweeter kale taste.
Cooler temperature greatly reduces insect battles.
Cooler temperature greatly reduces plant disease.
Cooler temperatures greatly reduces watering challenges. Kale can grow very fast and is a good drinker so be sure to keep soil moist. There are several soil meter options a novice gardeners can choose from to help monitor soil moisture.
I am convinced harvesting kale in the fall winter months yields greater tasting kale dishes.

Plant Nutrition & Maintance Garden vegetable plants and fruit plants need nutrients to flourish and there are so many different methods and products gardeners use to yield a great harvest it can sometimes be confusing. I have been gardening on my patio for 4 years now and my first year of gardening was filled with trial and error. I discovered that in order to yield a great harvest no matter what I was growing I had to do some research. That research led me to one conclusion; different vegetables and different fruits demand specific nutrients and specific conditions to thrive.

Weather planting in pots or my retaining wall, garden plants requires consistence maintenance to flourish. Replenishing garden nutrients over a plant life cycle is key to an unabundant harvest. Consistent garden observation regarding mother nature, monitoring plant disease, monitoring pest intrusion, how is your garden growing are key factors that play key role to developing a great maintenance schedule; expect to be busy.

If conditions are good, kale can be simple to grow and you can be sure to reap the benefits of a bountiful kale harvest for several months. Weather I grow kale in pots on my patio or in my patio retaining wall, I have been quite successful yielding a great kale harvest using great organic products presented at Kings Home Patio Garden Store Front.

Growing Kale December 31, 2020

Part-1 Growing Organic Curly Kale On My Home Patio

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Health Benefits of Curly Kale Kale is considered to be one of the healthiest leaf vegetables a person can consume. This leaf vegetable can provide a range of health benefits for the human body. It is packed with vitamins and minerals A, K, E , Calcium, C, Magnesium, Potassium and many other nutrients that can help prevent health problems. Kale can be eaten cooked or raw and has a great taste.

Growing Kale in Limited Space It dose not require a lot of space to grow kale. You don’t need a huge back yard or a farm to grow this nutritious plant. I don’t own a farm and I don’t have a huge back yard, so I grow my kale garden on my home patio. As an novice gardener, I have discovered that creative gardening dose not require a lot of space. On my patio along my back fence, I have a 20 foot long brick retainer wall that is 1 1/2 ft. in height and 10 inches in width; this space has been great and convenient yielding a great kale harvest.

Enjoy a Kale Salad, Kings Patio Garden

My family loves curly kale and we consume this healthy plant in many different ways. Adding kale to our smoothies makes a great nutritional drink. We also like to boil kale to tenderness stove top in a pot of water with added favorite seasonings(for additional flavoring add a smoke turkey drum in the pot). Kale salads are also awesome and is one of my family favorite dishes. Kale is also great on sandwiches and sautéed in a skillet stove top.

What I really love about kale other than its great taste and great health benefits is that, kale is a very vigorous plant that grows really fast and if conditions are good(weather, water, soil nutrients and insect control)you can be sure you can harvest kale for several months.

Growing Kale in Small Containers If space is really a concern you can always plant kale in small containers and still benefit from the health properties and great taste of kale. Depending on the size of the container may very well determine the size of kale growth(leaf size). Though leaf size may be smaller when grown in small pots, smaller leaves are great for a quick smoothie or sandwich.

When is the best time to grow kale and the conditions kale thrive in?. Lets discuss in Part 2-Growing Organic Curly Kale On Kings Home Patio Gardening.

Books December 24, 2020

Father, Son & Youth Football: Guide to a Greater Relationship

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KEEPING IT 100 December 9, 2020

Crappie Fishing December 6, 2019

Crappie, The Best of Fishing & Eating

Crappie Fishing

When the topic of discussion is about fishing, anyone can make a sure bet that I will jump in and engage in conversation. As a figure of speech, I guess I can say fishing is in my blood; and the fish I crave for more than any other fish is Crappie.

I would not by any means claim to be a professional angler, but I have been fishing all my childhood and adult life. Throughout my fishing years I have gained a great deal of knowledge fishing for crappie. What I find interesting is that I have spoken to many people who love eating fish but have never eaten Crappie. So I would like to share a little knowledge about crappie that may peak a fish lover Interest.

Crappie is a freshwater game fish(fish of sport and not sold in your local grocery stores). This feisty pan fish can be found in many lakes across North America.

There are two known species of crappie (Black & White) which are very similar. Weather it is white or black crappie on your dinner table, fish lovers can be sure to enjoy a great meal.

Crappie great taste has led anglers to a great deal of poaching. Poaching crappie can warrant expensive fines, suspension of fishing license and permanent confiscation of angler’s fishing gear that can result in the loss of hundreds of dollars.

Rules and regulations vary in different regions when fishing for crappie, so be sure to follow guidelines that will keep you out of trouble and money in your pocket when fishing for this great wonderful tasting fish.

The Crappie Spawn

The best time to fish for crappie is during the spring when water temperature reach 50 degrees. This time of year female crappie move in close to the banks and begin to lay their eggs in 1 to 2 feet of water(known as the spawn). The spawning period is vigorous and last approximately 2 weeks. This is also the time males move in close to the banks to protect the eggs the females lay.

There are 3 great opportunities an angler can experience doing a crappie spawn:

1. Plenty of fishing action.

2. Catching their crappie limit.

3. Anglers are hoping to catch that big trophy male.

Crappie Fishing, Tackle & Baits

There are many different baits, methods and preferences that anglers choose when fishing for crappie success. Listed below are popular basic and successful bait and tackle I use when fishing for crappie. These common crappie baits and tackle are inexpensive and can be found at local fishing baits shops and sporting stores. I find shopping at amazon for crappie fishing gear is quite coinvent; but if you really want to indulge in crappie fishing gear the Bass Pro Shops is a great place to consider.