Life at a "Swell's" pace

Snails! They are everywhere here in the Pacific Northwest. They eat your garden plants, your pretty flower petals, even stick to the side of your windows. They are a pretty vicious nuisance, but my son loves them. I have learned to control them in my garden and flowerbeds for the most part, but I still see one from time to time. Mostly they have been showing up on our porch and you have to do the Tango to avoid stepping on them or hear the wrath and an eight-year-old about how mean it was to crush the poor, innocent, little snail.

So we have decided to mark them. We started with random colors like purples and greens with markers, but that didn't seem to last long because of all the rain. We then switched to fingernail polish. Starting with some reds and even blacks, but it just wasn't bright enough. So we went with a hit pink and it worked! I didn't feel too awesome about using the polish have it has stroked the back of a slimy creature, so it got it's only label and is now used to only coat the snails.

And my son is happy!

It's sort of interesting to see all the hot pink snails roaming around now. And it makes them easier to spot in my garden and flowerbeds too. We all are happy........for now. :)

Oh, on a side note, these are the same snails that people eat. (Escargot anyone?)

I've always loved growing a plant from itself. Ginger is one of my all-time favorite spice and I love adding grated ginger to some cheese cloth and throwing it in with my bath water to help remove and eliminate toxins from my body; Especially after an intense workout. Ginger root has also been associated with reducing fever, relieving minor pains and reducing inflammations. Crystallized ginger is especially helpful, for me, when flying or riding long distances in the back of a car on road trips.

Growing ginger is quite easy and really fun. It can also save you a ton of money on buying ginger if you tend to use it a lot around your home. Here's how it's done.

Purchase your first ginger start from a grower, farmers' market, or even the local grocery store. You want to look for a root that has a few nodes on it so that the growth of the ginger will take off a lot faster. Place your ginger root into a small paper sack and place in a warm, not moist, dark environment until the nodes/rhizomes start producing some growth to them as below.

I like to store mine under my kitchen sink. Everything seems to grow under my kitchen sink without me even trying. I've started potatoes (brown and red), onions, ginger root, and even 'Pole' beans.

Remove your ginger from the paper sack and lay on top of your pot of soil that you are going to plant it in. There are a lot of different ways to start the growth of the ginger and I like to read all about them, but I have found that laying the ginger on top of the soil over night helps. I like to do this in order for it to remain in the same location that it produced it's shots in order for it to start to establish a "bed."

The following day go ahead and plant your ginger root in a good quality soil. I use a mixture of top soil, compost, saw dust and steer manure.

After about a week you should start to see some root shoots and at this time you can move it to another larger pot or keep it in the same one. I always plant mine shoot-side down, there are others that would disagree, but it's really your call. It will grow either way, but you want to make sure you bury the entire root.

Water only when the soil feel dry and do not over-water!

2 weeks later your ginger will have taken off and start it's growth process.

I always keep my new ginger growth in a sunny window out of direct sunlight. Ginger likes the humid, warm climates and is considered a tropical foliage plant. It will come back year to year if it is protected from frost and colder temperatures. You can start to harvest the ginger when the leaves begin turning brown and harvest some for yourself and for growing all over again.