How To Grow Cacao

This is an important process to ensure a good flavor in the cocoa. The milk fats and sugar in other types of chocolate pretty much negate cocoa's health benefits. Enjoy!12 oz of a good quality dark chocolate (use sweeter or milk chocolate for a milder...

It would make a great gift for a beginning gardener or one who was downsizing the amount of work they had to put into their property. I was happily surprised to find many of his suggestions growing in my own garden and the image showing the cover of the...

The larger the container, the more robust the cockscombs will be. They grow well and are a bright spot near my back door.As they mature, small black seeds will start to develop along the lower part of the flowers.

These colorful plants also pair well with caladiums, ferns and begonias. Some varieties can tolerate more sun and there are actually ‘sun coleus' that thrive in brighter conditions.

Personally, that's what I do because caladium tubers are cheap and there are many great vendors that ship world-wide.Caladiums are happy container plants. I plant the tubers about 3" deep (7.6cm) each spring in the containers, as soon as there is no chance...

It blooms during the month of May in my garden and the fragrance spreads throughout my 4 acres. It is especially fragrant in the evenings and nice for sitting outside nearby just to enjoy it.Albas produce large, attractive hips that turn red in the fall...

Zinnia seeds are cheap and they come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors.They are one of the easiest plants to start from seeds and they grow so fast that it is somewhat pointless to pay for pricier bedding plants when there is such a short...

Without a little guidance from seasoned veterans, they often choose seeds and plants that are more challenging than their budding skills can handle. The 'mother' plant with the smaller babies surrounding it is how the common name 'hens and chickens' came...

All you need to do is brush the pollen from the anthers of one flower to the tip of the stigma of another. Plant daylilies in well-drained soil in a sunny part of your garden. The seeds will change from a white color to shiny black when mature.

If you use this technique you will never have a fallen tulip again.

It is a member of the fig family and relative of the Indian banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis). Unless you can duplicate these gentle surroundings year-round, prepare to pamper your plant.

Therecommends mid-sized hybrid cultivars such as "Celebrity" and "Better Boy," which can ripen within 75 days, and the smaller "Early Girl" variety, which ripens in less than 60 days.

Add them to corsages, hair arrangements or leis, which will keep for up to one day.Gently pick the plumeria flowers close to the bottom of the stem where they join the tree so as not to crush the five-pointed petals.Construct leis, hair arrangements or...

The barbwire should replicate a swinging door.Glue a toothpick across the opening of the bottle. Position the bottle so the opening is an entrance. Peanut butter attracts rats and mice to the location.Place the bottle in an area where rat infestation...

Place them on a tray and freeze them for at least three hours. Unlike other fruits, grapes stop ripening once they are plucked from the vine. Eating sour grapes can set your "teeth on edge" and may even make your tummy upset.

Keep them in the refrigerator until then or dry them in a dehydrator.Ginger leaves make a wonderful garnish. Start with 1 to 2 g of tea per cup. But the ginger plant's leaves are edible as well.

The bag is usually about the size of a loaf of bread with the spawn packed in straw or sawdust. You can grow your own edible mushrooms in a portable 5-gallon bucket. Use a 1/2-inch drill bit.

Some mixes are also available that are specifically prepared for tomatoes and vegetables. Also, check to see if it has slow release or other fertilizers added to it. If the plant is a little leggy it can be planted deeper than it was growing in the pot...

If the rose isn't quite dry, replace the gel and check again the following day.Remove the roses from the silica gel when the blooms are completely dry, and use the soft paintbrush to gently brush excess silica gel from the blooms.

The rain helps mix the urea with the soil.Urea is not very combustible, so it can easily be stored. It can also be chemically composed into a liquid or a solid using ammonia and carbon dioxide.

Potato starch is combined with other nutrients and ingredients such as rice and vitamins, to form a very nutritious food supplement to feed the hungry.Because of its light weight, one million servings of food can be shipped in a 40-foot cargo container.

At the young, green stage, black-eyed peas are removed from their plump pods, cooked and served as a hearty green vegetable side dish. Use plastic bags specifically designed for freezer use if you want to flatten the filled bags to conserve space in your...

Use the vine instead of the squash when handling the vegetable.Mix 6 parts water with 1 part household bleach, wipe the squash with the solution and allow to air dry. If left with no sunlight, squash will remain unripened.Turn the squash over periodically...

It shouldn't be airtight, because excess gases in the bottle may need to escape.Place the other end of the tubing near some plants in the greenhouse. If you use 1/4-inch tubing, drill the hole with a 3/16-inch drill bit.Feed enough tubing through the...

Pour enough of the syrup to just cover the peaches.Freeze the vacuum bags overnight standing upright in the freezer until frozen solid.Put the open end of the bag into the vacuum sealer and turn the machine on to seal the frozen bags.

Most members of this family live only in North America and all these plants thrive in acidic soils. Unlike many fruit-bearing trees growing in the United States, blueberries offer the home gardener a chance to cultivate these delectable berries in small...

Neophyte mushroom hunters sometimes mistake "false morels" for actual morels. As morels are one of the most easily recognizable of all wild mushroom species, you can easily tell if it's a morel mushroom by looking for a few unique characteristics.Morels...