A quick buzz...
Greetings from Bonnie and all of us at Beier's. Don't forget that Beier's Gift Certificates are easily available through our website, and they don't expire!
Have you already found all the Christmas presents you need? What about for the mailman, the dog walker, your kid's teacher, your neighbor? It's nice to give small gifts to those people who are important in your life, but what do you get them?

A Beier's Greenhouse Gift Certificate!

Available in any amount from $5 to a cool million, Beier's Gift Certificates are a quick and easy way to take care of all your last-minute gifts. They can be used on any plant or product in the greenhouse, dollar for dollar.

They're easy to get--just click on this link to order as many as you like. Pay securely and easily through PayPal, and your gift certficates will be dropped in the mail to you or to your friend.

Christmas Gift Certificates from Beier's Greenhouse

Whew! Now, that's crossed off your list of things to do!
 

Building a Raised Bed
Increased yields and less effort

Raised bed gardening saves you effort, fertilizer, and water, and increased yields bring more home-grown goodness to your table. Take these steps to make the most of your raised bed.

When planning the size of your bed, make it a rectangle rather than a square to let you have full access to the plants from each side. You'll be glad you did!

  1. Choose a sunny location you can easily reach with the garden hose.
  2. A north-south orientation for your rectangle allows best sunlight for both sides of the bed.
  3. Set up a stringline or otherwise determine the borders of the space. Break up the soil inside this border and remove sod and weeds. Dig down about 12 inches to increase available drainage.
  4. NOW build the short frame that forms your raised bed. You can use 2x12 boards, concrete blocks, bricks, etc. The enclosure should be about 12 inches high.
  5. Please don't use chemically treated lumber or railroad ties for your wall. Pressure treated is OK, but watch out for chemicals that can leach into the soil and kill your garden.
  6. Concrete blocks may raise the pH of the soil over time, so have the soil tested by the Extension Service after a couple of years.
  7. Fill the enclosure with a mixture of bagged garden soil, humus, and well-rotted compost or manure. We recommend using "store-bought dirt" because it has the exact right drainage properties and the soil is rich and can be easily worked.
  8. Plant your garden. Remember, in a raised bed, garden plants can be put closer together, but always take into account how big the adult plants will be. Overcrowding leads to disease.
  9. To really complete your raised bed, dig a 4 inch deep by 6 inch wide trench around the perimeter. Fill will gravel or sharp stone to increase drainage.
  10. In the fall, clean out all plant material from the bed and fasten clear plastic over the bare dirt. Your bed will warm up in record time come next spring.

It's really that simple. One afternoon's work and your easy-care garden is ready to welcome all those little starter plants from Beier's Greenhouse!

If you ever have any questions, always feel free to email us at beiersgreenhouse@beiersgreenhouse.com. We promise, spring will be here before you know it! Thanks so much for reading all our emails.

Swiss String Beans
Serves 8

4 cups string beans (about 1 pound), chopped into 3/4 inch pieces (or use frozen green beans)
1/2 cup minced onion
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup yogurt
2 tsp honey
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1 1/4 cups sesame seeds, toasted and ground
butter, to taste

Steam the string beans for about 3 minutes in a small amount of water. They should be crisp tender. Drain immediately. If using frozen beans, just proceed to the next step.

Combine the beans, minced onions, whole wheat flour, and salt. Stir well so that the flour coats the vegetables. Stir in the yogurt and honey.

Turn the mixture into an oiled 2-quart casserole. The deeper and narrower the casserole, the gooier will be the topping crust. The only thing I don't recommend is a shallow baking dish.

Cover the bean mixture with the grated cheese; then spread the sesame meal over the cheese and dot with butter.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.


Recipe courtesy of Beier's Greenhouse. Adapted from Recipes For a Small Planet by Ellen Buchman Ewald. Copyright 1973 by Ellen Buchman Ewald. Ballentine Books: New York, NY.
December 14, 2008
Call Us (218) 326-5357
Extension Office (218) 327-5958

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Thanks for your time! We appreciate our customers so much. We're always available via email, even if the greenhouse is closed for the season.
 
Sincerely,

Bonnie and the whole Beier's Greenhouse team