Published on: 14 October 2017
Last Updated on: 16 August 2019
When you are renovating your home or building a new one, it’s easy to visualize the big details, like the color of the roof and the walls. Something you may not necessarily be thinking of immediately is the color of your window frames, and yet this is such an important color to consider. It may help to think of them as something similar to the frame on a painting — it adds a finishing touch to the artwork, or in this case, the house. If you are not sure how to choose a color, here are some tips that may help you in your choice.
Choose a color palette: It helps to include the color of your window frames in the complete color palette you choose for your home. If the amount of color choices is overwhelming, keep it simple by choosing either a warm or a cool palette.
Pick a color that highlights or hides: If you are repainting your home, you can highlight your beautiful window frames by painting them a color that makes them stand out. Conversely, if they are ugly as sin, paint them a boring white, or any color that makes them blend in with the walls.
Select a color that complements your home’s exterior: Your walls should have a big say in what color you paint your window frames. If you have exposed brick walls, you should choose a bright contrasting color, and avoid warm browns and dark colors. For painted wood siding, it could work well to pick a darker accent color that complements the rest of the color palette of your home.
Consider neutral colors: Neutral colors are trendy again. The current variety is a far cry from boring beige, so you don’t have to fear to have a sterile hospital look. The new generation of beiges and grays are soulful and colorful, and they will prove to be timeless at the same time. No need to be embarrassed about bright lime or electric pink, or any such garish eyesores in a few years from now.
Choose a color that fits the style of your home: It is very important to choose a color that is appropriate to the style of your house. Certain colors go well with certain types of architecture. A red brick building already imposes a limit on the color palette due to the characteristic hue of the walls. A historic manor would benefit from modest colors that fit in with the time period in which the house was built. If the architecture is more modern, choose colors that enhance that particular style. But if it’s just your typical family home without any noteworthy architectural provenance, you are free to choose colors that match your personality and sense of style. It should be something that you like, and feel comfortable looking at every day.
Use bold colors wisely: For most people who doubt their stylishness, it would be best to stick to neutral colors. But if you are brave and daring, and you are sure you can pull it off, bold colors can add an unexpected twist to your decor.
Apex Window Werks is home and Commercial Window Repair Company with the headquarters in Chicago, IL. If you are looking for a reliable and experienced contractor to get the fog out of your windows, replace broken glass or repair rotten wood window frames, then AWW is your expedient choice. Feel free to give them a call to leave a message.
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One of the most used herbs in the world, cilantro, is also referred to as Chinese parsley or Coriandrum sativum. Fresh and zesty, cilantro gives your recipes a flavor boost. Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, Mediterranean, Chinese, African, and even Scandinavian cuisines use it extensively. Even cilantro microgreens are grown from it!
Since cilantro itself doesn't keep well and loses aroma and flavor once dried, most people prefer to use it fresh. To have cilantro on hand, you should also have a few plants in the garden.
You can harvest the plant for its flavorful cilantro seeds, also known as coriander, even if you don't use the leaves in your recipes. The leaves of the cilantro plants come throughout the spring and summer. Allow them to go to seed at that time since they grow easily in the garden!
You must know how to harvest cilantro properly if you want to have a steady supply. Keep reading to find out all you need to know about harvesting cilantro.
Harvesting Cilantro: Overview
Most people either love or hate the flavor of cilantro leaves. However, you should still think about cultivating a few coriander plants in your garden and saving the seeds for a range of culinary uses.
Most people in the US grow this delicious herb for its leaves. But the tasty coriander seeds are also worth harvesting. They have a distinct flavor from cilantro leaves. This fragrant herb of the cool season, cilantro, quickly goes to seed in the long, sweltering summer months.
As the plant reaches higher in the sky, its rounded, lobed leaves become feathery. Pretty clusters of tiny white blossoms quickly emerge. Many pollinators are drawn to these nectar- and pollen-rich blossoms, particularly syrphid flies and honeybees. Little round coriander seeds with a kelly green color emerge as the blossoms start to fade.
What To Expect from Cilantro?
The distinctive flavor of coriander is citrusy and slightly nutty. It goes incredibly well with rice, beans, lentils, and roasted or grilled veggies. You can pick the seeds while they are still young and vibrant green. Or you can wait until they start to turn brown.
Since green coriander seed is only found in gardens, it is better to harvest them when they are still green because of their stronger, more distinct flavor. You will not find them in the farmers’ market or the grocery store.
If the seeds are kept in a glass container with a lid, then they can be refrigerated for several weeks and frozen effectively as well. Wait until most of the seed turns brown if you want to harvest the mature brown seed for winter grinding or planting next year.
Next, trim off a few inches of stalk and the seed heads, then hang them upside down in a brown paper bag. The seeds will drop out of the heads and land in the bag's bottom once they are completely dry. The dry seed should be kept in a dry, cool place in a glass jar with a lid.
For optimal flavor, grind it just before using. The flavor difference between freshly ground coriander seed and the pre-ground variety typically found in stores will astound you. Try adding green coriander seeds to dressings and marinades. Frequently adding an equal amount of ground coriander to recipes that call for cumin makes the flavors of the two go particularly well together.
How to Harvest Cilantro?
The most exciting aspect of growing plants is undoubtedly harvesting. Pick individual cilantro leaves if you plan to use a small amount. It is best to leave at least 1-2 inches of stem above the soil's surface when harvesting larger quantities of cilantro.
It is preferable to leave a few lower leaves on the plant to support the herbs until they grow back. To cut the stems cleanly, use harvesting snips, long reach harvesting snips, or sharp, sterilized garden shears. To guarantee that your herbs regrow, it is best to remove only a small portion of the plant at a time.
Furthermore, when the cilantro plant blooms and sets seed, the herb may start to taste bitter. So, when wondering how to harvest cilantro, it is preferable to harvest before the plant bolts because the leaves will be less appetizing at that point.
When is The Best Time to Harvest Cilantro?
When the morning dew has cleared and the sun hasn't set, it's the ideal time of day to harvest a variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, including cilantro. This way you can lessen the stress on your cilantro plant and give the fresh stock cuts enough time to dry before dusk, which lowers the risk of illness.
Before it bolts, harvest cilantro when it is 6 to 8 inches tall. The flavor of cilantro leaves significantly decreases after they have bolted. The lifespan of the cilantro plants can be increased by careful and routine harvesting. It is crucial, though, to wait for your plant to become established before beginning to harvest.
The plant develops numerous long, thin stems as it grows. They are ready to be harvested when the stems are long, and the leaves have a lacy appearance. The cilantro herbs are about ten to twelve inches tall at this point. Gather your cilantro in the spring and into the first part of the summer.
Your plants may bolt to seed if summertime full sun conditions prove to be too hot for them. The best time to harvest cilantro is early morning. You can either choose to harvest it once a week or source just individual leaves whenever you need them.
Most of the time, it takes about 2-3 weeks for regrowth, so you must harvest accordingly. You must remember that regular cut-and-come-again harvesting is the most ideal while the plant keeps producing foliage.
How To Store Fresh Cilantro?
Part of knowing how to harvest cilantro is also knowing how to store them. It's best to know how much you should take from the garden before you harvest. You will need to learn how to store cilantro if you do not intend to use the leaves right away to extend its shelf life. There are several approaches to try.
Storing Cilantro in Water
To keep the cilantro leaves dry, wait to wash them after harvesting. For storage purposes, store the stem ends in a glass or jar with 1 to 1.5 inches of water and refrigerate for a few days. At a minimum, change the water once a day. Use a plastic bag to cover the top loosely to preserve the humidity surrounding the herbs.
Storing Cilantro in The Freezer
Freezing cilantro is another low-maintenance way to store it. Shake off any extra moisture and rinse the leaves to get rid of any garden soil. Tear the leaves into small pieces and stuff them into ice cube trays, covering the herb with just enough water to barely cover.
You can pre-measure if you'd like to ensure that you know precisely how much is in each cube for recipes in the future. After the cubes are completely frozen, place them in a freezer bag. Add as needed to marinade, smoothies, soups, and sauces. You can freeze cilantro for up to six or eight months.
Read More: Everything You Need To Know About Harvesting Basil
How To Dry Cilantro?
There are two methods for drying cilantro. You can use the oven to dry cilantro. Since hot air can greatly affect the flavor of the finished and dried herb, you might want to avoid using heat if you want to enjoy flavorful dried cilantro.
Air drying or hanging drying is a better way to dry cilantro. Gather the stems of the herbs into a small bunch and secure them with a string. Place the bunch in a dark, well-ventilated area and hang it upside down. Alternatively, you can wrap the bunch in a brown paper bag to keep the cilantro from getting dusty.
After the bunch has been hanging for about a week, begin to check its level of dryness every day or two. It's ready to be crushed or powdered and stored for later use when it crumbles when touched.
Cure the cilantro ahead of time to reduce the possibility of mold growth. Put the dried cilantro in a glass mason jar to cure. Open the jar and give it a good shake every day to let fresh air into it and mix the contents. This will assist in achieving moisture content parity. If you'd like, you can also include a moisture-absorbing packet.
How To Harvest Cilantro Seeds?
You can harvest the coriander seeds even if you don't like cilantro leaves. The plant can grow to 20 inches when it flowers. This requires temperatures above 75 degrees. Pods will form once they have flowered, and the flowers will fade.
Before being harvested, these should be green to brown in color. These pods release the mature seed when it's ready. Tie the stems with the seed pods still attached into a bunch. Next, hang them upside down in a paper bag in a cool, dry place to harvest the seeds.
With time, the seeds will sprout and drop into the bag. Store your seeds in a dry, cool place in an airtight jar. Unground dried seeds can be kept for three to four years in storage. Before using dried seeds in your recipes, grind them for the best flavor.
How To Harvest Cilantro So It Keeps Growing?
If you sow cilantro seeds every two weeks from spring until late summer, you can be sure to always have fresh leaves available. We advise chopping them up and firmly packing them into an ice cube tray filled with water. Then, just place the tray in the freezer. These can then be added directly to hot pans when preparing soups or sauces. Or they can be dropped into hot or cold water for cooking or drinking.
What To Do If Cilantro Bolts?
It's time to collect and preserve your own coriander seeds once your plant produces seeds. Picture each of those tiny white blossoms turning into a flavorful spice for your cooking or seeds for the following year! In addition to being aesthetically pleasing and tasty, cilantro flowers are also excellent pollinators.
There is a short window of time when the growing seasons of cilantro and tomatoes coincide. This proves they go well together. It usually happens that my tomato and pepper plants are just starting to take off when my cilantro plants bolt, sending forth gorgeous white flowers.
To maximize the amount of fruit your plants produce for you, beneficial insects that are feeding on your cilantro flowers will collide with your fruiting plants, vibrate their leaves, and assist in pollination. Ladybugs, butterflies, and bees all love cilantro flowers. It truly is a win-win!
Choose Slow Bolt Seeds
Seek out seed packets labeled "long-standing" or "slow bolt cilantro," as these varieties have been cultivated to endure longer in the garden. You can find your go-to slow bolt seeds that are 100% certified organic from Seeds of Change.
Finding a local seed producer is another smart move. Buying local seeds means you'll be growing a climate-adapted variety of cilantro, which increases the likelihood that you'll keep it longer.
Harvest Cilantro Regularly
Regularly chop your cilantro leaves. This preserves the health of the plant and guarantees that the leaves of this herb are fresh when you use them. Your cilantro will continue to produce new leaves from the center of the plant if you regularly harvest it by chopping off the older outer leaves.
Additionally, your chances of cutting off those immature flower stalks increase with the amount of cilantro you harvest. This will aid in postponing any bolting.
Since cilantro is incredibly obstinate, you can delay as long as you can. Cut that thick center stalk as soon as possible. After that, the plant will start to send outside shoots, giving you a little extra cilantro before it eventually bolts completely. For sun protection, surround your cilantro with tall plants.
Plant Taller Plants Around Cilantro for Sun Protection
Encircle your cilantro with large warm-season plants (like tomato or pepper plants) so that the taller plants can shade your herbs slightly and help keep the soil cooler as the temperatures rise. After all, four to six hours of sun is sufficient for cilantro to grow. To increase the lifespan of your cilantro in the garden, interplant it with larger plants.
Wrapping Up
You will need to have patience if you want to collect the seeds for your cilantro. Before seeds can be harvested, cilantro needs to blossom. Before harvesting, the resulting seed heads need to be allowed to dry on the plant for a while.
Harvesting the seeds is then as simple as shaking them into a paper bag or chopping off the entire seedhead and placing it inside the bag. If you have thoughts to share or questions to ask about how to harvest cilantro, please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you!
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How to Harvest Lettuce: A Step-by-Step Guide for Fresh and Crispy Salads
Did you know that cork is an eco-friendly building material? That’s right—more and more people are opting to install cork flooring, countertops, and even walls.
Of course, you don’t need to undergo a whole renovation to utilize cork in your home. There are plenty of simple and affordable cork board ideas that will enhance your home while helping you stay organized.
Do you want to know more? Keep reading to discover the top 10 cork ideas you need to try ASAP!
10 Cork Board Ideas That'll Enhance Your Home:
1. Create a Backsplash:
Luckily, you don’t always need a professional to install cork in your home. If your kitchen backsplash needs a makeover, consider going DIY by using wine corks.
You’ll need to be patient and accurate during this process, but the final result will be unique, durable, chic, and eco-friendly!
2. Give the Whole Family a Board:
There’s no denying how convenient and helpful cork boards are. If you have a busy family, don’t settle for just one cork board—give one to every member of the family!
They can use their board to hang notes for themselves, or they can hang notes on your board to remind you to sign their permission slip for school or to pick up milk on your way home from work.
3. Use Wine Corks:
Have you been collecting wine corks just waiting for a fun way to use them? Well, look no further!
You can create a unique cork board by gluing your wine corks horizontally on a piece of wood or sturdy cardboard. You'll still be able to hang notes or pictures using pushpins, but your board will look much more stylish.
4. Give It a Fun Shape:
Who says cork boards have to be rectangular? If you’re looking for a fun DIY project to fill up a rainy afternoon, consider making a uniquely-shaped cork board.
You can order cork rolls online or look in your local craft store. Just lay out a section of the roll and outline whatever shape you want your cork board to be in. This could be something simple, like a heart or a star, or you could personalize it by using the first letter of your first name.
Then, cut out the shape and you’re all done! If you want to take this one step further, consider attaching a brightly-colored string to hold photos without having to poke holes in them.
5. Organize Your Jewelry:
Is your jewelry constantly getting tangled up? You may be thinking about investing in a nice jewelry organizer, but you can easily organize your bracelets, rings, and necklaces with a cork board.
All you need to do is use thumbtacks as hooks to hang your jewelry from. Of course, you can dress this up a bit by framing the corkboard or covering it in a piece of fabric.
6. Install Cork Inside Your Cabinet Doors:
Are you constantly running out of room in your kitchen? An easy way to stay organized is to install cork on the inside portion of your cabinet doors.
You can then hang small kitchen utensils, like measuring spoons, on it. This is also a great place to store recipes or your grocery list, so you never lose it.
7. Make Coasters:
Of course, cork can be used for more than just cork boards. You can also create coasters out of small sheets of cork.
You can either go for a fun shape, like the outline of your state or stick with a classic circle and paint designs on it. It’s cute, affordable, and won’t scratch your furniture!
8. Hang Your Dartboard on It:
If you have a dart board in your home, stray darts may have put small holes or marks on your wall. An easy way to keep your dartboard and protect your wall is to use a large slab of cork.
Just hang your dartboard in the middle and let the surrounding cork take the blow from missed darts. You can even decorate this by covering it with a piece of fabric or painting it to match the decor.
9. Put Cork Above Your Keyring Holder:
Do you have a million thoughts running through your mind as you get ready in the morning? A cork board is a great place to hang notes to yourself, so you can just relax with a cup of coffee instead of trying to remember everything.
But the location is everything! Put your corkboard above your keyring holder, so you can see your notes before you leave. If you don’t leave a lot of notes for yourself, you can also get a stylish keyring holder and hang photos on your cork board to decorate your entryway.
10. Create a Travel Board:
Are you constantly counting down the days until your next vacation? Whether you travel once a year or once a month, a travel board can be a fun addition to your home.
Just place a map over a slab of cork and put a pin in every place you’ve been. If you’re travels have been focused in the United States, consider cutting your cork into the shape of the country to make it stand out even more.
The Best Cork Board Ideas:
Don’t settle for a boring old cork board anymore! From organizing your jewelry to creating a travel board, there are tons of cork board ideas that will look amazing and enhance your home.
Of course, it isn't just the interior of your home that matters. Learn more about installing stone veneers to your home's exterior to increase its value and curb appeal!
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When the time comes to move, most people don’t really know where to start and how to pack and move methodically. The worst of all is that they don’t know what to look for when searching for a moving company. How to pick the right company to help you move? After all, it’s not like you do that every day.
That is why we reached out to professionals at Move Central in San Diego. They share some of the points you should look into when choosing your moving company.
Here are Great Tips for Picking the Right Moving Company:
1. Shop Around
Some people are quite satisfied to call a single company, get a quote, and immediately accept the deal and go through with the move. Whereas that might save you some time, it may not be so beneficial for your wallet and your overall experience.
Most experts will tell you that you should shop around. Ask at least 3 companies for a quote with the same parameters and see what each of them offers. Some may be more expensive, but include insurance or wait times as a bonus, whereas others might be cheap, but not offer any additional benefits outside the most basic transportation service.
Once you have your quotes, compare them, determine what your priority is and go for the one which fits your needs the best. If you don’t see what’s out there, you may end up missing out on some perks.
2. Ask Around
Americans tend to move a lot more and more easily than most other nations, including Canada. Whether it is job prospects, climate, or something else, you are much more likely to move upwards of 10 times over your lifetime. That gives you a pretty good advantage when it comes to picking a moving company.
Chances are that you know people who moved recently. Ask your friends, family, or colleagues about their experiences with moving companies. Online reviews are a great resource, but they can only tell you a part of the story. With your friends and family, you can ask about details that may be omitted in an online review.
3. Insured and Licensed Is the Best Way to Move
In order to ensure that your move goes without a hitch and problem, you should only hire reputable moving companies, rather than going for a Craigslist ad or something similar. The reason is simple – reputable moving companies are insured and licensed by The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Whether you are moving out of state or just looking for a local move, it is easy to check if the company is licensed. A reputable company will certainly promote that and offer proof, but if you want to ensure, there is a website to check that manually.
4. Ask for Some Details
If you have decided on a company that sounds reasonable to you, you can have them come over and give you a quote. This is an ideal opportunity to ask them for details and observe them working. If they don’t seem professional or aren’t sure of what they are doing, it is possible that they are not as skilled as their online ads suggest.
Another big point to remember is that a reputable moving company will certainly have their own moving vans, and likely some uniforms for their workers. That may seem like a small thing, but if the company is serious about the business, they need to be willing to invest in the equipment – in the case of moving companies, it is a moving van, dollies, and similar loading and unloading equipment.
Whatever company you end up hiring, have a great move, and enjoy your new home.
Read Also:
Factors To Consider While Preparing For A Move
A List of Last-Minute Things You Should Check before You Move House
