Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

First of all, you’ll go crazy if you try and do the “best way” to do anything for gardening. Set your standards, and aim for “good enough.” Your plan sounds just fine.

My MIL sends my FIL out to the forest to dig up some soil from under oak trees. She sifts it, and then uses that for seedlings. (-: Sometimes there are arrowheads in it, so we have to be careful not to cut our fingers on the unsifted stuff.

I use eggshells, tea leaves, coffee grounds and other household waste on my garden. The household waste (potato peelings, other veggie and fruit waste) goes into the compost pile along with grass clippings, and eventually turns into a rich, black soil. Takes time, but only a season.

GardenersCardiff answers:

$500K sounds like alot to start a coffee shop/music venue. What I would do is find a location and try talking to the landlord about helping to finance the deal. If you have a good business plan and can show how the improvements to the property would benefit the landlord, he/she might be interested. Happens all the time.

Find a dealer in used equipment instead of new to cut your costs. Often times supply companies in the restaurant biz will finance the used equipment on favorable terms, because chances are they just repossessed it from a failed business. They are often receptive to investing in start up businesses that have potential.

Other than that start going after friends and relatives. But you really need to sharpen your pencil and cut the start up costs way down. Maybe start smaller and expand as cash flow improves. Coffee shops alone are a tough way to make a buck unless you are Starbucks who buys everything cheaper than you can and has systems in place to squeeze profits out. They also have such great brand recognition that people who don’t even really like coffee go there anyway.

GardenersCardiff answers:

Corylus avellana – European Filbert.

This is the large shrub/small tree that is the source of the hazelnut. It is hardy to USDA Zones 4-8, grows 12′-20′ high with matching width.

There is a cultivar called ‘Contorta’ aka the Twisted, Corkscrew, or Contorted Filbert that is pretty popular in many landscapes due to its interesting spiraling branches. WARNING: YOU NO NOT WANT THIS ONE if you want to harvest fruit. That particular cultivar is not known to bear fruit.

Check here for more info on the Hazelnut and how it is grown. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazelnut

Here is a recipe for making vanilla extract. Don’t know of any for Hazelnut extract, but you can try substituting the nut for the vanilla beans in this one and see if it works. Http://www.icdc.com/~vanilla/recipe-how-to-make-your-own-vanilla-extract-for-making-homemade-extracts-best-recipe.html