Topics Insight II

03/05/2022

Seasonal Gardening Hacks To Remember

Everyone loves clever shortcuts or handy tips that make life easier in the garden. Read on for a real treat, because here we’re sharing six ingenious ideas to help you achieve more in the garden with less: less time, less effort or less money! Read on for 6 easy gardening tips and tricks.

Eggshell Pots
You don’t need much to get started with your first hack: using eggshells to grow seedlings. They are completely biodegradable and add valuable nutrients such as calcium to the soil as they break down.

Carefully peel the top off a boiled egg then prick a hole into the bottom with a pushpin or drawing pin. Boil your eggshells in water for one minute to sterilize them, let them dry. Fill them with seed starting mix, sow, water, and then grow your seedlings somewhere warm and bright.

Organic Fertilizer
Use any leftover shells as part of an organic fertilizer made using kitchen scraps. Add breakfast leftovers like banana skins, coffee grounds, and eggshells into a blender together with a few cups of water. Use the mixture fresh, diluted with water; this fertilizer is full of nutrients, ideal for use around squashes, tomatoes, and pole beans.

Plant Labels
If you’re forever losing plant labels and handy growing instructions, use a hole punch to make a hole at one end of the label then thread your labels onto a key ring. Hang them somewhere safe in the greenhouse or shed so they are always on hand.

Clean and Rust-free Tools
Mix together sand with vegetable oil and use it on your tools. The abrasiveness of the sand will help keep them clean, while the oil should prevent blades from rusting. Fill a pot with the mixture and plunge hand tools like trowels into the mix whenever they’re not in use.

Protect Plants
Transplanted seedlings are always vulnerable to frost and chilly winds. Keep them snug with instant cloches made from old bottles like gallon-sized milk cartons or soda bottles.

Organic Weedkiller
Nasty chemicals aren’t an option for organic gardeners, but you can use a safe but powerful organic spray. Mix one pint of white vinegar with two tablespoons of salt and a teaspoon of lemon juice and stir. Decant this into a spray bottle and spray the brew onto weeds. Do this on a still, sunny day and ensure to cover all surfaces; watch the weeds quickly wither and die.

03/05/2022

This is How You Can Get the Best Cruise Deal Ever.
Travel consolidators may look like the best place to go when you want a great cruise deal. But representatives from several cruise lines tell us that most sites and walk-in travel agents usually have the same deals. But read on to find out how you can get the most for your money yet.

Travel off-season
Want the cheapest deal? Be willing to travel after the holidays, when most people won’t. This is usually between Thanksgiving and Christmas or just after the New Year. You might have to get creative with your holiday style and activities but the savings are huge. Some cruise liners may give you great deals like 50% off on the second person or two tickets for the price of one. If you can deal with the sometimes intense weather, fall travel has some of the best deals.

Do some comparison shopping
While cruise liners might not offer deals and discounts upfront on their sites or brochures, some travel agents may pass on higher discounts to those who book through them instead. Comparing discounts to find the best one can increase your savings much higher.

Watch for sales
While most agents and sites offer some minimal discount through the year, it’s worth looking into limited-time sales and promotions. These usually show up in places not catering to luxury clients and can offer everything from free upgrades, or shipboard credit, cashback, or more adding plenty of value to your booking.

Get a travel agent
While doing your research is a great idea, online or walk-in travel agents can offer tremendous value. They can make suggestions based on what will work for you as well as pass on additional discounts and offers on everything from travel insurance to your flight tickets. Sometimes these deals are over already discounted prices. Almost all online cruises have a certified booking agent you can talk to, so you have every chance of major savings and having a fantastic holiday.

Early bird bookings
Waiting for the last minute to book a cruise might cost you dearly. Early booking – usually 4-6 months allows you to have your choice of rooms and can save you close to 10 percent off the full brochure rate. Remember, the savvy traveler gets the best deals.

03/05/2022

FREE Travel Hacks For Your Next Trip
We’ve seen the lists of ‘must-have’ travel essentials and things you need to buy and accumulate to have the perfect holiday. But we think, traveling well is a far simpler prospect that just requires some smart thinking and planning ahead of time to make it memorable.

Here are five easy travel hacks that anyone can try to make travel easier.

#1 Put your TV’s USB slot to good use
Traveling with electronic devices usually involves a lot of adaptors and wires and managing to keep batteries juiced up and ready to go. Besides, if you are traveling as a family, your kids might already be monopolizing the precious few outlets available. Once you check into your room, check the television for powered USB slots on the back. This is an easy hack to have more options to charge smaller devices like phones and music players.

#2 Have a copy of important documents on email
Instead of having photocopies of your documents on your phone which can get stolen or lost, save all your important documents on your email. This way you have easy access to any computer connected to the internet, in case of an emergency. Another option is to use a secure, password-protected, cloud service.

#3 Use offline maps
Several offline map options allow you to save specific areas in as much detail as you’d like. Next, you can simply download the map to your phone and use it on the go to find restaurants, local markets, museums, and more. You can even save a map that covers the area around where you are staying in case you need to find your way back.

#4 Remember your credit card details
Memorizing the details of one of your credit cards is an extremely useful trick, especially while you are traveling. It allows you to make phone and online bookings more easily and reduces your risk by allowing you to have access to your details without removing your card.

#5 Keep an empty water bottle in your carry-on
Get a simple water bottle or stash a collapsible, reusable water bottle in your carry-on bag. You can fill it up on the other side of the security and reuse it throughout your trip.

03/05/2022

03/05/2022

03/05/2022

03/05/2022