List of Hobbies

Archive for the ‘Outdoor Achievement’ Category

Some people love to do landscaping as a hobby. But, how about landscaping with native plants? Landscaping with native plants is  great way to reduce the amount of runoff that leaves your property. It is also easier than landscaping with non-native plants because, usually, native plants require very little maintenance since they have evolved and adapted natural defenses to local conditions.

If you live in areas with drought, nutrient poor soil, severe winter conditions, disease and insects, non-native plants may not survive but native plants could. By doing your landscaping with native plants, you will save time as well as money. You may not need any lawn chemicals or even irrigation to maintain your lawn when working with native plants.

What are native plants?

Native plants are trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, ferns and other plants that originate and evolve in a region over time. They have adapted to local climate and ecological conditions.

Some people do not like to do gardening but they do like to grow things as a hobby. There are many things that you can grow so the first thing you need to think of is what you want to grow. You do not even need a garden a lot of the time to start growing things. You just need a pot, tub, or even just a box. If you do not like hanging out in the Sun, then you can even do all your work indoor. You might want to start with something that is easy to grow. When you have mastered the skills you need to take care of plants and other life forms, then you can move on to growing more complex things. Here are some suggestions.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers grow fast and will be as tall as 10+ feet with plenty of sun and water. You will need a lot of space if you are going to grow sunflowers but they do not need much attention. When the flowers die, you can roast the sunflower seeds and eat them or save the seeds for next year to grow more flowers.

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums grow even in poor soil. You can use many parts of Nasturtiums in your food.

Gourds

Gourds are very popular for Halloween. They come in all sizes and shapes as well as colors. You can buy Gourd seeds easily. When they are fully grown, bring them inside to dry. The seeds inside rattle about so people use two matching Gourds for maraccas.

Pumpkins

Pumpkins are everywhere around Halloween time. You will see pumpkin patches all over where you can pick your own and buy them. Some of them are huge but smaller ones are sweeter. If you want to carve Jack o Lantern, though, you usually need larger ones. The fresh ones are great in soup or pumpkin pie. Seeds are great roasted.

Easy Flowers

Some flowers are easier to grow than others. Some you might want to try are: cornflowers, love in the mist, petunias, sweet peas, mallow, toadflax, and poached egg flower.

Here is a book with great ideas of what you can grow that require little attention from you.

50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants

For some people, bungee jumping from the highest places is their number one hobby. But, others do not consider it a hobby or a sport at all. Bungee jumping (also sometimes spelled “Bungy” jumping) is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that has the ability to hover above the ground. The thrill comes as much from the free-falling as from the rebounds.

What happens in Bungee jumping?

When the person jumps, the cord stretches and the jumper flies upwards again as the cord snaps back, and continues to oscillate up and down until all the energy is dissipated.

There are a few books on bungee jumping. You can learn a bit about how to bungee jump and read stories of others who have done it many time or who love bungee jumping.

Bungee Jumping (Living on the Edge)

Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport or it can be a hobby. However, paragliding is definitely not for everyone even for people who like to fly. There is a definite art and also a science to paragliding. You need the right paragliding equipment and instruction. Most people go to paragliding school before they attempt to do it on their own.

What is paragliding?

Paragliding is a sport in which you wear a special structure similar to a parachute and then jump from a plane or a high place. You are then carried alone by the wind before coming down.

What is a paraglider?

A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing.

If you are interested in looking into paragliding more as a hobby or a sport, you can get a book that will explain all the techniques and everything you need to know. Then you can decide if you want to make proper lessons.

This all-new book is bound to become the standard paragliding manual around the world. It presents a detailed step-by-step training method with the latest techniques and follows the USHGA training program. Whether you are new to paragliding or wish to take a refresher course to polish your skills, this book is sure to provide a goldmine of information.

The Art of Paragliding

Most people love flowers because they are pretty and they smell great usually. If you love flowers and do not mind the concept of gardening then you can make growing flowers a hobby. You can pick what flowers to grow based on the environment you are in. For example, some flowers are not great in hot climate and some are not good in cold weather. Before buying seeds, you will need to learn a lot about flowers and how to grow them properly. You will need to put a lot of work into flower growing so you will not want to start growing ones that will not grow nicely.

What to learn when wanting to grow flowers?

You might think that growing flowers is as easy as buying seeds and planting them. But, there is so much more to it than that. You might have seen many beautiful flowers and think that they must be easy to grow. However, usually you would be wrong. There is usually so much work put in to grow beautiful flowers, especially ones that are rare.

You need to learn about different types of flowers, flower seeds, flower parts, soil each type of flowers need and what you need to do to grow them. Some flowers need a lot of sunlight whereas others do not. You will certainly need to learn lots of tips and techniques. Below is a book that is great beginners guide to planting flowers. You can try to make your garden beautiful by using techniques in this book.

How to Make Your Garden Grow: A Beginner’s Guide to Popular Garden Plants