The best way to know what type of precautionary measure you should take for tender garden plants is knowing their individual needs. The more you know the better off your garden and tender plants will be.

Lume collective

This interactive lightshow is an artwork that is being created in realtime by the artists using lights. As you watch the artwork changes, adapts and becomes different scenes!

Their canvas is made of a phosphorescent material that reacts to higher light frequencies allowing the light displayed to glow for about one and a half minutes before it starts to fade, leaving just enough time for the artists to manipulate the glowing effects into creative scenes or snapshots. Glowing and fading, the art changes with each stroke of light.

Using different types of lights, for example lasers and different LED arrays, some amazing effects can be achieved.

View Lume Collective's website for a video showing what what this is all about or book them for a show.

Sweden's trash issues

The Scandinavian nation of more than 9.5 million citizens has run out of garbage; while this is a positive - almost enviable - predicament for a country to be facing, Sweden now has to search for rubbish outside of its borders to generate its waste-to-energy incineration program.

Its main supplier is Norway, where officials are shipping in 80,000 tons of refuse annually to fuel the country with outside waste.

The population's remarkable pertinacious recycling habits are inspiration for other garbage-bloated countries where the idea of empty landfills is scarce. In fact, only 4 percent of all waste in Sweden is land-filled, a big win for the future of sustainable living.

Source : 21 Century Tech and The New York Times.

Harvesting and storing seeds over winter

Saving pepper seeds is even easier. Allow some fruits to stay on the plants until they become fully ripe and start to wrinkle. Remove the seeds from the peppers and spread them out to dry.

Save pea and bean seeds by allowing the pods to ripen on the plants until they're dry and starting to turn brown, with the seeds rattling inside. This may be as long as a month after you would normally harvest the peas or beans to eat. Strip the pods from the plants and spread them out to dry indoors. They should dry at least two weeks before shelling, or you can leave the seeds in the pods until planting time.

Save squash seeds by allowing the squash to sit for "after ripening" for at least 3 to 6 weeks up to several months. Wash the seeds to remove any flesh and strings and cure the seeds by laying them out in a single layer on a paper towel to dry. Once thoroughly dried, they can be stored.

Store seeds in tightly sealed glass containers and keep them dry and cool. A temperature between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius is ideal, so your refrigerator can be a good place to store seeds.

A small amount of silica gel desiccant added to each container will absorb moisture from the air and help keep the seeds dry. Powdered milk can also be used as a desiccant. Use one to two tablespoons of milk powder from a freshly opened package. Wrap the powder in a piece of cheesecloth or a facial tissue and place it in the container with the seeds. Powdered milk will absorb excess moisture from the air for about six months.

Be sure to label your saved seeds with their name, variety and the date you collected them. It's too easy to forget the details by the following spring.

Source: Colorado State University website.

Hidden gem in the tropical suburbs

Anyone who has been abroad will know that there are places you eat at and there are places you just don't even go near to for fear of the dreaded "stomach bug". The style of seating and quality of tableware is a really good indication as to which establishments have food that is more adapted to western palates.

Flowers of Paradise in Pereybere (just a few minutes east of Grande Baie) is just one of these places and can be found down one of the quieter streets that run perpendicular to the main beach front road. Their garden has a few casual lounge chairs and a crackling fireplace (even though the temperatures are warm all year round) that creates a sense of luxury and relaxation - a great start to the evening with a social drink or two before moving indoors to the main dining area.

Their variety of tasty dishes are very well prepared and presented, and as a first experience of mauritian fusion cuisine, are delicious. Every ingredient of each dish is very well paired with complimentary ingredients, leaving you with a sense of interest and the craving for more of their flavours.

Their service and care of their patron diners is fantastic and their prices are in line with other establishments along the main beach road catering to the international market.

Visit Flowers of Paradise's website for more information.