Archives for organic gardening category
Posted on Nov 18, 2008 under garden, gardening, growing vegetables, organic gardening |
Every spring, people dust off their trowels and take out the gloves, getting ready for another gardening season. They often convince themselves that that this year it will be different. You will have beautiful flowers, an awesome display of colors and the whole neighborhood will pause in your front lawn to admire
your handiwork.
Does it have to be an illusion? No way.
The reality is, you can start planning and preparing your garden at any time and expect to have a beautiful garden to enjoy all year long. It just takes a little planning and prep work and you’ll have the garden of your dreams.
One important step that some people tend to forget is that you have to plan the “perfect garden” for you and your family. Take the time to measure-out the space you have set up as your garden area and give it a second and third look. Evaluate the soil and even test it to see if you may need to add some organic fertilizer or nutrients.
Some other questions might be: Does the space you chose get enough sunlight? How is the irrigation?
It doesn’t matter whether your area has the best of all of this, just make sure it is what you need for your particular garden planning. Some plants need little water, not a lot of sunlight and tough soil. You just need to be aware of this, as you will want pick plants that are suitable to your environment.
Talk with people at your local greenhouse about setting up a garden you like. They can offer suggestions as to how to structure your garden and to put out your plants so you get to enjoy. You’ll certainly want to be able to take care of them easily. Obviously, some plants are more maintenance free than others.
It only takes a little bit of prep work and a little expert help and you’ll be on your way to having the sort of garden you always wanted. With a little planning, you’ll be ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor all year long.
Posted on Oct 19, 2008 under organic gardening |
Congratulations, you have decided to try gardening organically. Say goodbye to chemicals as you learn to work with nature to grow the best garden possible. It is not always as easy as conventional gardening, but it is well worth the effort. However, if you are stuck in a small apartment without any space outside for a garden, you will be faced with special challenges. Fortunately, there is no need to give up on your dream of having a thriving organic garden. With the right techniques, you can soon become a master of organic indoor gardening!
If you are new to organic indoor gardening, the easiest way to learn the ropes is to start an indoor herb garden. Herbs will be less demanding than other flowers or produce, and can add a lovely boost to your cooking!
Get some planter boxes from your local gardening center and place them in a sunny spot, although if you live in a cold climate you should make sure that the boxes are not so close to the glass that they will freeze. You should also separate pots. Some herbs, such as mint and oregano, will do better in their own pot as they will tend to overgrow any neighbors in a planter.
Once you have your boxes set up, you can move to the most important step: picking the right soil. You should ensure that you buy high quality potting soil with an organic fertilizer. Putting small stones in the bottom of the boxes is not essential, but will help with water retention. As for watering your herbs, just make sure that the soil is always damp. If you water the herbs too much, it can be just as damaging as not watering them.
If you are gardening indoors to escape the snow, when the weather turns you can always move your herbs out to your garden. Indeed, starting seedlings inside can often be beneficial, and help give you a head start on the growing season.
If you are dying for a bit of color in your apartment, an easy alternative to an herb garden is narcissus or daffodil bulbs. All you need to do is place the bulbs in a pot full of pebbles and add water. In five weeks, you will have lovely flowers in bloom.
There is nothing stopping you from trying organic indoor gardening – it is an easy, environmentally friendly way to spice up your kitchen and brighten your home!
Posted on Oct 12, 2008 under organic gardening |
Where ever you look it seems that people are going green. They may try and drive using electric cars, or use natural methods of fertilizer or compost. There are even gardeners who use only organic products and tools in their garden. These organic gardeners will need gardening supplies that are a little different from that of your ordinary gardener. Basically they will need an organic gardening supply to continue with their gardening efforts.
As an organic gardener you will of course need a shovel, a spade and a spading fork to dig the soil in your garden and prepare it for planting. Then to take out the weeds and the rocks that are littering your new bed you need a hoe, a scuffle hoe with its forward pointing blade that you scuffle in front of you as you weed your garden, and cut the weeds at the surface. A pry bar is very good item even for organic gardeners to use in their organic gardening supply. With a pry bar you can dig up those rocks and boulders that sometimes seem to litter the surface of your garden.
Organic mulches are very similar in effect to pine needles and leaves that fall to the ground in forests. As organic mulches are of plant matter, they decompose over a period of time. This decomposed mulch helps to keep the soil moist and the plant roots cool, while keeping nutrients locked in.
There is always some pruning to be done in the garden. Rose bushes need to be cut back, especially if you want lots of big, beautiful flowers. A pair of good quality gardening shears or even a lopping shears can cut those large prickly rose stems cleanly without causing any disease causing breaks.
These however are the conventional gardening supplies that any gardener can use. For an organic gardener there are a few different items that need to be added to their organic gardening supply. Whereas the normal gardener has the choice of using chemical enhanced fertilizers the organic gardener can use bat guano or even worm castings.
With these organic fertilizers all that is needed is a couple of applications per month. Worm castings are the tunnels that are created as worms move through the soil. This movement not only breaks and loosens the soil, it also adds fertilizing nutrients to the soil. Organic fertilizers like these help to increase the growth and health of plants within your garden. Therefore they are an essential organic gardening supply item.
Gardening is said to be like painting. The gardener’s canvas is the ground and the paint brushes are the tools that gardeners use. Whether you are a conventional gardener or an organic gardener many of the tools that you will use are the same. However the organic gardener has special items in their organic gardening supply. These items change the looks, taste and smell of the plants that benefit from them.
Organic gardening is 100% all natural and great for the environment. Why don’t you switch to organic gardening and see the difference it makes to your life!
Posted on Oct 01, 2008 under organic gardening |
Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature.
Why would one want to indulge in organic gardening?
1. One can easily make compost from garden and kitchen waste. Though this is a bit more time-consuming than buying prepared chemical pesticides and fertilizers, it certainly helps to put garbage to good use and so saves the environment.
2. Organic farming does not use chemicals that may have an adverse affect on your health. This is especially important when growing vegetables. Chemical companies tell us that the chemicals we use are safe if used according to direction, but research shows that even tiny amounts of poisons absorbed through the skin can cause such things as cancer, especially in children.
On the average, a child ingests four to five times more cancer-causing pesticides from foods than an adult. This can lead to various diseases later on in the child’s life. With organic gardening, these incidents are lessened.
Remember, pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose - to kill living things.
3. Less harm to the environment. Poisons are often washed into our waterways, causing death to the native fish and polluting their habitat.
4. Organic farming practices help prevent the loss of topsoil through erosion.
The Soil Conservation Service says that an estimated 30 - 32 billion tons of soil erodes from United States farmlands every year.
5. Cost savings. One does not need to buy costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. Many organic recipes for the control of pest and disease come straight from the kitchen cupboard. Sometimes other plants can be grown as companions to the main crop. An example of this is the marigold, which helps to repel aphids from vegetables.
Mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap and 1 cup of cooking oil can make a cheap garden pest spray. Put 3 tablespoons of this mixture in 1 quart of water and spray on plants.
6. A simple mulch of pine needles will help to suppress the growth of weeds as well as keeping the moisture in.
7. Organic gardening practices help to keep the environment safe for future generations.