How to Have an Organic Garden
February 17, 2010 by admin
Filed under Gardening Tips, Organic
Gardening sites are filled with articles about organic gardens. At the grocery store we see foods advertised as being grown organically. Just what does the term “organic” mean in this context? Very simply and succinctly, organic gardening is that which is done without the use of synthetic fertilizer. Organic gardening was the only way to garden and farm for thousands of years, before the advent of the modern chemical era. The practice was never lost entirely, of course, and has made a wonderful comeback in the last few years as gardeners are concerned about the affects of synthetic fertilizers on ground water, animals that might roam the garden, and the quality of the food produced. Organic gardening extends beyond fertilizer use, and encompasses all the processes necessary to grow healthy vegetables, flowers, and other garden plants without the use of artificial agents.
Chief among these processes is the practice of adding compost to the soil. This process contributes vital nutrients, helps to hold moisture, and creates a healthy pH balance in the garden. Compost is produced from decaying leaves, plant waste such as grass clippings or pruned stems and branches, and even fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchen. A compost pile or compost bin is easy to start, and will be the source of rich, organic fertilizer for your flowers and vegetables. The best compost starts with a combination of brown materials. like dead leaves, and green materials like grass clippings, in a ratio in which browns outnumber greens 10 or 20 to 1. The browns add essential carbon to the mixture, and the greens are the source for needed nitrogen. When they are combined in a bin or pile they begin to break down into compost, a soil-like material that packs a nutritious boost for plants. For the best compost, add enough water to make it moist without being soggy. In addition, turn it every 2-4 weeks in order to allow needed oxygen to permeate the mixture and expedite the contents being transformed into compost.
When the original components have lost their individual identity, the compost is ready. It should smell earthy, like a forest floor – where, by the way, natural composting is happening continuously. If it has a rotten smell, it should be turned again and left for another week before being rechecked. Using composting material before it is ready will not hurt your garden plants, but it also will not have the full range or levels of nutrients that completely composted matter will. Patiently waiting for the compost to be dully ready will produce more beautiful flowers, healthier shrubs and trees, and more robust vegetables!
Organic gardens also employ limited amounts of farm manure, which can either be added to the compost mixture, or spread straight onto the garden in the fall, before covering it for the year, or first thing in the spring. Horse, cow, rabbit, and chicken manure work best.
Organic gardening offers the reward of naturally healthy plants. It is also fulfilling for many gardeners to know that their efforts are adding to the fitness of the environment, rather than threatening its wellbeing. Each flower can then be enjoyed more fully, each vegetable eaten with greater confidence and pleasure.
Understanding the Basics of Composting
February 1, 2010 by admin
Filed under Gardening Tips, Organic
Adding compost to flower and vegetable gardens has been growing in popularity as more gardeners choose natural techniques in their efforts to cultivate a healthier, more productive garden while being environmentally responsible. Making compost out of organic matter is an ancient practice, but with the rise of chemical fertilizers several decades ago, the practice declined. Now, decades later, the benefits of composting are being rediscovered.
Briefly put, composting is the process through which organic matter is returned to a soil-like state through decomposition. The process is aided by insects, earthworms, fungi, bacteria, and other beneficial microorganisms. Compost is rich in nutrients, improves soil structure, aeration, the healthy pH balance of the soil, water retention, and soil fertility. It contributes to healthy root development in plants, and provides essential nutritional value for flower and fruit production.
If you have made the decision to start composting, these basic steps will put you well on your way to a healthier garden and a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
First of all, choose the spot to have your composting pile. Employing an unused corner of the yard is popular, out of direct sunlight, and perhaps kept from view by a large bush or section of decorative fencing. Many gardeners build a 2’x4’ or 4’x4’ composting pen to keep it tidy, but that’s not essential.
Secondly, combine the right materials for compost. A good mix includes about 10 to 20 parts brown plant material such as dead leaves, which is high in carbon, and one part green material, like grass clippings and garden prunings, which is high in nitrogen. Other high carbon “browns” include straw, shredded twigs, pine needles, shredded newspaper, dead plants that do not show disease, and sawdust from untreated wood. Other nitrogen-rich “greens” include green weeds, alfalfa, clover, manure, and vegetable scraps from the kitchen.
The third step is to keep the composting material moist, but not soggy. A good time to begin the pile is when you rake leaves in the spring or fall. Mix in the first/last grass clippings of the year, saturate the pile thoroughly, turning the material several times and adding more water. After that, do not water unless insufficient rain occurs. If it’s a particularly raining spring, covering the pile during rains might be needed.
Fourthly, decomposition requires air, so turn the pile once a month or so, perhaps when you add more grass clippings. Stirring it up gets oxygen into the center of the pile where it will aid the processes that are creating compost. The compost is ready to use when it is dark in color and crumbles easily, and when none of the original materials are identifiable. A good test is to seal a small amount of it in a bag for 24 hours. If the compost smells earthy but not unpleasant, it is good to go!
Many gardeners are using compost bins, a fantastic way to produce usable compost quickly. They come in several styles that allow you to add material and water and easily turn the bin for proper mixing and aeration. New composters and veterans alike will want to consider these handy, effective units that produce high quality compost. Whether you use a simple pile, build a pen, or purchase a composting bin, your plants will benefit immensely from this organic, nutrient-rich plant food.
Composting bins:
Mantis 4000-00-02 ComposT-Twin Composting Bin
Scotts 100164 Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Compost Bin
Bosmere K767 Garden Compost Bin 11-Cubic Foot Capacity
Achla CMP-05 Spinning Horizontal Composter
Earthmaker Aerobic Composter, 120 Gallon
Herb Gardening for Beginners
January 13, 2010 by admin
Filed under Gardening Tips, Herb, Organic
Every gardener should get an herb garden started! Herbs are easy to grow, aesthetically appealing, and offer so many useful contributions to cooking and natural home remedies. The good news for herb gardening beginners is that most herbs do very well all climates where outdoor gardening is possible, as long as they get good sun, adequate water, and an encouraging bit of compost or fertilizer. More good news is that indoor herb gardens do well, also, and deliver year-round bounty. See our guide on the Indoor Herb Garden for all the tasty details!
When starting your herb garden, attention to a few important details will set you up for success. First, prepare the soil by turning and loosening it, removing all weed and grass stems, and raking in a small amount of compost or manure if you have it. Herbs are hardy plants, very adaptable, and will grow well in most soils that have decent drainage. If you do not have ground space available, herbs will also thrive in pots on a sunny balcony or porch.
Secondly, start with plants that are already established. Inspect them before you buy, or immediately when they arrive if you order online, to make sure you begin with healthy plants. Most come ready to transplant, and about 2-3 inches in height. If the pots contain those plastic informational markers, place them in the ground or pot after transplanting, for reference and identification.
Next, understand that herbs are vigorous growers, so give them plenty of space to spread their leaves and thrive. Rosemary, for instance, will become a large bush with basic care, so give it 2-3 feet on either side. If you don’t like the empty places, fill them with annuals that won’t require a permanent spot, or put down mulch to keep weed growth under control.
When planning your garden space, choose spots for your herbs that will make accessing them easy. Put those that grow tall to the back, so they won’t block your access to shorter, bushier growers. If your space is round, put tall plants in the middle. Also consider the sun, and place larger plants so they will not block their smaller neighbors from getting their daily dose of life-giving light. Keep in mind, too, that trial and error is to be expected, and if you need to rearrange some plants after the season, they’ll most likely handle it just fine.
Many gardeners find their herb gardens to be their most rewarding. Using what you grow has inherent pleasures. Here is a brief list of good herbs to get started with, and ways in which you will find uses for them.
• Thyme offers big flavor from its tiny leaves. Sprinkle judiciously on chicken splashed with lemon, and enjoy a mouthwatering, intriguing taste. Place in well-drained soil where possible.
• Basil thrives in the heat of mid-Summer. Snip off the tips in mid-Spring to delay the blooms for optimal quality. Use it fresh to season meats, stews, soups, sauces, and salsa. It also freezes very well for year-round enjoyment.
• Rosemary will delight you with its delicate blue flowers, then provide a wonderful herb for meats, teas, and even creative desserts. You might want to bring this herb indoors over winter if hard freezes are the norm in your climate.
• Chives go great with sour cream over baked potatoes, as we all know. But flavoring eggs, quiches, vegetable dishes, and fish to taste will add new life to old recipes. Give them room to spread out.
• Italian parsley is a versatile herb that tends to enhance the flavor of other spices used in the meat dish, sauce, soup, or stew. In most climates you’ll need to restart it each year.
Herb plants are relatively inexpensive, so don’t be afraid to try several new herbs each year. You’ll soon be an expert, and will enjoy harvesting your herbs for use in your favorite meals.
Indoor herb gardening products :
Preparing Organic Compost by Yourself
December 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Gardening Tips, Organic
If you really want to do a favor to the environment through your garden then organic composting might just be the right option for you to consider. You are cutting down the amount of waste that would go at a landfill or just dump by putting it into a compost pile in your front or backyard. This can be said as a process that has been followed by the people for utilizing waste materials for a good cause for quite a while now. Your garden soil will also be benefitted if you add organic compost in it because plants require sufficient amount of essential nutrients for the proper growth and with organic compost added to you garden soil, you would make sure that you are providing sufficient amount of nutrients to your garden plants for the proper and healthy growth. You can prepare compost on your own with waste found around your yard, homes, kitchens, etc. Let me tell you, how can prepare organic compost by yourself.
You know the places where to get the waste from, compost is simply a mixture or combination of different waste products. Choose a specific area as a storage place for all the compost you gather up. A compost tumbler can be bought from the market or with the help of wooden pallets you can make a bin of your own. Blood meal, alfalfa meal, and aged manure would be the most appropriate waste materials to add in your compost pile because all these things are high on nitrogen. Apart from these, leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, shredded newspaper, and vegetables would be some other good organic items to add in your compost pile.
There should be many things available when the process of compost pile making is underway. Grass might start smelling bad so make sure to put the green grass clippings together with brown material. Animal products like their food or waste and fats needs to be avoided since pests get attracted this way which can promote disease contamination in the compost pile. Plants that have been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides should be avoided as well. Lastly, your wooden pallet bin or the compost tumbler should be placed somewhere exposed to the sunlight in order for the decomposing process to be good and effective, even in the times of winters as well.
It would ask for a few months before the pile gets ready, so once your compost is prepared, give your plant soil or garden some good nutritious enrichment spreading the compost all over your garden soil.
Above mentioned were some simple steps for preparing organic compost by yourself.
Organic Compost on Amazon
Espoma Organic Traditions Compost Bio-Excelerator – 4 lb Bag #BE4
Guide to organic gardening
Passionate gardeners become very excited at the very though of organic gardening. But most of them are clueless and don’t know where to start and how to do it.
The best way to proceed with organic gardening is by starting it in a small way. And the key to successful organic gardening lies in reading, researching and repeating. The very essence of organic gardening is that it doesn’t require any chemicals. So it is surely going to be a tough task but a pleasurable experience that is worth trying.
The key successful organic gardening also lies in the fact that how much you know about the cultivating requirements of different plants. So it is very important to read about all plants and their requirements. Try to learn each and everything about the plant. Its environment, how much water it needs and also about the area needed to grow it. In fact you have to train yourself as a horticulturalist.
By doing proper study on organic gardening before hand, you are not only going to save some money but your precious time as well because, organic gardening is time consuming. But you have to be patient. At times you might be tempted to use chemical fertilizers to increase the pace of the growth. But you should keep in mind that the word organic means natural.
The world natural has been over used but in the science of gardening, it is the other name of organic. For organic garden, every thing lies in the soil. If you want a tomato or a potato plant, you have to just sow a tiny seed in the soil. But it is the quality of the soil that will help the plant to grow in the organic way.
To increase the fertility of the soil, much depends on the fungi, nematodes and the bacteria in the soil to transform the natural fertilizer in the soil that in turn gives the needed energy to the plant to grow.
You should also be committed to clean your house and garden area of any harmful poison, which may destroy the weeds and the bugs in the garden. You should keep in mind that bugs play an important role in organic gardening. Their excreta works as natural fertilizers for you garden.
The best way to an organic gardening is by adapting an organic approach and it is a time bound process. The commitment from come from inside and you uttering the word chemical should be considered as a sin.
