Conventional vs. Organic Growing
There are a number of reasons why organic gardening is better than conventional or commercial growing. Some of the reasons are more obvious than others. As small scale backyard gardeners, there is a tendency to focus just on the plants and practices in our own yards and on our own tables. However, conventional vs. organic growing is a hot topic and has more global ramifications.
What Do the Terms Even Mean?
For the purpose of this article, conventional gardening and farming refers to growing practices that do not take the health of the soil, the plant, or the person into account. Organic is a touchy word in The States that has been regulated by the USDA to mean certain things, and the word can only be used if a garden or farm is certified. However, it is the easiest term to use in …
Compost Conundrums: Solving composting problems
Making your own compost is the best way to add organic matter and natural fertilizer to your garden. Organic matter helps water move through the soil—water stays in the soil so that plants can take it up, but organic matter also helps soil drain properly. Organic matter improves soil structure, helping roots penetrate deeply. Organic matter helps keep the pH of the soil stable, which is important for nutrient availability. Organic matter also decomposes to provide a natural fertilizer for plants.
Compost Problems Cause Headaches
Compost is not just about throwing food scraps in a bin and letting them rot. Several potential problems plague homeowners that compost. However, most of these problems are easy to overcome.
Smelly Compost – Your should not be able to smell your compost pile from inside your house with …
Brewing the Perfect Cup of Tea
Tea, the second most popular beverage, after water, has a horticultural connection. In fact, if you want, you can grow a tea plant on your patio. Black, green, white and oolong tea comes from the plant Camellia sinensis. Tea leaves are just that: the young leaves from the tips of the branches of this plant. Each type of tea mentioned above is dried and prepared differently, resulting in a different nutrient profile, and different health benefits. Herbal tea is an infusion of herbs, fruits, nuts, or any plant that does not come from the Camellia sinensis plant.
C.sinensis grows outdoors in zones 8 and higher, but they do well in pots, as well. Bring them inside during the winter, and keep in a sunny spot that isn’t overly warm. A garage window facing south is best. During the summer, they need to stay …
Walking Through Wildflower Gardens
A few years ago I took one of my sons camping in the Wasatch Mountains near our home. It was early in the spring and after hiking until dark, we set up camp in a small meadow. In the morning we realized the opposite end of our small meadow was covered with wildflowers. As we ate breakfast and the sun lit up our camp, the wildflower colors really came alive. I decided the difference in these colors and those in my flower garden were that they were unique. It wasn’t the common marigolds, petunias and pansies that seem to dot our neighborhood every year. I decided then that my yard was going to have wildflowers.
A common myth is that wildflower seed can be scattered on any bare ground and they will flourish. This simply is not so. You need to prepare a proper bed, just as you would for your …
Ladies and Gentleman, Start Your Seeds!
APS Seed Starter Kit, available at Gardeners’It’s the middle of winter, but it’s already time to begin thinking of seeds for this spring. Crops that are best transplanted during cool, early springs (lettuce, spinach, onions, broccoli, cabbages, and kale) need to be started indoors between early February through late March. That means the time to select seeds and prepare for planting is NOW. Other cool weather crops like peas, radishes and turnips grow best when direct-seeded into the garden.
Seed Starting Supplies
You can start seeds in just about any old container with a hole poked in the bottom and some potting media, or seed starting mix. (NOT topsoil – it is too heavy). However, …
Thanksgiving Centerpieces from the Garden
Leave the tissue-paper turkey on the shelf at the craft store this year, and adorn the center of your Thanksgiving table with one of these centerpieces, instead.
Tree of Thanks
Go outside and find interesting branches and twigs. Fill a vase with them, and string a garland of small red beads throughout your “tree.” Make little tags by cutting off-white card stock into two inch squares, punch a hole in the top and thread a cranberry-colored ribbon through the hole. Place one at each table setting with a golf pencil. Before the meal, ask everyone to write something they are thankful for on their tag and tie it to the tree. During dessert, ask everyone to share their gratitudes.
Pumpkin Centerpiece
Hollow out a medium-sized pumpkin. Soak a piece of oasis foam …
Indoor Worm Composting
This winter, try indoor worm composting to digest your kitchen scraps and create some nutrient-dense soil for your garden. You can generally feed one pound of worms one pound of garbage and they’ll produce one pound of compost a day. (By garbage, we mean “things we don’t need, but that worms will eat.) You can purchase an indoor worm bin, or make your own form a small trash can with holes in it. Either way, you will follow the same procedure for the worm bedding.
Bedding Down the Worms
You can’t just throw a handful of worms and a bunch of food scraps into a trash can with holes in it and expect results. Well, you could try that, but you might end up with a giant mess. Here’s how to do it instead….
What Is The Best Garden Shed For You?
Have you ever heard that life today is a rat-race? I’m sure that we have all felt that at some point in our lives.
Perhaps that’s why so many people find solace in gardening. No stress. No pressure. There’s just you and nature working together peacefully. And when you are done you can enjoy the calming effect that a garden can bring.
But what do you do with all of your gardening tools, equipment and the myriad of sundry items that you need for your gardening when you are done your “chores”? Left unkempt, they can nullify the hard work and reduce the calming effect that your beautiful gardens can bring.
Enter the garden shed.
Which Garden Shed is Best?
Garden sheds come in all shapes and sizes. They can come in a multitude of materials as well. But which building material is best for your garden shed?
Concrete
Concrete …
Don’t Throw it, GROW IT! Book Review
I enjoyed pilfering from the publishing table at Garden Writers this year. However, I always review books, often on multiple sites, so I feel less guilty, sort of. The book Don’t Throw it, GROW IT! is an adorable little gem, re-published in 2008 by Storey Press, and written by Deborah Peterson and Millicent Selsam. Peterson is the founder of the Rare Pit & Plant Council, and according to the back cover, has lectured extensively on gardening with pits. Out of the several books I picked up, I am most excited about trying the projects in this one, especially with Winter coming fast. (Or, in the case of Chris, because winter has already been at his house for, oh, about a …
Wicked Plants, by Amy Stewart
Wicked Plants, by Amy Stewart, was published this spring or summer. I already forget when, because it feels like we’ve had this book around forever, or at least had Amy around forever doing PR for it. Her PR guy is a genius! If you’ve seen this book everywhere, and you have wondered if it is worth the hype, I’m here to tell you: IT IS. If you like reading about weird and wonderful plants, garden with small children or pets, or want to clandestinely poison your neighbor (JUST KIDDING), you need to get this book!
The Plant that Killed Lincoln’s Mother and other Botanical Atrocities
That’s the subtitle. It promises all kinds of fun, especially near Halloween. The plant that killed Lincoln’s …
