Gifts for the Organic Gardener
It is getting to the point where, if you don’t have a gift for your special someone, it is almost too late. However, you can still get some good deals out there, and, with express shipping, you can still make it happen: that MasterCard commercial with the trampoline, Kleenex and paper bag, oh and the door opening to show two brand new cars. If you can’t get two brand new cars for your sweetie, you can still pick up some nifty organic gardening swag. Here are my top picks if you are still searching for ideas.
Blue Planet Compost Bin: You can make rich compost and compost tea with this composter. It is perfect for anyone who wants to create rich compost, quickly.
Heavy Duty Galvanized Compost Pail: This is perfect for die-hard gardeners that want to make compost under the sink! It is also …
Weeding Your Organic Garden
Dandelion WeedWhen I first started my present organic garden, it had been totally farmland and therefore, it was full of weeds. It had no shape. It was like a typical farmers field, bumpy ground and obnoxious weeds. At first I felt rather daunted and overwhelmed by the job of creating this nightmare into an English Cottage garden. As I have lived in England, I knew what I wanted my garden to look like. I just was not sure that I had enough physical energy and determination to get the job done.
I have learned in life, that if you tackle a large project one step at a time, rather than look at a project in its entirety, you are more likely to achieve your goals. I had to think, just what do I want from my garden? Was it to be a place …
Organic Method of Starting Seeds – Eggshells!
I have discovered a handy way to use eggshells in starting my garden seeds. I use this method in my organic garden, as it gives back to the earth.
Advantages of this method include good moisture retention needed for germination, along with avoiding transplanting shock, since seeds are moved, “pot” and all.
If you would like to try this method, then follow these simple steps:
Take one egg and cut a cap about the size of a quarter from the large end. This opening is big enough so that the contents can be poured out without breaking the yolk. Put the empty shells (of however many eggs you have cut) back in the carton and keep them in a shed or basement until you’re ready to plant seed.
Use an ice pick to punch a small hole through the bottom of the dried eggshell to provide drainage, …
Organic Gardening Never Changes
Gardening in the ‘Good Old Days’.
I have just been reading about gardeners in the 18th and 19th centuries, and I have been quite amazed at the similarity of the problems that gardener’s face today.
Organic gardening was alive and well in those days, as I outline in my soon to be released ebook “How To Master Organic Gardening.”
Although, I think,the double purpose of a garden has been forgotten in landscape gardening. It seems that we now have a useful kitchen garden, but they can be quite ugly, or a flower garden that is not useful, but has flowers to redeem its purpose
The charm of a garden, as it used to be, was in marrying the two together.
In an English garden of old, vegetables and flowers were grown together, as the household had only a small plot of land, and they had …
Black Spot Fungus on Roses
Signs of Black Spot
I think all fledgling gardeners and those who have more experience, know the dreaded signs of “black spot”. You see the black spots on your rose leaves and sometimes yellowish edges on the leaves.
How can you save your favorite rose plants?
Black spot fungus attacks only roses. Those black spots that are found on the leaves are the actual fungus itself, not dead spots, as some gardeners have concluded.
This fungus lives on the canes and on the fallen dead leaves that lie on the ground during winter and then the fungus spreads to the leaves of living roses, when the garden soil is moist and wet.
Roses that grow in areas in which summers are warm and humid are most likely to suffer from black spot.
Black spot loves moist conditions. Good air circulation around your plants will inhibit black …
Welcome to Ena’s Garden
Welcome to Ena’s Garden where together we will uncover what works and what doesn’t when creating an environmentally friendly organic garden.
To the left is my organic garden as seen from the edge of my yard.
I am a Master Gardener specializing in organic gardening and for 20 years I have been working with not only my own organic gardens but helping people with their organic gardens as well.
Here at GoOrganicGardening.com I will share with you my general gardening, and specifically organic gardening, thoughts and experiences so you will also know what it is to work in harmony with Mother Nature.
All too often the act of growing plants and food for pleasure sets the gardener at odds with the natural world around us. As cities grow and natural wildlife habitat diminishes, it is, in my opinion, necessary for us to include places where wildlife can share the planet …
The Time For Amaryllis
We are getting close to that time of year for the Amaryllis bulb to become popular
as a christmas gift.
They are such lovely elegant looking plants, that grace many a home, the Amaryllis is not really a lily, and the common-called amaryllis is not even an amaryllis, but a Hypeastrum.
No matter what the correct name is it is most loved for its spectatular blossom production and because it can be grown year after year.
Every year in winter amaryllis bulbs appear in garden catalogues, plant and flower shops, nurseries and even supermarkets. They are sold in boxes with pots and peat moss, and planting instructions.
The supermarket is a good source of acquiring this plant, as I can attest to, I have had many lovely plants from there.
Many people are doubtful as to how to ensure future blooming when their amaryllis is finished flowering.
The time of planting is the time to ensure that …
Organic Fertilizer
Fertilizer is anything added that improves the fertility of the soil. a good organic fertilizer feeds the soil rather than only feeding the plant. This is the safest way to fertilize plants .
A fertile soil has a balance of minerals and micronutrients so subtle, that I do not think that any chemical could add
them all. However it is known that manure, compost and leaf mold will.
Organic fertilizers improve the soil to allow it to hold water, fixes nitrogen and makes nutrients accessible to plants
when they need it, this is probably one of the most important factors that organic fertilizer has.
Nitrogen makes leaves grow, and if you see yellow leaves then there is a nitrogen deficiency in the plant. For nitrogen, add compost, manure, blood meal, grass clippings and any other garden wastes.
Next comes phosphorus, which is crucial to seed development plant growth and disease resistance.
Potassium is necessary for early growth, …
The Gen Y Gardener?
According to a recent talk I attended, there have been 7 million new gardeners entering our ranks this year. In a few years, Generation Y (people born between 1977 and 2000) will comprise 47% of the work force. (We are somewhere much lower than that now. I can’t find my notes.) If you listen to the mainstream media, we are portrayed as entitled, philanthropic, in want of instant gratification, constantly asking “Why?” skeptical of authority, in search of mentors, addicted to our mobile communication devices, and more. Our work ethic is questioned, yet we are accused of being materialistic.
Another talk, the keynote speech at the same conference, couched all of the above in different terms. This speaker said that Gen Y’s grandparents, who came of age during the Great Depression and World War Two, were in survival mode their entire lives. Because of what they did, their children were able …
What Does it Take to be an Organic Gardener?
Some may dive into organic gardening with great expectations, and a feeling of pride at the choice they are making. However, when the reality of what it takes to be an organic gardener sets in, expectations become disappointments, and commitment to the choice may begin to fade.
For example, in many regions of the country, this has been an exceptionally cool and wet summer. If this is the first time that an individual has tried organic gardening, they may decide to scrap the whole idea, and return to the use of conventional gardening methods. Due to this weather, peppers are not growing, tomatoes are not turning red, and plants seem to be more prone to disease and rot.
The experienced organic gardener knows that this is part of the process, and resigns themselves to some loss, and accept what they reap. There are other things that make a good organic gardener.
Dedication
As mentioned …
