Articles and Tips June, 2009
Using Natural Insecticides in Your Organic Garden
Unless you began your life as an organic gardener, this time of year can get frustrating as you try as hard as you can to keep bugs, insects, worms, and caterpillars from chewing through your precious crop.
You really want to do the right thing, but the pull toward the ”just this once”, application of mass-destruction full spectrum insecticides and toxic chemicals are calling out to you. Perhaps you still have some lurking in the corner of garage, …
Watering Your Garden – Proper Techniques
Many gardeners don’t think about how they water – they just go out, turn the hose on the sprinkler, and forget about it. Either that, or they use a watering can and give a gentle sip every morning.
However, there are proper techniques that will not only keep your garden healthier, it’ll teach them to grow stronger roots, disease will be less prevalent and, most importantly, you’ll save money by wasting less water….
Plan Your Garden For Fall Color
Your yard and garden can look just as great in the fall as it does during the spring and summer, if you plan ahead and plant accordingly.
Setting the Stage
For the super stars of your fall color garden spectacular to show up, you need a nice background. In beautiful, mountainous regions with spectacular fall color (think Vermont), evergreen trees scattered throughout the mountainside provide a bit of …
Plant spotlight: Blue Star
One of my favorite plants is the Blue Star, Amsonia taebernaemontana. This perennial wildflower is native to southeastern North America, but is as gorgeous, if not more so, than many cultivated garden plants. While there are many different species of Blue Star, the cultivar ‘Blue Ice’ is a new favorite among home …
City Composting a Mandate? San Francisco’s New Law and Why it Exists
Many organic gardeners already use composting practices in their yards, on their decks, or in their kitchens. However, what if city composting became a mandate in your area, and you complied or were fined? Would you be as much of a fan of composting at that point?
Well San Francisco has very recently passed a law requiring that all city residents separate their appropriate food waste into a separate bin. So now instead of …
Keep that White Clover in Your Lawn!
Get your White Clover Seeds here!
Lucky clover. You’ll usually see three leaf clover, but sometimes, just sometimes, you’ll be lucky and find a fourth. Actually, contrary to modern belief, you’re a lucky gardener if you find white clover in …
The Wonderful World of Rain Barrels
English Rain Barrel, from GardenersWhy use a rain barrel when you can just hook your hose to the outdoor spigot and get all that you need? Because water is not an infinite resource, and it often freely falls right out of the sky and can be harvested by the responsible organic gardener. The …
Easy and Inexpensive Ways to Keep Your Garden Cool During Those Wicked Summer Months
There are some plants classified as cool weather plants that cannot handle the scorching sun during the growing season’s hottest months. In this case, you must find ways to keep your garden cool. For those in the south, this may be needed more months out of the year. Northerners generally need only worry about July and August.
Some may wonder why plants should not get sun in the summer months. Most of the seed packets and …
Growing Your Own Berries – Raspberries, Strawberries and Blueberries
Berries are sometimes referred to as “nature’s candy,” and for good reason. They are naturally sweet and bursting with flavor – all originally intended to entice animals to gobble them up and spread the plant’s seeds far and wide. Berry season is creeping northward – starting in February in Florida with strawberries, with the last blackberry season not ending in northern Canada until late August. …
Organic Corn Red Martian
Nothing tastes better than corn freshly picked from the garden! Have some fun in the vegetable garden this summer by growing your own corn. For something different on your table, try the “Red Martian” variety of organic red corn from Park Seed. Kids will especially love this tasty treat. Corn named after an alien. Sign me up! In addition to …
