Articles and Tips July, 2009
Vertical Gardening. Great Spaces in Small Places.
Not every gardener has the luxury of expanses of land to till for their gardens. In fact, some great gardeners have produced beautiful gardens on a patio or balcony. They were able to do this as a result of smart use of vertical gardening.
There are many uses and applications of upward space in any size garden. Most plants can be adapted to this method, even if it is not their natural tendency. This method can …
Preserving the Harvest
Now that the plants in your garden are finally producing fruits and vegetables, the sheer numbers can sometimes be overwhelming. An organic gardener generally does not want to see any food go to waste. The easiest answer for this pleasant problem, is preserving the harvest.
There are a number of ways in which large quantities of produce can be put back for the rest of the year. There really is nothing better than having fresh frozen …
Garden Watering Tools
In midsummer, your plants have reached the point where they need water frequently, but their roots are long enough to reach deep into the soil for it. You may not have to water as frequently, but you still have to hand-water occasionally, and your hose and your inferior watering wand have reached the end of their lives. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find a replacement for your best hose or watering wand mid-summer. …
Pollination 101
“Let me tell you about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above. . .”
The birds and the bees, huh? It is time for a refresher about pollination, because this is the time of the summer when many vegetable/fruit plants are at their peak of producing, and it is very important that everyone understands what that means for them, as gardeners. Especially, organic gardeners.
Where’s the Bees?
You’ve probably …
Creative Blueberry Garden Recipes
One very important thing to learn as a gardener is to eat seasonally. This means eating greens and wintered over root vegetables in the early and late spring, peas and beans in the early summer, and finding 317 ways to eat blueberries, tomatoes, and peppers in the mid to late summer. In order to accomplish this goal, it requires that the gardener has a number of creative garden recipes at their disposal.
Five Ways With Blueberries
If …
Edible Gardens: Eat What You Sow
There seems to be a simple truth in gardening, there are flower garden people, edible garden people, and a few who are a little of both. Flower garden people do not want to be bothered with ugly vegetable plants in rose and perennial gardens, and vegetable garden people plant flowers often only as a companion to a vegetable in their garden.
Michelle Obama is doing it, more and more neighbors and communities are doing it, and …
Organic Gardening Interview: Penni Shelton
If you grow your own vegetables, you can eat them in whatever form you would most enjoy. Anyone thinking about growing and eating vegetables for health purposes – more than casual nutrition – has probably come into contact with information about the “Raw food movement” or “Living Food Movement.”
There are various schools of thought about whether you should cook your vegetables, or eat them raw. The people who eat only raw food do not heat …
Book Review: Gardening Nude
Shawna Coronado grew up in Kokomo, Indiana, a small community in the heart of the breadbasket (farm country), of the United States. Her family was anything but normal, her parents had an unconventional marriage, and her father passed away when she was just 13 years old. Her grandparents’ farm became a place of solace. She wandered around in nature, not really doing anything constructive, other than mowing …
When and Where to Use Liquid Organic Fertilizer
While often the fertilizer focus in organic gardening is on compost, manure, cover crops, or the addition of certain minerals, there are also times when liquid organic fertilizers have a place in the yard and garden. Some of these products can be purchased, and some of them can be concocted by the gardener from items on hand.
There are a number of liquid fertilizers on the market that are approved for organic use. However, as in …
Tomato Troubleshooting
This is the time during the summer that tomato problems start to show you if they are happy with the way you are growing them, or unhappy. They show signs of stress and insect damage. In Northeast North America, there has been an outbreak of tomato disease affecting many tomato growers – both commercial and homeowners. Unfortunately, you can’t fix every problem that might plague your tomato plants, but you can help with some of …
