| Plant Profile: The Pincushion Flower
One of our favorite perennial plants for the garden is Scabiosa columbaria, “Butterfly Blue.” This delightful little plant blooms all summer long and is an important addition to the butterfly garden. There are many different colors of pincushion flower. You can get plants that bloom white, pink, purple, blue and maroon. Butterfly Blue was the perennial plant of the year in 2000, firmly cementing this plant’s return to prominence in every perennial and butterfly garden.
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Topsy Turvy Tomatoes
Picture a traditional garden plot of tomatoes. What do you see in your mind’s eye? Probably a sea of tomato cages, a sprawling jungle of tangled leaves, blossoms and tomatoes. There are probably more than a few rotten tomatoes lying around on the ground, cast offs because the gardener couldn’t harvest them fast enough, or find them amongst the sea of un-pruned foliage. All that changes when you turn tomato growing on its head.
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Organic Herb Gardening
Mmm, the savory fragrance of sweet basil, oregano and thyme wafting in your warm, welcoming kitchen… Now imagine that you just walked out into your own garden and picked those delicious organic herbs fresh for your culinary masterpiece. Or, maybe you just reached over your kitchen sink and plucked them from their growing pots on the windowsill.
Herb gardening isn’t difficult or reserved for experts requiring special skills or talents. Think of herbs as any other plants already growing in your garden or indoors in pots. If you can grow a petunia, you can grow herbs.
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Gardening Practices: Using Organic Fertilizers
Sometimes, your garden needs a quick boost of nutrients, but you don’t want to resort to using synthetic fertilizers, and your compost still needs time to cook. There are good organic fertilizer options out there to jump start your garden. To find and use the best organic fertilizer for your garden, you first need to understand the different types of organic fertilizers available. Here are some common organic fertilizer types that you will encounter, and a bit of information about them.
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Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Katie is raving about a book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver. From the first chapter, you are plunged into the world of this book, knowing that you’re going to love it. It is a narrative non-fiction account of Kingsolver’s Family’s move from Tucson, Arizona back to her husband’s farm property in the Appalachian foothills of Virginia, and their switch from relying on mass market agriculture to eating what they, or their neighbors, grew or raised: fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy.
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Your Organic Gardening Questions
Planting Tomatoes in Tires
Question: I have a question about planting tomatoes, or any veggie, in old tires. I have read in some places that it is ok but other sites say the tires release toxins that can be transferred to the plants. What are your ideas about this?
Linda
Answer: There could be concerns for toxins, but they are in very low doses – less than the pesticide residues in grocery produce, and a lot safer than if you use treated lumber in your garden, which leeches arsenic. Tires are very durable and stable, which they need to be to carry vehicle loads. Any heavy metals in them are tightly bound to the rubber compound. One such metal, zinc, is a micronutrient for plants. Tires are an environmental headahce for their inability to just go away, but their durability can also make them a very stable part of your garden – something that can be passed on as a family heirloom! (Gee, thanks Grandpa…)
If you research online, everybody seems to be split 50/50 on the issue! I myself don’t use them, simply because I don’t have any old tires around, but two gardening friends who contribute to the site have used them for years with no ill effects. Ena Clewes, a garden writer, has written an excellent article on it here.
Chris
How to Encourage Friends to Go Organic?
Question: My friends just had a nice waterfall built into their yard. There are no live “critters” in the pond. They are experiencing a lot of suds at the base of the fall and the company they are dealing with gave them bleach and tablets to add, which seems to have caused more suds. I am encouraging them to go organic but I have no idea what to tell them. Any ideas?
Tammy
Answer: Good question, and one I’ve been thinking about as well. One thing that did not work for me is trying to teach – they just tuned me out. It’s quite difficult to change people’s methods – I can’t even get my parents to try organic gardening!
However, you have an opportunity here, because it sounds like they’re having some problems. You can start by opening a friendly statement like “gorgeous waterfall. Have you thought of some fish?” or something to get them to talk about their waterfall. If they take pride in it, they will love to talk about it. Perhaps if you talk about adding some fish or aquatic life, they will think about the option. Don’t press the issue, just let them think about it.
The problem with the suds is likely because they are not adding anything natural in their pond or waterfall. Fish and aquatic plants act as a filter, eating the algae and minerals in the water and helping keep it clean. This fact could also be a great opening into “why don’t you try to go organic?” without actually saying it. The waterfall system they have is “not natural”, so things quickly go out of balance.
What could also be happening is the tap water. Depending on where you live, the tap water could have a lot of minerals, which encourage algae growth. Use distilled water instead. Bleach does nothing to solve the problem – it only kills the algae, but the problem will come right back.
Chris |
