Master Urban Gardener, William Moss of CBS This Morning, shows you how to plant a container. Visit www.urbansustainableliving.com and www.wemoss.org for more information.
Join Dave as he inspects his vegetable garden a few weeks after planting. He’s testing a few different varieties of peas; find out which ones are doing the best.
Maintaining a garden requires several basic tools, including a shovel, a hoe and pruning sheers. Pick out basic garden tools with tips from a landscaper in this free video on gardening and lawn care. Expert: Bill Elzey Contact: www.showplacelawns.com Bio: Bill Elzey is the owner and manager of Showplace Lawns in Austin, Texas. Filmmaker: Todd Green
Organic herbal gardening is a topic that had been gaining prominence, especially on the context of growing your own plant-based and natural medicines. A growing number of people are considering alternatives to a health system that is completely based on chemically derived pharmaceuticals.
Organic herbal gardening provides an alternative to pharmaceutics. This substitute option has a long history, but has been overshadowed in recent decades by an over-reliance on technological and scientific quick fixes.
It’s impossible to fully substitute modern pharmacy with natural products derived from organic herbal gardening, but there are a great number of common illnesses that can be effectively cured, or even prevented, with the use of natural remedies.
Consumers who start growing their own plants for medicinal purposes are often already expert organic gardeners and vegetable growers, but this does not always have to be the case. You can start growing nothing but medicinal plants from scratch, and it’s much easier and less time-consuming than you may think at first.
People who turn to organic herbal gardening to grow natural medicines are usually highly aware of their bodies and also of their surroundings, and place a lot of importance on the quality and provenance of the food that they consume.
Many people now choose to grow part of the food that they consume through organic herbal gardening. Organic herbal remedies are in fact a natural progression from deciding to emphasize organic food for one’s own wellbeing.
Often herbal remedies have been grown commercially under organic conditions, but the enterprising gardener can add a series of curative plants to the produce in his backyard, garden or windowsill and, armed with a good treatise on the subject, self-administer the results.
There are several ways to consume organically grown medicinal plants. The easiest one is simply to eat them, whether raw or cooked, and many therapeutic plants are part of normal kitchen usage, such as garlic or pepper.
They can also be used for more topical applications, after having been mixed and made into pastes, creams or lotions, e.g. for applying to the skin. Herbal teas are another popular way of consuming herbal remedies, with chamomile being the most common and well known.
To start organic herbal gardening for the purpose of improving your health, you can either start from seeds or buy seedlings from specialist shops, either by going there in person or by buying over the internet.
OrganicHerbalGardening.com covers all your organic gardening needs, with tips and information. Whether you want to grow herbs or construct an indoor kitchen garden, click on a link to start.
Setting out to work on an organic veggie and herb garden is quite an enterprise, but can be one of the most satisfying ways to go green that there is. The definition of organic is grown without the use of pesticides or other chemicals, but naturally.
Organically grown vegetables and herbs are safer, healthier and also taste better than those grown with the help of chemical products, plus you can save get for free what would cost you at the grocer’s.
Unless you have no space to spare at all, one of the first steps to an organic garden is to set up a composting box, which will allow you to fertilize your herbs and vegetables, while also getting rid of kitchen waste. Even if you live in a flat you can compost, as it’s an odorless procedure if done right.
Your home-made compost will also fulfill a secondary purpose: it will help your organic garden to retain moisture, and as a result you will need to water your edible plants less often. Put all your kitchen waste and also any garden cuttings you may have onto the compost heap, but avoid great quantity of fish and meat remains.
The second step will be to get organic seeds so that you can start to grow vegetable and herbs in your organic garden. Don’t take any seeds, the vast majority are industrially and not organically grown.
There probably are specialized shops that sell organic seeds for gardening in your area, but you can also buy them through an online shop and have them mailed to you. Online is probably better for most users, as you get the convenience of choosing from home from a bigger catalogue, and as for all mailed products you can return organic gardening supplies if they are not up to your expectation.
To begin seeding, don’t start your organic garden outdoors right away! Use a glasshouse or put your seeds inside the house, where it’s warm. Let them sprout on a piece of damp cotton or paper and then transfer them to small pots and let them grow a bit.
Once the first leaves are showing, put them into individual pots as a preparation to outdoor planting in your organic garden. There are some fine composting pots that you can use, plant them in the ground together with your seedling and let them act as extra natural fertilizer for your organic garden.
Now that you have compost and grown seedlings, you will also need good organic soil. This earth is much better as it acts as a natural pest controller, and will let your plants grow more vigorous. If you had a on-organic garden or flower bed where your organic garden is going to be planted, we recommend removing and substituting a layer of old soil altogether.
Once you have some good compost, spread it over your soil. The layer should be about two inches thick. If done correctly, the compost alone will contribute all the necessary nutrients and minerals that your organic vegetable and herbal garden needs to grow and flourish.
More cool stuff onorganic gardening is available at OrganicHerbalGardening.com - click a link and you will be in the right place to start for all herbal gardening related queries.
Organic pest control treatments in the garden are an important step towards reducing the hazards of commercially produced pesticide products. Chemical pesticides can be highly detrimental to humans, causing all sorts of diseases and health problems. The are also harmful to the air, water, soil, plants, and animals around us.
Those who adopt organic pest control treatments in their garden practice various methods of companion planting or make use of natural pest repellants. With the prolonged use of such organic treatments, you not only protect the desirable visitors to your garden like butterflies and bees, but you protect plants, humans and pets as well against unintentional harm.
When you use organic treatments like neem, predatory nematodes or fungal biological control agents, you greatly enhance the richness and overall health of your garden soil. Organic treatments in the form of fungi work in harmony with your garden environment and most significantly with the garden soil.
Fungal biological control agents take into account various factors such as the soil constitution, availability of sunlight, water availability, nutrient supply, etc. When all of these factors are optimal, fungal biological control agents are best able to enhance the health and richness of your soil and offer protection from unwanted pests.
When you use predatory nematodes in your garden, you encourage the presence of helpful insects in your garden, while you successfully control unwanted garden pests. Nematodes, which are a major part of organic treatments, do not become pests in your garden. Rather, their survival is dependent on the availability of pests that these treatments target. Once the nematodes have consumed the unwanted pests, the nematodes will perish as well! Now, don’t you think organic pest control treatments are a safe and desirable option for controlling unwanted garden pests?
To find out more gardening tips, visit Cindy Robles’s site for the lastest in gardening news trends and inspiration.
In this video Patti Moreno installs drip irrigation with Leon from dripworks USA in her main raised bed garden. Drip irrigation is one of the most important break throughs in agriculture of the last forty years. Visit: www.dripworksusa.com http
If you intend to build or purchase one of the many types of homemade hydroponics, you should consider very carefully what you really intend to grow because not many homemade hydroponics can be used effectively for any crop.If you are taking your first steps into agriculture, and you have no idea where to begin, then you can pick up one of those homemade hydroponics kits at a local store but they can be rather expensive as I have not found one that is cheap. Let’s have a closer look at what you really need to do in order to have a successful business.
What Do I Need For Homemade Hydroponics?
A tote is going to be the first thing that you need which is going to hold all your nutrients and minerals, and you also need a water pump in order to oxygenate the nutrients. You’re also going to need an upper container which is going to be used to hold your actual plant containers. In the bottom of the container, you’re going to have to place to holes which will be used in the following way: the first hole is going to be used for flooding and draining, and the other one must be therefore an overflow pipe. A short tube is going to be connected to the bottom drain fitting from the water pump, and the water pump also needs to be hooked up to a timer clock. This is the basics of an effective homemade hydroponics. The pump must work four times a day about half an hour each time.
If you succeeded in putting together a functional homemade hydroponics then your job is half done. The next part that is truly essential is learning how and what to feed your plants. The food type is all going to depend on the type of crop you plan on growing as certain minerals and nutrients are needed to achieve the results you want.
A couple of things that will help you to be successful are a pH meter and an EC meter as these will both help to keep you up-to-date on the amount of nutrients and minerals that are in your system. As you can see it takes a little bit of time and materials to properly set up a system, with little bit of determination and will, you can see actual results.
You can get set up with a build your own homemade hydroponics set up really for a little expense and a little work. You are just simply going to need an aquarium pump, an air pump, and two 32 L totes. A couple other items will include the fittings to flood and drain the system, some plastic tubing, and a timer.
Hydroponics has become quite a hobby for many researchers, and the fact is that its importance is recognized even by NASA who uses this technique in providing fresh vegetables and to recycle air on the orbital space station.
To find a lot more information on hydroponics plants or a ton of other great hydroponics information, visit http://hydroponichelp.com.
By growing your own organic food, you ensure that you and your family are eating the best food possible. Organic gardening makes this doable. A great fertilizer for organic gardening is fish emulsion. Your garden plants will be laden with beautiful, nutritious fruits and veggies, more than any synthetic fertilizer could ever deliver.
Gardeners around the world have used fish emulsion in their gardens for centuries. It nourishes them like no other, making a huge contribution to the success of organic gardening. The results aren’t limited to veggies either. Flower beds thrive, producing tons of fragrant, colorful blooms that attract handsome birds and stunning butterflies.
But organic gardening means a lot more than just a natural way to feed the family. Organic gardens are an example to your community, showing them how to grow their own food too without any harm done to the environment. Huge farms that mass produce chemically laden crops will inevitably be brought to their knees, and they might even rethink how they do business. With open eyes, they’ll see that their use of synthetic fertilizers is harming the world, and their own soil.
Organic gardening benefits so many people right now, but the possibilities are endless. The amount of people who could and should be growing their own food is enormous. The chances of getting food that’s been tainted by a toxin is actually pretty high, and if more people realized this they’d think twice about their purchase at the grocery store and consider organic gardening as a viable alternative.
All walks of life are changing their eating habits these days. Unfortunately for the consumer, buying organic can be pretty expensive. It’s great for the organic farmer, but too many people simply can’t afford to eat healthy, and they suffer in the long run. That’s why organic gardening can make a tremendous difference in the overall health of people in general. Since eating organic has made a comeback, more participants benefitting from a healthy diet will make this a health food revolution instead of just a trend.
Green is the way to go. Somehow we became disillusioned that the use of chemicals in our gardens was a good thing, when in fact we were destroying the foundation of our gardens. How much more pain will be inflicted before society realizes what’s going on? Organic gardening is playing a huge part in repairing what has been done to the environment.
The only way we can truly know what we’re putting into our bodies is to eat what we grow ourselves, and organic gardening will ensure that we are getting the highest quality food possible. Stereotypes attached to organic gardening need to be put aside and the true dilemma at hand addressed. It’s time to stop messing up and start picking up the pieces, making our world the beautiful planet it was meant to be. Fish emulsion is serving a grand purpose in fertilizing our organic gardens, and let’s not forget the other methods that play an important part in keeping our gardens natural. Go green.
Avoid taking on too much at one time with organic home gardening. Knowing how to start a home organic garden right the first time is the best way to ensure success.
Begin Small
Edible Landscaping ” Plant your vegetable starts among your existing landscape.
Small Beds ” Dont go larger than 10 X 10 foot beds at first. Smaller areas are easier to manage for beginners.
Containers ” Plant starts in containers on your porch, balcony or around bushes.
Plan Your Home Garden Location
Water - Having water close to your garden allows for easy access. Having to trudge heavy watering cans long distance can be both back breaking and frustrating.
Kitchen ” Not necessary, but it is convenient to step out your kitchen to pick fresh produce.
Compost Piles - If you have a wheel barrow or a compost pile close by, you won’t have to work as hard.
Grow What You Love to Eat
Identify what you buy ” Make a list of the produce you normally buy. These are the plants you want for organic home gardening.
Grow what is expensive ” Are there certain vegetables you love to eat, but are very expensive in the store? If the plants will work in your climate zone, try growing them yourself.
Choose Variety - Having your own organic garden gives you the freedom to explore and experiment with many different plants.
Keep it Easy
Use Plants versus Seeds - Seeds can create frustration for any beginner. To ensure your journey is enjoyable and easy, try using starter plants from your trusted local nursery.
Amend the Soil - Drainage is imperative for a successful organic garden. Using a mixture of peat moss, compost or other amendable products will ensure your soil is optimum for growing hardy plants. Soggy, clay will result in root rot and dry soil should be covered in at least two to four inches of mulch. The mulch promotes conserving moisture for your plants while defending against pesky weeds that steal water and nutrients from your precious plants. In addition, compacted soil deters plants from receiving the nutrients they need.
Mulch - This promotes moisture retention as mentioned earlier. It also keeps those pesky weeds at bay.
Rhonda Abrons has been in love with organic gardening for many years. She loves to share her knowledge with fellow gardening enthusiast on Clivir.com where you can find her lessons about Organic Gardening Fertilizer and Permaculture Garden Design.