Posted on Apr 16, 2010 under Best For Garden |
Every spring, whether northern or southern hemisphere, many people begin to think about gardening. Some have been gardening every year since they were old enough to help in the family garden back of the house. Others have begun gardening only recently. Most have questions, though.
How to make an organic garden is a question that arises more frequently these days, as people become more concerned about health issues. They want to know that the produce they are eating is good for their health and safe for their families to eat. They want to begin an organic garden.
Many books have been written about how to make an organic garden, and we cannot compete with them in one article, but we offer here 7 basic steps for beginners.
How to Make an Organic Garden - Step #1
Begin your organic garden by learning your plant hardiness zone. You will need to know your climate, and what organic produce will grow best there. If you live in the United States, you can access the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map on many gardening sites or seed websites. Planting directions on seed packets are based on the average last frost date. The last frost date for your area will be the last spring day when you might have a killing frost.
How to Make an Organic Garden - Step #2
After you have determined your local climate, it is time to choose a location on your property for your organic garden. The area most convenient to your back door may not be the best for an organic garden. Look for a location that never has standing water. Your plants need good soil drainage. Check to see if the plants will be protected from the wind. Will your organic garden be close to water so you can easily care for it?
How to Make an Organic Garden - Step #3
Next, you will need to test the soil for your organic garden. In the U.S., check online for your county or state Home/Agricultural Extension Service. They will guide you in taking soil samples from different areas of the location you chose for your organic garden. Be sure you label each sample of soil as to part of the garden, and send it to be analyzed. This analysis will help you know what to add to the soil for a great harvest. Remember, one of the basic things you will do in your organic garden is to feed the soil so the soil can feed the plants.
How to Make an Organic Garden - Step #4
Order seeds, using information about your climate and soil. Be sure you order certified organic seed so that you can have an authentic organic garden. A good online seed supply source is Main Street Seed and Supply. You can buy as little as a teaspoon of seed for a small organic garden, or pounds of organic seed for farming. While ordering seeds, be sure to include onions, garlic, and marigold flowers. These plants can be a first line of defense in an organic garden’s pest control program.
How to Make an Organic Garden - Step #5
While you wait for your seeds to arrive, you need to prepare the organic garden bed. If there is grass growing in the location, removed it first. Use a sharp, flat-edged spade to slice out the sod. Shake off as much soil as you can, and remove the grass from the area. Till the soil to a depth of about 12″, and work in organic fertilizer, checking your soil analysis to know what amendments are needed.
How to Make an Organic Garden - Step #6
If you have organic seedlings to plant, water them well the day before you intend to plant them in the organic garden. The best time to set them in the garden is a still, overcast day. If you must plant on a sunny day, take care not to stress the plants more than necessary. Use the seedlings’ pots to determine how deeply to plant them.
If you are planting seeds in your organic garden, follow instructions that come with each type of seed.
How to Make an Organic Garden - Step #7
Apply organic mulch soon after planting. Mulch conserves water, cools soil, and keeps weeds at bay. If you use compost, chipped bark, shredded bark, shredded, shredded leaves, or straw, your mulch will also improve soil quality in your organic garden. Apply 2 to 4 inches of mulch, being careful not to get it too close to the plant stems. Mulch can rot the stems. It can also become a hideout for nibbling little garden mice.
Organic Garden Tip:
Label your plant rows and keep a record of your garden’s progress. Save seed information for everything in your organic garden. A garden journal, with photos throughout the gardening season, will help you know what you want to repeat or change in next year’s organic garden.
Anna Hart
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/how-to-make-an-organic-garden-134179.html
Posted on Apr 13, 2010 under Best Vegetables |
veggies cucumber and zucchini and flowers cannas lantana, crape myrtle, bougainvillea, stargazer lily, sunflowers, roses and anything the thrives in the sun
Posted on Apr 13, 2010 under Best Seeds |
i’m doing a science fair project and i want to know what kind of soil is best to grow a small plant, what kind of seeds i should use to grow a small plant, and what kind of lamp i should buy for a plant that gets all light.
You might try planting violas:
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&SearchText=viola&mainPage=textsearchresults&RequestType=NewRequest&go.x=0&go.y=0&go=submit
You’ll want to use potting soil if you’re going to plant the seeds in a pot.
Here’s a site for information regarding your lighting source:
http://www.homeharvest.com/whichgrowlightisrightforme.htm
("Plants need dark periods. Light (called photo-periods) and dark periods and their relative lengths have an effect on plant maturity. ")
*~ Good luck ~*
Posted on Apr 13, 2010 under Best For Garden |
Can someone tell me the publisher of this book and the place and date of publication of it?
maybe someone who owns the book can look in the front for me and tell me the place and year and the publisher please?
thanksss
best answer 10pts
Here’s an online copy with all the info you need.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0451160312/ref=sib_fs_top?ie=UTF8&p=S00A&checkSum=vhXjZvqoESdqIWfTY78XoOxy98leEhb8WbtcZPHAAlc%3D#reader-link
——————————————————————————–
Product Details
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Signet (November 7, 1989)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451160312
ISBN-13: 978-0451160317
Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
Posted on Apr 10, 2010 under Best Vegetables |
Starting a vegetable garden in NYC. I have a small backyard with soil. Want to grow things that I won’t find in the local supermarket. Any advice on what heirloom varieties grow best in this region? I don’t dislike any vegetable but looking more towards maybe tomatoes, beets, carrots, squash, beans type vegetables.
Beefsteak tomatoes from your part of the country are the best eating ever. You can also grow everything else on your list.
Posted on Apr 10, 2010 under Best Seeds |
I’m wanting to plant some lovely seeds/bulbs in the garden, not sure where the best place is. I need a superstore name or something. Thx
wilkinsons have always bin good for garden,i get most of my material from there.i do peoples gardens and after a couple of months they always comment about how much the garden has improved.
Posted on Apr 10, 2010 under Best Perennials |
In your opinion what is the most unique perennial or most pretty
The Iris is beautiful, & I haven’t been able to find a lot of tattoos with it’s design. The Iris was used as the symbol of royalty & was used on French coat of arms. I like the Orchid flower, too. This picture is labeled an orchid but looks like an Iris:
http://www.fulltattoos.net/image.asp?id=207&xname=Orchid+Tattoo
An Iris tattoo:
http://www.tattooartists.org/Gal36793_iris.asp
http://tattoo.about.com/cs/tatart/l/blkevinerin.htm?terms=flowers+by+kevin
The Rose, Lily & Lotus flowers are beautiful, but not unique for tattoos. The Rose is one of the most frequently used flower for tattoos.
Here are tatoo designs of the Lily & the Lotus flower:
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoos_designs_symbols_l.htm
The Rose in the West represents what the Lotus does in the East. A symbol of love, but especially of a love that is pure. Rose tattoo images :
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoos_designs_symbols_rose.htm
Images of a tattoo of a rose with prominent thorns - the thorns being the means by which the rose protects itself - reminds us that beauty does not come without sacrifice and that caution must be exercised, lest the prick of the thorn draw blood. Love is not without risk. Ecstasy does not come without it’s share of agony.
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoos_designs_symbols_rose_thorns.htm
More flower tattoos & their meanings:
"Iris became a messenger of the gods and stood for ‘good news’ or a ‘message’. Its three petals came to symbolize faith, valor, and wisdom."
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoos_designs_symbols_flowers.htm
More on the meaning of flower tattoos:
http://www.tao-of-tattoos.com/flower-tattoo-designs.html
Gallery of flower tattoo images: Enjoy!
http://tattoojoy.com/tattoo_gallery/nature,flowers,5.htm
http://www.1001-tattoos.com/flower-photo.html
http://www.tattoodles.com/gallery?gallery=4&page=37
http://www.tattoo-designs-free.com/flower.html
Iris images in every color & combination imaginable:
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&va=iris+flowers&sz=all&ei=UTF-8&ni=20&fr=ush-ans&b=61
http://www.flickr.com/photos/versicolor/502730406/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/klikz/335678764/
Good Luck! Hope this helps.
Posted on Apr 10, 2010 under Best For Garden |
I’m a new homeowner, and for the first time in my life have enough yard (about 2 acres) to justify a riding lawn mower. I’d prefer something a little more heavy-duty– a so-called "garden tractor"– because I’m likely to use it for more than just mowing. Aerating, seeding, hauling around mulch and setting out a garden are among the activities in which I’d employ the tractor.
I looked at a new gasoline-powered Kubota today with a 46-inch mowing deck and an 18 horsepower Kohler V-twin engine, but the dealer wanted something like $3,800 for it!
For obvious reasons, then, I’m also entertaining used garden tractors. Later today, I’m going to check out an old Ford LGT garden tractor– the local New Holland (former Ford tractor) dealer says parts are plentiful, though I would have to order most of them and wait a couple days for them to come in if something on this late ’70s-early ’80s tractor happened to break. If the asking price isn’t more than $500 or $600, I’ll be sorely tempted to buy it, despite its age. My family has a history of restoring old mowers like this one, for what it’s worth.
Anyway, I’m interested in hearing your opinions on this: New or used, what’s the best garden tractor out there for a not-too-ridiculous price? I’m talking under $1,500 used– preferably under $1,000 used to be honest– and under $2,500 if new.
Don’t waste your time of a smaller ones from Lowe’s, home depot, etc.. Those are overpriced lawnmowers. Kubota has great, reliable and nice tractors / mowers. They may not be the cheapest, but me and my family have two of them. We will never need another one. We have a zero turn with a huge deck and a G1800 or something around that design it has 4 wheel steering( its over 10 years old, has been take care of, and has shown no problems ). My family and I live on 4 acres. The zero turn can mow all of it within two hours. We have never done any major repairs on them. Simple routine maintenance can keep them running strong for a long time (changing oil, filters, and sharpening blades).
There are many good mowers out there, but you get what you pay for. Kubota has treat me well and I will never get anything other than them. I believe you could probably find a good well maintained used one at a cheaper price ( look into the G series ).