Organic Beekeeping Basics

It is a proven fact that the honey bee population is dwindling drastically. Pesticides are being used more often and that kills bees along with other pests.

Beekeeping is not hard and if anyone who had the land, resources and minimal time would keep bees, there would be less of a shortage. It is important to note that if there are no pollinators to pollinate gardens and farms, we, we will not have food. Continue reading

Beneficial Insects for Your Garden!

It is unfortunate that some people think all insects are harmful to the garden. Many are, but just as many are beneficial to the garden. They eat other harmful insects or their eggs and save the garden from being eaten alive.

It is important to know which insects you want to attract and keep in the garden and those that can do harm. Using beneficial insects to control problems in the garden is an organic method and it extends to the flower garden, vegetable garden, fruit trees and lawns.

Benefits Of Using Beneficial Insects

Continue reading

What to Plant In The Fall!

Not only are there flowers and vegetables that can be planted in the fall for beautiful viewing and harvest that same season, but also for prep for beauty the following spring.

You can also make sure your garden is ready for the next seasons as well when the chore list around the garden is dwindling down for the cooler, end-of-year months.

Gardening organically doesn’t have to change what you plant or when, although it will help if you do some prep work for the next year. You also want to keep in mind what types of pests you will be encountering so you know how to head them off easiest.

Seed Flowers

There are certain flowers that grow from seed you want to plant in these cooler fall months. It will lay dormant for the cold winter and sprout in spring and summer, used mostly for ground cover in larger gardens. Continue reading

How To Use Shade Cloth!

Shade cloth is a lightweight fabric that has tiny holes throughout. Some sunlight and water are able to go through shade cloth, yet it keeps plants safe from high temperatures and hot sun so they do not burn or dry up.

Agrfabric shade cloth used on a greenhouse.

The shade cloth in the picture above is offered by Agfabric and it can be used in small or large gardens and greenhouses. It can be purchased here. Continue reading

End Bitter Lettuce!

Have you ever taken a bite of lettuce and thought, “Boy this lettuce was really sweet last week but now it is a little bitter?” It happens. Many factors can cause lettuce to become bitter, but the most frequent is the age of the lettuce plant and the amount of heat to which it is exposed.

There are a few other factors too and most of them can be remedied easily. It is not possible to remedy age and temperature, but you can try to fool the lettuce into thinking it is still young and that the temperature is not that hot.

Heat and Age

Lettuce is a cold weather crop, which is why it is planted in the early spring or late fall. When it starts to get hot in mid-July, lettuce tends to bolt.

This means it sends out a stalk and flowers and this is normal maturation process of the plant. Any lettuce that is produced while this is happening will be bitter. Continue reading

Top 5 Historic Gardens Going Organic!

Gardens are a beautiful piece of history that we can often still enjoy today. From the plantation gardens in the southern part of the United States to the palaces around the world with acres and acres filled with breathtaking views of flowers, trees, and everything in between these places are often a snapshot of times long passed.

Many of these historical gems have or are becoming organic gardens, giving them a more modern feel. They are ridding the natural beauty of harmful pesticides and other chemicals that not only damage the earth but also can be extremely harmful to those who simply want to enjoy being close to nature. Here is a list of the top 5 historic organic gardens.

Greys

Greys Court and Gardens

Continue reading

Protect Your Garden From Frost

Frost warnings usually send shivers down the backs of gardeners. A good frost can kill plants outside in a wink of an eye and they occur in the fall and the spring.

Find out when frost is most likely to occur in your area with a Frost Dates Calculator found on the internet.

This will give you a good idea of when to worry. Your local news station will most likely broadcast frost warnings too, so watch your 10 or 11 PM news.

It is vital that plants be protected from frost or they will die. Temperatures below 32 degrees are devastating to plants and even 40-degree temperatures can damage tender plants.

What Is Frost?

Continue reading

Space Saving Garden Tips!

Many home gardeners have a limited amount of space in which to grow a garden. Having an acre or two is a luxury most people do not have. What they do have is a tiny little city lot where their house takes up most of the space.

There may be room for a swing set and sand box for the kids, but a large garden is out of the question. Continue reading

How to Attract and Keep Earthworms in Your Garden

Earthworms are essential to a healthy garden. They are but one type of organism in the soil that turn waste into black gold or rich soil. They also tunnel through the soil and bring oxygen to the roots of any plants in the garden.

They loosen the soil so that roots have an easier time growing through it. They eat organic matter and their output is called castings, which are very rich and full of nutrients considered a natural fertilizer.

Attracting worms to the garden only makes your garden grow bigger and better. There are several ways to make worms at home in your garden. Continue reading

Indoor Window Garden!

You can still garden if you live in an apartment with no balcony or yard or if you live in an area that gets cold in the winter and you want a winter garden. Modern technology is making it very easy to maintain a garden indoors or on a window sill.

You just need the right equipment and you must choose the right type of plants to grow.

Window sill gardens are perfect for the kitchen window. The best thing to grow in them are herbs to be used in cooking. It is wonderful to walk over to the windowsill garden, pull off a little thyme and throw it in the stew cooking on the stove, Dry herbs are great flavor enhancer, but fresh herbs have an even better flavor. Continue reading