Back in the day, most people thought that greenhouses were a luxury. But today, technology makes certain compact greenhouses available for an affordable price.
Measuring 8 by 12 by 8 feet, the Essence Silver Greenhouse is a great starter for your home organic garden.
It has a galvanized steel base which makes it both durable and anti-rust. There are also rain gutters if you want to use rainwater for irrigation. Continue reading
Most of us are not so confident with using rain water to irrigate our home-grown plants, especially that they are edible. There could be a couple of natural and artificial pollutants in the rainwater, but according to recent scientific studies, it is quite safe to use rainwater by using a rain barrel to water the plants.
Many countries and localities use rain barrel water for watering their organic gardens because of the climate or season in their place. For instance, they have long summers or droughts and drastically need to water the plants. For starters, here are a couple of ways and tips on how to effectively set up and utilize a rain barrel for organic gardening:
Make sure that your roofing isn’t made up of toxic materials or chemically treated to kill algae or moss, because this definitely means it will be toxic to plants. These roofing materials include wood-shake roofing, copper gutters and zinc strips. Continue reading
An Icky Aphid.
Pests like aphids and cutworms are true enemies of your garden. They can annihilate your plans in a matter of a few days, sometimes it takes just a few hours if your garden is small.
The best way to combat pests is to treat your garden before they start infesting it. Most newbie gardeners plan their garden and they go into reactive mode once pests start to infiltrate their garden rather than using preventive measures from the get go.
So start your preventative measures first. Buy or use your own concoction and spray your vegetable garden with organic sprays that will deter pests from choosing your garden as their meal. Continue reading
Composting is easy to do, although many place too much emphasis and mystery into what you need to put in your compost. It is hard to compost the wrong way. The first thing you need is a place to put your compost.
Compost is the heart of an organic garden. If you decide to garden organically, you will need to build or buy a compost container because you will need a lot of compost to keep your soil healthy and your plants happy.
Composting is easy to do, although many place too much emphasis and mystery into what you need to put in your compost. It is hard to compost the wrong way. The first thing you need is a place to put your compost.
It can be as simple as 4 stakes in the ground with some chicken wire wrapped around them making a container, a couple untreated wooden boards nailed together in a square or rectangle with nothing on the bottom or by staking cement blocks and steadying them with rebar to make a compost bin.
You can go fancy and use a metal trash can, putting slits or holes in it so that the compost can breathe or you can buy a handy-dandy compost barrel made out of rubberized or plastic material. Some are even on tripods and have a handle to turn them on occasion.
The compost doesn’t care what kind of container or pile it is in. It works just as well with chicken wire as it does with a turning container with a handle. What you put in IS important. Continue reading
What is an organic vegetable and can I grow them in my backyard? This is a common question today as people are becoming more aware of what they are putting into their bodies when they eat.
It is becoming more popular to avoid unnecessary chemicals, pesticides and other synthetic substances that stay in the vegetables regardless of how much they are washed. Continue reading
We all go to the super market and buy fruits and vegetables. And if you’re older like me you bought what they had available back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Back then they didn’t know what ‘organic’ was. Only a handful of individuals knew that pesticides and later on, genetically modified foods were and what they could do your body.
As a result, thanks to activists, we have finally learned the truth about harmful pesticides and unhealthy growing practices. It has gotten much better and now we can buy all kinds of organic products, and if you’re really smart you’ll start your own organic garden.
Even though things have gotten better, there is still a lot of food poisoning resulting from poor handling of the produce and poultry, whether it’s at the originally source or in the actual market. Continue reading