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• Recent Posts

  • Digging in the Green Stuff
  • ‘Learn About Desert Plants’
  • Organic Pest Control
  • Time to Start
  • New Year New Blog

Digging in the Green Stuff

By admin | February 14, 2012

I do not recall whether or not I published the fact that I was going to try out an additional Green Manure this winter I normally use Agricultural Mustard for this purpose. But being one who is always looking for improvement I thought I would give
Hungarian Rye a try.

Sowing took place imediately the last of the main crop Potatoes were lifted with the instruction to allow it to grow until the spring and then turn it in. Well needless to say it grew quite well, so well in fact that it reach six to eight inches high with quite broad leaves.

I am an advocate of not going on the ground for any reason when it is soaking wet, but we had no rain for two days prior to Suday the 12th of Feb. So I bit the bullet got out my trusty spade and turned the area over see picture.

As you can see the density of the foliage was such that it was almost inposible to hide it all even digging a full spades depth. I have come to the conclusion that
Hungarian Rye is for farmers or those that have sufficient land to warant using a plough.let you know how I get on when I come preparing the same area for planting.

Happy gardening

Norman

Topics: General, organic-gardening | Comments;

‘Learn About Desert Plants’

By guest | February 11, 2012

By alfredama | September 1, 2009

Despite how acrid the desert may appear, there are expansive types of desert plants that grow in dry conditions. These plants are tough, thriving on little water, a great deal of light, and conditions that would wilt or kill most living things. However, just because these plants can survive in an environment many creatures do not, desert plants do not necessarily make good house plants.

However, those who manage to raise desert plant indoors get the rewarding experience of nurturing a type of plant that many people do not usually get to see up close. These plants can serve as conversation starters, as well as adding a unique atmosphere to your home.

When you think of desert plants, the most common desert plant to come to mind is the cactus. Wild cacti can grow to a few feet tall, and usually do not endure home life very well. Many require special greenhouses with artificial lighting to survive. Don’t be concerned, there are cactus species that can be grown indoors for your enjoyment. These include the Acanthocalycium klimpelianum, the Acanthocalycium spiniflorum, the Acanthocalycium thionanthum v. variiflorum and the Acanthocalycium violaceum, as well as several other varieties. All of these cacti tend to be small, round in shape, and have one or several blossoms at the tip of the plant. Like desert wildflowers, cacti require tender care in order to endure. Unlike common belief, you cannot just neglect your cactus and water it infrequently. They need a specific amount of exposure to the sun, and planned watering. Without this, your cacti will wilt and die. Cacti are among some of the most difficult plants to keep in a home, so you will need to approach their care with caution.

If you are looking to keep desert plants in your home, there are a few key things that you need to keep in mind. Plants like the Apache Plume, the Arizona Poppy and the Blue Phacelia require a great deal of sunlight and heat. While they can survive the freezing spikes of the desert night, these plants need conditions that resemble the desert in order to survive. If you plan to keep any one of these plants in your home, you should take care to provide them a great deal of light and be wary of over-feeding.

Should you adhere to the few requirements of desert plants – scheduled feeding, proper temperatures and exposure to light – you will be able to adore your cacti and wildflowers for a long time to come.

Topics: General | Comments;

Organic Pest Control

By admin | February 10, 2012

Regretfully the credits for this post in Octobber 2010 could not be saved.

The idea of organic gardening pest control is not a new theory, and in fact is as old as agriculture. The problem is that since World War II organic pest control has been replaced in civilized countries with man-made pesticides that are detrimental to both the environment and to the people who consume the plants on which the products are sprayed. The return to organic gardening pest control and choosing to reject or restrict made-made pesticides is very popular with people today. Not everyone feels the same about these products. Some people oppose their use only on food, and others hope to minimize their use as much as possible.

There are a variety of sensible reasons that appeal to logic for using organic gardening pest control methods. Most importantly, if pesty insects are left alone, free of pesticides, they ae less likely to become resistant “super bugs”. Organic methods tend to be less polluting and blend into the ecosystem around it instead of disrupting it. In addition, because many of the pesticides that are available are derivatives of petrochemicals, their costs are higher, thus making alternatives more attractive. Whatever the reasons may be for avoiding their use, the organic gardener has to be prepared to work in order to make up for the loss of those chemical products that he chooses to abstain from using.

Organic gardeners use a variety of proficient, chemical-free strategies to limit pests in the garden. An easy and effective way to avoid pest problems is varietal selection, which includes choosing seed varieties that have been bred to be resistant against certain diseases and pest. The cultural control method of organic gardening pest control involves changing your gardening methods in order to reduce the hospitality that your garden offers to pests. This may mean removing or burning diseased plant material and destroying weeds and plan debris that provide hiding places for insects. Using stakes to keep fruits off the ground as well as pruning to remove diseased limbs, removing sickly plants, proper building of the soil, and making sure the plants are in raised areas in rainy seasons also help control diseases and pests. Crop rotation can also help in the prevention of disease and in pest control.

Using non-pesticide methods for pest control may not be as quick as the use of pesticides, but it is safer and over time, these methods will not simply repel the insects for the current season but prevent their reappearance in other corps. Although organic gardening pest control may present a longer and more strenuous process, it is well worth the time and effort.

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Topics: Hydroponics, pests | Comments;

Time to Start

By admin | January 24, 2012

I made a start in the greenhouse to-day, initially I spread a good layer of my three year compost on the area where I grow my Tomatoes. I then gave it a coating of potash, the ash from hedge cuttings I burnt last year.

Having turned the above in, I decide to set out the canes and give the whole area a good soaking with water from the rain butt.

The reason for the collars around the canes is so that if I need to use a liquid fertilser during the growing period it will go direct to the roots.

With that job done I turned the heat on in the small propagater and will be sowing the Tomato seeds in a couple of days. I will be growing three ‘Gardeners Delight’ at the back and two ‘moneymaker’ at the front both Organic of course. I will keep you imformed of the progress from time to time.

Happy gardening

Norman

Topics: organic-gardening, Tomatoes | Comments;

New Year New Blog

By admin | January 17, 2012

It was obviously not a good idea to set up auto posting. One or two of the posts were informative but most of them were rubbish. If you consider you have relevent information on Organic Gardening I would be extremely pleased to hear from you.
Just leave a comment in the ‘Comments’ box below with you email address giving a short content idea and I will contact you.

Norman

Topics: Uncategorized | Comments;

Your Questions About Organic Vegetables Wholesale

By guest | December 31, 2011

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Topics: organic-gardening | Comments;

Your Questions About Organic Tomatoes Cost

By guest | December 10, 2011

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Planting By The Moon

By guest | November 22, 2011

Planting by the moon has earned itself a certain mystique, for some, it conjures up naked bodies dancing under a moon lit sky. For others, ancient complex ceremonies of secret cults with pagan rituals and unknown symbols.

But in reality, for many centuries for travelers and, in particular, gardeners and farmers it has been a way of life. They firmly believe that vegetables should be planted, cultivated and harvested at certain times of the moon cycle and on particular dates of the lunar cycle in conjunction with the other planets.

Those who plant by the moon attest that, by following ancient traditions handed down through the generations, that the food they cultivate from the land tastes, grows, and looks better. Is there any truth in their beliefs, or is it just hocus pocus?

How Moon Planting Began
As far back as the 15th and 16th centuries astrology was an important part of everyday life. Remember this was a time without modern calendars and personal diaries.

During this time, people would look to the skies for weather predictions, to tell the time and to gleam the best possible time to plant their vegetables.

When you consider that the Earth is covered by oceans, and the tides of those oceans are governed by the moon and its place in relation to the orbiting planets, it makes sense that plants, which are roughly 90% water, would also be affected by the same planetary elements that affect the tides.

Plants were cataloged, if you like, by their specific features and each was given a sign of the zodiac. The process of assigning a sign of the zodiac to the plants was quite deliberate one based on the qualities of each plant.

The astrologers, who were held in the highest esteem by the ruler of the day, and the people they served, would look at the physical attributes of the plant, the illnesses it was used to treat, at the plant’s ‘family’ and finally at the growing conditions which that particular plant needed.

It was a highly complicated process governed by nature and ruled by the moon. For example, plants that needed wet conditions to grow were assigned to the moon. Plants needing arid conditions were assigned to Mars.

What Moon Planting Means For Gardeners
This knowledge has been handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, for a lot of the gardening wisdom was unwritten. Housewives and head gardeners for the rulers of the day, would diligently abide by the ancient’s wisdom, and these beliefs are the same today as they were then.

They all firmly believed that vegetables planted while the moon was waxing (this is when the moon is transitioning between full and new) would mean rapid germination and good strong growth. When seeds are germinating and needing light to grow, they push up to the surface of the soil to get the light. During a waxing moon, the larger part of its surface is illuminated making it look larger in the sky, and the ancients believed that during this time the Earth’s energy was directed upwards towards the large moon. So the connection was made between the upwards energy of the germinating plant and the Earth’s energy being directed upwards towards the moon.

In a similar fashion, vegetables planted when the moon was waning (getting darker and smaller in the sky) would be the kind that needed darkness to grow, such as root vegetables which grow under the soil’s surface.

It is believed that when the moon is waning the Earth’s energy is directed back into the ground, and this is good for anything that grows in the darkness below the surface of the soil.

As you can see the logic of moon planting is relatively simple and understandable. Planting by the moon can be a lot more involved, but it’s food for thought. Oh and by the way, dancing naked under a moon lit sky is optional.

Topics: General, organic-gardening | Comments;

Your Questions About Organic Tomatoes Fertilizer

By guest | November 21, 2011

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Topics: organic-gardening | Comments;

Going Organic: Common Questions

By admin | November 20, 2011

Organic produce like fruit and vegetables are in demand, but if you want the best-tasting, most nutritious and cheapest organic produce there’s no better way than to grow your own. So what does it take to grow your own organic fruit and vegetables?

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions by people considering growing their own organic fruit and vegetables for the first time.

I want to go organic, but where do I start?

Organic gardening begins with a change of mind-set. You have to think in terms of feeding the soil, not the plants directly. If the soil has all the nutrients available for the plants, they will take up what they need, when they need it, which saves you the work of having to figure it out.

This basic concept underpins all the principles of organic gardening. To feed and nourish the soil, you want to continually add organic materials to the soil in the form of compost, manure and mulch. These raw materials are then broken down by a hidden army of workers in the soil, called ‘microflora’. Microflora consist of bacteria, fungi, and other micro-organisms whose job it is to decompose these raw materials and turn them into nutrients that can be easily absorbed by the roots of the plants.

By doing this you are actually building up and helping nature to create new soil. This is a big advantage if the soil you have to start with is poor quality. It also has the added benefit of ensuring that the produce you grow is nutrient-rich.

What makes organic fruit and vegetables different?

Non-organic gardening has evolved around commercially made plant foods in the form of fertilizers, which are ‘fed’ to the plants mixed in water, thus making it readily available for the roots to absorb.

Great in principle, but, in practice this is where the problem begins. With this method the plant roots are only offered the water and food as a mixture. So, every time the roots need water to hydrate the plant cells, they have to take up food as well.

The roots cannot separate the fertilizers from the water, resulting in the plant having ‘excess’ nutrients and the only way they can use these extra nutrients, is, by being forced into growing. So even though the plants might grow quickly, and appear to be thriving, they will have a lowered resistance to pests and they won’t be nearly as nutritious. In addition, most fertilizers only supply a very small number of nutrients out of the wide range of trace minerals that the plants actually need.

Plants are not so different from humans, they have a pre-determined routine. They have natural cycles, and there are times when they are not actively growing. It is during these periods that the roots only need to take up water to keep the cells moist. At other times they have growing phases, this is when the roots will need to find food and water.

Also, like humans, if the plant gets overloaded with food they become unhealthy and sick. Which is what happens in commercial growing conditions because the plants are constantly getting extra food when they do not need it.

Is going organic expensive?

No, not in the least. In fact, going organic will actually save you money since you don’t have to purchase expensive fertilizers and pesticides.

What do I use in place of fertilizers?

In organic gardening you will use animal manure, recycled garden waste like leaves, grass clippings, hedge cuttings and old vegetables. These can be obtained from your existing garden if you have one, by visiting farms and stables, who are usually only too glad to let you haul away some of their manure. While you’re at the stable ask if they have any spoiled hay that they want to get rid of. If hay gets damp it will start to rot and go moldy, at that point they can’t feed it to the animals, but it will make excellent mulch for your garden.

If you can start a worm farm, or start composting you’ll be able to get rid of much of your kitchen waste and turn it into beautiful, nutritious soil for your plants as well.

So hopefully by now you’re starting to understand how organic farming is not only more sustainable than commercial methods, but it’s easy, cheap. The best part is it also helps to recycle a lot of what would otherwise be waste products, into high quality food for your fruit and vegetables, which in turn become high-quality food for you and your family.

Topics: General, organic-gardening | Comments;

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