Teach Your Kids About Gardening

Gardening is very important because for survival we all are dependent on food. There are different types of gardening in which you can grow plant, trees, flowers, herbs, fruits and more.

Garden can be of any size. It can vary from acres and acres of land or it can be small box with only few plants in it, which you can be placed in the window.

Different plants need different climates and different seasons. You can involve your children also in gardening. They can help you out in growing the vegetables to be eaten for dinner and they can also helps you out in preserving the vegetables and fruits to be eaten during the winter season.

Gardening gives many lessons to the children which are much important for them. It teaches them that how the seeds grow the plant and how we get food and from where and also teach them to be patient and see them growing slowly.

Gardening also provides the chance to the children to work outdoors and do productive things with fun. Always take the children to acquire for the stuffs required for gardening. You should also ask them to grow their plants themselves in small pots and boxes.

For gardening supplies you will be requiring the seeds, soil, watering can, hand held garden tools and some fertilizers for the soil if needed.

You should teach your children to read each packages of the seeds carefully and ask them to notice that each and every plant require different time duration to grow and how much deep they needed to be planted.

For instance, cucumbers need light soil for plantation while carrots need to be planted deeper in the soil. This knowledge will let your children understand and will let him grow plant accurately and productively.

Fresh Food In Your Garden

When we see the 'Little House on the Prairie', we can recall the time when there was no grocery store to carry the vegetables from. Life was very difficult at that times when one has to grow food himself for his family.

This would be like plowing the garden for growing plants and working with the team of horses. Tired from such hard work, a person normally fell asleep early after the dinner.

It was very tough job. One has to work hard and had to gather the enough amount of food for saving himself and his family from starving during the winter season.

But know our life has become so much easy. We can easily get the vegetables and fruits from the grocery store at the cheap prices. If we grow the food ourselves it would cost us more than buying it from nearest grocery store.

Most of us buy the food from the grocery stores because they are affordable. But some people have X and Y personal reasons to grow their own garden.

Growing your own garden has many benefits. Working hard in your garden will give you experience and it will teach you tricks and give you tips which later on you can pass it on your children.

Initial cost for establishing the garden is high, but you can grow the food all along the year. You can also preserve the food for the winter season. In the end you will find your garden repaying you in form of fresh and clean vegetables and fruits.

Seeds and plants are expensive to acquire. So you can save the seeds from the vegetables and make it grow next year, rather than buying the new seeds. By this way you can save your money.

Growing Flowers In The Garden

Imagine the fragrance and colors of the fresh flowers which you have just picked up from the garden. Nothing of course can replace these feelings. It makes the day brighter.

By putting the flowers in the flower vase and setting it on the middle of the dining table will enhance the beauty of the room.

What if you yourself have grown these flowers? The sense of pride and accomplishment will fill you and it will cost you nothing for enjoying the flowers in the home.

But if you have not taken the plunge to grow the flowers yourself, you can do it now. It’s never too late. You will find that growing the flowers is very easy job and it will gives you relaxation and refreshing feelings as well.

There are some flowers that are difficult to grow and they only grow in certain season a year. They are known as seasonal flowers. Like for example Christmas cactus.

Gardening the flowers can also earn money for you. You can take part in the flower contests and can win monetary prizes and ribbons.

You can also use these flowers for selling in the flea market and or the floral shops. You can also use these flowers as a gift for someone very special, someone who just had a baby, someone how is feeling lonely and disturbed or even to a person who has birthday. You can also give these flowers to a person who is in hospital.

Flowers can tell the things which you cannot even say. They are the most precious and valuable gift. They are used to uplift the spirits. Different colors of followers depict different meaning. Other person can judge your feeling with the color of the plant. So if you do not have courage to say a sorry to your friend, you can fetch a white rose for him/her.

Knowing About Vegetable Gardening

Vegetable gardening has now become one of the most popular hobbies. Vegetable gardening allows you to have fresh and healthy vegetables with great taste which is better than what you buy from a vegetable store.

In vegetable gardening, you don’t need to follow any out of the way instructions.

It’s just like the normal flower or herb gardening and needs appropriate care and you will see that your garden will produce delicious vegetables and bloom for a long time.

The first thing needs to be considered is the size of the garden what you want and the proper place for it. But keep in mind that the place which you choose should have a proper draining system, a better flow of air and a nutritious soil.

The sunlight is very necessary for the plants so consider this as well. The animals like dogs, rabbits, deer and lots of others will try to get in your garden and eat these tasty veggies so you need to protect it using fence or just try to set some traps in which animals like mice and moles can be caught.

Now start the planting, but wait! You need to prepare the soil first. Preparing the soil includes cultivation ant the use of organic materials.

Weeds are a big problem so to avoid them, till the soil properly. If you own a small garden it’s better that you go for spading.

Mulch the soil as much as you can and compost stands at first for this purpose. When you use fertilizers, they emit nitrogen, minerals and different type of useful nutrients, which plants need to grow better and healthy.

Different plants and soil need different amount and type of fertilizers for their growth such as the leaf plants like cabbage, spinach and lettuce needs more nitrogen to grow well, while on the other hand, potash is the basic need for the plants like potatoes, beets, turnips and carrots.

Some plants like tomatoes and beans need not so much fertilizers while onions, celery and potatoes require a big amount of fertilizers.

Garden arrangement or organization plays an important role in vegetable gardening. There come a lot of different conditions so it doesn’t work well if you keep the same arrangement for every type of garden.

Some plants does not require much space or area together like radishes, lettuce, beets etc while some plants like corn pumpkin and potatoes need more space together so plant them in this way, it’s a good idea.

As sunlight is very important for plants to grow so plant them in such a way that longer ones come on the back side and shorter ones come at the front so that no plant will come in the sunlight’s path of the other.

You cannot start planting at any time of the year with specific ones, as every plant has a particular season to grow.

If, this happens that you badly need to plant then you must plant them at a warm or hot place and when the weather get changed you transplant them.

Water is an essential part during plants’ growth so make sure that you water them properly according to their type. Some plants need more water and some need less like an inch per week.

After all this care, one thing which can be dangerous are weeds. Doing all this hard work and getting nothing at the end is such a disaster.

Vegetable Gardening For Dummies

Weeds use all the water, light and nutrients which are necessary for the plants. They harm the plants with diseases and insects. To get rid, you must cultivate or mulch the garden. Most of the seeds come with the label “disease resistant”, try to use them or you must need to use chemicals.

Vegetable gardening is the best among all as you get to taste the fruit of your hard work. It’s a cheap way of satisfying your hobby and most of all their taste is just much better than the ones bought from the market. Proper maintenance and following of instructions is the key point to have a lot of end product.

How To Get Better Result Of Compositing And The Organic Gardening

Compositing is the most respected technique that must be adopted by all the gardeners. The question is which materials to be used in the compositing.

Well theories tell us that we can use any organic material in composting, but in real life it is not really as simple as it seems.

In compost pile several organic materials cannot be used, as you do not have pretty knowledge that how much of its quantity be required, only experts can do that.

In this article I will try to let you understand that which materials must not be used in the compost and which can be used in compost.

The composters at home can use numbers of materials that are available in their kitchen and the backyard. The industrial composters however, have benefit over us because they are entertained with the large number of waste materials from the industries that can be used in the compost.

Another thing they do not need to worry about the smell coming out from the compost pile. But if the compositing pile at your backyard will start stinking, you in that case has to face the taunting from the neighbors as well as the other family members.

You can though use the materials from the lawn that are dying to be disposed. These can be the extra grass, grass clippings can be used in the compost pile in the backyard. Hay can also be used if you do not of grass clippings.

The usage of hay is mostly practiced by the farmers in the compositing. Farmers always want to dispose of the hays. But make sure that if you are using the hay, pick only the green ones that are rich in nitrogen.

Vegetable peels, fruit rinds, tea bags, eggshells and coffee grounds can be used from the kitchens that are also enriched with the nitrogen. This will attract the pest that is why you must have take measures in stopping the pests.

Compost pile can also include the wood chips, wood shaving, saw dusts, paper, and other wood products. But be-aware not to use the chemically treated woods in the compost pile it can be dangerous for the soil.

Things that must be avoided to be the part of the compost piles are the plants that are died due to some disease. The died infected plants are most like to infect the future plants as well.

The waste from the humans, dogs and cats must also not be included in the compost pile as they can contain diseases. These diseases than can become the cause of making the other people sick by affecting the plants.  

Although the grasses can be used in the compost pile, but try to include the grass that can grow in the compost pile. Do not include the weeds like morning glory, ivy, sheep, and kinds of grasses, these can re-grow the new garden in the compost pile.

Compositing is best for the garden but yet selection of correct materials will determine the success of the compost pile.

 

Organic Gardener's Composting 

The Ways To Learn About Gardening Gift

Gardening is one of the hobbies which have become so popular from years.

You may know a gardener who is so stuck to his hobby and would love to have any gardening gift or present for his special occasion ahead.

Gardening gifts have no limits, as they can be bought for beginners and experts as well and they can be purchased from anywhere like online, nursery, feed store, farmer’s market, your local Wal-Mart or grocery store which is the best thing about them.

An informative or instructive book on gardening is the best gift for a beginner. These books will encourage and help them to know how to get rid of these insects, diseases and weeds.

These books will tell the gardeners about the specific plants which can be planted in their area and what amounts of sun, water and nutrients they individually want.

These books are available at your local bookstore, nurseries or online. A gardening CD is another good idea of giving him a gift if he is obsessed with computer usage.

Another appreciating gift is the plant. No matter the person is beginner or expert, it’s the gift which would surely be admired. A traditional gardening gift “plant” can be a poinsettia at Christmas or any other plant like moss is even a good idea. If you go for buying seeds or a bulb to transplant or a perennial which will bloom for long is even not bad.

Try to give theme gifts like a herb plant with a card hanging which includes a recipe or a plant which appeals butterflies due to its nectar along with a book written on butterflies.

The most attractive and charming gardening gift is gardening tools. But it needs a good budget. If you are willing to spend some extra cash then you must go for it.

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It includes simple things like a hoe, a rake, gloves or big things like an electric blower or vacuum. These will help to clean the driveways and sidewalks. Hedge trimmers or sprinklers can also be given.

Calendar is another gift of appreciation but is rare. It will help the gardener in giving him different gardening themes or even tells him about the moon phase which greatly affects some plants. The best gardening book is the farmer’s almanac which includes weather information, moon phase, when to pant, when to prune etc.

Another gift which the gardener will ultimately like is the gift certificate to any nursery or store where he can buy the things of his own choice. He can buy the tool which still incompletes his tools collection or any plant of his need.

Though a gift is difficult to decide, still if you have gardener friends, it becomes easy as you can buy any gardening gift, which will allow you to choose from the best price range, which suits you.

It permits you to buy even a cheap pair of gloves or a power tiller. Try out your green thumbs for the next occasion of any of your friend buying any gardening gift.

The Benefits Of Using The Red Worm Compositing

Compositing is one of the methods that have been used to solve the environmental problems as well as act as the food for the soil and fulfill the lack of nutrients in the soil.

The scientist have tested this method in the laboratory and approved the new compositing method named as “worm compositing.” This method is capable of achieving the new success with the use of red worms.

Also it is been a fear in us for the creepy worms and we consider them as the goose bumps. This can be the best way to make any one alarm and shocked.

But on the other hand the fact is that these worms are very helpful in cultivate the environment for the long time. It is playing its important role in making the compositing process successful.

You may think that the use of creepy red worms in compositing is not the good idea. But wait take a deep breathe and think again, that these little creatures are much crucial for the safety of the environment. Some advantageous of using the red worm compositing are discussed below that will surely change your mind:

Advantage Number 1: Flexible: Indoors or Outdoors, Take Your Pick:

You can carry the red worms’ compost indoors as well as outdoors, it is up to you. The best thing is that you do not need to be with them all the time. They will do their work themselves without charging you any thing and without stopping work day in and day out. All you need is to feed them so that they can be in working condition all the time.

Advantage Number 2: All it needs is moist bedding:

Worms need the moisture and that is the component that can be easily get. Only you have to provide the worms with the moisture and have to get relax while they will perform their job in making the soil fertilizer.

Advantage Number 3: Worms are readily available and are not that hard to cultivate:

The worms are not even difficult to be found. You just have to keep the jar in your hand and collect them from your garden. You can also find them in the bathroom as they are rich with the moistures. Only you have to feed the worms and they will be happily rendering you later on.

Advantage Number 4: Aside from the yuck factor, the worms will happily do the work; you only have to regulate them:

Your work will be of the worm manager. Once you have collected the worms and placed them on the heap gathered, your work is just to feed the worm labors. In American communities people and government is also supporting the worm compositing cause. You can get help from them too.

Advantage Number 5: Mobile bins will not affect the worms' performance:

Another best thing with worm compositing is that you can take the compost jars with the worms anywhere you want. But if this is on the large scale like industrial worm composting than you won’t be able to carry it.

 

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Understanding About Organic Gardening

Organic gardening is not much different from regular gardening. The different is just that there is no use of synthetic or artificial fertilizers or pesticides.

This would probably make it difficult for one to protect the garden from insects, diseases and weeds. In organic gardening, plants and soil needs more care.

The first thing which comes in organic gardening is the soil. Organic matter should be added up in the soil for more productivity. The plants which are grown under organic gardening needs compost necessarily.

Compost made at home may include leaves, dead flowers, vegetable scraps, fruit rinds, grass clippings, manure, and several other things.

The soil which can be named as perfect must have a dark color, sweet smell and have plenty of earthworms. There are some soils which require comparatively more natural additives than regular soil may provide, like bonemeal, rock phosphates, or greensand. You can get to know about the nutrients which your soil needs by a simple pH balance test.

The thing which is a reason for the anxiety of even serious gardeners is the insects and they cause the gardeners to go for pesticides. Take some preventative measures to save your plants from insects and pests.

One thing which you need to keep in your mind that you need to maintain the water level of your plants balanced. They must not be too dry or too wet because insects always attack on unhealthy and weak plants.

If the plants are healthy, they will even overcome minor diseases by their selves. If you want your garden to be protective from pests then keeping a large variety of plants is obviously a good idea.

One idea which is the perfect one it that, try to grow your garden in such a way that it would be attractive and alluring to insect predators like ladybugs, birds, frogs and lizards.

This can be done by making a water place or by growing those plants which would be attractive for insects whose meal is nectar.

Sticky traps, barriers, and plant collars can also be used for this. You can find things in your home as well like insecticidal soaps, garlic and pepper.

Diseases can be avoided by the growth of disease resistant plants and they must be planted in prime conditions. A big reason for the disease to spread is the unhealthy air circulation, so to ensure protection from diseases, you need to have a proper site for your garden and a healthy way to water the plants.

In organic gardening, weeds are a trouble. You save your plants from weeds by the use of organic mulch but by spreading a layer of newspaper, cardboard or construction paper, under the mulch, plants can be more protective.

You can slow down the growth of weeds by putting corn meal gluten in early or starting season before plantation. An old tradition of hoeing and hand pulling is ever trustable. You need to be consistent in weed protection. You just need to mulch, pull and hoe and win the battle against weeds after a few seasons.

Organic gardening, if done properly and carefully, lets you have your plants truly clear from pesticides and much healthy. Organic gardening demands some extra time than regular gardening but after passing a reasonable time in organic gardening when you will get to know all of its benefits, you will worth it extra time.

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Different Types Of Home-Based Composting Techniques

There are two types of compositing that have been flourishing, one is residential or home-based and other is industrial compositing.

Both of them have different types of techniques for compositing. Still the popularity of the home-based or residential compositing is booming more because it can be easily carried out in the small scale and also requires fewer efforts.

All one need is to have will and have enthusiasm to perform the compositing activities.

Also the residential compositing requires less machines and equipments to support the compositing function. Some of the home-based compositing techniques are described below:

Composting Toilet:

In the urban and the rural areas the most common and easy type of compositing technique is the use of the compositing toilet or pit. This method is quite easy to set up and monitor. This method is quite tricky and if followed on the larger portion of the home, must be discussed with the other family members.

It is also difficult to differentiate the materials on brown and green, however this method is most widely used in the homes on the small scale.

Open or Closed Bin Composting:

The compositing bin method is very useful and fruitful for those people who are compartmentalizing and organizing the compositing task. It is difficult to clean the compositing pit or the toilet sometimes that is why the use of compost bins has taken superiority over pits and ensures that the things will be under your control.

The compost bin will ensure that the other variables cannot affect the external materials in your compost pile.

German Mound:

German mound method is also known as the Magic mound method. The German mound contains the components like wood-rich gardens, clippings from hedges, prunings, bashwood and brassica stems. All of these components are placed in the circular trench that is almost 5 inches in breadth and one inch deep.

At the center a hole is dug. It gives an additional inch from the outer circle. The roughest materials are placed in it. The layers of wasted leaves, manures and the other compost materials are added over it. The result of German mound is obtained after four to five years from the installation period and then it can be used over the soil surface.

Ecuador Style of Composting:

In Ecuador style of compositing the banana stalks and the trunks of the trees have been used as the compost materials. It requires filling the entire compost pit or bin will the stalks of bananas and the tree trunks. After this the compost materials are mixed altogether that helps in the segregation of the compost materials more effectively and efficiently.

This process requires much space, because the compost pile can only be watered when the pile is a meter or more than a meter long. The pile does not have to be one meter long forever. Normally Ecuador people wait for the settling down of the layers and than remove the top layer for ventilation of the pile and in this way they produce the humus repeatedly.

 

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