Garden Medley

Scientists have finally shown that organic produce may indeed be more nutritious than non-organically grown produce. Studies like this are a great argument in favor of being picky about the source of your food, and it goes beyond merely wondering whether or not you can wash the various chemicals off. (more…)

Organic gardening is more than just hype. It’s a great way to give your family the healthiest food you can grow at home, no chemicals added.

Going organic can sound tough. It is indeed more work to make a compost pile than to run to the garden shop for chemical fertilizers. But it has some definite benefits.

A simple benefit of composting is that you are saving money. You’re taking food scraps that you would have thrown out and making use of them. For many families, saving money is a big deal. It’s better for the earth as well as for your family. (more…)

Many insects are just a pain in your garden. They damage your plants and don’t provide a benefit. But you don’t want to go spray a bunch of chemicals on foods you’re planning on eating.

All is not lost. There are natural ways to control the pests in your garden.

Garlic and onions can be quite effective. Liquify these and spray them onto soft body insects to kill them. It can also paralyze flies. A garlic or onion spray can work as a fungicide too.

You can include hot peppers with your garlic or onion spray to make it stronger if you like. Hot peppers can also be effective on it’s own, but the garlic really can help. Sprinkle it about to discourage rabbits and other small animals. (more…)

Organic gardening is one of the big catch phrases for gardeners right now. Many people truly love keeping their garden organic. But with all the challenges of gardening, why would you limit yourself to organic methods?

The decision relates quite a bit to the value we have learned to place on this planet. Many chemicals work well enough to help your garden grow or to kill pests, but they aren’t so good for the environment. They can also leave unhealthy residues on your foods.

An organic garden is friendlier to wildlife. This doesn’t mean you’re going to lose your entire garden to pests such as squirrels; it means you learn friendlier ways of scaring them off. It also means you won’t be killing the bugs that are good for your garden while you try to kill the ones that are damaging it. (more…)

Squirrels are cute, fuzzy and look so sweet… at least until they start destroying your garden.

Gardens are almost irresistible to squirrels. Gardens offer an easy food source to them, and many popular garden plants taste great to squirrels.

A fence is not sufficient to keeping squirrels out of the garden. They’re great climbers and many of them jump quite well too. Especially if you have a tree overhanging your garden, don’t assume that a fence will do much of anything to keep squirrels out.

Repelling them humanely is quite challenging. Most sprays and such aren’t all that effective. You can use products such as Ropel to discourage them from chewing on furniture and such. You can also install a motion sensitive water sprinkler such as Scarecrow to scare them away gently. (more…)

No matter your determination to keep things organic in your garden, the time may come when you have to look at buying a fungicide. Even the healthiest of plants will sometimes succumb to a fungus, and you need to control it quickly.

The first thing you need to do is remain aware of the general condition of plants in your garden. If you do this, you can notice and remove problems before they become widespread. This will often keep you from needing to use a fungicide. (more…)

Even though you don’t eat most flowers, keeping things organic in your flower beds is a good idea. If you know what you’re doing, you can control many pests without buying harmful poisons.

One of the most important things is to choose flowers that will grow strong in your area. No matter how much you love a particular flower, if it is going to have a lot of trouble staying alive or is prone to disease, it’s going to greatly hamper your organic gardening efforts. You are better off sticking to flowers that are stronger and more suited to your area. (more…)

Bugs. The word alone can make many people’s skin crawl. You picture spiders, ants, aphids and other pests that destroy your plants and make growing a beautiful garden much more work. However, there are many bugs you want your garden to have. They may keep away the problem bugs or otherwise help your garden.

The ladybug is popular with children, and is one example of a beneficial bug. You probably picture them as having a red body with black spots, but they may also have an orange or yellow body. They eat certain other insects, including aphids. Similarly, the aphid midge also eats aphids. (more…)

If you’re an avid gardener, you know how important worms are to your garden. You may also have had trouble getting what you feel to be enough worms into your garden. Worms help to aerate your soil, break down organic matter so that plants can use the nutrients and break up clods of dirt.

Have you ever considered farming your own worms? It’s actually not that hard. (more…)

The compost heap is more or less a staple of the home garden. It’s a great way to dispose of organic material in an ecologically friendly manner while making something that will help your garden grow. (more…)