Organic Gardening Tip - 5 Tips To Successful Organic Gardens

Unlike the popular theories that state that the space shuttle could miraculously appear if blown up enough times, an organic garden is usually not the result of an accident. People that have a successful garden have created one based upon their consistent upkeep, planning, and a desire to make their garden grow. Regardless of the therapeutic value the gardening has, relaxation has little to do with the steps that it takes to ensure the success of your gardening endeavor. Here are a few organic gardening tips on how to make sure that your organic garden goals are reached by looking at planning, soil preparation, fertilizers, irrigation, and insect and disease control.

As with all things that eventually come to pass, a plan is always needed. Not something that is thought of and reconsidered over time intermittently, but a specified plan of action that leads to a specified end result. When you decide to grow your garden, and you choose to do it in an organic matter, you will need to take a few things into consideration such as location, the environment that the plants will grow it, the time that it will take in order for you to properly take care of your garden, how much effort will be involved and are there any resources that you may or may not be able to acquire in order to reach your final goals.

Once you have a clear written outline of what it is you need to do and what you need to acquire to reach your garden goals, it is time to start the plan into action. Action is everything once the goals are defined. If you set your goals but neglect factors such as good seed, compost, or even a source of good water for your plants, you will fail in your attempt because any compromise will lead to an overall failure.

The next thing you begin doing is prepare your soil. Soil preparation is the foundation of the growth of any and all plants that you have. From the soil, the plants will be able to get their nutrients. Soil that is hard or dense will be almost impossible to aerate and therefore the plants will not get enough oxygen through the root system in order to thrive and flourish. Likewise, if there is no way for the water to evenly percolate to the plants roots in your garden, some plants will make it while others will die without consistent moisture, and some will be oversaturated and get root rot.

Another organic gardening tip is that you must also consider the consistency of the soil in regard to the amount of compost and nutrients that will be accessible to the seeds that will grow into the plants in the garden that you desire. By adding natural compost or other fertilizers to enhance the nutrients within the soil such as nitrogen or potassium, you will need to prepare this ahead of time, specifically as you are preparing the soil and getting ready to plant your seeds.

With reference to fertilizer, if you are doing this in an organic matter, some of the best fertilizer that you can get can either come from your compost pile or from a worm bin that you have created through your vermicomposting efforts. This needs to be prepared several weeks in advance so that it is ready to use when you are ready to plant. Compost that has not had time to properly finish will be detrimental to your soil and therefore proper preparation is always mandatory before getting ready to add these nutrients to the soil that will bear the fruit of your labor.

The consideration of water is also paramount in your success. You must have a way for your organic garden to get enough water on a regular basis so that it can grow unimpeded by the periods of droughts that are self induced by someone to did not plan ahead of time and create an optimal situation for the gardens irrigation needs. This includes having enough access to water, easy access through an irrigation system or hose system, and potentially a sprinkler system on a timer which can ensure that the garden is receiving water on a regular basis.

One final organic gardening tip that you should consider is that when your plants begin to grow, insects will appear. Weeds will also appear as well as potential diseases that can kill off your crop. This will take some wisdom on your part knowing the types of plants you are growing and finding natural alternatives to pesticides that may inhibit or deter the natural growth processes of your plants. If you are an organic gardener, you will not want to use these anyway and therefore finding beneficial insects that attack bad insects or natural scents or plants that will deter weed growth or disease is paramount in ensuring the healthy growth of your garden.

When considering all of these things together in a big picture, you realize that gardening cannot possibly be the result of an accident. There must be proper preparation and access to all of the tools necessary in order to make a garden successful and to make your efforts worthwhile. Take some time and use these five organic gardening tips to your benefit and make your garden one of the best you have ever had.

People that have a successful garden have created one based upon their consistent upkeep, planning, and a desire to make their garden grow. Here are a few tips on how to make sure that your organic garden goals are reached by looking at planning, soil preparation, fertilizers, irrigation, and insect and disease control.

About the Author:

Chris Dailey is the owner of Super Organic Gardening Secrets, a free online service that provides valuable information on organic gardening. To download his 7 free organic gardening reports, go to http://www.superorganicgardeningsecrets.com

Source: http://www.upublish.info/Article/Organic-Gardening-Tip---5-Tips-To-Successful-Organic-Gardens/128450

What Garden Plants Last Year After Year?

Different plants have different life spans. Annual plants live only one year. Perennial plants live for many years.

There are two types of perennial plants; woody perennials, which are shrubs and rose bushes, and herbaceous perennials, which make up the bulk of the perennial flower plants.

Annuals

Annuals generally propagate by seed and can be easily grown from seeds. Local garden centers also carry a variety of annual plants that can be easily transplanted into your garden.

Established annuals should be planted in the garden in the spring after all danger of frost is past. You can find out typically when the growing season begins, in your area of the country, from your local garden center or possibly from a farmer's almanac.
Another good source of information for growing seasons in different areas of land would be the farmers association accessed through your local chamber of commerce or library.

Each variety of annual will have different needs for sun exposure and water. Making sure that you give your annuals the proper sun exposure and water will give you longer lasting plants and more colorful blooms in your garden.

Perennials

Many perennials also propagate by seed and are easily grown from seed. However, unlike annuals, some perennials may not bloom the first season and will not reach their full growth for at least two years and often for three to four years. Perennials offer great advantages in the garden for their brilliantly colored blooms and because they do not need to be replanted each year.

Like annuals, perennials also have specific needs for sun exposure, watering and fertilizing.

Bulbs, Rhizomes and Tubers

Bulbs, rhizomes and tubers are part of the root systems of plants like Day Lilies, Iris, Tulips and many other perennial plants. Unlike annuals and perennials that are planted from seed, the bulbs and rhizomes must have at least two months at temperatures below 40 degrees F in order to bloom.

Therefore, these plants should usually be planted in the fall. Perennials may sleep like bears in the woods, throughout the entire winter, but will flourish and blossom come the next Spring.

Tom Straub is a successful author and webmaster of the Best Gardening Tips website. Discover everything you ever wanted to know about gardening... but never dared to ask.

Source: http://www.thecontentcorner.com/Article/What-Garden-Plants-Last-Year-After-Year-/15036

Worm Castings - Natures Time Release Fertilizer

When a gardener goes out to his fields to start planting, one of the top concerns that he has on his mind is what will potentially be able to kill his crops. Modern man has created many alternatives to natural protection of crops such as pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides which can be harmful not only to the soil but also to the people that eat the plants as well as the aquifers that hold our drinking water beneath the ground. One of natures natural fertilizers as well as insect and disease repellents is called a worm casting. These small nodules are created by red worms as they participate in the composting process, something that they naturally do and have done for millions of years. Here are a few ways that you can use worm castings to not only enhance your organic garden but also protect it from harmful invaders.

Redworm compost is used by many people as a source for organic compost. By simply feeding them some organic scraps from their garden, over a period of time these scraps are processed into a compost that can be used as a mulch or a fertilizer. As the worms process the waste into compost, they also create what are called worm castings. Basically, the poop of the worm, castings can be used for a variety of reasons.

Primarily used as an organic fertilizer, most organic gardeners rely on worm composting and castings to not only balance the pH levels in the soil but also to help retain as much moisture as possible, something that all worms need an abundance of. Unlike most fertilizers, castings will not burn plants or roots if used too much. Moreover, they act as repellents for both insects and diseases that may strike your crops without you knowing.

Worm castings also contain a great variety of nutrients that are used by almost all plants today. Some of these nutrients include magnesium, nitrogen, and potassium which are necessary ingredients for a healthy crop or garden regardless if it is organic or not. What is also interesting is the castings are almost like a time release capsule that will, over time, release the necessary water soluble ingredients into the soil thus making it possible to simply top dress the castings on the soil and allow them to disintegrate over time.

Another aspect of castings are that they have many living components such as aerobic bacteria, the good kind, and organisms that will actually take gasses such as nitrogen from the atmosphere and fix them into usable nitrogen in the form of nitrate, thus feeding the roots of the plants even more.

Castings are naturally harvested over time. They tend to move to the lower levels of the worm bin and if the worms and their environment are regularly aerated by moving the dirt around, through vibration and churning, the castings will fall to the bottom of the bin to be harvested.

Many people are confused as to what worm castings actually are because some people have been shown a bag of castings mixed with compost. Pure castings look like black sand grains with no compost or dirt mixed in. If you get a bag of compost, and there is anything that does not look uniform, like sand grains, then you know that the castings were also not sifted properly from the compost itself. Having a mixture of vermicompost and castings can be beneficial as it will provide a steady stream of fertilizer as bacteria continue to break down the compost over time.

As a general rule, you can spread 10 pounds of worm castings over 150 foot to 200 foot area and be assured that this will properly fertilize your soil in the days to come as it begins to break down in a natural way. Many people that have large gardens or if they are growing crops on a commercial level may have their very own red worm compost generating system where they can access thousands of pounds of castings in order to maintain the vast spread that they are growing.

Another way to extract the nutrients from the castings is to add water to them and aerate them, then spray this castings tea which is high in organic nutrients onto the leaves, called foliar feeding, and into the soil. This is used by those who will use the bacterial nature of the castings to fight outside microorganisms that may land on the leaves and begin to sicken or weaken the plant. These beneficial microorganisms will destroy bad bacteria, fungus, and molds that may be growing on the leaf surface.

If you ever do decide to create a little organic garden, be sure to find a way to get worm castings for your garden. If you like the aspect of doing very little manual labor to achieve compost and fertilizer for your garden then create a supply of vermicompost and spread the compost and castings over your garden soil. Then let nature begin to naturally decompose these castings, through regular watering, so that your soil will have the optimum amount of nutrients necessary for a successful organic crop.

Source: http://www.therealarticles.com/Article/Worm-Castings---Natures-Time-Release-Fertilizer/146995

Vermicomposting Systems - Fast Composting On A Shoestring Budget

One of natures most underrated workers are the eisenia fetida or red wiggler worms. Commonly found in organically rich soils that they help to create throughout the world including North America and some parts of Europe, these special creatures do an absolutely amazing thing: they can take vegetation that is currently rotting and process it in a way that creates compost as the natural end product of what they do with this organic matter. Contrasting this to the regular composting process, red worms have become a staple product for organic gardening enthusiasts not only by the worms used to create their own compost, but also in the way of helping decrease waste in our landfills and at the same time creating fresh organic compost. Here is a very easy vermicomposting system that anyone can do in order to create their own worm compost machine.

Organic gardening is slowly becoming one of the most popular hobbies of not only environmental enthusiasts but people that happen upon this natural way to improve their health. Organic food is known for its ability to retain more nutrients per gram of dryweight of almost every vegetable or fruit grown in this manner. One of the key ingredients is making sure that proper amounts of rich compost are added to the soil in order to ensure that the final product is in rich with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that will help a persons general health through regular eating of organic foods.

Vermicompost or worm compost is an ideal additive for any garden because of not only the nutrient value, but the system that is so easy to set up which almost anyone can use to create their own natural fertilizer. Depending upon the size of your garden and your needs, you can take a simple container in the shape of a box or a large garbage can and begin this composting process.

The first thing to consider with your vermicomposting bin is that you need to have proper aeration and drainage. Remember that your container will have a living population of red worms so it is important to consider their needs. You will want to provide fresh air and also a way for water to flow out so that it does not become stagnant. You are, in essence, creating a community of workers that will create a product for you and all they ask is that you feed them organic waste from your table on a regular basis along with keeping proper moisture and ph levels.

There are several types of vermicomposting systems that you can try out. Some have a continuous vertical flow of air and water. These are stacked on top of each other in the format of trays that our filled from the bottom up. The top tray is where you will put the organic matter that the red wigglers will eat and process. The subsequent trays will be used to catch various things such as compost, worm castings, and worm cocoons. It is also okay to build your trays horizontally but this of course takes more room. Depending upon the size of your operation, and how much space you have, you could literally create a business of creating compost from worms given enough organic waste and room in which to grow.

Thinking again from the worms perspective, you want to create an environment that is similar to the natural environment that the worms are used to in a natural setting. Imagine walking through the forest and considering the temperature underneath the trees and the layers of leaves which will soon be decomposing on the forest floor. Likewise, you want to have a similar soil makeup in your bedding as well as an equivalent temperature so that the worms feel as if they are in a natural setting and will begin to process your organic waste.

Therefore, the bedding should be moist. The bedding materials that you can use that will mimic a natural setting would include peat moss, dried manure, or even newspaper from your local store. The bedding should also allow aeration so that the decomposition process, as well as the worms ability to access air, is available. The temperature should be about where humans feel comfortable or a round 60 to 70 degrees. Lastly, there needs to be a ratio between carbon and nitrogen in the bedding mix so that not only the worms, but the other organisms that will be living with and helping the worms decompose the organic material, can feel comfortable. This ratio is about thirty to one with the majority of the bedding content being carbon based and the rest being nitrogen based.

Once you have thrown all of this together which should not take longer than a few hours of your time, especially if you have access to soil and a source for worms, you should begin adding organic material to your vermiculture system and let the process begin.

A last thing to consider is the maintenance of the worms and their habitat. The most important thing to ensure the health of your population of worms is to make sure that it is aerated properly. There needs to be enough oxygen to allow their habitat to be aerobic and not anaerobic. The difference is aerobic allows for the decomposition process to occur via the worms. Anaerobic is just the opposite and that is similar to what you would smell if you left your organic material on your counter for several days or smelled meat rotting. This is more of a stagnant process whereas the worms perform a natural processing of the waste.

The entire project should cost you no more than forty dollars to get access to worms and a container, and a few hours of your time for setup and maintenance. In doing so, you will create a small vermicomposting system that will produce for you not only the freshest compost that you will ever smell but also a rich compost that will add flavor and nutrients to your organic garden products in a way that you have never seen, or tasted, before.

One of natures most underrated workers are the eisenia fetida or red wiggler worms. They can take vegetation that is currently rotting and process it in a way that creates compost as the natural end product of what they do with this organic matter. Here is a very easy vermicomposting system that anyone can do in order to create their own worm compost machine.

About the Author:

Chris Dailey is the owner of Super Organic Gardening Secrets, a free online service that provides valuable information on organic gardening. To download his 7 free organic gardening reports, go to http://www.superorganicgardeningsecrets.com

Source: http://www.upublish.info/Article/Vermicomposting-Systems---Fast-Composting-On-A-Shoestring-Budget/128597