Down To Earth Home and Garden | vegetable garden

Posts Tagged ‘greenhouses’

Are you the inquisitive types that like to be constantly updated about the goings-on in the field of your interest? Would you be interested in knowing which plant has been crowned as the plant of the month? How about clicking a prize-winning photograph of the plant you think could beat all in a contest. You also might want to receive regular newsletters updating you about the developments in the domain of home gardening and offering you some useful tips as well. If all this grabbed your attention significantly, you will be delighted to join the National Home Gardening Club.

It has several benefits to offer to all its enrolled members. Members usually can join in as official product testers. It entails testing many gardening products from time to time. However, the bonus is that you get to keep the products you test! All you are required to do is to fill up and submit the tested product’s evaluation form in an honest manner.

Having membership of the National Home Gardening Club also qualifies you to participate in member forums as well. You get to flash your knowledge in the form of write-ups on the bulletin boards. There is a good possibility that many other member gardeners will leave their comments or remarks about your postings, thus leading to a healthy interaction. If you desire more real time and live interaction, you can head to the Clubs Chat room. There is also the provision for you and other members to exchange photographs with the help of a built in application called the National Home Gardening Clubs Member Photo Page.

The members get several opportunities to win exciting prizes as well. Contests like click to win can earn them handy prizes like the Empires Riding Mower Deck washer, natural compost tea by Merrill’s or the Earth Box’s ready to grow gear. Another interesting contest named Garden Giveaway distributes prizes like chipper shredders, cast aluminum settees or greenhouses from Poly-Tex. One can participate in the yearly photograph contest and a web quiz too.

When you enroll in for the free trial membership at the National Home Gardening Club, you’re gifted a free edition of the Gardening How-to magazine, an E-newsletter, a free public garden dictionary and a free of cost gardening shears too! If this doesn’t get you smiling, there’s more! You also are entitled to a chance to bag a gardening gear at zero-price and to register and test gardening equipments that will be yours to take home post-testing.

Another bonus is the complete access to the Clubs website where you can learn from the gardening tips shared by other members. Maybe you can pitch in with some of yours too. Who minds instant stardom! You also get an opportunity to post your reviews about some amazing videos and books on gardening.

Another exciting facility this club provides is a comprehensive library where you can find write-ups on all facets of home gardening. Be it specialty gardens, vegetables, weeds, plant diseases, pests, fruits, herbs or anything to do with home gardening, you will find information about it in National Home Gardening Clubs library. It’s so informative that you would want to visit it again and again. They update the library regularly to keep you posted on all the new age developments in Home Gardening fields.

It is not rare for the National Home Gardening Club member to get frequent informative mailers about all the upcoming gardening shows. You may get some free passes to special events too! In case you wish to dig quite deep into a certain topic, you will have privileged access to some universities as well to enhance your knowledge further. A true home gardening enthusiast couldn’t have asked for more!

AeroGarden 6-Pod Seed Kit
Organic Gardening Advantages

The definition of organic gardening is a garden that does not use pesticides to kill pests. This method can be used in either vegetable or flower gardens. In vegetable gardens organic is the safest for you since you will be consuming what you have grown. But, if you utilize it in flower gardening also, it is safest for the environment.

Raising an organic garden has many sound reasons to encourage gardeners to go this route. As mentioned above all of your vegetables will be pesticide free, which means no poison on the food you are growing. While in flower gardening, many people plant flowers that will attract butterflies or bees which you won’t attract if you use pesticides. You especially want to remain pesticide free if you have small children or pets because chemicals could be harmful for them.
Gardening Nature’s Way Organic Gardening Step 1
Your organic garden will be anything but simple gardening. Every garden takes effort and research and your organic garden is no exception. As with all gardens you must start with a plan. Research the plants you wish to grow. Find out what their needs are when it comes to light, fertilizer, PH in the soil and drainage. Be diligent in picking a spot that is well suited to your plants. If you are planting an herb garden select a site that is close to your kitchen door for easy harvesting. Find out if there are companion plants and if there are, consider using them.

When planting an organic garden you will need some really good compost. You can make your compost out of soil and organic matter. Organic matter includes leaves, manure, vegetable refuse, coffee grinds and eggshells. You can include peels from fruits and vegetables. (Potato skins, apple skins, orange rinds, etc.) Start your compost early, find a place to put your compost and work it frequently. By working it I mean turn it with a shovel so the organic material will break down. When you are ready to start planting work your compost into the garden beds before you plant.

Your garden location is very important. You need to pick a spot that gets lots of light and drains well. If it is a very windy spot you will have to figure out some way of sheltering. Don’t pick a low spot on your property since that might flood during heavy rains. You really want to put the garden in a place that has easy access for you and for watering with your hose.

Mentioned above were companion plants. Companion plants are plants that repel unwanted pests. If you plant roses, plant some garlic. It is said that garlic will repel rose’s nemesis, aphids. Cucumber beetles will not be a worry if you plant oregano. Marigolds will also repel many pests. For a good natural pesticide follow this recipe:
The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses
In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.

If you come up with a good plan you can have flowers and vegetables mixed together. Make sure that you know your zone and the conditions that apply in your area. Flower and vegetable gardens will be very different in Alaska than in Florida.

Your organic garden will take some work, but it will not be in vain when you can sit back and enjoy your beautiful blooms or make some culinary delights from the vegetables and herbs you have grown.

Happy Gardening!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at Gardening Landscaping Tips Gardening Outside and Herb Gardening

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