Archive for the Category » Tips «

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | Author: admin

There is a lot of information out there about composting and a lot of it states that you shouldn’t use products like meats or eggshells in your compost because they would attract all sorts of unwanted animal attention and might turn your compost pile into a snacking ground for the area animals. There have been those complaining about bears being drawn to compost bins and other smaller animals as well. However, eggshells can also be a good source of nutrients for your garden, and can also have other uses, so composting them can prove to be quite beneficial if you follow a few golden rules.

The first thing you should know is that eggshells can host salmonella on their surface, and as such, if you don’t want to spread that around to your garden, it’s best to wash the eggshells before composting them. There are those who also like to put the eggshells in a tray in the oven for 20 minutes or so to make sure to kill all the bacteria, and this might not be a bad idea since the procedure would not destroy the Calcium in the shell, which is what the plants will most require out of the eggshells in the first place.

Egg shells Another thing you could do is to grind the shells into very small pieces. This helps in more than one way. For one thing, the smaller the eggshell bits, the quicker the break down process (and in the case of eggshells, this process will take quite a while so you want to do whatever you can to hasten it). For another, scattering the small pieces of eggshell around plants will keep slugs and other pests away from them.

Spreading the ground up eggshells onto the ground or in the areas where you feed birds or chicken can also be useful, as the birds can take back a lot of much needed nutrients from the shells. If you are going to feed them to chicken, it’s advisable to put the shells into the oven for a few minutes, as feeding the chicken raw shells might encourage them to also pick at the freshly laid eggs that are yet to be collected.

While composting eggshells can be beneficial for your plants and birds and is therefore not discouraged, it would be good to avoid composting other egg parts, as it would not only be a surefire way to attract animals to your compost pile but it would also ensure that your compost would give away a smell that you would not be thrilled to have around. All in all, if you take some precautions, there is no reason why you shouldn’t compost your eggshells.

Category: Compost Bin, How-to, Tips | Tags: compost, Compost Bin, compost tumbler, composter, Composting, eco-friendly, Gardening | 3 Comments

Worm Q&A Pt. 2: How Many Worms To Start With?

Tuesday, July 07th, 2009 | Author: admin

We are living in a time where recycling and making the best use of everything, including organic wastes is of utmost importance. With the depleting natural resources, worm composting is one of the most successful steps taken in the right direction. The process of worm composting is also commonly known as ‘Vermiculture.’ Worm composting is a method of using worms to recycle food waste and other organic material into a valuable soil conditioner called worm compost.

Vermiculture is a scientific process which involves the artificial rearing of worms not only provides manure for plants but also keeps the environment healthy. The worms eat food scraps, cow-dung, farm wastes, municipal wastes, household garbage and non-toxic industrial waste and convert them to compost. The process is straightforward and can be done by with the use of simple equipments. The required materials are worm bin, worms, bedding and wastes. The worm bin is decided depending upon the kind of worms being used. Bedding requires few shredded newspapers, corrugated cardboard and leaves.

Ideally, the worms used for worm composting are Redworms as they thrive on organic wastes such as food scraps, cow-dung. Redworms, which are scientifically named as Eisenia foetida and Lumbricus rubellus ar found in aged manure and existing compost bins. The standard proportion of food waste to the amount of worms that needs to be used to form worm compost is 1:2. For every one pound of food waste used per day, two pounds of worms are required. Two pounds of worms roughly approximates to 2,000 worms. The population will increase depending upon the room to breed and the availability of food.

Part One of our Worm Q&A: What Do Worms Eat?

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in comments and we will answer them as soon as possible.

Category: Articles, How-to, Tips, vermiculture | Tags: composting with worms, redworms, vermiculture, worm composting, worms | 3 Comments

Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Author: admin

Having one’s own backyard food factory is a sheer joy in itself. Due to the non-availability of space and time, modern homes rarely engage themselves in vegetable cultivation. The entire task of tilling, weeding and planting can be back breaking. Raised bed gardening is the answer to this problem. Raised garden beds can be classified into raised flower beds and raised bed vegetable gardens.

multi-season raised garden bed greenhouse Raised garden beds make the process of gardening simple and pain-free. It eliminates the ordeal of digging and weeding. The raised garden kit is lifted from the ground level. Growing vegetables on these raised garden beds have many benefits. Raised garden bed kit prevents soil erosion, facilitates growth of the vegetables and prevents the growth of unwanted weeds. Its saves time, energy and water. It makes one’s garden look organized and creates a beautiful and a colorful garden. These beds are easily to handle and maintain. Growing vegetables on raised garden beds makes it easier for the gardeners to tend to it as the beds are raised from the ground level. Since it is one open bed, there is more room for the roots to penetrate and spread, thus allowing them to breathe better as compared to flower pots. A good number of vegetables can be grown in one bed at the same time. Raised garden bed kits are designed to retain water for a longer period as it has sufficient soil mass. There are engineered to provide the best drainage facilities along with soil aeration. These beds are most useful during spring as the soil in the beds warm up more quickly than the ones on the ground.

Raised vegetable beds are available in different materials and sizes. They come in forms such as composite timber raised beds, natural cedar raised beds, Vinyl raised beds, cedar rectangular raised beds, Elevated container gardens, Recycled Plastic raised garden beds, Ready-to-Grow complete raised bed gardens, etc. These models are available as ready to use or can be assembled. Raised beds can be built on are own as well. While growing one’s garden or backyard farm have several benefits such as providing one’s family with healthy and organic vegetables and reduction in the family expenses. It is also an environment friendly action as it reduces the impact of transporting and warehousing. It also contributes towards tackling air pollution. All these amazing benefits can be made possible even with limited space, by using raised bed vegetable gardening method.

Category: Articles, General, Tips | Tags: Gardening, raised bed gardening | 3 Comments

What Is The Benefit Of Using Compost In My Flower Bed?

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 | Author: admin

Compost Soil

The benefits of using compost in your beds instead of just soil include less waste, less weeds, healthier plants with less diseases, and less harmful chemicals that damage your plants in the long run. Each benefit will improve the quality and life of your plants, and in turn make your gardening experience more enjoyable.

Healthier Plants, Richer Flowers: Compost is made up of micro-organisms, worms, arthropods and humus, which provides soil with organic matter. It contains macro and micro nutrients, which are absent in chemical fertilizers. It neutralizes the soil, bringing pH levels to optimum range. It aerates the soil, and brings healthy bacteria, fungi, and insects to the soil. Composting also improves drainage, which is vital when growing flowers. It improves absorption and enhances soil quality. All of these are important for healthy plant growth. Your flowers will be richer and brighter, leaves a tad greener, and your garden friendlier to all kinds of organisms.
Stronger plants from your compost will be less susceptible to diseases and bugs: You will find it unnecessary to use toxic and harmful pesticides and fertilizers that do more harm than good to your plants and garden. The micro-organisms present in your compost are enough to protect from diseases and pests.
Compost means less weeds: Replacing soil with compost or mixing compost in your soil means less density, which makes it easy to pull out weeds, if any grow at all. Weeds are significantly less in compost than they are in bare dirt. The less time you spend weeding, the more time you have to plan out a beautiful spring, summer, or winter flower garden. You will have more attention for the plants themselves, rather than the weeds surrounding them.
Less Yard Waste: If you happen to make your own compost, then it means less organic waste from your kitchen and yard. You can make better use of your yard trimmings and fallen leaves. It is convenient to have your own compost so that you spend less time and money on trying to buy compost or fertilizer in the market. Also, when you have your own compost, you can monitor the ingredients, make sure that it is 100% organic, and tailor it to suit your own needs. You can use waste from the kitchen – vegetable and fruit skins, spent tea leaves, etc. to make your compost pile richer. Less waste means less trips taking out the garbage. Make sure you keep your compost pile or bin away from scavengers. Keep it covered to maintain moisture levels and keep out air. If you have a child, this is an excellent way to educate him or her in living sustainably, reducing waste, and caring for the environment.

compost in flower garden

Category: Articles, Compost Bin, General, Tips | Tags: compost, Composting | 23 Comments

How a Rain Barrel Can Save You Money and Benefit the Environment?

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 | Author: admin

Rain barrel is a very easy way to extend the benefits of a rainfall. A lot of water that is consumed goes for watering gardens and lawns. This potable water can be saved if one could use an alternate source for watering the gardens. A rain barrel is usually made from 50-gallon food drums. And an average rainfall of one fourth of an inch is sufficient to fill the 50- gallon drum using the roof and the gutter system.

The Rain Catcher Rain Barrel If one is living in the country, main rain barrels can be installed at various places to collect rainwater and in a city, water collected from the roof can be used to water the plants and the lawn as well as reduce water bills. Apart from the monetary benefits, you will also be helping maintain the municipal water grid and hence help the environment. When you harvest the rain water you are not just saving water you are also reducing the amount of chemicals that run into the water bodies. When rainwater runs on the ground, it collects harmful chemicals like agricultural pesticides, herbicides, petro- chemicals like oil and gasoline, pollution, etc. This water then runs in the gutters and joins the rivers and lakes hence polluting them. When we harvest the rain water, we reduce the quantity of running water to some extent hence protecting the environment and erosion.

The rain water that gets into the water treatment plant is treated with chlorine and other chemicals before it is sent back to us. Therefore by using the rain barrel, we consume pure water, free of chemicals and we also reduce the work done on the water hence conserving energy. Healthy vegetables can be grown with this water. So your savings will not just be because of the reduced water bill.

The Shower Saver Rain Barrel

Plastic, food grade rain barrels are the ones you should choose. The barrels that were used to hold chemicals or wax should be avoided as the chemicals found in the residue may harm the plants and the environment.

Some simple tips can be followed to make the best of the rain barrel.

A hose can be connected to the bottom of the barrel to take out water.
It should be kept on a flat surface to avoid it tipping over when full.
It should be secured using a stick or a rope so that it doesn’t blow away when empty.

An estimate was done and it was reported that 1 inch of rain on a 1000 sq. ft. roof would yield 623 gallons of water. Imagine the amount of water you could collect over a rainy season.

Category: Articles, General, How-to, Rain Barrels, Tips | Tags: rain barrel, Rain Barrels, rain catcher, rain saver, water conservation | 2 Comments

Seven Reasons An Electric Lawn Mower is Better Than Using a Gas Mower

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 | Author: admin

If you peep into any normal American household during the weekend, you would find over 50 millions of them are attacking their lawns with their gasoline mowers. But they are not aware of the effect which the greenhouse gases emitted from these mowers cause.

· The gasoline products are exhaustible resources and thus, as the supply of the resources are getting thinner and thinner, the cost of the gasoline products are getting higher by the day.

· When most of the American households get out to attack their lawns at the same time with their gas mowers, it is quite disturbing for the neighbors. But on the other hand, the electric lawn mower produces less sound, thus cutting down on the noise pollution.

· As an alternative, we are resorting to inexhaustible resources such as electricity etc. These are restorable and are not limited, and this is what is used by the electric lawn mowers. Many companies and firms are developing these electric yard devices instead of gas mowers. Electric weed removers have been here for quite some time and now the electric lawn mower has started to prove its value to the people.

RoboMower Electric Lawn Mower · The cost of the electric lawn mowers might scare you at first but if you give it a thought and do some calculations, you would understand the benefit of an electric mower over the gas mowers. The cost of running an electric lawn mower is less than half the cost of running one gas mower. The gas mowers can hold just around one gallon of gas. And when the rising price of gas is reaching two dollars per gallon mark, it is quite easy to calculate the cost of mowing the garden for just one summer. On the other hand, running the electric grass mower just takes a few cents of power for one battery charge. So, it can be easily seen how much you can save in the long run with the electric grass mower or electric lawn sweeper.

· We should also keep the environment aspect in mind especially when we are facing severe hazards due to global warming. The gas mowers emit harmful greenhouse gases and are quite a cause for the small particle pollution.

· Gas mowers are also harmful to the person who uses it, causing serious health implications like asthma, heart disease and other serious respiratory infections. But the electric lawn mowers emit less than a percent of the harmful gases like carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, etc, thus resulting in a great difference in the environment.

· Some of the electric mowers offer extra features like handling, trimming and edging, etc apart from the regular features like mulching, height-adjustment, grass collecting bags and such, for easy transfer to your compost bin.

So use the electric green mowers and feel the difference.

Category: Articles, General, How-to, Tips | 4 Comments

When is your rainy season? Maybe you should invest in a rain barrel!

Monday, February 16th, 2009 | Author: admin

Here in the typically sunny California, our rainy season generally runs from November to March, with the heaviest being early in the year. This tends to send those with already questionable driving skills into a panic and it shows on our freeways. Those of us not smart enough to wear galoshes, have a hard time getting used to the squish squish our shoes make from walking through puddles left by our ill prepared drainage systems.It happens every year, but there IS a way to take advantage of this change in weather, or non-change in weather, depending on where you reside. You see, as much as the rain frizzes our hair and destroys our shoes, it can be very useful to those with a green thumb or really anyone who wants to do their part in preserving this planet of ours.

Draaaainage

This would be catching the rain draaaaainage.

Now, reusing rain water may not be as profitable as say, Texas tea… it still can put an impressive dent in your water bill, because you can use it to water your plants, lawn, whatever.

When searching for rain barrels, you have a few to choose from. There is the kind you hook up directly to your gutters. The GWS Diverter kit can get you started on that, as well as the Wood Grain Rain Barrel. There are stand alone kits for those who may not want it connected to the roof gutter or perhaps you want BOTH, there is the Rain Catcher that comes with a screen to keep the undesirables out, a hose for easy watering and a spigot. A slightly more fashionable, yet functional, option would be the Gardenware Oasis Rain Barrel, which comes in two colors to better match your decor, has a lovely form that brings to mind ancient garden design, as well as the necessary screen and spigot. It can also take the rain from your gutter or straight from the air as it falls.

Don’t forget, with standing water, comes mosquitos, so throw in a Mosquito Donut (believe me, NOT as tasty as it sounds) to keep the mosquitos to a minimum.

Category: Articles, General, Rain Barrels, Tips | 4 Comments

INSTANT CURB APPEAL

Friday, February 13th, 2009 | Author: admin

INSTANT CURB APPEAL. Increase the value of your home without hiring a landscape designer. Let’s face it, in these challenging economic times we need to use this time wisely to maximize value of your home.

Multiple studies have shown the increasing importance of curb appeal in selling a home, especially in a competitive market.

According to the Real Estate Agent Community Trends survey, commissioned by JELD-WEN Windows & Doors. Out of about 500 realtors polled, 82 percent agreed that buyers unimpressed with a home’s exterior will not want to look inside. The results also found that 90 percent of respondents agree that a sale depends on first impressions of the front entry, while 91 percent said that the home’s exterior is just as important as what is inside.

Another study by The Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association compiled the following property value statistics:

Landscaping can increase the resale value of a property by as much as 14%
The sale of a property can increase by as much as six weeks
A landscaped patio can raise property values by 12.4%
A landscaped curb can increase property value by 4.4% and hedges can add 3.6%

As our economy starts to improve and home sales increase, you will be ahead of the game!

Create a stunning DIY lighted, landscape design using pre-fab, curved raised garden bed kits, which contains everything you need to transform your empty yard into a stunning garden oasis, in less than an hour. You can have your landscape done before your realtor comes over to appraise your home.

A great choice for raised garden bed kits are called Landscape In-A-Box. They are beautifully designed all-inclusive, eco-friendly, curved raised garden bed kits. They come in different sizes and shapes to add variety to your yard or garden. They appeal to the “green” buyer as well. Unlike pressure treated wood, these composite wood timbers do not leach toxins into the soil. They are easy to install with just a screwdriver and a mallet, and even include an optional solar lighting kit.

Talk about curb appeal!

Category: Articles, Featured Product, General, Tips, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

The Three R’s!

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 | Author: admin

Reduce

Purchase durable, long-lasting goods and make them last longer by repairing them instead of throwing them out and buying something new

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