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I received an interesting comment yesterday from an avid gardener who responded to my Top 5 Gardening Tips post. She agreed with my gardening tips for the most part, but raised an interesting question regarding the nutritional …
Source: Kenny Point
Sprouts are rich in vitamins, minerals, Amino Acids, proteins and phytochemicals, as these are necessary for a germinating plant to grow [citation needed]. They are also rich in nutrients essential for human health. …
Source: Fine
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Understanding Soil
QUOTE: All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.
- Indian Proverb
Understanding the role that soil plays in the garden is one of the best assets that you can have as a gardener.
It is this knowledge that will allow you to create a healthier environment for your plants and get the maximum benefits from them.
In doing so, you will also make your own life easier, as a garden that is well managed from the soil up, is a garden that is a lot easier to manage, from one day to the next.
A garden that has good soil that has been fed with good nutrition over time will make growing almost anything easy for even the least experienced gardener.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/soil.html
So how to you get good soil?
First you need to consider how plants grow and how they get their nutrition and that is through their roots.
Therefore, in order for the plants to grow well, they need to be in soil that allows their roots to get to the nutrition.
Obviously compact ground with little water, little air and poor nutrition will not produce the best plants.
Plants need water and air and this requires soil that has spaces to hold this air and water.
Therefore soil that is aerated will generally produce a better garden. Once again it is all about balance, as soil that is too crumbly might not hold the nutrients as well, where the water might wash them away. The soil also needs to be firm enough to support the growth of the plant otherwise it will topple over at the first sign of a wind.
The soil needs to have suitable nutrients and if any of these nutrients are out of balance, the pH scale that measures whether the soil is acidic or alkaline, will show why they are having difficulty absorbing the nutrients.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/soil.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Business GazetteGrowing their love for gardeningBusiness Gazette, MD - 37 minutes agoSpoales and co-worker Vinnie Bevevino also provide youth gardening and nutrition education at some Prince George’s County schools. …
Source: "gardening" - Google News
Bend WeeklyHydroponics: Gardening that won't get your hands dirtyBend Weekly, OR - 1 hour agoSome people call it "soil-less" gardening in that water supplies the mineral nutrition and hydration for the plants to grow. …
Source: Yahoo! News Search Results for "gardening"
Organic-gardening classes offer taste of healthful practiceStatesman Journal, OR - 1 hour agoShe said people's interest in organic gardening goes far beyond eliminating chemical use. "Local food equates to better nutrition," she said. …
Source: "gardening" - Google News
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Growing Your Own Vegetables
QUOTE: You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt
- Anonymous
There is a great sense of satisfaction knowing that you will be able to wander down to your own garden and pick the vegetables that you have been growing and then cook them and eat them for your dinner.
You will never be able to get vegetables as fresh as that from the shops and you certainly will be able to taste the difference in the extra freshness that you will get with every bite.
Many vegetables taste just as good, if not better, eaten fresh from the garden without even cooking them.
Peas, beans, tomatoes and the like are all ready to be eaten and enjoyed as they are picked.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/plants.html
What makes garden fresh vegetables even more appealing is the fact that you will know everything that has gone into the soil and every spray that has been used to assist in the growing of those vegetables. And that is something that you would never know about the produce that you buy from the shops.
You will need to use sprays on your garden to ensure you have a healthy crop so it is wise to look at all the instructions and the contents of any sprays that you might need to use.
By using the best sprays you can be satisfied that not only will your crops have had the best nutrition but you will also be safe from some of the chemicals that many commercial growers use.
You can often keep pests off your crops, or reduce the incidence of the damage they can create by planting companion plants around your crops to keep them away.
You can reduce the chance of getting disease by selecting resistant varieties of plants that are less susceptible to disease and by giving them more room to grow by spacing them out a little more.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/plants.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Where To Put Your Garden
QUOTE: All good work is done the way ants do things:
Little by little.
- Lafcadio Hearn
Generally the location of your garden will be determined by many factors that cannot be changed such as the location of any buildings on the property. Aside from the obvious constraints that you will need to work with, you will also need to take other factors into consideration.
These factors will include the lie of the land, where the land is shaded or how much sun it gets during the day, the view from the rooms of the house, privacy factors and more.
Before the first plant goes into the garden you need to have a plan of what you want and what you want the garden to do for you in terms of display, privacy, shade etc.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Without a plan the garden won't have a cohesive flow and that will show when the plants have matured.
You will also need to consider irrigation and drainage as these will determine how well you will be able to manage the soil and whether you will be able to supply the plants with the necessary nutrients over time.
Your decisions might even determine whether your plants will survive and as some plants can be quite expensive, you need to get your research right from the start.
You might even need to consider the proximity of the plants on your neighbors side of the fence as these can also affect the growth of your garden if they are shading your property from the sun, or their roots are taking the nutrition from your soil.
When buying plants, also consider their height when mature as a large tree blocking the view can actually devalue your property.
Once you have a good plan that is well thought out for the long term of your garden you will be ready to start digging, and that's when the fun starts.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Testing the pH of your soil
QUOTE: The rose has thorns only for those who would gather it.
- Chinese Proverb
It is easy to test the pH of the soil in your garden with the use of a simple and inexpensive test kit. All you need to do with the test kit is take a sample of the soil and mix it with water and then compare the results in the sample to the colors on the chart. This will tell you whether the soil is acidic or alkaline.
If the soil is too acidic you can add lime to bring it back into balance. If on the other hand there is too much lime and the pH reading is high you can add more compost to reduce the levels of the lime in the soil.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Soil that is slightly acidic tends to be more fertile.
Old gardeners used to use a simple taste test to determine the condition of the soil. This method isn't recommended but it can be quite accurate.
If the soil tastes sour then it is likely to be acid. This is also represented by a sour smell.
Vinegar is another way to test whether there is enough lime in the soil, as lime will cause the vinegar to bubble.
Drop some soil into a cup of vinegar and if it starts to bubble then you know there is enough lime in the soil.
For the low cost of a pH tester, you will get a lot more accurate reading and this will allow you to easily monitor the condition of your soils and adjust the nutrients accordingly rather than guessing what is needed and not having optimum nutrition.
You should also take samples at different points throughout your garden, as there can be changes in the soil from one area to the next depending on what has been added over the years and what has been growing in the various sections of the garden.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Moss
QUOTE: Gardening requires lots of water…
Most of it in the form of perspiration
- Lou Erickson
If you have moss on your lawn then this can be a sign of two main problems. Either you have a drainage problem or poor nutrition.
With moss on your lawn you will need to remove as much of the moss as possible before you start to take action to prevent it from coming back again.
Aerating the lawn will help to solve the problem. There are various ways that this can be done.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/lawncare.html
The best way to aerate your lawn is with a coring machine that actually pulls small plugs of approximately 2 inches from the lawn. It is possible to hire these machines or get a professional to do the job for you. Alternatively you can aerate your lawn by using a garden fork and punching holes throughout the affected area. This can be quite time consuming and tiring.
Another way to improve your lawn is to rake the lawn vigorously, and in doing so you will be removing the moss and any old grass clippings and other debris that is lying around. This procedure is called scarifying.
You can then use a lawn specific moss killer to kill off any moss that is left. It is important that you get a moss specifically formulated for lawns as ordinary moss killers can also kill your lawn.
As the moss dies it will turn black and the lawn might look unsightly for a while but once the moss has died you can scarify it again to remove the dead matter.
Scarifying the lawn will allow the water and fertilizer to reach the roots of the grass and improve the quality of your lawn.
In areas of your property where there is little or no sunlight and quite a lot of dampness, you might need to consider if it would be better to transform it into a garden that will cope better with the conditions than lawn.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/lawncare.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
