Saturday, August 30, 2008
Composting makes Soil and its Easy
I want to encourage composting. There are only 2 of us and we make alot of good soil with our little composting. It is free and with just a few additives it really enriches your flower or vegetable garden. I won't go in to much detail about the how to's as there is much info on line on how to compost. I have 2 bins: one we made out of wood and chicken wire and a platic circular type bin I found at Goodwill ( I am a real fanatic about shoping at Thrift storesI believe if you need it you will eventually find it, whether at a yard sale or thrift store) 2 bins will help you move the compost around better. This summer I was actually putting compost soil in my garden in as little as 2 weeks, it made that fast. Once you get into it, you will enjoy the thought of doing this rather than just throwing it in a land fill. Martha Stewart at marthastewart .com had direction for a small bin you could keep under your sink that turned your vegetable scraps into compost all year long ....I just blogged the site that has info on this for your info check out my other blogs..I am new at this. http://www.marthastewart.com/article/vermi-composting-?autonomy_kw=compost%20bin&rsc=header_3 ahh the link to Martha's info. Hope this helps someone, I would love input on experiences of your own, although I have been growing plants for years and gardening too, well I am a Half Way gardener, I just sort of "wing " it alot as I tend to get very busy and forget to fertilize, hate to weed ( I am always trying to figure out how not to weed, I hate it). The past few years I have been trying to keep a gardening diary to see what works. I am learning that gardening is a life long "thing" to learn, try and error, learn and do what works if the weather permits. Mother nature affects what we do alot. More soon, Melaine
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Water for your garden Drip irrigation
The past 3 years have been very dry here in Tennessee and "very" HOT. For the last 2 years I couldnt grow a green bean if my life depended on it. The plants just dried up ..never grew. Well, this spring thank fully it rained soon after planting..I do think timing of planting seed is important too as the past 2 years I procrastinated and planted my beans late and it was already quite hot. I believe planting your beans as soon as danger of frost is over and hopefully the heat hasnt hit yet will insure better germenation. I planted earlier this year and we had some mild weather with rain. But mid june the heat came and no rain. We installed a Micro watering system this year. It consists of 2 in. tubing with 1/2 inch tubing coming off of it and watering directly to your plants. We used sprinker heads and they worked great, but when the plants get bigger you have to move them around the larger stems and leaves or they will block the water reaching to your other plants, also sprinklers water the weeds too. If you use drip tubing directly to ea plant or sprinkler heads close to the ground of your row you will eliminate these problems. We got our system at Home Depot it was a kit with everything we needed for $25. I think you can work up your own system and make it as economical as possible or as extravagant as you want...we added a timer so it would water at 5 a.m. in the morning. Well we have vegetables now we have flowers blooming it took water. My point is water to your garden is essential if you want to have an abundance of vegetables or flowers. I have heard of gardens that just "grow" with very little care but that is an exception. This was the choice we made, there are other ways to get water to your garden ..rain barrels, pumps from a stream or pond.... I have recieved our water bill and although it is not much higher I see the difference and I am calculating is it worth it for me. Good luck.
Zebrina Hollyhocks bloom spring summer and fall and Comesback
I am a gardener forever and I have found this flower. It is a traffic stopper in the early Spring here in Tennessee in my garden. A type of naturalizing Hollyhock blooms in sun or a little shade. Easy to grow, easy to collect the seeds lots of enjoyment in your garden. I have the seed and plants aviable if anyone is interested
I am blogging to help all gardeners with my experience in gardening...finding that special flower, techniques that work I want to pass along. This is my first Blog ...not sure how this works.
Happy blogging, I guess!!
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