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organic gardening – Page 5 – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Tag: organic gardening

  • Making Your Own Potting Soil

    Making Your Own Potting Soil

    Whether you are growing in raised beds, containers, or even in rows, you can benefit from starting your crops on tables and even under cover.  But starting your crops outside of their final location, or growing in containers will mean that you need potting soil, which is expensive.  Reducing this cost is a crucial step in lowering the overall cost of your garden.  Here are some tips on making your own potting soil to cut costs.

     

    Peat

    It’s unlikely that you will be able to build your potting soil without purchasing anything, but purchasing individual ingredients in bulk, and then stretching them will reduce costs dramatically.  One ingredient that you are not going to want to go without because of its ability to wick water up is peat, or coconut coir but generally, peat is cheaper.  This can be stretched by adding saw dust to it that you might be able to get for free if you look for a mill in your area.

    Compost

    Compost is, of course, something that you can produce for free.  When using it for potting soil you want to make sure that you are using the finest material you can.  Avoid material with large sticks and obviously, recognizable pieces of ingredients that have not decomposed.  Vermicompost or worm bin compost is great for this.

    Perlite

    Perlite is a volcanic rock that aids in drainage and preventing soil compaction.  These are important factors especially in potting soil.  Perlite can be expensive, but it is a difficult ingredient to replace because of it’s unique and highly beneficial characteristics.

    Separate

    Once you have mixed these ingredients thoroughly you have potting soil.  To avoid the need to purchase these ingredients again, simply segregate your spent potting soil and compost it in a separate pile or add it to your worm bins.  This will keep all of your perlite available for future use, the compost will be replaced, and it will reduce the need to purchase more peat.

     

    Making your own potting soil not only reduces the cost of purchasing it by the bag, but it also reduces the loss that you would suffer from unsuccessful direct sowing of valuable seeds.  Don’t let the cost of potting soil deter you from starting in a more controlled environment, make your own.

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  • Keeping Toxins Out of the Garden

    Keeping Toxins Out of the Garden

     

    Having a garden and growing your own vegetables and herbs can be a great way to stay healthy.  It will undoubtedly increase the amount of fresh greens in your diet, provide you with safe alternative to treat illness, and for most it will give them more time out in the fresh air.  But if your garden is full of toxins, then the plants will inevitably contain toxins, and ultimately you will consume these toxins and be in a worse state then if you hadn’t had spent all that time and energy growing unhealthy foods.  Here are a few tips to keep toxins out of your garden, improving the health of the soil, plants, and you.

     

    Pest Treatment

    One of the primary sources for harmful toxins in the garden is pesticides that are intentionally applied.  Sometimes people want to grow an organic garden, but then when they have a hard time controlling pests they start to compromise, telling themselves that they will just do it this once, or even giving up on it all together thinking that organic gardening is just for people with greener thumbs than themselves.  But pests can be controlled without the use of toxic pesticides, and even with limited use of organic pesticides by planting a variety of crops, planning heirloom seeds for your area, and maintaining soil health.

    Avoiding Wood Treatment

    I have seen over and over again people build raised beds with treated lumber.  While modern wood treatments are less toxic than before and don’t use arsenic that is easily absorbed into the body, they still use chemicals that are potential harmful with long term exposure.  Worse yet is that people who use treated lumber will more than likely use exterior paint as well.  Just read the warning label on a can of paint, it’s not reassuring.

    Plastics

    Plastics are great, they make much of our modern life easier if not possible.  But they can break down over time, especially when exposed to the sun, and leach out harmful chemicals.  Don’t use more plastics in your garden than you need to, and replace sun damaged plastic before it breaks down into tiny difficult to remove shards that will contaminate your soil.  Some of the common offenders are plastic braided twine for treles that crumbles over time and is impossible to get out of the soil, black weed cloth which is horrible and offers none of the benefits that can be had with cardboard and woodchips, and plastic beverage bottles that people poke holes in and use as slow watering devices.

     

    Your garden can’t keep you healthy if don’t keep it healthy, and an unhealthy garden still requires your work and time.  So take simple precautions and strategies to remove harmful toxins from your garden and start eating to your health.

     

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  • Questions About Woodchips

    Questions About Woodchips

    After writing several articles in which I proclaimed the various, near-miraculous benefits of wood chips a handful of people commented with questions.  These questions are common judging by online comments and video or article titles that are about wood chips.  I’ll try to answer those questions here with what I have found in my research and personal experience.

     

    What Woodchips are Best?

    People often wonder what wood chips offer the most benefits to their garden.  In my opinion, it’s the ones that are free.  If you have an unlimited budget to go out and pay for your preference of chips then you could just as easily pay for soil and save some time and energy.  Any extra benefits that could be had by one particular tree over another can be obtained by other ingredients in your compost or simply by adding more “lesser grade” woodchips that you can get for free.

    What Woodchips are Bad?

    While all wood chips are good for soil building, not all woodchips are good to add directly to your garden.  Some trees have allelopathic properties that mean their woodchips will suppress the growth of some plants, especially seedlings and new transplants, nightshades are particularly susceptible.  For this reason, you want to know what chips you are getting so you know how to best use them.  Pine, maple, birch, black walnut, and eucalyptus chips should be composted before used as mulch around seedlings or nightshades.

    Nitrogen Draw?

    Nitrogen draw is when soil nitrogen is drawn out to assist in the decomposition of organic material.  Many people refrain from applying wood chips because they are concerned that it will remove the nitrogen from the soil.  This might occur if the chips are mixed into the soil, but it should not be an issue if used as a mulch, and especially not if the chips have aged.  If you are still worried about it, let your chips set until they aren’t heating up before applying them, but realize that any nitrogen draw that occurs will be minimal compared with long-term benefits and nitrogen is one of the easiest nutrients to come by from free sources like grass clippings and coffee grounds.

     

    I hope this helps and encourages you to take advantage of this awesome soil building resource that is often available for free.  I just got a dump truck full of chips dropped off in my yard for nothing, all I did was call my local electric company and ask for it.

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  • Banana Peels in the Garden

    Banana Peels in the Garden

    Bananas are an awesome food.  They taste great, help with muscular recovery, and come packaged in fertilizer.  That peel that your banana comes in is itself food, for your garden.  If you have a compost pile you are probably already adding your kitchen waste, but if you are like most people you slack on taking it out if it’s cold, or wet, or late, and so forth.  But after looking at some of the benefits banana peels provide to your garden you might be a little more willing to make an effort to be strict in your peel collection for your compost and garden.

     

    Potassium

    Topping the list of nutrient benefits found in banana peels is potassium.  Potassium in one of the “big three” nutrients plants need most.  It is necessary for good root health and strong cell walls.  Having healthy potassium levels in your soil will allow your plants to become more resistant to drought, disease, and pests.

    Phosphorus

    Next on the list of nutrients banana peels offer is another one of the “big three”, phosphorus.  Phosphorus is one of the nutrients your plants need for production of your food.  Plants use phosphorus in growing new shoots, fruit, and seeds.  Like potassium, it also contributes to root health and therefore overall plant health.

    Calcium

    Banana peels also contain calcium.  Calcium is necessary for plants to transfer other nutrients throughout the plant body.  If your soil is deficient in calcium your plants will not even be able to benefit from the nutrients that your soil does have.

    Magnesium

     Last, but certainly not least, is magnesium.  Magnesium is used by plants in the production of chlorophyll which makes photosynthesis possible.  Without magnesium plants would not be able to get their energy from the sun, effectively starving them.

     

    Few foods come packaged in such beneficial fertilizer.  Don’t let any of it go to waste, whether you apply your peels directly to the garden or put them in your compost, make sure your plants aren’t missing out on all of these beneficial nutrients.

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  • Adding Calcium to Your Garden

    Adding Calcium to Your Garden

    Calcium is an essential nutrient for a healthy garden.  If your soil is lacking in calcium your plants will not be able to transport other soil minerals to the leaves and fruit.  Obviously, this could lead to a variety of health issues for your plants including blossom end rot.  Having to purchase fertilizers can be avoided by adding natural sources of calcium to your garden soil and compost that you might already have, and might even otherwise be throwing away.

     

    Eggshells

    Eggshells are a great source of calcium for your garden that most of us already have.  The calcium in the eggshells will not immediately be plant available, so you can just add the shells to your compost bin, giving them the time to be consumed and broken down without any effort you’re your part.  But if you want to speed the process along a little you can rinse and dry your eggshells and then put them in a blender until they are a fine powder.  This can be added directly to the garden beds.

    Bones

    Bones will provide a great long-term source of calcium for your soil.  Dry them out in your oven or in the sun, then put them in several paper bags.  Squeeze and twist the bags so that all the bones are confined to one small area.  Then using a 3lbs mini-sledge, smash the bones until they are as small as you can get them.  Because these pieces will not be as small as your powdered eggshells and might attract scavengers like raccoons at first, they would be better put in your compost.

    Add Vinegar

    The thought of using vinegar in the garden might cause alarm, but vinegar could actually help you deliver calcium to plants in need.  How?  Well like I just said above, the calcium in bones and eggshells will require time to break down in order to become plant available.  This means that if you have plants that are already suffering from a deficiency they will not be helped by simply adding crushed eggshells to the soil.  But, if you mix those crushed or powdered eggshells with an equal amount of vinegar, shake or stir, and let it sit for about an hour, the vinegar will chemically react with the eggshells and will both extract the calcium and neutralize the acid in the vinegar making it harmless for your plants.

     

    All of these items are probably in your house right now, so there is no need to go spend money at the store buying fertilizers, limestone, or gypsum to increase the calcium in your soil.  Save yourself some money and help your plants today with these easy tips.

     

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  • Natural Tips for Aphid Control

    Natural Tips for Aphid Control

    Aphids are a nightmare for anybody who has a garden, and if you have a garden, there is a very good chance that you have or will have aphids at some point. What you need to do is learn how to get rid of them so they do not destroy your supply. Fortunately, there are some good ways that you can get rid of these nasty little pests.

    First, you might want to consider adding some plants to your garden that help to repel aphids. Fortunately, some of these plants are going to be very useful and will likely be things that you want to grow anyway. You can put sunflowers in your garden, as well as mint, turmeric, ginger, oregano, basil, cilantro, garlic, and onions. All of these help to drive aphids away. By planting them in between other types of plants – the type that aphids tend to like, which is just about everything else – you can help to reduce the number of aphids you have.

    In addition, you may want to create some sprays that you can use for the garden. There are some very simple sprays that work quite well. Take about 100 g of crushed garlic cloves and put it in a gallon of water. Let it set for 24 hours and then boil it for 20 minutes. Once it is completely cool, you can put it in a sprayer. Even a spray bottle will work. You can do something similar with onions. Just put the hundred grams into two gallons of water instead. Then cook it for 30 minutes, and let it cool. Put it in the sprayer and head out to the garden.

    With these simple tips, you can start winning the fight against the aphids!

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  • Safe Homemade Weed Killer (Video)

    Safe Homemade Weed Killer (Video)

    If you are homesteading and have not heard about the dangers of using chemical herbicides like Round Up, then you have probably been living under a rock.  For everyone else, controlling weeds with natural methods can be time consuming and energy intense.  Aside from mulching your garden heavily, what can you do?  Here is a short video of a recipe for homemade weed killer, it even shows some of the results at the end.

     

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  • What Items Should You Never Compost?

    What Items Should You Never Compost?

    Composting is something that every homesteader should do. It allows you to recycle food and other material and to create richer soil at the same time. However, there are only some items that you should not add to the compost pile. Let’s look at some of the elements that you should not add to the compost pile, as well as the reasons why.

    Never put any meat scraps into the compost pile. The same goes for bones. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it has the potential to attract vermin. In addition, it is going to cause the compost pile to stink. Never put waste from carnivorous animals onto the compost pile either. You can put on regular manure, but you should never put anything from a carnivorous animal – this goes for pets, such as your cats and dogs. The reason for this is simple – it has the potential to add parasites to the compost, which you would then end up putting in the garden and eating.

    Do not put any wood that has been chemically treated into the compost pile either. There is a good chance that the chemicals will get into the compost. Do not place walnut shells into the compost pile either. It contains a chemical that can be toxic to certain plants.

    Never put oil or grease into the compost pile. It will not break down, and it can cover the other items in the pile, which means they will not break down either. You should not put any weeds in the compost pile, especially if they have seeds. If you do, you are just going to end up with weeds in the garden.

    Keep composting, but make sure you know exactly what is going into compost pile each day.

     

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