Frugal Living Tips

Need Help With Organic Gardening?....Try Using These Tips

by Harriet Bond
(San Francisco, CA, USA)

Your organic garden can be an important part of your life. Just like you, it needs to be taken care of properly. You need to research what you need, and then figure out what you need to do to help it grow properly. These tips below can help you with that:

* When planting a new tree, never cramp roots into a small hole and always spread out the roots of bare-root stock instead of wrapping them around the stem. Make sure you cut away the plastic, twine, or cable wrapped around balled and burlapped trees before planting. Failure to take these precautions can result in "girdling", in which a tree strangles, gradually starves, and dies.

* Gather pine cones that have dropped from trees and use them as mulch in your garden to conserve water and prevent evaporation. Take the pine cones and crush them into a mulch and spread them about two inches deep around the base of plants and between rows and your watering will last longer.

* You need to be aware of the levels of the soil in your organic garden. Check your compost balances for both acid and alkaline soils. This kind of compost can bring PH levels into an optimum range for more nutrients. It generally contains micro-nutrients such as iron and manganese that tend to be absent in most synthetic fertilizers.

* If your garden is in the city, there are a few things you can do to lessen city noise. Try putting a water feature in your garden like a waterfall or fountain. This will create white noise that will deaden the effects of traffic noise. Add wind chimes, if you like, for additional distraction.

* When planting your tomatoes in your organic garden, add compost around the stem and trim the upper leaves. This will assist your tomato plants in growing in the best way that they possibly can. You should aim to do these things as soon as the first fruit begins to ripen.

* Try not to walk in your garden unless you absolutely have to in order to care for it. Work from a distance when you can. Walking across the soil compacts it, which makes it harder for roots to penetrate to needed nutrients. If your soil is already packed down, gently aerate it without damaging root structure.

* Hose reels are a vital piece of equipment for the organic garden. You can use reels to keep hoses neat and prevent time-wasting tangles. Untangling a hose is possibly the least enjoyable way to spend your gardening time. This hassle is easily avoided by purchasing a reel will rid any unnecessary frustration.

* Chickens can add a good source of fertilizer for your garden. Having a small coop with a chickens not only gives you a supply of fresh eggs, you can also use top layers of the soil in the coop as fertilizer since it has been saturated with chicken manure. There will also be a large supply of egg shells for your compost bin.

* Do not overfeed your tomato plants, your tomato plants don't want to be fed, it encourages their weedy nature at the expense of the fruit. Dig a hole, set the plant to the lowest healthy leaves, and water, they will take care of the rest and produce you plenty of fruit.

Taking good care of your organic garden can ensure that you and your family always have healthy, fresh food to eat. So, do yourself a favor and do your research and apply the above tips to your own organic gardening strategy so that you can have healthier, happier plants to use at home.