Tea – Time for Your Garden ... Compost Tea

If you would like a nice garden, you will need a bucket of water and some garbage. That simple recipe is all you need to grow healthy, beautiful plants all summer long. The trick to this recipe is that you have to compost your garbage first. Compost and water are the only ingredients you need to create a powerful plant supplement known as compost tea.

Compost in the garden will improve your soil which in turn will reward you with strong plants that are better able to fend off droughts and diseases. Compost improves soil structure and drainage. It can also be used as a fertilizer or as mulch and it enhances the soil’s ability to absorb water.

Compost tea provides the same benefits to a plant as compost but it doesn’t stop there. Not only can compost tea be applied to the soil around plants like regular compost, but it can also be sprayed on the leaves. When sprayed directly on the leaves, it increases the amount of nutrients available to the plant and helps fight foliar diseases. It will even increase the nutritional value and improve the taste of vegetables.

There are many different ways to make compost tea but most recipes can be summarized by saying, if you steep compost in water you get compost tea.

Using rain water is the best way to make compost tea but you can get by with tap water if rain is scarce. Tap water usually contains enough chlorine to kill off all of the beneficial bacteria so it is best to let it sit for a few hours before using it.

The quickest and easiest way to make compost tea is with an old sock filled with compost. Throw it in a bucket and let it sit for a day and you have just made compost tea. There are more complicated ways to make the tea more effective such as using air stones or fish tank bubblers to feed the mixture enough oxygen but the old sock in a bucket method works just as well. You can add molasses to the mix and there are many other secret home recipes. But you will do fine by using a sock filled with compost and a bucket of water. And actually the sock is optional if you have no plans on using a sprayer.

When applying compost tea with a sprayer you have to worry about clogs. Attach some cheese cloth or a piece of panty hose to the sprayer’s intake with some rubber bands und you should be fine.

If you need more than a few buckets of tea, an old fish tank or a plastic storage bin would make a great container for brewing compost tea.

After you have brewed a few batches and are happy with the results why not try aerated compost tea? You will need to feed your mixture a constant supply of oxygen so a bubbler or air stones will be required. You need to keep it aerated so it doesn’t grow any harmful pathogens. Some popular ingredients to add to bubbling compost tea are alfalfa, fish emulsion, powdered seaweed, corn meal, green sand and more. Don’t use manure. Manure tea shouldn’t be used as a foliar spray especially if you are growing vegetables and who wants manure floating around in their bucket anyway.

When you ask a weekend gardener about compost they will tell you it is powerful stuff with a lot of uses. When you ask a serious gardener about compost they will probably tell you that it’s the most important ingredient there is when making compost tea.

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Make Your Very Own Compost Pile

Learn how composting works. Even a newbie to composting can make good quality compost. It can be compared to cooking as art or part science. The following points will help you master the art of composting.

After a time anything that was once alive will naturally decompose. But, not all organic items should be composted. To prepare compost, organic material, microorganisms, air, water, and a small amount of nitrogen are needed.

It is safe to compost

-          Grass clippings / Trimmings from hedges

-          Vegetable scraps / Leaves

-          Potting soil that has grown old / Twigs

-          Coffee filters with coffee grounds / Tea bags

-          Weeds that have not went so seed / Plant stalks

-          Crushed egg shells

It is NOT safe to compost

-          Weeds that have went to seed

-          Dead animals / Pet faeces

-          Bread and grains / Meat

-          Grease / Cooking oil / Oily foods

-          Diseased plants

There are small forms of plant and animal life which break down the organic material. This life is called microorganisms. From a minute amount of garden soil or manure come plenty of microorganisms.

Nitrogen, air, and water will provide a favourable environment for the microorganisms to make the compost. Air circulation and water will keep the microorganisms healthy and working. The nitrogen feeds the tiny organisms. You may have to add a small amount of nitrogen to the pile. – Putting on too much nitrogen can kill microbes and too much water causes insufficient air in the pile. You just cannot add to much air.

Bacteria are the most effective compost makers in your compost pile. They are the first to break down plant tissue. Then comes the fungi and protozoan to help with the process. The arthropods, like centipedes, beetles, millipedes and worms, bring in the finishing touches to complete the composting.

The materials will break down faster if the microorganisms have more surface area to eat. Chopping your garden materials with a chipper, shredder, or lawnmower will help them decompose faster.

The activity of millions of microorganisms generates heat in the compost pile but a minimum size 3-foot by 3-foot by 3-foot is needed for a hot, fast composting pile. Piles that are any larger may hamper the air supply needed in the pile for the microorganisms.

If you can imagine a wet squeezed out sponge with its many air pockets, then this would be the ideal environment for the microorganisms in the pile to function at their best. Pay attention while your pile is composting, to the amount of rain or a drought you may have. Water in a drought and maybe turn the pile in a lot of rainy days. The extremes of these two may upset the balance of the pile. The use of a pitchfork would come in handy at this time.

Keep your pile between 110F and 160F and the beneficial bacteria will love it. Not too cool, nor too hot. The temperature will rise over several days if you keep a good ratio of carbon and nitrogen, maintain lots of surface area within a large volume of material, and maintain adequate moisture and aeration.

The importance of compost:

Compost has nutrients, but it is not a complete fertilizer.

Compost provides nutrients in the soil until plants need to use them.

It loosens and aerates clay soils and retains water in sandy soils.

The use of compost:

A soil amendment: mix 2 to 5 inches of compost into gardens each year before planting.

A potting mixture: add one part compost to two parts potting soil.

Make your own potting mixture by using equal parts of compost and sand.

Mulch prod cast: 2 to 4 inches of compost around annual flowers and vegetables, and up to 5 inches around your trees and shrubs.

A top dressing: mix finely sifted compost with sand and sprinkle evenly over lawns.

Once you have mastered the art of composting, look very seriously at making your very own aerated compost tea. This elixir will give you results that are hard to believe and will be descript in next week’s blog.

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Vegetable Gardening – Home Grown Food

Growing vegetables in your garden can save you money. During harvest time, your own produce becomes part of your meals.

Gardeners feel deep satisfaction in preparing salad or seasoning the casserole with freshly picked plants from their own vegetable gardens. Their feeling of the taste is incomparable. Fresh surplus are distributed to friends and loved ones while some are kept frozen.

It doesn’t require much space to grow vegetables. Even a container pot or a window box will do the trick. Where space is limited, you can grow a mini-garden indoor or outdoor.

If you have a good sun, access to water and enough containers, growing a garden worth of fruits and vegetables in a limited space is a no brainer. You can even harvest more than one crop if your choice of plants and planting schemes are all well planned and executed. Windowsills, balconies and doorstep areas can be used, as well as empty packs of milks, pails, plastic buckets and cans.

When planting in containers, proper spacing is very important. One sturdy plant is better than several weak ones. Crowding chokes root systems will slow growth and poor production. With container vegetable garden, you no longer need to worry about poor soil types and bad drainage, or heavy-duty tiller to break up hard clay and rocks. There is no weeding to worry about and you can change the looks of your container placements by simply moving them around anytime to a place you want to.

Vegetable gardening offers a change from the monotony of the supermarket. You can grow a variety of vegetables that you want.

Consider container worthy crops such as beans, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and eggplants when choosing plants for your vegetable container garden.

Root crops such as onions and turnips can also do well in containers, but remember to always take care of these crops by ample fertilizers and water. Also consider grapes and berries. Though some take a while to get established, they bear fruits more each year.

Planting for fall crops can be started in early summer, though summer planting can still be done in June in most regions.

One great advantage of growing vegetables and spices in containers involves the advent of the upside-down gardening. Crops with the likes of tomatoes, basil, parsley, rosemary and peppers do well with this approach. The idea is that the vines will cascade downward instead of growing up a stake. A grow box can be treated by punching perforations through the bottom of a container. The other option is to purchase a device specially designed for this purpose. Upside gardens do not require a great deal of space and is perfect for balconies and patios.

Equally important, seeds and soil must properly be taken care of in your vegetable container garden. Seeds do not always have to be bought. Reasonably fresh dill, anise, fennel, coriander and other seeds already on the spice rack should grow. If not, they are too old to add much to food anyway and should be replaced. Scoop out seeds from vegetables you’ve bought, dry them a week or so before planting.

Soil preparation on the other hand is very crucial for good results. Have the soil tested. Most of the nurseries will test soil for a small fee or you can get a tester kit to test it by yourself.

Start growing those veggies in your garden and turn your home made meals into something truly special. Take care of your plants to make them productive by keeping them watered and harvested.

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Garden Tools - Care and Repair

The proper care and maintenance of garden tools and implements will save the risk of injury, as well as time and money.

Knowing how to properly use and maintain garden tools will increase their life, help prevent personal injury, and increase your gardening enjoyment.

For example, properly uncoiling a hose will prevent you from tripping or catching your foot in the coil.

The points of an upturned rake can inflict painful and sometimes serious puncture wounds when stepped on, to say nothing about the possibility of the handle flying up and striking you in the face. Tools must not be left where their edges or point may be hidden by grass, leaves, or other material.

Keep your fingers away from the blades of the lawn mower: merely striking your hand against the blades can lead to a brutal injury.

A small, slight crack in a wooden handle can be repaired by wrapping the handle with tape. A glass filament tape is particularly useful for such a job. Splinters in wooden handles of rakes, hoes, and shovels can be cured by sanding the surface until it becomes smooth again; this not only protects your hands, but keeps the cracks from spreading and causing the handle to break. A good way to preserve a wooden handle is to apply several coats of quality varnish or to paint it

The metal parts of the tool may be painted, with a primer coat, and two coats of exterior paint.

However, any metal part which goes into the ground should not be painted.

Aside from preservation by paint, the tools are easier to find when their handles are of a colour which makes them conspicuous if left lying on the grass. The colour should not be green or brown, but a bright contrast to the grass such as red, yellow, blue, or white.

The metal edges of shovels, hoes, rakes or other garden tools may become nicked. These may be smoothed with a metal file. Any rough surfaces should be gone over with steel wool or other abrasive which is good for metal. Dents may be straightened out by hammering with a mallet.

A wheelbarrow break, in the wood or metal parts, should be repaired at once. Painting the wheelbarrow helps preserve the wood. The moving parts need occasional oiling, to run smoothly.

For winter storage, keep tools in a dry spot as dampness could be harmful. Wipe all tools clean of any dirt or grass before being stored. The metal parts should be coated with a mixture of petroleum jelly and light oil, to prevent rust.

Caring for your garden tools will help them last year after year!

But even with the best care garden tools have to be replaced because of your own safety and for better working methods.

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Aquaponics is a new way of approaching farming

Unlike traditional agriculture where you needed plants to grow vegetables, with aquaponics you need water and fish in order to have healthy food on your table each and every day. Basically, aquaponics relies on the interdependence between fish and plants: the fish produces bio-nutrients for the plants, while the plants clean the water, creating a perfect environment for the fish to grow and develop. It is a blend of aquaculture and hydroponics that has plenty of advantages. If you need some reasons to get your own aquaponic system started, then here are some of the advantages you will get once you assemble it.

First of all you will have fresh organic food on your table each and every day, regardless of the hour when you decide to cook your meals. You simply take your tomato, cucumber or your basil from the aquaponic “field” and use it for your meals.  It is as easy as it sounds.

The second best thing about it is that you not only grow vegetables, but you also have plenty of fish. Whether you want them for cooking tasty meals or simply for your décor, they are a great addition in your home! They also have a practical purpose, as you will never have to use chemical fertilizers on your plants, thus obtaining real organic food.

If you ask how difficult it is to put this system into practice, the answer is extremely simple. Not only will you be able to assemble it all by yourself, without the help of your family or neighbours, but you can also put it wherever you want. If you move from one house to another, then you simply disassemble the system and take it with you! What can be easier than that?

Another great advantage of the hydroponic farming is that it offers you financial independence and control over your money. You know exactly how much you need to spend on your food and you will no longer depend on the market for your veggies’ supplies.

Last, but not least, it involves no dirty hands and clothes, no bending and digging, no land and little maintenance time, so it will be like your veggies and fish grow all by themselves! Quite an easy to put in practice system, suitable for all types of people, even for busy and impatient ones!

There are plenty advantages that the aquaponic system can offer you! Your health and your comfort will be improved, while your savings will considerably grow with the constant use of the aquaponic type of farming! If this is what you want, then why not give it a try?

Let’s Get Started with the Gardening!

Gardening is a wonderful pastime the whole family can enjoy. In addition, gardening has become an increasingly popular hobby for people of all ages and is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities around the globe.

When people start planting their garden, they start with flowers and most people will pursue planting roses. The novice gardener does not realize that roses usually take the most time and effort as compared to other flowers. With such an enormous array of flowers to choose from, it is best for the novice to start with easy care plants and flowers.

Vegetable gardens have become very popular too. A vegetable garden can bring a sense of pride and accomplishment when you place those fresh vegetables on your dinner table. The list of vegetable plants is endless. When planning your vegetable garden choose the right vegetable for your growing climate. For instance, cool weather crops would be green beans, zucchini and cucumbers.

Many gardeners will consider planting fruits as well. In a warm climate, you could plant watermelons, and trees such as apricots and peaches, to name just a few.

A berry garden is also fun, planting strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. These types of berry gardens are easy to care for and take less space than a traditional vegetable garden.

Herbs are another favourite for the garden. If you have limited space, you can grow your herbs indoors in a sunny window. The most often used herbs for cooking are basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, rosemary and chives. These herbs are easy to grow too.

Landscaping your yard is another form of gardening. There are different types of grasses and shrubbery to decorate your yard. Decorative rocks, ponds and statues are also included as a form of landscape gardening. Landscaping your yard is not limited to plant life. As with a garden, your lawn and shrubbery needs to be kept up.

Gardening can be fun and educational for the whole family. In addition, what a delight to see the flowers bloom and harvest the vegetables.

However, as with anything else, to be a successful gardener takes work. Plants need to be weeded and watered. Do not get discouraged if the flowers are not as brilliant as expected or the vegetables did not do so well.

Research the plant in question and then try again next planting season. Eventually you will have a wonderful garden.

Why Is an Aquaponic System Better than a Hydroponic One?

Hydroponic gardens are already highly popular among people of all ages.

They require little space, are easy to take care of and give satisfactory results. However, because you will need to supply the water with necessary nutrients, which are most of the times chemical, the taste of the crops is not quite the ones people expect. Also, people trying to switch to organic products have a hard time in coping with the chemical additions from the hydroponically-grown vegetables. Fortunately, a new type of gardening is available. It is called the aquaponic system and can help you grow organic food in your home.

The aquaponic system is a mixture between the aquaculture, as it requires growing fish in special fish tank und hydroponics, as it involves growing plants with water and nutrients. You will probably wonder what role the fish play in all this business. Well, things are quite easy: the fish excrements contain ammonia which is later decomposed in nitrites and nitrates. The latter substance is benefice for the plants, offering them enough nutrients to grow and develop normally. Thus, there will be no need to supply your plants with chemical substances as they will already have all the food they need.

This leads to the several advantages that the aquaponic system has over the hydroponic one. First, the vegetables will have a better taste as they will grow only with natural food and at their own pace. This will give them that delicious taste you love so much in veggies. Then, the system is simpler, as you will no longer need to feed your plants each and every day. Just make sure that your fish are in good shape and then let nature take its course.

Last, but not least, with the aquaponic system you do not only grow vegetables, but you also have fish which you can use for decorative purposes or you can very well cook delicious meals for you and your family.

Aquaponic is an improved version of the hydroponic system. The crops are better and the process is easier. In addition to that you get to eat organic food! What more can you wish for?

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