Organic gardeners are always trying to work in harmony with nature, continually looking to conserve the nutrients in the earth and replenishing those that have been used as our plants grow. In earlier times, all gardening and agriculture was essentially organic as there were no artificial chemical fertilizers easily or widely available. This began to change in the mid 1800’s… Read more »
Of Cabbages and Corn Husks – We Dip Into the Mail Bag Question for your blog: It looks as if I have been infested with cabbage rootfly maggots. The only good thing is that this is contained to three large planters. Can I use that soil again for next year, or should I bin it? Timothy, Devon, UK Yes and… Read more »
September is the month to sow green manures. Novice gardeners might think they need to head down to a local farm and kindly ask the farmer if he has fed the cows lately, but this is not exactly what green manures are. Green manures are cover crops that become part of the soil– plants grown off-season and tilled in to… Read more »
As some of you know, my family and I recently moved into a new home, and one of the selling points of the new house is the abundance of fireplaces. There is a lovely large fireplace in our main living space, and a charmingly squat wood-burning stove in the back addition, where my husband and I share a desk, and… Read more »
Dear Top Gardening Friends My last post talked about creating a cottage garden, which can include a range of herbs. Many of us will grow herbs for their culinary use, however they can be grown for pot-pourri, medicinal or even ornamental reasons.If you have children and a small space in the garden, then encourage them to plant and look after… Read more »
Dear Wonderful Top Gardening Friends Mulching is a word that describes the practice of protecting the upper layers of the soil in which you are growing your organic plants with protective materials of some description or another. Mulching serves many purposes, it can for example protect your plant roots against the worst effects of chillier nights, whilst in hotter climates,… Read more »
To ensure your organic gardening is successful, you need to fertilise your garden and that doing so using organic fertilizer is at the heart of the organic gardening concept. The easiest and most effective way of making your own organic fertilizer is to have your own compost heap, so how can you make an effective compost heap. So, how… Read more »