Your Guide To Organic Gardening

Manufactured solid-sided bins are usually constructed of sheet steel or recycled plastic. In cool climates there is an advantage to tightly constructed plastic walls that retain heat and facilitate decomposition of smaller thermal masses. Precise construction also prevents access by larger vermin and pets.

Mice, on the other hand, are capable of squeezing through amazingly small openings. Promotional materials make composting in pre-manufactured bins seem easy, self-righteously ecological, and effortless. However, there are drawbacks.

It is not possible to readily turn the materials once they've been placed into most composters of this type unless the entire front is removable. Instead, new materials are continuously placed on top while an opening at the bottom permits the gardener to scrape out finished compost in small quantities. Because no turning is involved, this method is called “passive” composting. But to work well, the ingredients must not be too coarse and must be well mixed before loading.

Continuous bin composters generally work fast enough when processing mixtures of readily decomposable materials like kitchen garbage, weeds, grass clippings and some leaves. But if the load contains too much fine grass or other gooey stuff and goes anaerobic, a special compost aerator must be used to loosen it up.

Manufactured passive composters are not very large. Compactness may be an advantage to people with very small yards or who may want to compost on their terrace or porch. But if the C/N of the materials is not favorable, decomposition can take a long, long time and several bins may have to be used in tandem. Unless they are first ground or chopped very finely, larger more resistant materials like corn, Brussels sprouts, sunflower stalks, cabbage stumps, shrub prunings, etc. will "constipate" a top-loading, bottom-discharging composter.

The compost tumbler is a clever method that accelerates decomposition by improving aeration and facilitating frequent turning. A rotating drum holding from eight to eighteen bushels (the larger sizes look like a squat, fat, oversized oil drum) is suspended above the ground, top-loaded with organic matter, and then tumbled every few days for a few weeks until the materials have decomposed. Then the door is opened and finished compost falls out the bottom.

Tumblers have real advantages. Frequent turning greatly increases air supply and accelerates the process. Most tumblers retard moisture loss too because they are made of solid material, either heavy plastic or steel with small air vents. Being suspended above ground makes them immune to vermin and frequent turning makes it impossible for flies to breed.

Tumblers have disadvantages that may not become apparent until a person has used one for awhile. First, although greatly accelerated, composting in them is not instantaneous. Passive bins are continuous processors while (with the exception of one unique design) tumblers are "batch" processors, meaning that they are first loaded and then the entire load is decomposed to finished compost.

What does a person do with newly acquired kitchen garbage and other waste during the two to six weeks that they are tumbling a batch? One handy solution is to buy two tumblers and be filling one while the other is working, but tumblers aren't cheap! The more substantial ones cost $250 to $400 plus freight.

Article By Suegold


CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON "GARDENING"

Container Gardening Tips For Beginners

Would you like to find out what those-in-the-know have to say about Container Gardening? The information in the article below comes straight from well-informed experts with special knowledge about Container Gardening.

See how much you can learn about Container gardening when you take a little time to read a well-researched article? Don't miss out on the rest of this great information.

Container gardens can produce a instinctive sanctuary in a busy city street, along rooftops or on balconies. You will be able to easily emphasize the welcoming aspect of a deck or terrace with colourful flowerpots of annuals, or fill your window boxes with beautiful shrub roses or any number of small perennials. Whether you arrange your pots in a group for a massed effect or highlight a smaller space with a single specimen, you'll be delighted with this simple way to create a garden.

Container gardening enables you to easily change your color scheme, and as each plant finishes blossoming, it can be substituted with another. Whether you choose to harmonize or contrast your colors, make certain there is variety in the height of each plant. Think also of the shape and texture of the leaves. Tall strap-like leaves will give a good vertical background to low-growing, wide-leaved plants. Choose plants with a long flowering season, or have others of a another type ready to replace them as they finish flowering.

Experimentation with creative containers. You could have an old porcelain bowl or copper color urn you will be able to use, or possibly you'd rather make something really advanced with timber or tiles. If you choose to buy your containers ready-made, terracotta pots look terrific, but tend to absorb water. You don't want your plants to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a special sealer available from hardware stores.

More inexpensive plastic pots can also be painted on the outside with water-based paints for good effect. When acquiring pots, don't forget to buy matching saucers to catch the drippings. This will save cement floors becoming stained, or timber floors from decomposing.

Always use a good quality potting blend in your containers. This will ensure the finest performance possible from your plants.

If you have steps leading up to your front entrance, an attractive flowerpot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots of plants or flowers help to create a cosy and welcoming atmosphere.

Determine ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned, then purchase plants that accommodate the position. There is no point purchasing sun lovers for a shady position, for they will not do well. A few plants also have genuinely large roots, so they're best kept for the open garden.

If you have enough of distance at your front entrance, a grouping of potted plants turned to one side will be more visually attracting than two similar plants located on each side. Unless they are outstanding, they will look rather boring.

Group the pots in odd numbers instead of even, and alter the height and type. To tie the group together, add large rocks that are similar in visual aspect and just somewhat different in size. Three or five pots of the same type and color, but in different sizes also looks affective.

With a creative mind and some determination, you'll soon have a container garden that will be the envy of acquaintances and strangers alike.

There's a lot to understand about Container gardening. We were able to provide you with some of the facts above, but there is still plenty more to write about in subsequent articles.

Article By gene


CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON "GARDENING"

A Couple Of Tips For Gardening

Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature.

Why would one want to indulge in organic gardening?

1.One can easily make compost from garden and kitchen waste. Though this is a bit more time-consuming than buying prepared chemical pesticides and fertilizers, it certainly helps to put garbage to good use and so saves the environment.

2. Organic farming does not use chemicals that may have an adverse affect on your health. This is especially important when growing vegetables. Chemical companies tell us that the chemicals we use are safe if used according to direction, but research shows that even tiny amounts of poisons absorbed through the skin can cause such things as cancer, especially in children.

On the average, a child ingests four to five times more cancer-causing pesticides from foods than an adult. This can lead to various diseases later on in the child's life. With organic gardening, these incidents are lessened.

Remember, pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose - to kill living things.

3. Less harm to the environment. Poisons are often washed into our waterways, causing death to the native fish and polluting their habitat. 4.Organic farming practices help prevent the loss of topsoil through erosion. The Soil Conservation Service says that an estimated 30 - 32 billion tons of soil erodes from United States farmlands every year.

4. Cost savings. One does not need to buy costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. Many organic recipes for the control of pest and disease come straight from the kitchen cupboard. Sometimes other plants can be grown as companions to the main crop. An example of this is the marigold, which helps to repel aphids from vegetables. Mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap and 1 cup of cooking oil can make a cheap garden pest spray. Put 3 tablespoons of this mixture in 1 quart of water and spray on plants.

5.A simple mulch of pine needles will help to suppress the growth of weeds as well as keeping the moisture in.

6. Organic gardening practices help to keep the environment safe for future generations.

Article By Jamey Sackville

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON "GARDENING"