Organic vegetable gardening means that you will not be spraying toxic chemicals on your fresh food, and you won't be spreading chemical fertilizers on the ground. If you don't do that, how do you keep your garden from becoming a bug feast or prevent sparse, low quality crops?
Companion planting is the solution. Companion planting can be described as growing two or more different kinds of plants close together so that some benefit is derived, like repelling pests, attracting beneficial insects, adding needed nutrients to the soil, or providing shelter
Some plants give off scents or chemicals that repel insects, insects like worms and beetles that can destroy your garden. Other plants help prevent disease or attract insects, which are beneficial to plants. And some plants are exceptional at breaking down the soil and helping other plants absorb vital nutrients. Essentially companion planting is used to help your core plants thrive without chemicals.
An example would be planting corn and beans together. Corn removes nitrogen from then soil while growing. Beans fix nitrogen back into the soil while growing and help the corn
I'll provide a warning though to people who would plant beans in with their corn. Bean varieties include pole beans (climbing beans) and bush beans (non-climbing beans). Do NOT plant pole beans in with your corn. The climbing beans will create a twisted and leafy jungle around your corn plants, making it difficult to harvest the corn.
Companion Planting Suggestions
Marigolds have a very strong fragrance. Many insects find marigolds quite distasteful including nematodes (roundworms), whiteflies, beetles, and aphids. To use marigolds as a companion plant, plant them at the perimeter of your square foot garden box. Take care to not plant them too closely to your vegetables because they do attract spider mites and slugs.
Nasturtiums or wormwood are good when planted close to the cabbage family as they attract the white cabbage moth away from the plants. Nasturtiums are also very helpful when planting broccoli
If you're growing tomatoes, geraniums repel cabbage worms, Japanese beetles, and leafhoppers. If you're planting corn, grapes, peppers or cabbage, geraniums are also beneficial.
If you intend to grow tomatoes, planting garlic with them is a good idea. Planting them with carrots is a bad idea because the tomatoes will stunt the growth of the carrots. Avoid planting dill and kohlrabi near tomatoes, because they slow tomato growth.
Horseradish is good with potatoes.
Parsley is good with tomatoes.
Santolina is a good insect repellent, especially for spinach and lettuce.
Thyme is a good protective border for the vegetable garden and repels fruit moths.
Keep ants away? Catnip, Mint, Onion, Peppermint, Spearmint, Tansy, Wormwood.
Slug repellent? Artemisia, Fennel, Garlic, Rosemary, Sage (Fennel is harmful to most plants especially beans, cucumbers and tomatoes)
When you don't want flypaper in your garden - Basil, Pennyroyal, Rue, Tansy (also repels Aphids and greenfly)
Don't Forget The Bees
You need bees and other pollinating insects if you are:
planting tomatoes planting potatoes planting beans planting pumpkins
Bees are attracted by most flowers because they collect nectar to make honey and pollen to feed to the larvae. Going from flower to flower to collect as much as they can before going back to the hive, they take pollen from one plant to the next and help with plant fertilization as they go. Flowering plants are important in a vegetable patch. Some of the best include: allysium, red clover, Queen Anne's lace, cosmos, coriander, parsley flowers, dill, small daisies and lucerne.
Happy eating!
All New Square Foot Gardening - Companion PlantingGrowing vegetables is one of the most pleasurable and satisfying activities you can do in your garden. The excitement of planting them, watching them grow and picking the produce is the main reason people keep trying, even though the pests and diseases are competing with you. Preparing the soil properly is the secret of success to growing vegetables. Every time you plant a new crop, you must incorporate compost,animal manure, blood and bone and potash. If you don't your vegetables will be weak and prone to disease.
Unfortunately, a lot of our knowledge of what works and what doesn't has been lost as it hasn't been pasted down the generations. Well don't despair, you can create your own bank of knowledge and the way to do this is through trial and error. I too am one of those people who didn't take any notice of what my dad did, so I have had to work it out myself through just giving it ago.
The reward of growing vegetables is huge but they demand a lot of attention to get the best results. The idea with vegetables is to grow them very quickly and harvest them, unlike other plants that take years to grow. Even though some of them are perennials it is best to treat them as annuals.
Soil pH for Growing Vegetables
The pH of your soil is very important. Some vegetables like an alkaline pH like yams and other like acidic pH such as spinach. But many plants will grow within the range of a pH between 6-7. I have included a chart, so you can see the range that each vegetables can tolerate. If the plant is growing healthy, then there is nothing wrong with your soils pH and you don't need to change it.
Vegetable Optimal pH Vegetable Optimal pH
Artichoke(globe) 5.6-6.6 Asparagus 6.0-7.0
Beans 6.0-7.0 Beet 5.6-6.6
Broccoli 6.0-7.0 Brussels sprouts 6.0-7.0
Cabbage 5.6-6.6 Cantaloupe 6.0-7.0
Carrot 5.0-6.0 Catnip 5.0-6.0
Cauliflower 6.0-7.0 Celery 6.0-7.0
Chard 6.0-7.0 Chili pepper 5.0-6.0
Chives 5.0-6.0 Cucumber 5.0-6.0
Dill 5.0-6.0 Eggplant 5.0-6.0
Garlic 5.0-6.0 Kiwi 5.0-7.0
Leek 5.0-6.0 Lettuce 6.0-7.0
Mint 6.0-7.0 Mushroom 7.0-8.0
Okra 6.0-8.0 Onions 5.0-7.0
Parsley 6.0-8.0 Parsnip 5.0-7.0
Peas 5.6-6.6 Peanuts 5.0-6.0
Peppers 6.0-8.0 Potatoes 5.8-6.5
Pumpkins 5.0-7.0 Radish 6.0-7.0
Raspberry 5.0-7.0 Rhubarb 5.0-7.0
Rutabaga 5.0-7.0 Shallots 5.0-7.0
Spinach 5.0-7.0 Squash 6.0-7.0
Sweet corn 6.0-7.0 Sweet potatoes 5.0-7.0
Swiss chard 6.0-7.0 Tobacco 5.0-7.0
Yam 6.0-8.0 Zucchini 6.0-7.0
Crop Rotation
The tricky part is applying the above knowledge and putting crop rotation into practice.
Crop rotation is moving each crop to the next bed and not planting the same crop year after year in the same bed. This helps minimises the build up of pests and diseases.
For example: If planting onions in a bed previously occupied by tomatoes, then you will need to add a dose of lime. After the onions you can plant peas and beans which also love an alkaline soil. Peas and beans are legumes and fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil, which becomes available for leaf vegetable such as Silver beet, lettuce, broccoli or cauliflower which have a high nitrogen requirement. After that you can plant a root crop such as carrots,which doesn't need much manure or nitrogen.
To reinvigorate a garden bed, you can fallow it (rest it) and plant a green manure crop of clover, legumes (peas, beans) etc and when they are 50cm high, dig them back into the soil.
Watering
Water frequently and deeply. There is no such thing as a drought tolerant vegetable garden. Drip or aqua pore irrigation is the best type of watering system as the water goes straight to the plants roots. Don't water from overhead, because it causes fungal diseases. Mulching with pea straw, lucerne or sugar cane is an excellent idea, as it controls weeds, cuts down evaporation and breaks down over time and improves the soil structure.
Aspect of the Vegie Patch
Consider the aspect - North, South, East, West Vegetable patches do best in a north or westerly aspect.
Consider the light - vegetables need full sun all day.
Remove all weeds, especially couch and kikuyu grass. If you raise the bed, the grass will grow up through the soil and take over.
Install edging
Dig over and add cow manure/compost/blood and bone/potash
Work out the place for each crop
Create furrows - with your spade, dig and place the soil on top of the soil. This create a mound, which is where you plant your seedlings.
Planting
Staking - Best to do it when you planting. Plants like tomatoes need a stake and beans and peas need trellis of some sort to climb on. So do pumpkins!
Water the vegetables, using a watering can with a liquid fertiliser such as Maxicrop or Seasol added (2 caps per 9 litres). This will help them get over their transplanting shock and help them to develop roots quickly.
Creating pathways helps to reduce compaction and allows you to pick your vegetables easily.
Starting Out
When you first start growing your own vegetables, purchase them as seedlings. Once you have the hang of growing them (and some successes) you can then start harvesting your own seed or buying seeds. Raising vegetable seeds requires a hot house/sterilised trays and seed raising mix, water, potting the seedlings up or planting them out into the garden. Many vegetables dislike being transplanted, so these types are planted directly into the garden bed. In cooler climates, tomatoes are best started off in a hot house.
Environment
When planning your vegetable patch you need to understand the requirements of the individual vegetables. For example in mild climates tomatoes are summer crops and broccoli and cauliflower are winter crops. Consult a vegetable growing charts for when you can plant your vegetables. Some plants are frost tender, so do not plant them until all the frosts are over. It is said Melbourne Cup day (First Tuesday in November, Australia) is a good day for planting frost tender vegetables. Some plants like tomatoes don't like summer temperatures over 32C and therefore don't fruit as well. You may need to put shade cloth over them during the hottest part of the day.
Wind can also be a big problem as it dries out the soil and can break your vegetables. Make sure you create the vegetable patch in a protected area away from wind and salt laden wind.
Planting Vegetable Seeds
How deep into the soil depends on how big the seed is. A large seed can go deeper into the soil where as a small seed is placed on top and soil sprinkled over it. For fine/small seed, the tilth (particles of the soil) needs to be very fine. Read the directions on the back of the seed packet, as it will tell you how deep to plant the seed. Some seeds such as carrots can be planted directly into the vegetable patch while others can be started in a seed-raising tray. Water seeds after planting, but be very gentle with small seeds, as heavy watering can wash them away.
Fertilising Vegetables
Vegetables need a lot of nutrients because they grow quickly. They need to be liquid fertilised every 2-3 weeks with products such as Maxicrop/Seasol or worm-casting liquid etc. Make sure the worm liquid is 1/3 worm liquid 2/3 water or it will kill the plants as it is very strong.
It is important to understand how nitrogen, phosphorus and potash encourages growth. Nitrogen is responsible for leaf growth, phosphorus encourages root growth and potash is responsible flowering and fruit. When preparing you soil, you need to think about what part of the vegetable you are eating and adjust how much and what nutrients you need to incorporate into the soil. For example if you are growing carrots, you will need to incorporate some nitrogen, but not too much or you will get too much leaf growth and the root will fork. As carrots are a root vegetable, adding super phosphate is a good idea. Potash is not required because you don't want the carrots to flower.
Growing vegetables can be very rewarding but they do need a lot of attention. There is nothing nicer than eating freshly grown produce that you have grown yourself. If you understand your soil and the pH requirements of each vegetable, you are more likely to have success. My next article is going to discuss the battle between pests and diseases. I urge you not to despair if the pests and diseases seem to be beating you. Every gardener has the same problem.
The Secrets of Growing Great Tasting VegetablesWhen an ant, cockroach, or flea decides to make an appearance at a barbeque or dinner party, it is enough to ruin the entire event. Pests like these can easily be controlled with pesticides, but the chemicals that these products contain can be detrimental to the health of you, your children, or your pets. With such risks involved, many people find themselves searching for other methods like natural pest control and prevention.
One of the most common problems in the summer time is the ants. They climb onto tables and decks, and frequent the cabinets in the home. To prevent ants from entering the home, try finding where the ants enter. Once this spot has been located, create a barrier by spreading cayenne pepper, citrus oil, or coffee grounds over the area. The ants will not pass over these items. If the ants are already in the home, try placing cucumber peels, garlic cloves, or spearmint leaves in the cabinets. These products are known to repel ants, chasing them out of your home. Once ants are under control in the home, you can focus on infestations that are outdoors. Sprinkle cornmeal in and around the entrance to the ant hill. The ants will bring the cornmeal home and share it with the colony. Cornmeal cannot be digested by the ants and the colony will be killed off within a week.
Cockroaches are one of the most repulsive pests around, but natural pest control does exist for them as well. Catnip will repel cockroaches, so place it in areas that you know the roaches will frequent. To kill off an existing population, place a piece of bread that has been soaked in beer in a plastic container. Place the container where the roaches will find it. As with the cornmeal and the ants, the roaches will not be to properly digest the beer, causing them to slowly die off. Keep a bottle of soapy water handy at all times. If a roach is seen out in the open, spray it with the soapy water, and this will kill the roach within minutes by breaking down its exoskeleton.
Natural pest control also exists for mosquitoes. As a preventative measure, remove all standing water from the yard, as this is the preferred habitat for mosquitoes. When planning on spending time outdoors, rub on a solution that is at least thirty percent eucalyptus. The eucalyptus has been proven to prevent mosquitoes from biting. Planting sage, rosemary, and marigold throughout the yard will also help repel mosquitoes. These plants have a natural deterrent quality. Another effective repellent for mosquitoes is anything that creates smoke. During a barbeque or other outdoor gathering, burn incense or other smoky item to help repel the swarms that may gather and annoy your guests.
With natural pest control methods such as these, there is no need to keep harmful chemicals around the house.
Natural Pest Control - Get Rid of Pests Without Using Harmful ChemicalsAnxiety or panic attacks are common, daily worries that can be atrocious enough to make us want to hide under the sheets, and draw away from the world for quite some time.
As everyone probably has experienced some form of anxiety at one time or another during their lives; however some anxiety is considered healthy, as some say it helps to provide the needed motivation and adrenaline rush. But there are occasions when it can be so severe that it interrupts, and sometimes messes up one's daily life.
Common Anxiety Symptoms
The physical symptoms of panic attacks are manifested in the form of sweaty palms, dizziness, and diarrhea or intestinal/digestive discomfort, or having a feeling like getting a lump in the throat, insomnia, and restlessness.
The list goes on, including the hidden physical discomforts that excessive anxiety can deliver. In some individuals, there may be feelings of uneasiness, uncertainty or apprehension related to something unforeseen or unknown.
A person may feel his heart racing, feel some tightness in the chest, rapid breathing, or a tingling sensation in the hands or feet, or both. The physical manifestations of anxiety add up over time, and may lead to chronic panic disorders. According to statistics, one in every four individuals in the US has a diagnosable anxiety disorder.
What Causes These Attacks?
The question of whether panic attacks and overactive anxiety is caused by our mind or other biological factors is constantly being debated by experts in the medical field.
Most research suggests that this disorder is generally caused by a complex combination of life events, psychological behavior, family history and genetic factors. No exact anxiety gene per se has yet been identified, however some anxiety disorders, like panic attacks, do appear to be hereditary in nature.
Herbal Treatments For Panic Attacks
Herbs and other natural, plant-derived mixtures or solutions are fast becoming a popular alternative to prescription drugs for relieving panic disorders. While anti-anxiety medicines generally work well, they can sometimes be habit-forming and can cause negative side effects, while natural anti-anxiety treatments are often seen as safer alternatives, and generally do not lead to dependency or substance abuse.
- Valerian
This herb has been studied to be potent in relieving anxiety in clinical trials. Standardized Valerian extracts that had a minimum of 0.8% valerenic acid, which is the active compound, worked well. The herb's extract work quickly, often in less than an hour when taken in doses of a few hundred milligrams, and these may be taken up to three or four times a day.
- Passionflower
This herb has been noted to ease anxiety and insomnia caused by excessive worrying.
- Lemon balm
Lemon balm is known to not only act as a sedative, but also helps ease headaches related to tension.
- Lavender is proven to help calms and relax most anxiety sufferers.
- Chamomile has been tested not only to relieve anxiety, but also to help settle the stomach.
- Catnip is an herb that relieves tension headaches and encourages sleep.
Other common methods for relieving anxiety include creating relaxation rituals for yourself. Some people do this by meditating, which has been noted to not only relax the body and mind, but also allows one to cope more calmly.
This method may be carried out in various ways, and may range from reciting a mantra, which is a meaningless yet simple sound, to focusing on one's breathing. Other individuals spend their time in prayer and reading inspirational books or magazines.
Some people enjoy drinking a cup of chamomile tea or lighting a candle and relaxing in a hot bath. By spending some time for simple rituals like these, you may actually find yourself more relaxed and confident, and in much better shape for dealing with the rigors and stressors of daily life.
http://primeherbal.com - Prime Herbal
Herbal Treatments For Relieving AnxietyPlanting an herb garden is a delightful and rewarding pastime that has been enjoyed by people all over the world. However, for some individuals, there are many factors which make growing a garden from seed an unrealistic endeavor. This poses a challenge to those who are unable to plant a garden in soil but who still desire fresh grown herbs and all of their benefits. What's the solution? An herb kit, of course! Herb kits make it possible for even those without green thumb to grow beautiful, fragrant and delicious herbs. Plus, thanks to the enterprising manufacturers and distributors of herb kits, it is possible to find a kit at any price point for almost any type of herb garden one could want.
There are many reasons why someone wouldn't be able to grow their own herb garden from scratch. To begin with, it is physical work which requires the gardener to be bent over on his or her knees for a substantial amount of time. Depending on the physical condition of the gardener, this can range from being a mildly uncomfortable experience to being downright physically impossible. And even though one could plant herbs in pots using a potting bench or table, what if the herb grower doesn't have a green thumb? Others who desire their own herbs won't have the desire to convert their yard into an "herb-friendly" environment while some don't have a yard at all. Then there's the time factor. With today's hectic schedules, some would-be herb growers just want the end result: a beautiful herb plant grown from home without any of the time or physical commitments that are mandatory when growing an indoor or outdoor garden from scratch.
The answer for those who want their own fresh herbs but can't plant their own garden is an herb kit. Herb kits come in all shapes and sizes, from hydroponic kits which grow herbs with nutrients and water (no soil) to miniature greenhouses that fit on your kitchen counter. The general idea of an herb kit is to allow the gardener to grow their own herbs as quickly and conveniently as possible with no hassle and no guesswork regardless of experience. There are so many types of kits available but all of them have a few things in common. First of all, every kit will come with seeds or cuttings.
All of them will come with some type of instruction which will be especially useful to the beginner. The kits that use soil to grow the plants supply soil that's "ready-to-use" so that the gardener won't have to worry about mixing, aerating or draining. If the kit is hydroponic, then all the user needs to do is add nutrients when an indicator lamp lights up. And, of course, pots or containers are included but with some, the entire kit is a container complete with an attached water tank and grow lamp, such as those manufactured by Aerogarden. Also, a kit can be for placement indoors or outdoors, each of which will contain the appropriate plants.
Herb kits are usually specialized herb gardens meaning that all of the herbs will serve a specific and common purpose. The most common type are the Culinary Herb Kits. These come with herbs like Sage, Mustard, Chives, Savory, Garlic, Sweet Marjoram, Dill, Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Cilantro and Parsley. Herbal Tea Garden kits are popular with herbal tea enthusiasts and are supplied with one or more the following: Anise, Lemon Bergamot, Angelica, Lemon Grass, German Chamomile, Peppermint, Rosemary, Catnip, Lemon Balm, and Marigold. And for those who'd like to grown their own medicinal herbs, they can find kits that contain Cayenne, Valerian, Peppermint, Yarrow, Milk Thistle, Echinacea, Fever Few and Lemon Balm.
In short, if you want fresh grown herbs but don't have the room, time, desire, or physical ability to start a traditional herb garden from seed, purchasing an herb kit is the answer you've been looking for. A quick search online using the keywords "herb kit" will return a variety of dealers who sell quality and affordable kits. You'll be growing the herbs you want in no time at all!
Herb Kits For Beginners