Join "Garden Notes" and plan for Harvest Success as you track and record your gardening progress.
Your Free Personal Garden Journal has pages for jotting down notes on the seeds you start,
your new plantings, when you fertilized, and even a graph to plot a new garden.
We have a new section in our resource section! City gardening
is gaining well deserved exposure. To get answers to the questions specific to gardening in and urban environment visit our
resource page on City - Urban Gardening.
Book of the Month
Microfarms—or small acreage farms—are gaining popularity across the country for their
astoundingly high yields and great tasting produce, as well as their profitability. This handbook
reveals the secrets of successful micro eco-farming and explains what eco-farmers need to know
to start their own small agribusiness.
Questions such as What can be grown? How do farmers reach their markets? and
What sustainable production methods can be used? are answered in detail and supported
be hundreds of real-life examples. A variety of unusual uses for crops are also provided,
including producing organic spa products, building an urban greenhouse, creating a heritage
rose farm, or cultivating a connoisseur apple orchard. Ecologists, amateur gardeners, farmers,
and those interested in sustainable living will enjoy this in-depth look at the spiritually and f
inancially rewarding aspects of this new field.
Use compost on your yard and garden to improve your soil:
Compost returns nutrients to the soil such as phosphorus,
potassium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, iron and boron
Compost improves the texture or "tilth" of the soil providing:
- Easier cultivation
- Better water retention in loose or sandy soils
- Better drainage in clay or other heavy soils
- Less plant distress from over wet or over dry conditions
- Healthier plants which require far less commercial chemicals
(fertilizers, pesticides etc.)
Compost reduces soil diseases by feeding the soil a balanced diet
Compost is an attractive and valuable mulch that:
Promotes weed and erosion control
Protects plant roots from sun and wind damage
Conserves water
Make and use compost at home - SAVE $$ and RESOURCES:
Lower garbage bills
Free soil additive, replacing most yard and garden chemicals
Lower water bills
Less work weeding
A feeling of achievement when your yard and garden are more
attractive and you are doing your part to save resources -
and replenish the earth
... and spread the word! Once you've converted your lawn, let the neighborhood know --
maybe you can persuade others. You can
Proclaim Organic Pest Control!
to post and get tips on
talking to neighbors from the Washington Toxics Coalition.