5 Secrets To A ‘No-Work’ Garden It took over 20 years of gardening to realize that I didn’t have to work so hard to achieve a fruitful harvest. As the limitless energy of my youth gradually gave way to the physical realities of mid-life, the slow accretion of experience eventually led to an awareness that less work can result in greater crop yields. Inspired in part by Masanobu Fukuoka’s book, One Straw Revolution, my family experimented with gardening methods which could increase yields with less effort. Here are the strategies we used which enabled us to greatly increase our garden yield, while requiring less time and less work. 1. ‘No-till’ gardening is a series of methods in which the soil is never disturbed, thereby protecting the complex subsoil environment for the benefit of growing plants. With ‘no-till’ gardening, weeding is largely eliminated. By switching to ‘no-till’ methods, you won’t have to do the heavy tilling or shovel work which so many gardeners suffer through each spring. 2. 3. Displaces weeds. 4.
Welcome | Random Acts of Kindness Homemade Hummingbird Nectar Recipe Attracting Wild Birds No need to buy the powdered Hummingbird Nectar mix from the store for this rewarding hobby. Instead, make your with this simple hummingbird nectar recipe. You only need water and white sugar – super simple and easy to make. Use the following proportion: 1 part regular white sugar to 4 parts water. Example: 1 cup sugar, 4 cups water 1. 2. 3. 4. Using a microwave works too. Nothing extra: There is no need to add anything extra to the mixture, i.e. coloring, honey, etc. Storing hummingbird nectar: I store all varieties of my wild bird (Orioles, Hummingbirds, Butterflies, etc) “juice” up to two weeks in the fridge, but generally need to make it more often than that. Tip: I use a Rubbermaid container or a clean milk carton, clearly marked, to store my hummingbird juice in the refrigerator. Discard: If the juice in the feeder(s) becomes cloudy, or mucky, empty, clean and refill. Cleaning: Make sure bird feeders are cleaned every few days to a week to prevent any ickies.
How to Build a Gypsy Caravan from Recycled Materials The first thing you notice about this gypsy wagon is the surrounding smell of cedar forest and the sound of crashing waves from the lake, which is just a stone's throw over the hill. In the winter, woodsmoke spirals up from the chimney jutting out of the curved wagon roof. There is a little lane leading up to the green glade, but it's nicest to arrive on foot. The 8' wide x 20' long caravan, or vardo, has been parked in this particularly beautiful forest for a few years, but is completely moveable by truck or tractor because it has wheels. It is built on a salvaged 5 ton truck chassis that cost $100, purchased from the local wrecking yard. The floor joists for the house are nailed to fir beams and bolted to the metal frame. A Combination of Traditional and Modern Materials The construction methods used to create this wagon are a combination of tradition and ingenuity, and the building materials are both new and recycled. Bringing a Touch of Permaculture Luxury Outdoors! Further resources
10 Plants That Repel Garden Insect Pests 10 Plants That Repel Garden Insect Pests Please be sure to Join our email list and receive all our latest and best tutorials daily – free! Background photo – Yummifruitbat (Wikipedia) lic. under CC 2.5 We’ve been doing some research into plants that repel pests and have compiled a list of 10 plants that can be planted together with other plants as a simple form of insect control. The idea of selecting plants for insect control is not a new one – and is part of the overall subject of companion planting. As time passes by, it seems that more and more people are getting concerned (rightly!) Another of the ironies of the use of insecticides is that not only do they kill the “bad insects” (the ones that eat crops), but they also wipe out “good insects” – the ones that feed on the bad insects! Companion planting for insect control can work in two ways a) plants that deter the pests and b) plants that attract the “good insects” that eat the ones that harm the plants. Marigold Borage Carrots Dill Sage
Lasagna Garden - How to Make a Lasagna Garden Lasagna gardening is a no-dig, no-till organic gardening method that results in rich, fluffy soil with very little work from the gardener. The name "lasagna gardening" has nothing to do with what you'll be growing in this garden. It refers to the method of building the garden, which is, essentially, adding layers of organic materials that will “cook down” over time, resulting in rich, fluffy soil that will help your plants thrive. Also known as “sheet composting,” lasagna gardening is great for the environment, because you're using your yard and kitchen waste and essentially composting it in place to make a new garden. No Digging Required One of the best things about lasagna gardening is how easy it is. Ingredients For A Lasagna Garden Anything you'd put in a compost pile, you can put into a lasagna garden. Just as with an edible lasagna, there is some importance to the methods you use to build your lasagna garden. When To Make A Lasagna Garden Planting and Maintaining a Lasagna Garden
5 Easy To Grow Mosquito-Repelling Plants As the outdoor season approaches, many homeowners and outdoor enthusiasts look for ways to control mosquitoes. With all the publicity about the West Nile virus, mosquito repelling products are gaining in popularity. But many commercial insect repellents contain from 5% to 25% DEET. There are concerns about the potential toxic effects of DEET, especially when used by children. Children who absorb high amounts of DEET through insect repellents have developed seizures, slurred speech, hypotension and bradycardia. There are new DEET-free mosquito repellents on the market today which offer some relief to those venturing outdoors in mosquito season. Here are five of the most effective mosquito repelling plants which are easy to grow in most regions of the US: 1. Citronella is the most common natural ingredient used in formulating mosquito repellents. Citronella is a perennial ‘clumping’ grass which grows to a height of 5 – 6 feet. 2. Horsemint leaves can be dried and used to make herbal tea.
Lasagna Gardening 101 There's no hard and fast rules about what to use for your layers, just so long as it's organic and doesn't contain any protein (fat, meat, or bone). Before I go any further, let me just say that the basics of making garden lasagnas are simple: Don't remove the sod or do any extra work, like removing weeds or rocks. Mark the area for your garden using a water hose or a long rope to get the desired shape. Cover the area you've marked with wet newspapers, overlapping the edges (5 or more sheets per layer). You need less loose material to plant in than you might think. First, we covered the area with lime, then laid whole sections of wet newspaper on top of the pine needles and covered the paper with peat moss. We pulled the layers apart and planted 31 tomato plants, four squash, six cucumber, four basil, two rosemary, four parsley, and twelve cosmos. Once the harvest was finished, I pulled the stems and disturbed the layers for the first time. Site and soil. Planting and harvest.
How To Grow An Organic Straw Bale Garden Easily This is actually the easy part! Once your bales are prepped and ready to go you can begin planting. I recommend planting fairly well established young plants. Before planting in the straw bales acclimate your plants be setting them outside on top of the bales during the day and bringing them in at night. Once you plant your garden you should soak your plants at the base of the plants very thoroughly. Every few weeks you will want to feed your plants. Weed your garden as needed, however you will find that very little weeding is required and when it is it is very easy since your plants are so high up off of the ground. That's it – easy, inexpensive, and a lot of fun!
Intensive Gardening: More Food: Less Space, Less Work Related Content Speak Out Against NAIS Tell the U.S. Whether you grow food on a spacious homestead or are digging into your first urban garden, ditching the plant-by-rows approach and instead adopting intensive gardening techniques can help you grow a more productive garden that’s also more efficient to manage. Comparing 2 Popular Intensive Gardening Methods Two gardening authors and their systems of intensive vegetable gardening have been highly influential in North America for more than 30 years. Bartholomew’s aim with square-foot gardening is a simple, foolproof system that anyone can master (no companion planting, no crop rotation and no soil preparation). Jeavons’ biointensive gardening system is based on developing fertile soil in permanent garden beds that you initially dig to a depth of 2 feet. 4 Principles of Intensive Gardening Despite such differing approaches, both sets of techniques deliver high-yielding food gardens thanks to four common features, all of which I recommend. 1.
Top 10 Most Dangerous Plants in the World 1. Most likely to eat a rat Giant Pitcher Plant: Nepenthes attenboroughii Discovered more than 5000 feet above sea level on Mount Victoria in the Philippines, the giant, carnivorous pitcher plant secretes a nectar-like substance to lure unsuspecting prey into a pool of enzymes and acid. 2. Castor Bean Plant: Ricinus communis Castor-bean plants can be purchased at just about any garden center, despite containing the deadly poison ricin. 3. Western Water Hemlock: Cicuta douglasii Deemed the most "violently toxic plant that grows in North America" by the USDA, the water hemlock contains the toxin cicutoxin, which wreaks havoc on the central nervous system, causing grand mal seizures--which include loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions--and eventually death, if ingested. 4. White snakeroot: Eupatorium rugosum Drinking milk from a cow that decided to chow down on white snakeroot could lead to deadly milk sickness, as was the case with Abraham Lincoln's mother Nancy Hanks. 5. 6.
How to Identify Poison Ivy - Infographic - Outdoor Information Resource Posted by Treks on Friday, August 24, 2012 · 7 Comments Use This Graphic for FREE on Your Site! You may use the infographic above on your website, however, the license we grant to you requires that you properly and correctly attribute the work to us with a link back to our website by using the following embed code. Embed Code <a href=" /> <img src=" alt="How to Identify Poison Ivy - Infographic" /></a> <br/> Infographic authored by <a href=" Treks In The Wild</a>. Infographic Thumbnail Treks In The Wild operates in beautiful Ontario, Canada. Come and join us for an adventure – experience life, experience the outdoors.