Creative Organic Gardening - Permaculture gardens
(permanent culture) is an approach to everyday life that integrates plants, animals, landscape, structures; people who purposely design all the facets of their lives to enhance environmental sustainability within a permanent, sustainable agricultural and cultural system - a diverse, complex eco-system, where the all of the elements interact in mutually beneficial ways to produce a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. The art of designing garden areas that are modeled on the relationships found in natural ecologies. Permanent is from the Latin "permanens" - to remain to the end, to persist throughout. Culture is from the Latin "cultura" - meaning the cultivation of land, or the intellect. It is a philosophy, an ethic of caring for the earth and working with, not against nature with an attitude of thoughtful observation, an action-meditation - rather than undirected and thoughtless labor.
4 Simple Steps to Grow a Hundred Pounds of Potatoes in a Barrel
Container gardening isn't only for savvy urban gardeners and folks with limited space to grow, it can also be for folks who want to maximize their yields in a controlled environment. Not only does growing potatoes in a barrel reduce the amount of weeding and exposure to pests and fungi, you don't even have to risk shovel-damage to the tender potatoes by digging them out of the ground when they're done, just tip the container over! After extensive research to plan my own potatoes-in-a-barrel, I've boiled all of the recommendations down to 4 simple steps to a winning potato harvest.
How To Build A Vertical Aquaponic System
You can turn a small yard, a corner in a community garden or an unused space in your home into a thriving vertical farm for vegetables and fish. A household-sized vertical aquaponic system can fit into a 3ft by 5ft (1m x 2m) area and feed a family year-round. Sean Brady, the aquaponics projects coordinator at the Center for Sustainable Aquaponics and Nourish the Planet in Loveland, Colo., showed us how to build a system from scrap he found around the greenhouse. See how to make this below: How To Build A Vertical Aquaponic System
Indoor Water Gardens - Martha Stewart Home & Garden
As anyone who has snorkeled can attest, the cool aquamarine light underwater casts an enchanted glow on everything in its domain. Perhaps this explains the allure of water gardens. Small freshwater gardens are fun to create and simple to care for.
Make your landscaping butterfly-friendly
There is something magical about butterflies as they flit from flower to flower in the garden. These winged beauties are not only stunning to watch but they also serve an important role as pollinators, spreading pollen from flower to flower, leading to fertilization and ultimately seed production. The activities of butterflies and other pollinators, like hummingbirds and bees, help to ensure that various plant species multiply and persist. By growing certain combinations of plants and providing the right setting, you can attract butterflies and other welcome pollinators to your garden.
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 Art of Weeding: Part 2
In Part One of this series on organic weed control we learned about how weeds affect our garden and tips to prevent them in the first place. In this article, we'll learn how to get rid of weeds, naturally, tools for the job and how weeds can even be good for you and your garden. Real tips for getting rid of weeds
The Milkweeds (Asclepias species)
The Milkweeds Every so often in our researches we come across a plant with so many uses that we wonder why it has never been commercially exploited. One such group of plant - all of them ideal for the Permaculturalist - is the Milkweeds (Asclepias species) from North America. The genus Asclepias contains over a hundred species of mainly perennial herbs growing in temperate and topical regions.
Ways To Create More Growing Space
By Cindy Naas The biggest challenge any urban gardener faces is that of finding enough room to grow everything. Here are some suggestions to help you use every available inch of space. You might be surprised at just how much fresh produce you can grow in a tiny city garden!
