Gardening 101: How do I become a no impact gardener?

Examiner
Jaipi Sixbear
Friday, September 4, 2009

Not all gardeners are no impact gardeners. Organic gardeners do their best to leave a positive impact on the environment. There are many ways of working toward leaving no impact. Here are just a few green gardening suggestions. Try to think of your own ways to leave no impact in the garden as well.

Natural pesticides
Organic gardeners are sure to use nature friendly pesticides that leave no impact on our water supply. This step will also protect beneficial insects such as honey bees and lady bugs.

Barrier pest control
Another good organic gardening technique that leaves no impact on the environment is the use of barriers to protect plants from pests. The barrier method keeps birds and small animals from eating garden produce without causing them harm.

Compost
Using homemade compost as fertilizer keeps harmful chemicals out of the soil. Many commercial fertilizers contain chemicals which leach into the soil and water supply. Leave no impact by making your own compost fertilizer from trimmings, leaves and kitchen scraps.

Reduce waste
All the kitchen vegetable scraps, leaves, twigs and clipping are used for compost. This means a reduction in the household waste and a further step toward a no impact lifestyle. Making your own compost can be quite simple.

Donate food
No impact organic gardeners don’t waste food. Garden surplus is sold or given to friends, neighbors and relatives. Local food banks gladly accept any unwanted garden produce. Think about canning and freezing garden produce as well. Cut down on the grocery bill and consume less goods.

Recycle pots
Greenhouses will accept plastic disposable pots for re-use. Another option for no impact organic gardening is to use them yourself. Even broken clay pots can be used again. Just put the broken pieces in the bottom of pots in place of gravel for drainage.

Recycle soil
Don’t throw away potting soil at the end of the year. Mix it with fertilizer or throw it into the compost pile for further use. No impact organic gardening means using everything to its fullest potential.

Save seeds
Organic gardeners don’t buy seeds every year. Work toward a no impact garden by saving plant seeds from this years vegetable, herb and flower crops. The seeds can be used by you next year or shared with other gardening friends.

Hand tools
Hand tools leave no impact on the environment. They don’t necessitate fuel purchases or energy use. Save money by using hand tools as a no impact gardening method. It’s also a great way to get a little gardening workout and reap health benefits too.

Grow your own food — in a bag, in a truck, anywhere

Yahoo! Green
Trystan L. Bass
Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Gardening isn’t just for people with lots of land. You can raise your own tasty crops in the smallest and oddest of containers. If you have access to some sun, plus time to water and care for seedlings, every little spot in the world is your garden.

About.com has tips for growing a head of lettuce in a Whole Foods reusable grocery bag. Typically, these bags are reused when you buy salad fixings at the store, but why not use them to raise fresh salad at home? Doesn’t look that hard.

In fact, an entire Flickr group is devoted to Grow Bag Gardening. People around the country are growing potatoes in potato sacks, fertilizing plants in bags of fertilizer, and even raising crops in tin cans.

The container gardening site at Texas A&M also suggests using a cake pan as the site to grow green onions, radishes, or beets. What a great way to use an old pan that’s scratched or warped or to use something found at the thrift store.

Some people have flowers in a window planter. But the Window Farm Project takes it a step further and shows people how to turn an urban apartment window into a hydroponic farm.

All you need is some plastic water bottles (at last, a use for those things!), some netting, piping, and fishing wire. Hook it all together with a little water pump, and you can churn out a salad every week.

Maybe you want to take your garden on the go. Like the Truck Farm. It’s a vehicle, it’s a garden, it’s a movie.

By loading the bed of an old grey Dodge up with organic compost and planting heirloom seeds, filmmakers at Wicked Delicate created a mobile garden in Brooklyn, NY. Check out the movie’s trailer:

How to create a drought-friendly garden

UK Guardian
Andy Hamilton
Tuesday, July 2, 2009

I always water in the evenings rather than the mornings, mainly because I don’t like getting up at 5am, but also because much of the water can be lost to evaporation. I also mulch with straw to keep the moisture in, and lawn clippings can be put to good use as a water-retaining mulch. Mulching also keeps at bay the weeds, which will compete with your plants for water.

You may have your guttering all connected up to water butts and are smugly reading this, or perhaps you don’t want to fork out for a butt. In either case, a very simple method of collecting rainwater is to leave buckets, old dustbins or old barrels outside. These should be covered in dry weather to reduce evaporation and to discourage mosquitoes.

It is the container gardener that really suffers during drought as pots can dry out quickly. These should be moved into the shade on particularly hot days or if you are going on holiday. The parts of your garden that get the most sun will also need more water, therefore you should aim to plant more drought-tolerant plants in these areas.

It is doubtful that the UK will say goodbye to rain altogether, so good practice will be to mimic the Mediterranean rather than the Sahara. This means many of the herbs that we already love can still be grown. Lavender is a good example – some strains are grown in the Balearics, such as Lavandula pinnata. Rosemary also is heat resistant and drought tolerant and can be pruned to fit into even the most manicured garden.

Vegetables would not be the first on the list of the drought gardener, yet we don’t have to do away with all edible plants. Consider beet spinach instead of normal spinach, try growing Jerusalem artichokes, and if you’re in the south-east of Britain, chickpeas.

If it is beauty you are after then sea holly (Eryngium maritimum) is a sound bet. It is an ingenious plant well adapted to drought conditions: sea holly grows to about 30cm tall but its roots can spread over a metre downwards to look for water. It’s a member of the carrot family, so its roots smell of carrots and can be eaten. Full article here…

Inspiring Vertical Gardens for Small Spaces

Low Impact Living
Bridgette Meinhold
Thursday, June 25, 2009

Space is a precious commodity, especially now that so much of our backyard or balcony space is occupied by containers for growing organic vegetables. For those of you out there getting tight on space, but who still want beautiful flowers and plants to look at, consider a vertical garden. It’s organic art for your indoor or outdoor wall space and is a beautiful way to help filter air naturally and add humidity to your environment. Check out these beautiful and inspiring small vertical gardens.

A vertical garden is essentially a framework of plants placed onto the side of a building or a wall. They can be placed indoors or outdoors, in full sun or shade, depending on what types of plants you want. You can plant all types of flowers and plants on them, including epiphytes, tropical plants, succulents, ferns and even herbs. Check out ELT Living Wall Systems for a great list of plants to try if you want to do it yourself. In general, plants with shallow roots are better, because they have an easier time staying attached to a vertical wall.

The grandfather of vertical gardens is Patrick Blanc, who is a French Botanist and practically came up with the idea. He is also responsible for a long list of building integrated vertical gardens like these stunning examples. His basic system consists of a steel frame for structural integretity,[sic] a waterproof backing material to keep water off of the building, and felt fabric for the plants to adhere and grow into. Depending on what type of climate the garden is in, then depends on the necessary humitidy [sic] requirements.

Newer companies like ELT Living Wall Systems are starting to come out with wall planting systems like the one above that allow you to plug plants into individualized compartments. ELT now sells a smaller version of their large scale walls through Smith & Hawken now complete with irrigation system. These beautiful units would be a wonderful addition to your kitchen as an herb garden.

This vertical garden is actually made from recycled rain gutters nailed to the side of a house. Suzanne Forsling, who lives in Alaska, came up with this system to keep her salad crops off the cold ground and away from critters, but it’s a perfect way to reuse abandoned gutters and take advantage of empty outdoor wall space. Flowers, herbs, vegetables, and greens could be planted here and if you pair it with a drip irrigation system, you’ve got a perfect vertical planting system.

Here, epiphytes, are stuck into a recessed wall at an installation at the Bardessono Hotel in Yountville, which is a LEED Platinum Certified hotel. Epiphytes, or airplants, attach themselves to objects without need for soil and do not need irrigation, which makes them perfect for such an installation. There is no watering system in place and the plants draw their nutrients and water straight from the air. This fantastic vertical wall was created by Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco. Flora Grubb Gardens is also responsible for the framed living wall below, which is like a tiled mosaic of succulents. Built inside of a large and deep frame, the succulents each have their own pocket and are tightly packed in against each other.

And finally, this adorable little wall was created by Jill Bert, who built a large frame from wood and partitioned it off into sections. Inside she is growing herbs and lettuces in a delightful and artistic pattern. This design looks spectacularly easy enough to create out of leftover wood laying around. Another option for a DIY vertical garden is a Succulent and Moss Trellis, found at Lowe’s Creative Ideas. Click here for a complete how-to creation. This one doesn’t require an irrigation system, just occasional misting to keep the moss moist so it provide stability to the succulents.

For more inspiration and some larger installations, check out these vertical gardens at Apartment Therapy.

Women’s voices ‘make plants grow faster’ finds Royal Horticultural Society

Telegraph
Richard Alleyne
Monday, June 22, 2009

Women gardeners’ voices speed up growth of tomato plants much more than men’s, it found.

In an experiment run over a month, they found that tomato plants grew up to two inches taller if they were serenaded by the dulcet tones of a female rather than a male.

The findings vindicate comments made by Prince Charles that he talks to his plants although they suggest that for maximum results he would be better off recruiting the Duchess of Cornwall.

Appropriately the most effective talk came from Sarah Darwin, whose great-great grandfather was legendary botanist Charles Darwin, one of the founding fathers of the RHS’ Scientific Committee.

She read a read a passage from the On the Origin of Species and beat nine other ‘voices’.

Her plant grew nearly two inches taller than the best performing male and half an inch higher than her nearest competitor.

Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent at RHS, said: “We predicted that the male voice would be more effective but it turned out that the ladies were far better than the gentlemen.

“We just don’t why. It could be that they have a greater range of pitch and tone that affects the sound waves that hit the plant. Sound waves are an environmental effect just like rain or light.”

The experiment began in April at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, with open auditions for the public to record excerpts from John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream and Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.

A variety of voices was then picked to play to 10 tomato plants over a month. Every plant was played a voice through headphones connected to the plant pot, and the conditions for all the plants remained the same throughout the experiment. To ensure the experiment was fair, two control plants were also left to grow in silence.

The results showed that women on average saw their plants rise by an inch on their male counterparts. Some men were so bad that their plants actually grew less than a plant that was left completely alone.

Miss Darwin said, “I think it is an honour to have a voice that can make tomatoes grow, and especially fitting because for a number of years I have been studying wild tomatoes from the Galapagos Islands at the Natural History Museum in London.

“I’m not sure if it’s my dulcet tones or the text that I read from On the Origin of Species that made the plant sit up and listen, but either way I think it is great fun and I’m proud of my new title.”

HR 2749: Totalitarian Control of the Food Supply

FoodFreedom

Thursday, June 18, 2009

A new food safety bill is on the fast track in Congress-HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. The bill needs to be stopped.

HR 2749 gives FDA tremendous power while significantly diminishing existing judicial restraints on actions taken by the agency. The bill would impose a one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme on small farms and local artisanal producers; and it would disproportionately impact their operations for the worse.

HR 2749 does not address underlying causes of food safety problems such as industrial agriculture practices and the consolidation of our food supply. The industrial food system and food imports are badly in need of effective regulation, but the bill does not specifically direct regulation or resources to these areas.

To read a detailed account of the bill, go to: http://www.ftcldf.org/news/news-15june2009.htm

(Read the section on tracing. That is NAIS, isn’t it? – highly disguised yet triggered by the word “trace.” )
Alarming Provisions:

Some of the more alarming provisions in the bill are:

* HR 2749 would impose an annual registration fee of $500 on any “facility” that holds, processes, or manufactures food. [isn't this every home in the US, every garden?] Although “farms” are exempt, the agency has defined “farm” narrowly. [What is the definition?] And people making foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, cheeses, or breads would be required to register and pay the fee, which could drive beginning and small producers out of business during difficult economic times. [Yes. There are laws against this corporate-size-destroys-the-little-guy policy, aren't there? Are home bread or cheese or lacto-fermented vegetable makers who make for their own families included in this?]

* HR 2749 would empower FDA to regulate how crops are raised and harvested. It puts the federal government right on the farm, dictating to our farmers. [This astounding control opens the door to CODEX. WTO "good farming practices" will include the elimination of organic farming by eliminating manure, mandating GMO animal feed, imposing animal drugs, and ordering applications of petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers, thus, will be locked not only into the industrialization of once normal and organic farms but into the forced purchase of industry's products. They will be slaves on the land, doing the work they are ordered to do - against their own best wisdom - and paying out to industry against their will.

There will be no way to be frugal, to grow one's own grain to feed the animals, to raise healthy animals without GMO grains or drugs, to work with nature at all. Grassfed cattle and poultry and hogs will be finished. So, it's obvious where control will take us. And weren't these the "rumors on the internet" that were dismissed but are clearly the case?]

* HR 2749 would give FDA the power to order a quarantine of a geographic area, including “prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area.” [This - "that has been used to transport or hold such food" - would mean all cars that have ever brought groceries home so this means ALL TRANSPORTATION can be shut down under this. This is using food as a cover for martial law.] Under this provision, farmers markets and local food sources could be shut down, even if they are not the source of the contamination. The agency can halt all movement of all food in a geographic area. [This is also a means of total control over the population under the cover of food, and at any time.]

* HR 2749 would empower FDA to make random warrantless searches of the business records of small farmers and local food producers, without any evidence whatsoever that there has been a violation. [If these bills cover all who "hold food" then this allows for taking of records of anyone at any time on no basis at all.] Even farmers selling direct to consumers would have to provide the federal government with records on where they buy supplies, how they raise their crops, and a list of customers.

[NAIS for animals and all other foods?]

* HR 2749 charges the Secretary of Health and Human Services with establishing a tracing system for food. Each “person who produces, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, or holds such food” [Is this not every home in the US?] would have to “maintain the full pedigree of the origin and previous distribution history of the food,” and “establish and maintain a system for tracing the food that is interoperable with the systems established and maintained by other such persons.” The bill does not explain how far the traceback will extend or how it will be done for multi-ingredient foods. With all these ambiguities, [with all these ambiguities, it is dangerous, period, separate from the money] it’s far from clear how much it will cost either the farmers or the taxpayers. [It is massive and absurd and burdensome beyond the capacity of people to comply - is this not fascism? - so it is a set up for being used to impose penalties endlessly and/or to eliminate anyone at will.]

* HR 2749 creates severe criminal and civil penalties, including prison terms of up to 10 years and/or fines of up to $100,000 for each violation for individuals. [Does it include judicial review, Congressional oversight, a defined and limited set of penalties and punishments for a defined set of "crimes"? Or is it entirely ambiguous and left to the whim and sole power of "the Administrator"? Who is that person set to be? Is it Michael Taylor, Monsanto lawyer and executive, as Food Democracy has said? That is, do these bills set up an agency by which the entire US food supply will be turned over to the control of a multinational corporation under WTO regulations (and not to US farmers and not to US laws under the Constitution), with boundless freedom to do what it wants, and one infamous for harm to farmers and lack of safety of food?]

If it was not clear before how frightening these bills were, this small section of provisions, should make their actual fascism clear now. It goes way beyond “food safety” to absolute control over farms, animals, food, and us, including our movements and access to food at all.

Action to Take:

Contact your Representative now! Ask to speak with the staffer who handles food issues. Tell them you are opposed to the bill. Some points to make in telling your Representative why you oppose HR 2749 include:

1. The bill imposes burdensome requirements while not specifically targeting the industrial food system and food imports, where the real food safety problems lie.

2. Small farms and local food processors are part of the solution to food safety; lessening the regulatory burden on them will improve food safety.

3. The bill gives FDA much more power than it has had in the past while making the agency less accountable for its actions.

HR 2749 needs to be defeated!! Please take action NOW.

Or, contact your Representative by using the finder tool at www.Congress.org or send a message through the petition system (the petition will be on our website this evening) at http://www.ftcldf.org/petitions_new.htm. Or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

To check the status of HR 2749, go to www.Thomas.gov and type “HR 2749″ in the bill search field.

Agricultural Aromatherapy: Lavender Oil As Natural Herbicide

Science Daily

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Could essential oils extracted from lavender be used as a natural herbicide to prevent weed growth among crops? Research carried out in Italy and reported in the current issue of the International Journal of Environment and Health suggests the answer may be yes.

Elena Sturchio of the National Institute of Health and Safety at Work in Rome and colleagues there and at the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, and the Department Crop Production, at Tuscia University, in Viterbo, have investigated the inhibitory effects on weed growth of aromatic oils, or mixtures of phytochemicals, from plants such as lavender, Lavandula officinalis.

Essential oils, are as the name suggests, often the plant’s “essence” in terms of odour. Essential oils are complex chemical mixtures of natural products made by the plant for its own purposes, including terpenes, alcohols, aldehydes and phenols. Indeed, several plant essential oils are present as natural inbuilt herbicides and pesticides.

Synthetic pesticides and herbicides have been in common use for decades and have protected crops from parasites, insects, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and eliminated weeds. However, by virtue of their design, these substances are toxic and in some cases thought to be carcinogenic. Their incorrect use or inadvertent exposure have been the focus of numerous studies on animal and human health, the results of which have led to serious initiatives to find alternative approaches to pest and weed control.

Other researchers have investigated the potential of essential oils from cinnamon plants, and peppermint to prevent seed germination of some weed species found in the Mediterranean region.

Sturchio and colleagues have investigated the effects of lavender oil on root growth in a plant, Vicia faba in trials. This weed has large chromosomes and so was also amenable to studies in the laboratory that investigated the genetic toxicity of the essential oil on the weed. Their analysis showed the oil to be effective at killing the weed even at low concentration. Moreover, the oil affects growth of soil microbes and fungi involved in crop growth.

The team concludes that, “Essential oils could be useful as potential bioherbicides as an alternative strategy to the chemical remedy.” They add that, “The use of phytochemicals permits the development for more sustainable agriculture at low environmental impact. Further studies are now needed to evaluate use of such oils “in the field”.

The team points out that the oils would most likely be used either before planting or prior to transplantation of seedlings, so the essential oil would not have toxicity effects on the crop itself. Sturchio adds that, “essential oils are not accumulated in the environment, because of their low persistence due to the easy degradation by microbial and enzyme activity. This aspect could represent an advantage compared to the bioaccumulation of chemicals on soil.”

The Importance Of Organic Gardening.

Organic vegetable gardening seems to be the trend these days as more people have become conscious of what they are eating. This is because conventional methods allow the use of harmful chemicals, which may enter our bodies via the food we eat.

In order to control the problem, the US Department of Agriculture has issued a new directive. This encourages farmers to shift to organic farming.

With organic farming, farmers will no longer need to plant crops using genetic engineering, irradiation and sewage sludge. Instead, this will be replaced with crop rotation.

Crop rotation is the practice of planting a different crop in the same area where another crop once occupied. This keeps the soil’s nutrients fertile, so it can be used again in the following season.

This approach is easier said than done as farmers are accustomed to the old ways of doing things, and may be reluctant to change. To help them change their minds the government offers incentives and subsidies to farmers who decide to follow this plan.

But the main reason why organic vegetable gardening is so important is the fact that the crops harvested have 50% more nutrients and vitamins, compared to those produced using conventional farming methods. This means organic food may reduce the risk of people suffering from a number of diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and certain cancers.

Children who drink organic milk will get more anti-oxidants, CLA, Omega 3 and vitamins, compared to GM milk, which will really help strengthen their bones and muscles.

You can buy organically grown vegetables from many supermarkets nowdays. The sad part is the almost everywhere you go, although the packaging comes from Department of Health, Quality Assurance International, California Certified Organic Farmers or the Oregon Tilth Farm Verified Organic, most processed ‘organic’ foods are only 50% to 70% organic. This is why homeowners who want to eat 100% organic vegetables are encouraged to grow these themselves.

There are two ways to achieve this. Buy seeds, or seedlings, plant them and wait until they grow or you can buy fully grown organic plants virtually ready to harvest.

In both cases the garden soil needs to be prepared, to suite the type of plants, and the area needs to be made safe from weeds, and insects and other animals that will eat the plants. Such problems can be fought off with other animals, insects, organic fertilizers, deodorant soap and a few other items which you can find out after doing a little research.

For those who don’t have a big garden, they can try growing these organically grown vegetables in containers. They require more water than those planted in the soil, and more care to ensure roots don’t overheat, or dry out.

There are many internet sites dedicated to organic gardening, and many forums if help or advice is needed. Taking control of what you eat can have a very positive effect on your health, remember, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT…..

Miracle Grow Organic Plant Food

At The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, anything plant or animal based is considered organic. For example, organic mulch would be derived from a plant, such as fir bark. Ornamental rock mulch, while natural, would not be considered organic. Read more