Green Manure
Green manure is a term used for grasses and legumes grown and then tilled under. It is very cheap and easy to use, and in most cases is faster-acting than home-made compost.
In severe winter areas, a green manure crop can protect the soil and give the added benefit of nutrients and organic material to the soil in spring. The best plant to add nutrients to the soil are grasses …
Organic Composting
Is manure necessary in making compost?
Even if animal manures are not available, compost can be made successfully. Cut or shred the plant materials as finely as possible in order to expose a maximum amount of surface to the organisms of decay.
The leaves of all trees are a valuable source of organic matter and minerals.
Leaves of such trees as eucalyptus, camphor and walnut should be exposed to the weather for a time before composting so that …
Organic Fertilizer
Fertilizer is anything added that improves the fertility of the soil. a good organic fertilizer feeds the soil rather than only feeding the plant. This is the safest way to fertilize plants .
A fertile soil has a balance of minerals and micronutrients so subtle, that I do not think that any chemical could add
them all. However it is known that manure, compost and leaf mold will.
Organic fertilizers improve the soil to allow it to hold …
Organic Amendments to Add to Your Soil
As an organic gardener, you know that the soil is the most important factor in creating a successful garden. Rich healthy soil means healthy, beautiful blooms and juicy vegetables.
Compost
Compost is made from decayed organic materials such as straw, grass clippings, newspaper, leaves, certain food wastes, spent plants, hay, chipped trees/brush, and farm manures. You can easily make your own compost using a bin, tumbler …
Improving Your Soil with Organic Matter
After moving into a new home in a new or established neighborhood, many gardeners are disappointed to discover their flowering plants struggling for survival due to poor soil. The soil may be full of clay or stones, too acidic, compacted, or lacking in organic matter. Some home-owners may resort to simply adding fertilizer. Don’t do this!
With a little knowledge and a bit of determination you can use soil amendments to improve poor soil conditions. …
Green Versus Brown Compost Materials
Download a Printable Guide for Your Fridge (PDF)Composting in your garden is very easy to do, however, to achieve quick and optimal compost, it should be well balanced with green and brown waste materials.
What are green versus brown materials, and why should you care? Think of compost as a healthy meal for your soil life – those worms and microbes that do the actual work …
Landscaping Your Flowering Plants
To grow great-looking, healthy blooms, take a look at your garden soil. Flowers grown in poor soil make for sad plants. Always have a little pile of composted manure in some outer corner. This is very convenient when you may be planting just a few plants at a time. A pile of manure is priceless when it comes to soil improvement. Use an inch of this black gold as …
The First Organic Gardener
Nature was the first organic gardener, slowly scraping up a thin blanket of rock particles over much of the barren planet, then feeding it with the bodies of tiny, spore-bearing plants and gradually cloaking it in green.
By the mid to late 19th century, chemists decided that they could help gardeners and farmers with new inorganic fertilizers and alike manna from heaven. This seemed to be the answer to the problems …
Grow Your Own Veggies
I have mentioned before the benefit, both financially and healthwise, to grow your own veggies.
There is nothing more satisfying in a garden, than to pull your own carrots, eat your own tomatoes and dig up your own potatoes. The principles of being able to produce good quality vegetables,
relies on good soil. A healthy soil is a living community of tiny organisms that cycle nutrients, which helps plants get those nutrients and overwhelm disease.
Green manures are …
Organic Matter In the Soil
Organic matter is material in the soil that has several important roles:
acts like glue to hold the mineral particles together.
Is a food source for the minute( or micro) organisms that live in the soil.
Is a source of nutrients for the plants.
Strongly influences what color the soil will be.
Organic Matter and the mineral particles work together somewhat like mortar and bricks. The organic matter acts as the mortar or glue and causes particles to stick together …
