Bit of Spring for your winter?

Winter is often a time of year for subtleness in the garden. We all need color in the winter garden! Try Hellebores. They are native to mountainous woodlands and open meadows of Western Europe. These are really great plants. The foliage is dark green and leathery, with very fine serrations along the leaf margin. The leaves remain an attractive green into January, when they start to collapse and discolor. Aside from locating them with winter interest companions all Hellebores require a well-grained location and prosper with afternoon shade. All are drought tolerant, and provide ample seedlings for naturalizing and are deer resistant. For more information, please visit www.RutgersGardens.org

Compost pen to make

Compost pen to make

A 10' length of 4' wide welded wire fencing forms a circular compost pen slightly larger than 3' in diameter. Fasten the ends of the fencing together with wire or reusable clips. Turn the compost by unfastening the fencing and setting up the pen next to the freestanding pile; turn into the now-empty pen. To direct moisture into the center of your compost pile, drive a pole or length of pipe into the ground in the center of your pen so that it extends slightly above the top edge of the pen and your compost.

myorganicflower

Barrel Composters

Barrel Composters

If you have a small space you can compost in a garbage can or a steel drum. If you don't generate large quantities of compost materials you can just use a bigger bin. Either galvanized metal or heavey duty polyethylene cans will work. I prefer the polyethylene ones with a locking lid for this purpose. Always be sure to secure your lids with a strap of some kind.

Punch or drill 1/4 inch holes in the bottom, sides, and lid of drainage and aeration. Be sure to set the can up on bricks or concrete blocks so that it will drain properly. As you fill the bin, cover each layer of materials with a layer of soil or brown materials. To preven odors, stir the material once in a while, as barrel compost bins receive less natural aeration than other types of bins.

What not to compost

What not to compost:

• Bones
• dairy products
• peanut butter
• meat scraps
• fish scraps
• cooking oil
• diseased vegetation
• animal fats
• household pet wastes
• plywood or pressure-treated wood

These items can attract pests, generate foul orders, or infect or contaminate the compost.To aid the decompostion process to avoid attracting flies, and to control odors, bury food scraps 8 inches to 1 foot beneath the surface of the pile. They can also be covered with straw, leaves, or sawdust.

Viral Diseases In Your Garden

Unfortunately, there are a number of common plant ailments that are entirely beyond the control of even the best gardener. Whether you are a casual weekend gardener or a grower of championship blooms, keeping your garden healthy is important. The common bacterial infection known as fireblight, for instance, can easily penetrate plants if it...Click here for more

Remember to Water in Winter

Winter watering is important for evergreens that continue to lose water through their leaves during the winter. Even in winter, sun and wind cause leaves to dry out rapidly. Roots will replace the lost moisture if there is water in the soil and the soil is not completely frozen.

How to add organic matter to Soil

You can add organic matter by digging or tilling it into the surface of the soil, by add green manure crops, or simply by applying mulches and allowing them to break down over time. Five percent organicmatter is a good goal to strive for in your soil. This work out to be one inch of compost or other fine-textured organic material spread over the soil surface. If you are switching to organic methods from chemical give extra help to the struggling microbial populations by applying bacterial cultures that give your soil and compost piles a boost.

Compost Connoisseur's Best Friend

Manures

Animal manures are high in nitrogen and are perfect for getting a compost pile cooking. Cow, goat, cheep, pig, pigeon, chicken, duck, llama and horse manure all make fine compost and can often be obtained from local sources. Dogs and cats, due to possible disease pathogens and are not suitable.

Composting Troubleshooting

Having trouble with your compost? Here are some solutions to try.

1. Pile not composting - too dry- mositen until slighly damp
2. Pile smells rotten and attracts flies- too much woody material-turn, add fresh green materials or organic fertilizer. If you have flies you can also bury your food scraps 6-8 deep instead of just throwing them on the pile.
3. Pile smells like ammonia - too much green material (or food scraps) - turn, add dry or woody materials.

Composting troubleshooting

Some more Hot Compost recipes

Hot Recipes for Compost

Recipe #2

3 parts Dry leaves=high carbon-Brown

1 part Fresh garden weeds=Nitrogen-green

1 part Fresh grass clippings=Nitrogen-green

1 part Food scraps=Nitrogen=green

Mix and let cook add more water if mixture becomes dry.

Composting Recipes

Composting can be viewed a little like cooking. A good recipe will enhance the finished product. The recipe below is based on volume. A pile made up of 25 to 50 % green materials, regularly moistened, will heat up rapidly and become compost faster. Compost Cookbook: 2 parts dry leaves - brown-carbon 2 parts straw or wood shavings-brown- higher carbon 1 part manure-green-high nitrogen 1 part grass clippings-green-nitrogen 1 part fresh garden weeds-green-nitrogen 1 part food scraps-green-high nitrogen Mix up and let cook if it becomes dry moisten with water. feed your plants with compost when done.

Compost the turkey oil?

Compost the turkey oil?

Composting requires green vegetative material as a nitrogen source, dried plant matter to supply carbon and some soil, water, air and microorganisms. Mixing all the ingredients in the right proportion produces a rich, crumbly end product called humus. Composting is a great way to recycle leaves, stems and clippings from the yard. Vegetable refuse from the house, including vegetable peelings, melon rinds, fruit skins and cores, and houseplant trimmings can also be composted. Tea bags and coffee grounds and filters are excellent additions to the compost pile. Although meat and fish products can be composted, they break down very slowly. They smell bad and can attract a number of pests, including coyotes, dogs, cats, skunks, bears and rodents. Meat and fish bits can contaminate the compost pile with disease organisms. For these reasons, avoid composting all bones, fats, greases and oils, including the oil used to fry the turkey.

News Alert for composting

Google News Alert for: composting Get your tree for free next weekCambridgeshire Times - Stevenage,Herts,UK... There will be compost caddies available, help and advice on planting trees and their aftercare, and composting demonstrations to help you care for your soil. ...See all stories on this topic

Chrysanthemums and fall

Chrysanthemums add sizzle to fall KEEPING MUMS Monterey County Herald - Monterey,CA,USA ... mum flowers. ''The most valuable thing you can do to help your mums grow is to pay attention to the soil,'' Meyer said. ''Work in some compost or organic matter ...

Chrysanthemums’ days of glory will soon end for year Tooele Transcript-Bulletin - Tooele,UT,USA ... Add abundant organic matter and fertilize them with a complete fertilizer when they reach ... When summer flowers fade dig the blooming or ready-to-bloom mums and ...

Mixing lots of organic matter into cool-season flowers

There's lots to do in your yard now Cool-season flowers and vegetables, however, are just now taking the stage for Act 1 ... to seeding by tilling it thoroughly and mixing lots of organic matter into ...

Composting - Now is the time to start

Composting easy, beneficial -- cheap Composting is a good way to enrich soil and help the environment. Now is a good time to start. Here are three things you should know: Composting is easy. ...

My Organic Flowers

How Mary's Garden Grows This blog is a must see. What beautiful photos of fall flowers and more.

Digging up memories of grandmother's garden Cleveland Plain Dealer - Cleveland,OH,USA ... flowers blooming in autumn. This is a woodland plant that grows well in partial shade. Plant witch hazels in moist, well-drained, slightly acidic, organic soil ...

Coastal Sunrise Pansy offers an artist's touch Fort Wayne News Sentinel - Fort Wayne,IN,USA ... my signal that it's time to work those beds up with organic matter and a ... Your Own Backyard," "Mississippi Gardener's Guide" and "Tough-as-Nails Flowers For the ... See all stories on this topic

Organic Garden Pest Spray

Organic Garden Pest Spray

The most inexpensive way to make a quart of garden pest spray is by mixing water with one spoon of dishwashing soap and one cup of cooking oil. When taking up organic gardening, you start to feel that you are really doing something useful for the environment and for your health, and the satisfaction is rewarding. Saving money is the other great privilege that an organic gardening practitioner feels over the others.

Compost Key to Nutrition

Compost Key to Nutrition

Who would think that there is a link between well-makde compost and nutrition? We are literally what we eat! There are 23 elements needed for human health that come from healthy soil and are converted by plants. These nutrients include amino acids, carbohydrates, essential fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymnes, and fiber. When plants are grown properly in nutrient-rich soil, their absorption of these 23 mineral nutrients can be maximized, boosting the nutrition of the food. So keep adding that compost to your garden it's good for the soil and you!

Alternative to raking leaves out with the trash

Composting

Consider alternatives to raking leaves out with trash, needlessly ...Birmingham News - Birmingham,AL,USA... Composting at home saves transportation and disposal costs and provides an environmentally sound way to manage yard waste.

Composting ...