Gardening |
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Beer is Better (Sally James - Eugene, Oregon) I really hate slugs. They squish between your toes if you happen to walk on them. They delight in eating young tender garden plants. But no matter how much I hate slugs, I really hate it more to poison them with commercial slug killers. So, I tried beer. My girlfriend says it works, and it does for me. I start with the top of a gallon jar (it's about 4" across and has sides about 1/2 of an inch tall). I put that in my garden and fill it with beer. That takes about half of a bottle of beer--and so in solidarity, I drink the rest. And like it. The slugs who drink the beer don't do so well. They are bloated and ugly in the morning and I throw them out.
Community Garden (Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute - Moscow, Idaho) Thanks to the generosity of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and many community-minded volunteers, Moscow, has had a community garden for three years. The Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute (PCEI) has leased (at no-cost) three residential lots owned by, and across the street from, the church. One of the lots is now divided up into plots that can be “rented” by anyone in the community who wants space to grow food and flowers.
During the first spring, PCEI volunteers braved cold and wind to survey and stake over 30 garden plots on our new site. Hearty volunteers from the church and the community helped lay down newspaper and straw in the pathways to eliminate weeds and mud. A straw mat company donated straw. Stables and farmers donated compost. A rototiller was donated along with hoses, tools, wheelbarrows and time. Several garden supply stores donated plant starts to make the garden grow. Ten dauntless gardeners took a chance with us and invested time, sweat, affection and money into planting their plots. We installed a watering system with a generous gift certificate from a hardware store and one knowledgeable volunteer. During that first summer, and every summer since, we’ve had help from community volunteers from various schools, churches and clubs. We are proud of all we accomplished, humbled by our community’s support of the project and appreciative of those dauntless gardeners who took a chance with us our first year. We continue to welcome more new gardeners each year and are already on the lookout for more donated land in the community to start an additional garden site. For more information about this and other community gardens, visit the PCEI website at www.pcei.org.
Corn Gluten--safe, natural weed killer (Carla - Seattle, WA) Researchers at Iowa State University discovered that corn meal gluten is an effective herbicide. Since it's completely natural, it's safe for kids, pets, and everything BUT weeds. Here's a web site I found with good information: www.waltsorganic.com/products/weedstop.html
Dandelions (name withheld by request) My neighbor is spraying for dandelions again. Dandelions, those hardy plants whose lovely yellow blossoms welcome spring, whose tufts of white spread seeds with every gust of wind, whose roots make a strong spring tea.... What in the world is so horrible about dandelions that my neighbor—and millions like him all around this country—wants to poison his lawn, his family and his neighborhood just to rid himself of those bright yellow flowers? The EPA has discovered that more poisonous herbicides and insecticides are applied to lawns than to agricultural land, in terms of application per square foot. Putting pesticides on lawns, adjacent to homes, kids and pets seems ridiculous. Those poisons are dangerous. Let me be among the first to applaud the dandelion. I like the pretty yellow flower. I want us to re-evaluate the criteria for the Perfect Lawn. I think a Perfect Lawn has lots of bright yellow flowers dancing in the spring wind, and tufts of white seed heads playing in the summer. Dandelions are a beautiful accent.
Grow Ancient Grains (Mary Jane)
Contact the Abundant Life Seed Foundation in Port Townsend, Washington, at 360-385-5660 or www.abundantlifeseed.org, or e-mail them at abundant@olypen.com. Ask for a copy of their seed catalog to begin planning your next garden. Put them in your travel plans, or better yet, sign up for one of their farm workshops or attend one of their conferences.
Natural Insecticide (Corrie Dean Weathers - Boiling Springs, South Carolina) I’ve learned a couple things from an organic gardener friend of mine that I have been trying out for the last couple seasons with great results. She advised me to plant sage, marigolds and chives throughout my vegetable garden. Her explanation was that the sage naturally repels cabbage moths and black flea beetles. These insects like cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. The result is beautiful broccoli that you don’t have to share with the neighboring insect community. Chives have some repellent properties for aphids, which are becoming a huge problem in areas where there is a lot of wheat production. The marigolds are the multipurpose repellents, they keep away all sorts of hungry little buggers. I won’t lie — I do still get some bugs, but since I have been employing these natural methods, I have noticed a considerable decrease in the amount of produce lost to insects. Good luck!
NCAP (Janet T. - Eugene, Oregon) The Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) is an institution here in Eugene. Established by angry back-to-the-land hippies whose forest homes were being sprayed by timber companies in the early 1970s, NCAP has grown into an incredible storehouse of information about all kinds of pesticide issues—and available natural alternatives. At their website you can find dozens of on-line or mail order fact sheets about specific insect or plant pests, plus special reports on chemicals and toxics issues, plus links to other pesticide issue organizations across the US. Their phone number is (541) 344-5044. NCAP is amazing. If you have questions about garden pests and alternatives to chemicals, this is a great place to go.
No Deer In Our Garden (Tammy - Bozeman, Montana) One of the drawbacks about living out in the woods is that your gardens are always at the mercy of hungry deer. Those animals are wonderful, of course, and we would never shoot them, but they are clever and agile and able to leap tall fences in a single bound! So, what’s a girl to do when she wants to see her cabbages get bigger
than a tennis ball? Then I was told about this Canadian invention: the water scarecrow. For $70, I bought one from Real Goods (1-800-762-7325; you can also order from Clever Gear at 800-829-2685). I hooked it up to our garden hose and staked it up in the middle of the garden. The thing has a motion sensor that can detect an intruding beast and then scare it off with a short blast of water aimed right at it. After shooting off the water, it switches off immediately, so it doesn’t use much water. It blasts the deer away, and safely of course, since we’re only talking water here. And it even keeps our dogs out of the garden! I am so pleased with this that I am now planning on getting another one and doubling our garden size.
Recycled Water for House Plants (Angela Swanson - Spokane, Washington) If you own aquarium fish, stop dumping the dirty tank water down the drain! You’ll be happy to know that even this dirty water can be recycled. In fact, it is full of nutrients that houseplants are often hungry for. At my house, when it comes time to change the water in our 20-gallon tank, we syphon the water from the bottom of the tank into a bucket with plastic tubing from the hardware store. We then use it to water our houseplants. I promise your plants will look healthier than ever. If you have extra water, set it aside somewhere out of the way, like the garage, where the smell won’t be bothersome. Water that has sat for at least 24 hours is much better for plants than water straight from the tap. The reason for this is that the water from the tap is usually chlorinated. When water sits, the chlorine will evaporate; and water without chlorine it is better for both plants and people … go figure.
The Power of the Ladybug (Michele Pfaff - Farmingdale, New Jersey) While doing more research on natural & organic gardening, I came across some info on gardening with ladybugs. Aphids are their main food and one larva will eat about 400 aphids during it's "growing life". An adult will eat 5,000 in its lifetime. They also need pollen. They eat cosmos, especially the white ones, geraniums and dandelions. Fennel, dill and cilantro are other favorites. They won't lay their eggs if no food source is available and NOT spraying insecticides will attract them and their food. If your garden doesn't allow room for some of their favorite plants, you can purchase them for a reasonable cost. You can learn much more and what types of ladybugs are best at Arzeena Hamir's website, www.gardenguides.com/atricles/ladybug.htm.
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Richard Barlow, a recent graduate from the University of Idaho Landscape Architecture program, volunteered his time to create a concept drawing for the garden, which includes 20' x 20' and 10' x 10' garden plots, an orchard, storage areas and a garden shed. The garden shed, a small log structure where supplies are stored, was donated by the University of Idaho’s logger sports club.
Most varieties of modern grains grown on a large scale have been developed for machine processing. However, heirloom and antique grains are available for the backyard gardener. Many of them are perfect for crafts and arrangements. Some grow 6 feet tall and provide a stunning backdrop to your vegetable or flower gardens. They aren’t difficult to grow. Most are hardy, drought-tolerant and require little cultivation. 