Organic Gardening Diary

Jan 1, Organic Gardening Book

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:36:22 GMT

Find a gardening book from successful organic gardeners. Pioneering authors explain innovative ground breaking methods. Specialised gardening techniques: pruning, propagating, compost, flowers... illustrated by gardening experts.

Dec 27, Organic Gardening Blog On The Windowsill

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:36:02 GMT

Many of you will grow a selection of fresh herbs on your windowsill and cut them straight into your cooking pot. But what if pests also take advantage of warmer indoor conditions? What can you do about an infestation of something such as Whitefly? Using pesticides on your fresh herbs is out of the question. Regular finger and thumb may prove convenient. And a strong jet of water is particularly effective. But in my kitchen I have an 8 legged companion to help with organic gardening. Indeed 2 big garden spiders around my windowsills have been trapping whiteflies in their webs. If you don't mind leaving a bit of dust lying around, these mini beasts will help control some windowsill pests for you. One of my spiders moved to a spot on another windowsill where there are plants. Now however I have cleared them outside into my organic garden. They are so big and fat after munching through flies that they'll probably survive a cold hibernation that much better. Do you find that your plants grow long and leggy on the windowsill? Or perhaps they suffer from drafts. The new season is upon us and my page on starting seeds is here to help you. It's great to get an early start with plants so do consider Grow Lights and propagators. The link below is on selecting flowers for a winter garden.

Dec 9, Select Winter Flowers

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:59:57 GMT

Select and grow winter flowers. You'll find what you need to get outside and make your home and garden pretty even in the darkest days. See how you can extend the season with this choice for your winter garden.

Dec 3, Organic Gardening Gift Basket

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:28:26 GMT

Here's an organic gardening gift basket for earth friendly people. You'll find gift ideas from the Gardener for friends with a healthy organic home & a passion for gardening. Make your gift earth friendly here.

Oct 25, Organic Weed Control

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:24:03 GMT

Dos and donts of organic weed control. Discover how to control weeds and grow plants organically. Know why garden weeds succeed and how you can prevent them.

Oct 24, Comparing fruit and veg growing

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:03:35 GMT

Growing fruit and veg? Which is the easiest and most productive by far? Find out here.

Oct 17, Organic Gardening, Make Compost & Grow Plants

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:00:38 GMT

Discover a healthy, more active life, that saves money with organic gardening Compost, fertilizer, gardening tools & practical methods of growing & handling garden tools are described here.

Oct 8, Organic Flowers

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:09:48 GMT

Give these attractive organic flowers a place in your garden. Many can be used as cut flowers, some as herbs, and most importantly they protect your garden from pests.

Oct 8, Buy Flowers

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:07:24 GMT

Do you need to buy flowers when you can grow them? This page shows you some of the plants that make nice arrangements for your home.

Oct 8, Patio Gardening

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:03:13 GMT

Patio gardening improves your social life. And your patio is an important space to relax in the surrounds of your lovely garden. Get some ideas here on design and growing flowers, and learn how to enjoy your garden.

Oct 8, Flowers

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:03:12 GMT

Flowers brighten your home, your garden and make life simply wonderful. There's more here about keeping flowers to give and to display in your home.

Oct 8, Buy Plants On Offer

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:03:09 GMT

Check here before you buy plants. The organic gardener outlines a few essentials of buying plants and includes regular wholesale value plus offers from top horticultural brands

Oct 8, Flower Gardening

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:03:07 GMT

Find your flower gardening mix here with the help of 8 illustrations. You'll discover how to make your own selection from beautiful flowers. This page considers how to combine plant shapes, sizes, textures... for your landscaping.

Oct 8, More Flower Gardening

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:03:06 GMT

Find plants for flower gardening with the second 4 of 8 illustrations. You'll discover how to blend your own selection of beautiful flowers. You'll create a distinctive and impressive flower garden with help from these tips on floral garden design.

Oct 2, Helping A Community Garden

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:53:51 GMT

I do my best to help in a community garden. The blog on the link below reveals a snapshot of local interests and activities around our community garden.

Oct 2, Potato Harvest - What is it?

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:14:30 GMT

I grow potatoes every year, but this year I found a surprise. On the end of a couple of potato plants are these little round fruits or vegies. I have

Sep 19, Perfect Potatoes from the Organic Garden

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:38:10 GMT

The day of reckoning has arrived. Later than usual my 2011 second early potato crop 'Juliet' is in. Below I list the tubers by increasing size order. 10 seed potatoes produced 100 tubers totalling about 7 kilograms (over 15 pounds). Average tuber weight a respectable 70grams (2.5 ounces). Each potato plant produced 10 tubers and 700 grms of potato. Grown in a raised bed they're all high quality tubers (pictured) virtually scab free - believe me you wouldn't notice it. Note: the small sized residual makes the grand total even larger.

How was your potato harvest?
Use this link to:-
Upload your pictures & share your success or failure in growing organic potatoes.
Learn more with the-organic-gardener.com.

	Number of Tubers in Size Class	Weight of Tubers in Size Class - Grams.
	10	1690
	10	1160
	10	760
	10	712
	10	635
	10	530
	20	900
	20	600
Main Size Totals	100	6987
	Small Residual Class	Small Residual Weight
	20	325
	12	100
Grand Totals	132	7412

Sep 13, Clean Healthy Carrots Fresh From My Garden Plus...

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:25:51 GMT

Perfect carrots are coming up. After my first-up carrots looked half ruined I'm now delighted.

Now this sexy dancing carrot was harvested today. And it looks just how I feel. Because the carrots are coming up perfect. Not a sign of carrot root fly and no splitting. These rows haven't been thinned until now. See my entry for 6th July for an outline of what happened. The potato harvest from a raised bed is looking great too. More later...

Aug 31, Lawn Fertilizer For Top Greens

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:14:55 GMT

Find more about organic lawn fertilizer and how to improve your lawns all year around.

Aug 28, Onion Garden & Torrential Rain

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:23:33 GMT

Heavy rain over the last two days has got me worried about my onions. They need to be ripening in the sun. More heavy rain and I fear they will begin to rot. At least they will be hard to dry and then more likely to spoil in store.

Picked today
compare size with
a good plum

The leaves on my onions are robust standing upright mostly green. It seems a shame to pull them up. But the bulbs are mostly a good size. It would be worse for them to rot in store. Today, I weeded out the onions to let every bit of sunlight in and for air to circulate. Now I need some baking hot days - But more likely I'll have to lift the onions into a bright, warm dry place - my greenhouse shelf - to thoroughly dry them before storage. Links to The Gardening Sales are here. Upcoming Webpages
If you're looking for more pictures of plants and gardening I have lots. I'll be posting more on future pages. Indeed a whole new page devoted to gardening pictures is planned. And if you want to send me your garden pictures and experiences I'll soon be providing a facility for you to do that here as well. My section on flower gardening is badly out of date. The whole section is soon to be updated. Here's a sneek preview. Flowers in an organic garden. About flowers to grow for cutting. A page on how to prepare and keep a flower display.
Lots more coming... I look forward to posting your comments too. Don't forget, you can contact me here and sign up for my newsletter. Happy gardening :)

Aug 22, Plan Your Future With Gardening

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:47:45 GMT

When you buy a big item with %taken off in the sales, you could save enough money to buy several additonal items too. For me that means advanced machinery or garden furniture. Plan for your future in the garden - See this link to get money off your garden. And take advantage of the gardening sales Happy Gardening :-)

Aug 12, Your Garden Tool Shed

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:19:42 GMT

Visit my garden tool shed for the essential cutting edge garden tools. You'll find efficient, ergonomic and easy to handle gardening equipment recommended and used by a practical organic gardener. There's also tips on how to get the most from garden tools and how to use them properly and with less effort.

Aug 11, Gardening Sales Are On

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:36:55 GMT

Beat the uncertain times with gardening that provides for you. You'll be able to take care of it in less time and for less money with the help of these links.

U.K. Gardeners click here for offers.	American Gardeners click here for offers.
	For a better future click here to sow organic seeds now.

Gardening Tools, Equipment & Garden Furniture: Huge reductions available on this very popular gardener's store. %$vvv.

Check Out My Recommended Multi-Function Garden Machines:
Tidy up your garden now with these tools.

Seeds & Plants: To beat everyone else on price click here - I've checked it out. And - with the codes below - you can add these freebies.
1 Free Peony with any purchase, code 1401
15 Free Freesias with any order, code 1392
1 Free Rose with any order, code 1391
3 free Peacock Orchid Bulbs with any purchase! Use special coupon G5666
exact choice is subject to availability

Pole Trimmers & Multi-function Garden Tools Are So Handy
I love tools like these. One motor to power several specialised tool heads. With all the right tools in one machine you can cut through your job with ease. Find out more and get links for your country here.

Gardening Tools, Equipment & Garden Furniture: Reductions available on hundreds of products.

Seeds & Plants: Reap the rewards from your garden by with these Summer Season offers ****(do try garlic to protect your organic garden) and
don't forget to plant short season potato tubers in containers now for a Christmas harvest of new potatoes.

Check Out My Recommended Multi-Function Garden Machines:
Tidy up your garden now with these tools.

Reductions On Garden Machinery For Easier Affordable Gardening:
Click here and if you spend more
than 300 pounds use voucher code MowDirect20 to save 20 pounds. Delivery is Free

Pole Trimmers & Multi-function Garden Tools Are So Handy
I love tools like these. One motor to power several specialised tool heads. With all the right tools in one machine you can cut through your job with ease. Find out more and get links for your country here.

You can look optimistically to the future with gardening.
Come back soon and...

Happy gardening :-)

Aug 10, Organic Gardening Power Tool

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:02:25 GMT

You can do lots of gardening jobs and get a more professional looking finish with help from a gardening power tool. You'll also find information here about versatile interchangeable power tools where one motor does it all.

Aug 10, Hedge Trimmers

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:02:24 GMT

Find hedge trimmers that suit your hedge and cutting style. The gardener describes the advantages of modern hedge trimmer designs.

Aug 6, Garden Tools On Top Of Computers

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 20:53:25 GMT

So my computer had a hardware problem.
And anyway the gardening tools always win! Indeed they are getting better. Take a look at the pole trimmers! These multi-tool new designs make light easy work (see links). One tool can do 2 or 3 jobs, top of hedge, side of hedge, lawn edging, and strimming (string trimmer style). Multi-Tool Kit for UK Gardeners is here. The motor balances the weight of the tool. And you can choose cordless, electric or gas engines. UK gardeners take advantage of the Gardening Sales Now - plus you get 20 pounds off if you decide to spend 300 pounds with the voucher posted on this link.

Jul 30, Small Blog For Big Organic Gardening

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 20:45:40 GMT

I have so much to write I often don't know where to begin. Well that's my reason for not blogging more frequently. So I'll keep this quick and simple. Dry weather doesn't help much, so here's a tip. Water your potatoes in the evening with a focused stream of water under the leaves. This is most important because hot humid conditions are ideal for potato blight infection. Secondly, I suggest that you water your cabbage, cauliflower etc... in the morning. Why? Because evening watering will aid slugs and snails on their destrucitve paths. Always avoid watering during the hot middle of the day. The harvests are coming in lovely. But we should be thinking ahead. It's nearly time to sow Japanese Onions in the ground that's free'd up. And soon I will be sowing Spring Cabbage in trays to plant out in early autumn. Check my recently added page on crop rotation to see how they could be fitted in. And if you haven't ordered any seed potatoes then now's the time if you don't want to miss out on a harvest of fresh new spuds for Christmas. See my page on potato bins and potato varieties. Well, there's loads more to write - I'll come back soon and blog it. Happy Gardening :)

Jul 6, Organic Gardening - pest control & more

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:53:50 GMT

The first Gooseberries are in as my bush 'Invicta' - always my best cropper - was bending over with the weight.

Tips On Organic Pest Control

Carrot Root Fly
This year my garden has an obvious infestation of Carrot Root fly - with the leaves turning yellow. Unusually this year, I haven't sown spring onions in the carrot rows. And I sowed earlier too. Thinning and weeding disturbed the ground enough to attract the pest. The biological control for Carrot Fly called "Grow Your Own" is available to UK gardeners on this link. American gardeners can find similar biological controls for familiar pests here. And check the other biological controls listed there. Natural controls like these are better than chemicals. Organic Control of Slugs & Snails
The dry weather has kept the slugs and snails down here. But other gardeners have not faired so well. Where there's a problem you should water the garden in the morning or early enough for it to dry out before nightfall. Keep the soil finely chopped and remove organic debris. Slugs can be worse under netting or cloches where they are somewhat protected... Put down a strategically located hiding place for slugs such as a brick or tile. You can then lift the lid and kill them. When you go out in the late evening by torch light you may find many of the critters out and about. Sometimes it's just one or two creatures that are doing all the damage. Experiment with Garlic:- 2 cloves squashed into 2L water, & boiled for 20 mins or so. Then made back to 2L & left to steep. Studies at Newcastle University found that larger amounts of Garlic actually killed slugs! However, the homemade liquid doesn't stick to cabbage leaves... but the smell is pretty powerful. Beer traps are very effective. I found the cheapest beer which was then Heinekin Premium worked very well - for slugs and snails. Forster's Amber Nectar definitely didn't reach as many of the parts that Heinekin reached. You can make a cheaper and effective alcoholic solution from sugar and yeast in a sealed container. Nemaslug is also worth trying if you have a very bad infestation. This has the advantage of killing the small ones and reducing the next generation. Nemaslug is available to UK gardeners on this link. American gardeners can find similar biological controls for other familiar pests here. There are many other biological controls listed here.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
More To Do:
Keep sowing crops to harvest in succession: Lettuce, Spring Onions, Beetroot, Runner Beans, French Beans, Endive... ... there are many choice varieties for extra flavour. Grow even more seeds & plants - with the best value for American Gardeners.

Get more variety in your garden below:
Grow The World In Your Garden on this link. Link below is about lawn care... Naturally Happy Gardening :)

Jun 24, Organic Tomato Fertilizer

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:24:23 GMT

Healthy plants from an organic tomato fertilizer that also works for several kinds of greenhouse and herbaceous fruit. To enjoy all the health benefits of your tomatoes visit here.

Jun 23, Practically Green - organic gardening

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:07:06 GMT

New pages on organic lawn care are now online.
And you'll save money:
1 - by not using chemical weed killers,
2 - by re-using the organic matter and organic fertilizer that's already in your lawn cuttings. But remember:- if you want to recycle lawn cuttings you simply can't use selective weed killers on your lawn. There's more about composting grass cuttings here.

The June Drop

Small fruit fall to the ground this month as your bushes cast off surplus. When the birds find these they'll discover all the rest too. Don't forget to protect your fruit bushes. See below for help on protecting plants.

Gardening Weather

The weather is always a mixed blessing. And UK weather has been dry dry dry which has at least kept the slugs and snails down. Rain now couldn't be better. It helps to swell up your outdoor fruit and potato crops. However, a large down pour onto dried out soil can lead to soft fruit splitting. Keep a steady water supply to tomatoes and keep outdoor fruit weeded and well mulched.

Crop Readiness

My tomatoes are early this year - the fruit are swelling as I write. Broad Bean pods look ready for picking too but need a little longer for the seeds to swell.

Seeds

The dry days have delayed some seeds. But keep sowing Salad Leaves, Beetroot, Pak Choi, Chop Suey Greens, Spring Onions, Runner Beans, French Beans, and the like... ... Sow in succession for a steady supply.

Spring Rush To Summer Care

Except for the successional sowing noted above, the rush to sow and plant early and maincrops is complete. I still have some summer flowers to sow. Now it's time to: protect your crops, stake up plants, pinch out shoots for shape, keep plants watered and fed, as well as dead heading, and of course harvesting.
Find plant protection netting here. More later... Happy Gardening :-)

Jun 23, Organic Lawn Care

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:48:23 GMT

You can up the look of your whole garden by organic lawn care. Improve your green areas, work on problem areas, learn about different lawn styles, get the right tools and help with this expert lawn care guide.

Jun 23, Lawn Care Advice

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:47:07 GMT

Find essential lawn care tips to improve your green areas. Discover the cause of problem lawns and find the answers here. You really will see the difference in the quality of your grass.

Jun 23, Lawn Weeds

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:41:59 GMT

Eradicating lawn weeds can be a difficult task. This page examines the problems of different lawn weeds and some of the organic weed control methods used on lawns.

Jun 4, Lawn Mowing Practical

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:27:55 GMT

Learn the essential tips & tricks of lawn mowing. You don't have to be an organic gardener. The 'straight forward' approach with various lawn mowers & lawns is described.

Jun 4, Practical Lawn Mowers

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:27:55 GMT

Find how lawn mowers work out on your kind of lawn. Practical advice on selecting machines for sloping lawns, fine lawns, rough grass, large and small areas... Check their advantages and ease of use here.

Jun 4, Growing Lawns

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:27:54 GMT

Many varied and interesting ways of growing lawns are explained here. You can compare the best greens and conventional lawns with functional lawns and wonderfully beautiful alternative lawn styles that are quiet exciting for an organic gardener to grow.

May 30, Who's Garden Is It Anyway?

Mon, 30 May 2011 11:28:25 GMT

Do you ever wonder whether you are the real gardener in your home? Do you ever feel that the real gardeners are the wild birds - pigeons, blackbirds and the like? They are just waiting... ... and waiting... ... Right now my Blueberries and Gooseberries are just a little too hard for them. But the young birds are out of the nest and any day now you can bet they will discover their favourite food. Don't leave it too late! If they don't get near enough to test out your berries they won't know they are there. But if they discover the crop they'll be frantic to break down your defences. See below for netting. Pigeons are another menace here. I sometimes wonder - as I see them patrol my plants - if they are really doing the gardening. They have left my poor young crops of oriental cabbages alone for now... But then... ... You can bet they are just waiting until the crop is ready. Anyday now they will swoop down and have the lot. There's evidence to suggest that purple leaved varieties don't attract them so easily. But unfortunately I've already had damage to my young seedling peas. The culprit has to be pigeons. So now you've gone to some trouble and expense to grow a crop - here's the answer to save the crop from disaster. American Gardeners - 2 kinds of netting are here. U.K. Gardeners - find attractive natural looking Long Fruit Cage lower down the list here. Larger cages are also available on link. My suggestion:- If your netting goes down to ground level either put wide tape around the bottom or fix it to a barge board. Happy Gardening :-)

May 24, Versatile Gardening Tools

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:35:57 GMT

Get more from your gardening tools, much more... This page describes the specialised and highly efficient garden tools system that I use

May 15, Grow Organic Today Harvest Nutritious Food Tomorrow

Sun, 15 May 2011 15:04:12 GMT

Grow Your Own - Take Control - Be Productive - And Enjoy Life's Natural Goodness To make the most of your garden this year visit these links.
Grow even more seeds and plants - the best prices for American Gardeners are here. Get more variety in your garden below:
Grow The World In Your Garden with Eden Project Seeds on this link. Easy Seeds for Children and Organic Seeds variety is the spice of gardening life and you'll find some nice plants here. Quality Seeds (no thrills packaging) - U.K. experienced mail order and I always make savings with them.

May 11, The Untidy Gardener

Wed, 11 May 2011 09:25:28 GMT

My kitchen table is strewn with 19 packets of miscellaneous garden seeds, 6 half-empty packets of seeds are left on the floor in my back porch after sowing - and - my fridge is topped by 3 boxes of seed packets organised into flowers, vegetables and herbs. That I'm afraid is the earthy truth of the organic gardener. But wow - look at my garden! Not for me the sterile bark covered sheet mulches - no my garden is vibrant, buzzing, and there's lots to look foward to. I have one good reason to clear the kitchen table, because my dinner is cooked from organically grown brussel sprouts, leeks, and tomatoes, along with fresh tarragon - and very tasty. TIP: Try Tarragon with tomatoes - it beats the popular basil/tomato combination. Growing in my garden today:

Pak Choi 'Ruby' sowing in succession

Cauliflower 'purple graffiti' x12 red coloured veg are high in anti-oxidants.

Romanesco Cauliflower x8

Cauliflower 'igloo' x 12 a compact variety (must remember to keep pigeons off).

Celery 'lorreta'

Beetroot 'Boltardy' grown in succession and for early crops.

Carrots - 'Amsterdam Forcing', 'Early Nantes', 'Chantenay Red Cored'*** later 'Autumn King'

Also:

Broad Beans 'Master Piece Green Long Pod' in between Potato 'Juliet'.

Pea 'sugar Anne' a sugar snap variety

Dwarf bean 'Tendergreen' ('Purple Teepee' to be sown this week)

Runner Beans 'Butler' growing up the shady side of my greenhouse

Potato 'Anya' coming up between last year's still standing leeks 'musselburgh'

Onion 'Bedfordshire Champion' and 'Giant Zetau' - for late maturing & good keeping.

American 'Land Cress'

plus Potato varieties 'Cara' and 'British Queen'

Tomato 'Harbinger' 'San Mazano' 'Gardeners Delight'

Sweet Pepper 'Redskin' 'Golden Gourmet'

Cucumber 'marketmore'

Melon 'SweetHeart'

Courgette x5 2 varieties

There's lot's more... and more to come... the seeds are here for your country I will be sowing salad leaves later among the flower borders. I have lot's of winter lettuce in the greenhouse.
TIP:
If your winter lettuce is going to seed try storing it in the fridge. Herbs Growing Include

Dill, French and Curled Parsely, Good King Henry, Orange Scented Thyme, Thyme, Tarragon, Rosemary, Sage, Golden Oregano, Lemon Balm, Chammomile, Chives, Apple Mint, Spear Mint, Hyssop, Fennel, Bronze Fennel, Chervil, Basil, Sorrel, Lovage, Cutting Celery... Flowers Growing Include

Doronicum 'Leopard's Bane'

Bluebells,

Winter Aconites

Myosotis - all these for - early flowers around the fruit garden to aid pollination

Marigolds, Calendula, Alyssum, Phlox, Aubretia, Scleranthus, Sedum 'Kamschaticum' 'Spurium' Helianthus, Cytisus, Broom, Achillia... ... I'm developing low mounding plants between rocks or compact shrubs. There's still time to grow seeds - this link will help you select them. Must get back to my organic garden now. Do get out there. More later. Happy Gardening.

May 7, Organic Gardening Compost Saves And Improves

Sat, 07 May 2011 22:12:56 GMT

Today I did a spot of voluntary work in a Victorian Walled garden. I was weeding a raised bed. This had been filled with compost made from leaves and with some wood chip. There was no hard clay and only a few larger soil lumps. It was amazingly light stuff. The bed was moist enough, and felt dryish - but that's after weeks with no rain. Organic Compost - Good For Gardening Work
The big big advantage for me - the soil was so very light to work that the usually difficult perennial weeds pulled almost straight out. So after hearing so many complaints about the quality of branded composts I must write again - make your own seed and potting compost from leaf mold, garden compost, comfrey leaves and the like. Adding organic fertilizers like bone meal also works because these are not chemical salts and are kinder to seedlings. And your own home-made leaf mold, garden compost and well-rotted manure will be the very best stuff to use in new raised beds or containers. I'm currently re-writing pages on grass and lawns as a starting point before updating and clarifying pages on garden compost, mulch and leaf mold. Visit the-organic-gardener.com to learn more and you see how it all comes together. Happy organic gardening.

Apr 30, Impatient With Organic Gardening

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 21:47:41 GMT

Are you waiting for your seeds to grow - your potatoes to sprout? Can you resist the temptation to go probing around your bean seeds to see if they are growing. "Everything comes to him who waits" is the best practical guide. Today however, I just couldn't resist probing around a newly planted Peony. Close by my Tree Peony was growing well. But the herbaceous Peony is planted deeper and I couln't help thinking I'd put it too deep. So very very carefully I started scraping away the soil to find the shoot. And I was immediately struck by the strong odour of peony root. - Arrr it must be growing strong - I thought. This odour is similar to that produced from Bergenia roots. It's probably a chemical defense that builds up in soil air around the plant. And this may protect the plant from pests. As I scraped the soil back the scent was released. And sure enough there was the Peony shoot growing strong just below the surface. Recently I heard how some gardeners use Astrantia to keep slugs out of their garden. Apparantly the leaves release an odour that slugs hate. And in this garden the slug prone Hostas were in abundant supply but untouched. Now there's some organic gardening know-how for you to try. To make the most of your garden this year visit these links.
Grow even more seeds and plants - the best prices for American Gardeners are here. Quality Seeds (no thrills packaging) - U.K. experienced mail order and I always make savings with them. More variety below.
Grow The World In Your Garden with Eden Project Seeds on this link. Easy Seeds for Children and Organic Seeds variety is the spice of gardening life and you'll find some nice plants here. Happy gardening.

Apr 27, Organic Gardening As A Royal Past-Time

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 21:38:08 GMT

I don't like to write too much about my garden because most people are really interested in their own gardens. But when it comes to royalty it all seems very different. Everyone wants to know what Prince Charles is growing in his organic garden. And will William follow his father's footsteps into the garden? You can get more on those questions from this link and the ladies can get a close-up look at the Ring too. U.K. visitors to my website should click the flag to change to your country page. So what about my garden? Well I'm a little worried about the dry weather we are having. But all my seeds are coming up so far. I'm growing a red leaved Pak Choi 'Ruby'. Dark colored leaves are high in antioxidants. Today I planted potatoes in between a standing Leek crop still being harvested. There's more information on continuous cropping on this link. It's also been a time for early salads. My winter lettuce are standing in the greenhouse in plenty. That reminds me to mention: the advantage of container growing.

Containers let you move your crops around when the weather changes

Containers can isolate plants from soil disease problems and

give your garden soil a rest while you rotate plants, and

let you grow over hard surfaces.

But except for the above I like to avoid containers because they dry out and need to be filled with compost. If you've seen my web pages on growing potatoes in containers and raised beds you'll be pleased to learn that seed potatoes are still available here. So don't miss out. Check the link to select yours. It's great to have good food growing and some in store. Happy gardening and - as they say - more follows...

Apr 27, Gardening Catalog Summary for Organic America

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:57:10 GMT

Review of online gardening catalog s goes straight to the practical stuff you need for gardening, saving you time and money. Take the green approach here.

Apr 27, Vegetable Seeds

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:41:10 GMT

Start growing today with vegetable seeds. Everyone agrees you get the best tasting food from your own grown organic vegetables. You also get your own choice variety. This page shows you what you need to know to succeed.

Apr 27, Flower Seeds

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:41:09 GMT

How to grow flower seeds for a mass of attractive flowers at low cost. You can fill your whole garden in one year. Select from the widest and unusual flower ranges and enjoy the immense satisfaction of a splendid flower show around your home

Apr 27, Organic Crop Rotation

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:41:08 GMT

Find a crop rotation suitable for organic gardening and year long production here. The benefits of crop rotation and how to fit your plants in are described here.

Apr 27, Seed Mat

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:41:07 GMT

Pre-sown seed mat helps you create themed gardens. Use them to grow sloping gardens as well as for pots, containers and hanging baskets. Find more on seed mats here.