Fruits look like lollipops and have a lemony flavor. Distinctive in three ways: the fruits hang on the plants like lollipops, color is creamy yellow, and the flavor is sweet and lemon-like. Fruits average 6 per cluster, occasionally as many as 10 per cluster, each fruit measuring 1-1/4″ by 1-1/4″. 79 days. Foliage is narrow leaved on well-branched plants. Highly productive, even under continuous high temperatures, day and night. Read more

Ingenious tomato planter turns gardening upside down! Thanks to a whole new direction in growing tomatoes, your crop will be bigger, better tasting, healthier, and easier to grow than ever before. You can water, feed, trim and harvest without bending or kneeling–and since your crop is upside down and will never touch the ground, staking, caging, bacteria, ground rotting, fungus and small animals become problems of the past. It’s the perfect gift for any gardener. Read more

OrganicGardenGrower.com Introduces The latest innovative garden products with cost effective ways to make organic gardening simple, safe and fun. Read more

There is many solutions that can help you keep the bugs out of your garden. By using household items, we can keep our garden free from pests. Toxins and harmful chemicals do not have to be part of your garden.

1. Tobacco or Nicotine Spray

This mixture is great for combating many different types of bugs, but especially caterpillars, aphids, and many types of those nasty worms.

Ingredients:
1 cup of tobacco
1 gallon of water

Put the tobacco into the container of water. Allow the mixture to set for approximately 24 hours. After it has stood for a day, check the color. It should be the shade of weak tea. If it is too dark, just dilute it with water until it looks right.

*Warning: Don’t use this solution on peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, or any other member of the solanaceous family. Tobacco chemicals can kill these types of plants!

2. Soap Spray

Another way to stop the slugs is with soapy water. That’s right, you can just use your old, dirty dishwater! Collect some of the water in a pan and pour it into a watering can or even use a pitcher to pour it over the plants. This works really well on hostas and mums, but also can be used on other hardy plants. Many bugs do not like their lunch spoiled by a soapy aftertaste! For a stronger solution, mix 3 Tablespoons of liquid detergent into a gallon of water, I prefer Dawn, but any will do. Use this weekly.

3. Alcohol Spray

This spray really is great for houseplants. This especially works on meal bugs. Read more

The best way to start growing strawberries is to buy pot-grown strawberry plants in spring: five plants are plenty for a hanging basket and ten for the average 13 inch pot. Plant them immediately in soil-based compost and they will produce a modest crop in their first year. The second season should see a bumper crop, followed by a slightly lower yield the third summer. Then start again with fresh stock.

Careful watering and feeding are essential. If you are to reap a good crop, you must never let the compost dry out, particularly when the fruit is forming and ripening; if you do, the bulk of your crop will drop off the bush almost immediately. Water well then leave the pots for up to three weeks, until they reach the point of drying out. Be careful not to over water them during the winter months. Read more

The Troy-Bilt Pony rear tine tiller features a powerful 6.5 HP Tecumseh OHV engine and is ideal for preparing finely milled, well-aerated, and ready-to-plant garden beds. This tiller comes with 12-inch diameter bolo tines in a forward rotating design and a 17-inch tine shield for increased safety. This medium-frame tiller is perfect for gardens up to 1,500 square feet and large-scale to commercial groundbreaking applications. Built with a cast iron transmission with a bronze gear-drive, this rear tine tiller also features 13-inch agricultural tires and a factory-installed protective front bumper. This machine provides you with a 16-inch tilling width and adjustable tilling depth up to 8 inches; it is designed to be compatible with many attachments for increased versatility. Read more

http://beautifulhomegarden.blogspot.com/2008/09/big-top-ten-organic-gardening-tips.html

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By using only organic gardening supplies, your gardening tasks will be easier and more enjoyable.• Compost, an all natural soil amendment is made through the use of composters. Composters break down organic materials such as leaves, grass clippings, and food scraps to make a 100% organic, all natural soil additive. Composters come in varying shapes, sizes and designs. Research composters and choose one that meets your needs. Making your own natural compost is a great alternative to other organic gardening supplies you would ordinarily have to buy, and it’s free!

• Rain Barrels collect water from your roof and store it until needed. Rain water is softer and chemical free. Rain Barrels are great for keeping your plants healthy and saving water. Many rain barrels are made from reused food drums and recycled plastic, keeping with the commitment to sustainable living. You can collect approximately 675 gallons of rain off your roof from a single rain storm. Stored rain water supplies much needed moisture to your gardens during extreme dry spells where rationing is necessary.

• All Natural and organic fertilizers supplies much needed nutrients to plantings. Natural and organic fertilizers generally have a slow release so nutrients last over time. Natural and organic fertilizers such as liquefied worm poop and tea from composters, are among the top natural and organic fertilizers and an essential ingredient to your organic gardening supplies.

• Push reel mowers are a great way to be eco friendly! Push reel mowers use no gas or electric, only your own energy. Push reel mowers are lightweight, easy to use and gives your lawn that golf course look. Owning a push reel mower is an important part of organic gardening.

• Grow native plants. Native plants require less water. They are also naturally more insect and disease resistant than other plants. Healthy, lush gardens made from indigenous plants also make a natural home for birds.

• Container gardening is good for planting your favorite flowers and vegetables when space is limited! Use large containers such as steel buckets and wooden barrels for creative container gardening. Container gardens do not require a lot of organic material due to being enclosed. Many gardening containers such as green pots are all natural, made from all natural elements such as rice hulls and coconut fiber.

• Using only natural and organic gardening supplies such as Insecticidal Soap, Horticultural Oil or Organic Disease Control will keep your garden healthy, naturally. Organic gardening supplies leave no hazardous residue and break down naturally into the soil. Natural predators such as bats, praying mantis and ladybugs are great organic insect controls. Bat boxes are effective for keeping bats nearby and supplies shelter through the harsh winter months. Enjoying and benefiting from organic gardening is dependent upon the use of the highest quality organic gardening supplies.

• Mulch your flowerbeds and vegetable garden to retain moisture around plants. Mulch supplies your plants with much needed moisture throughout hot, sunny days. Mulching also keeps weeds away. Apply all natural worm poop fertilizer around plantings when mulching. Your organic garden will love you for it. • Create a bird habitat by placing bird houses, birdbaths and bird feeders in your yard. Birds are fun to watch and will control the insect population in a natural way. Pick a quiet section of your yard to keep a variety of birding supplies to attract birds of your choice. Bird food such as sunflower hearts and suet are great treats. • Whether you are working on your lawn, flowerbed or vegetable garden, have fun. Remember, all natural supplies will make organic gardening easier and more enjoyable. The following is a list of recommended all natural and organic gardening supplies: composter, rain barrels, organic fertilizers, push reel mower, natural gardening containers, birding supplies, natural homemade compost, These are the best equipment, tools and supplies for keeping your plants, turf and environment healthy.

Happy Gardening!

This article may be reproduced and/or distributed. This article was written by Mark & Vera Pappas, Co-owners of http://www.greennationgardens.com/?Click=23GreenNationGardens.com, suppliers of unique and eco-friendly garden supplies.

Grow fruit in even the smallest backyard
Even a small garden has room for a fruit tree. Fruit trees are ornamental as well as useful. They produce beautiful blossoms in the spring and can enrich the surrounding soil. Apple trees are great for climbing and providing shade as well as…apples. If you have the patience, consider at least one fruit tree as a beautiful and useful addition to your organic garden. Depending on the size of your yard and area where you want to plant a tree consider dwarf, semi dwarf and standard sized trees.

Your fruit tree must be pollinated in order to bare fruit. Some trees are self-pollinating while others need to be planted in pairs. Some trees require three trees in order to be pollinated. Ask your local nursery if self-pollinating trees are available, otherwise, let the bees do all of the work! For apple trees, a crabapple tree makes a great tree that is used solely for pollination. Read more

Cypress wood has been used extensively for building, and the felling and lumbering of the trees a profitable business. Cypress trees are grown in plantations for wood and mulch and still are harvested from the wild.

Bald cypress usually is found in wet, swampy or marshy locations. Their roots are adapted to grow in low-oxygen soils. However, if watered well during the first year of transplant, cypress trees are beautiful in the landscape. They are slow-growing, pest-resistant and have a striking form and fall leaf color.

Organic mulches are good things around trees and in landscape beds. There is a popular notion that mulch made from cypress trees is resistant to rot and repels bugs. Research has proved this to be untrue; cypress is no longer-lasting or insect-repelling than other wood mulches. Read more

For California’s agricultural producers, whether they specialize in permanent crops, annual crops or livestock, next year is fraught with uncertainty. The biggest concerns are threeh–water availability, work force availability and the cost of farming.

Farmers are making tough decisions now and in the coming weeks regarding what to plant, how much to plant and how to best use a water supply that could fluctuate dramatically depending on how much precipitation the state’s watersheds receive over the next five months.

Livestock producers face similar difficult decisions. Do they start severely culling their herds, or do they expand? The high cost of feed will have a major impact on those choices.

Throw into the equation the regulatory challenges created by legislation such as the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act, and the picture becomes even murkier.

“Clearly for many Central Valley growers, access and price of water is first. Second, labor availability and cost is vital for many crops. Third, input prices, fertilizer and fuel especially, have been up and now down. This is a tough call to decide to lock in input prices now or hope they continue to come down,” said Daniel A. Sumner, director of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center in Davis. Read more