Short Video on Winterizing your Flower Garden

This quick video gives a few tips and ideas for preparing your flower garden to weather the winter storms, so that it comes back strong and beautiful next spring.

Although many may have already prepared your gardens for winter, in some climates the preparation is still going on, so this may be helpful for those of you in the southern states.


Preparing Your Garden For Winter : Protect Your Growing Plants & Flowers from Cold Weather
Plants and flowers need to be insulated from cold-weather conditions. Learn more in this free educational video series. Expert: John Guion, Arnetia Francis Bio: John Guion is the Area Manager for Bell Nursery in Burtonville, MD. He has 12 years exper...

 

Related articles on Winter Garden Preparations:

• Mulching in Your Flower or Vegetable Garden (hubpages.com)
• December In The Garden:Cool helps bulbs set flowers (commercialappeal.com)

Natural Pest Control for Indoor Plants

It is inevitable that insects or another infestation will make its way to your plants at one point or another.  If you are dealing with pests in your indoor garden you may want to find a natural way to eliminate them especially if you have young children or pets in your home.  There are ways to do this and most of them require ingredients that you can get at the grocery store.

When you find insects or another disease that is making your plant sick.  Isolate the plant immediately to prevent the problem spreading to the other plants inside your house.  Depending on the type of problem the solution will be different.

Image via WikipediaIf your plants are being eaten by spider mites, you can eliminate the problem by making a solution of buttermilk and water.  Put the solution into a spray bottle, put the plant in the bathtub and give a thorough once over.  A mix of 50-50 is recommended, if this is too thick to use with the spray bottle, add more water for a thinner consistency.

You may be able to control aphids with a thorough washing of the plant leaves with water.  Another recommendation is to kill a couple of the aphids and leave them in the bottom of the pot.  They then emit an odor that lets the other aphids know that danger is near and they abandon the plant.  If this method is used, do it outside so they can find another home that is not inside yours.

The natural and organic methods available for the wide variety of problems your plant can encounter are too numerous to list.  These are the two most common pests, but with some research there is a natural solution to many more different insects or diseases that can affect a plant’s health.

(For some more ideas on sustainable gardening and natural pest control, visit http://www.newholisticliving.com/sustainablegardening.html.)

Terrarium as Indoor Garden - Great for Kids!

This is not so much for us vegetable gardeners, but can be a cool idea for getting your hands dirty with a bit of indoor gardening, and especially for getting your kids started with their own little garden!

This is also a solution for you if you love the look of plants indoors but don’t have the time or a green thumb to take care of them.  A terrarium is a self-contained plant habitat.  Once you have set-up the terrarium and closed the lid (on the jar or other container you have chosen) the plants inside create their own eco-system – all you have to do is enjoy it.

The choices for terrarium containers are only limited by your imagination.  Traditionally a smaller aquarium is used with a lid but a glass jar or other container will work nicely too.  Plastic will work as well, just make sure that it is a clear plastic or you won’t be able to admire your handiwork once it is completed.  Whatever size or material you choose for your terrarium the most important factor is that it does not leak.  You need the water and moisture to stay inside for it to work and you don’t want a mess inside your house.

Image via WikipediaThe plants that you choose should all thrive in similar conditions and grow well in a humid environment.  Popular plants to put into a terrarium are carnivorous (Venus Fly Trap (kids will love these!), sundew, or pitch plant) or rain forest plants (chamaedorea palms, small ferns or fittonia). 

Terrariums are a low-maintenance indoor garden.  They need indirect sunlight (not too bright) and very little watering is needed after the initial water is added.  The heat from inside the terrarium evaporates the water and then it condenses on the lid falling back down to the plants.  This process will continue keeping your plants alive.  If there is too much water present, you may need to vent the terrarium (with a vented lid or opening the top a small amount) just be sure to keep an eye on the soil’s moisture level (not too wet or dry).

Related articles on Terrariums & Indoor Gardening:

• Select the Best Plants for a Small Plant Terrarium (brighthub.com)
• How to Create a Terrarium? (brighthub.com)
• Gardens under glass: Terrariums flourish (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• 5 Indoor Garden Design Ideas (mademan.com)

Welcome to Our New Blog Home!

For those of you who have been reading our Wordpress blog for the past couple of years, thanks for sticking around!  We love to hear from you, and it is immensely gratifying to hear how you have been enjoying the articles and resources we have been sharing.

Due to technical issues, we have relocated our Sustainable Gardening blog to this address. Rest assured, we will continue to bring you great resources and news on sustainable and organic gardening - the only thing changing is our address!

We are catching up moving over all the old archives, so you will be able to find all previous posts here as well. The old address will still work for some time, but all new posts will appear here, so please update your bookmarks and favorites accordingly.

You can also always find more info on sustainable gardening on our main website at http://www.newholisticliving.com/sustainablegardening.html.

Be sure to check back soon for more new stuff coming later this week!

Give Thanks for Community Supported Agriculture

If you don’t have locally grown food as a part of your Thanksgiving feast today, you are missing out!

Image via WikipediaCommunity Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a great way for those with limited garden space to still eat locally, and support your local community and environment. Many small farmers grow more sustainably, and the food can be more healthful as well.

Here are some great articles on Community Supported Agriculture – learn more, and perhaps you can help support your community (and your family’s holiday table) through a CSA for a holiday feast sometime soon! (And be sure to check our Cooking From Scratch blog for some good CSA recipes – what to do with all those unusual veggies you aren’t normally exposed to?? All the more fun to experiment with, my dear!)

Have a wonderful, fun, warm, and filling Thanksgiving!

Small Space Gardening: Urban Agriculture and our CSA

My other sphere of activity is Urban Agriculture and our very small, experimental CSA. Three of us started doing Urban Agriculture (growing food in other people’s back yards) mid 2008 with the intention of learning how to grow our own …
Publish Date: 11/22/2010 19:06

http://smallspacegardening.blogspot.com/2010/11/urban-agriculture-and-our-csa.html

Interesting article on farming and the development of CSA in …

Interesting article on farming and the development of CSA in Taiwan Elizabeth Henderson: A CSA Mission to Taiwan : Chelsea Green www.chelseagreen.com. Farmer and author Elizabeth Henderson, whose book is Sharing The Harvest: A Citizen’s …
Publish Date: 11/22/2010 14:13

http://everythinginstantly.net/communityfarming/2010/11/22/interesting-article-on-farming-and-the-development-of-csa-in-taiwan/

Instead of a CSA, How About Agriculture-Supported Community …

Jason Mark is a columnist for Change.org’s Sustainable Food cause. He is a co-author of Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots and the editor of Earth Island Journa… Read more of this post, Instead of a CSA, …
Publish Date: 11/21/2010 11:12

http://food.change.org/blog/view/instead_of_a_csa_how_about_agriculture-supported_community

Vegan Burnout: CSA Week 22: Fennelicious.

These last few CSA recaps are gonna be kind of weird, kids, because we did some random things with our produce. (Minds. Out of the gutter. Now!) So, here we go: Our first fennel! What an odd vegetable. It took me a little Internetting …
Publish Date: 11/22/2010 19:33

http://veganburnout.blogspot.com/2010/11/csa-week-22-fennelicious.html

CSAs for the Holidays

The holidays are drawing near, and many gardeners have given up their gardens for the winter, finishing up the cleaning, composting, and mulching, and resigning themselves to a winter of bland, lackluster supermarket produce, with dreams of next year’s gardens dancing in their heads.

But it doesn’t have to be that way! Even if you may not be able to garden throughout the winter in your area, you may still be able to find fresh, locally grown foods as close as your nearest farm stand or community market. Many areas now support multiple CSA (community supported agriculture) programs, some of which offer winter shares as well!

Image by yksin via FlickrIn my Central Ohio area, I suffered through the past few winters of bland, tasteless tomatoes and wilted lettuce shipped from thousands of miles away, oblivious to the bounty growing nearly in my own backyard! Though an avid summer CSA member, I was unaware that it was possible to get locally grown veggies here in the winter, until a mutual local food enthusiast turned me on to a winter CSA, producing certified organic veggies year round, in a series of large greenhouses less than 2 hours from my home. (They deliver weekly to our community.)

This will be the first year I will be able to subsist on largely local food year-round, and I am so excited for my first winter share – coming next week! (I also am a member of a meat CSA, offering naturally-raised local meats.) Milk, bread, apples, and sometimes cheese are also available through the CSA.

With a bit of luck, the right connections, and the fortitude to seek out area farmers near you, you may be surprised at just how well (and how local) you can eat, even during the winter!

For more info on CSAs, and how to find one in your area, visit our website at: http://www.newholisticliving.com/csa.html

Related articles on Winter CSAs:

• CSA Offers Winter Fruit and Juice Shares (fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com)
• What if Your CSA Veg Box Came with Instructions? (thekitchn.com)
• What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)? (blogher.com)
• Wintertime, Local Foods, and Pickling (tinychoices.com)

Recent News on Xeriscaping

Image via WikipediaTo wrap up our short series this week on xeriscaping, here are some helpful articles on the topic. From description and benefits, to good plant choices, to gorgeous pictures of some lovely options for your xeriscape, you’re sure to find some good resources in the list below.

And feel free to post your own tips and ideas for xeriscaping or sustainable gardening below!

Xeriscaping Basics
In fact, you’re probably familiar with xeriscaping or you wouldn’t have found our site and this article you’re about to read, but just in case you stumbled here in some other way, let’s take a moment to talk about what xeriscaping is …
Publish Date: 11/12/2010 2:12
http://patiocoversplace.com/xeriscaping-basics/

10 Best Plants for Xeriscaping – EcoSalon | Organic Green Fashion …
You’re the perfect candidate for xeriscaping.As a desert dweller, I know firsthand that this eco-friendly method of gardening conserves water, requires minimal upkeep, significantly reduces your water bills and yields stunning greenery …
Publish Date: 03/23/2009 8:00
http://ecosalon.com/10-best-plants-for-xeriscaping/

Bring the Green: Xeriscaping
Xeriscaping your yard or garden means reducing or eliminating the need for irrigation. Here are some ways you can save water outside. Use native and adaptive plants for your region- use plants known to thrive naturally in your climate. …
Publish Date: 11/09/2010 11:07
http://www.phoenixenergyproducts.com/blog/?p=110

The Principles of Xeriscaping
I have to admit that when I first moved to the desert and heard the word “Xeriscape“, I didn’t want anything to do with it. To me, at the time, I thought it meant zero plants and more rock. The fact of the matter is that xeriscaping can …
Publish Date: 11/03/2010 22:42
http://gardeningandthespanishway-rohrerbot.blogspot.com/2010/11/principles-of-xeriscaping.html

Xeriscaping and Stunning Desert Gardens that Save Water
Xeriscaping, commonly known as drought tolerant gardening, can be spectacular and resource friendly if planned properly and maintained regularly.
Publish Date: 07/06/2010 23:55
http://www.suite101.com/content/xeriscaping-and-stunning-desert-gardens-that-save-water-a258458