Composting

To save on waste and provide a nutritious soil amendment for your garden, consider making a home compost pile. This is a good way to recycle precious nutrients back into the earth. To make a compost pile that will break down quickly to form finished compost, you will need:

* Green materials, such as grass clippings, vegetable trimmings, and weeds. Green waste is high in nitrogen and helps heat up the compost pile fast.

* Brown materials, including dry leaves, straw and woody brush. Brown material is high in carbon.

* Enough moisture to keep the compost pile as damp as a wrung out sponge.

* Air to help build up more heat so that the material will decompose faster.

* A source of good bacteria to help break down the compost. A scoop of garden soil should be all you need, but you can also buy a compost activator.

Put all of your ingredients together in a pile of four to five cubic feet. A pile of this size heats up quickly in the center, reaching up to 140 degrees Farenheit. Turn your compost pile regularly to help it break down evenly.

Hair in the Garden

Human or animal hair is an excellent fertilizer and can be used in the garden. It is high in nitrogen and is quite beneficial to plants. However, hair is very slow to break down and may literally sit in your garden for years. Some people use human hair in the vegetable garden to help repel wild animals.

Organic Fertilizer

Organic amendments are a wonderful way to provide your plants with a slow, steady stream of necessary nutrients. In fact, many organic fertilizers provide trace elements that are sometimes hard to find in commercially prepared compounds. Even better, organic fertilizers such as compost, steer manure, chicken manure, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal and liquid fish emulsion can actually improve the soil's texture and water retention abilities, as well.

Homemade Aphid Spray

There are many recipes for homemade aphid spray. You may want to try this recipe for organic aphid spray:

1. Peel two oranges and place the peel in a pot filled with four cups of boiling water.

2. Cover the pot and simmer the orange peel for 15 minutes.

3. Turn off the heat and allow the orange peel to steep for 24 hours.

To use the aphid spray, spray it directly on any of your plants that have aphid problems.

Insect Prevention

When purchasing plants from a nursery or garden center, inspect them for signs of insect infestation before you leave the store. At least 90% of all pests are transported to the garden on new plants. It is a good idea to take a hard look at the leaves and stems of new plants before you bring them into the garden.

Cat Litter in the Compost Bin

Some organic material should not be put in the pile. Certain organic wastes can attract vermin or carry harmful pathogens. Cat litter and cat or dog fecal matter can be dangerous additions to the compost bin.

Replenishing the Earth

If you have a garden that is used for vegetables like tomatoes, corn, squash and cucumbers, give your planting areas a rest by rotating crops. In the Fall, after harvest, rototil the planting site and lay down newspaper. Dampen the paper and cover it with several inches of compost and chopped leaves. On top of this, add three to four inches of fresh topsoil. Earthworms will help work these nutrients into the tired earth.

A second popular method of replenishing the soil is to grow a cover crop, such as alfalfa, and then rototil it into the earth.

How to Use Less Mulch in the Garden

If you are spending more money on mulch than on new plants, you may want to simply try using less mulch. To control weeds, try placing a layer of newspaper on top of the soil before you spread the mulch. This way, you can spread a much thinner layer of mulch and still keep weeds from growing. Even better, the newspaper will eventually decompose and enrich the soil.

Attracting Goldfinches to Your Garden

Goldfinches love feeding on black oil sunflower seeds, so you may want to plant a row of cheerful sunflowers near the back of your garden bed. They also really enjoy eating the seeds of the coneflower. During the winter months, supplement their diet with a feed sock filled with black thistle seeds.

Top Dressing with Compost

Try top dressing your plants with finished compost instead of digging it into the soil around the plants. Top dressing plants has several benefits, including:

* Plant roots are less likely to be burned by the nutrients in compost, since the nutrients are gradually absorbed into the soil.

* Since you won't be digging in the soil close to your plants, their roots will not be disturbed.

* The compost will act as mulch and will help retain moisture in the soil.

The Amazing Earthworm

The earthworm has amazing "strength" when you consider that it has the power to move stones that weigh 50 times as much as it does. Earthworms can also ingest soil and organic matter equal to the amount of their body weight each day.

In the garden, earthworms are most important for their ability to aerate the soil. These tiny creatures can help turn hard clay dirt into rich, workable soil.

Weeding Organically

The key to controlling weeds organically is to use a two to three inch layer of mulch. Mulch will keep weeds from sprouting in the first place. This way, a short visit each day to gently pluck the lightly rooted weeds that have managed to grow is all you need to do to stay weed-free.

The Ideal Compost Pile Temperature

In order to decompose, compost must heat up. The hotter the pile gets, the faster it breaks down into compost. The ideal temperature is between 110 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

A pile will heat up naturally when the right ingredients are added. You should add several inches of brown material and then several inches of green material in alternating layers until your compost pile reaches four to five cubic feet.

If you turn the compost pile frequently, it will continue to stay hot until it breaks down. It should take about two weeks for your compost pile to be ready to be used in the garden.

Nesting Materials Encourage Nest Building

If you want to encourage birds to nest in your birdhouse, try providing nesting materials. Fill a basket, mesh onion bag or small box with narrow grasses, fine strips of bark, thistle, burlap or milkweed. Hang the container in a sheltered location, protected from rain and cats. Your offering will be used by our feathered friends for nest building.

Mulching the Easy Way

You can create your own free mulch with Autumn leaves. Simply rake all your leaves into a row. Lay a long tarp beside the leaves. Run your lawnmower over the leaves so that it chops them up and blows them onto the tarp. You now have instant mulch. Simply dress your flower and vegetable beds with a three to four inch layer of leaf mulch. As the leaves break down, they will add valuable nutrients to the soil.

Heavy Metal Plant

If your soil has a buildup of heavy metals in it, you may want to try planting the alpine pennyroyal. This plant absorbs large amounts of heavy metals from the soil. Although classified as a weed, alpine pennyroyal may just be a great solution to cleaning up earth that is contaminated with heavy metals.

Compost Area

To avoid potential problems, be sure to keep the area around your compost bin neat, clean and free of debris. A compost area that is not clean can harbor insects and diseases that could eventually infect your compost.

Organic Gardens

Organic gardens are simply gardens that have plants that are grown without the use of pesticides or herbicides. Although growing vegetables and fruits organically can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, it is well worth the effort. Organic gardening is:

* Healthier for you and your family, since there is no chemical residue on organically grown produce.

* Better for the environment because there is no chemical runoff from your gardens to local waterways.

* Great for local wildlife, since many insects and birds are suffering from a buildup of pesticides in their tiny bodies.

Portable Compost Bins

If you want a more portable alternative to the regular compost bin, you may want to take a look at plastic compost bins. These bins can easily be moved around the garden from one spot to another.

Since portable compost bins are small, enclosed spaces, they really can help compost break down rapidly. A properly designed model doesn't even need to have the compost turned like traditional compost bins do.