GARDEN + GARDENING + GARDEN DESIGN + GARDENING TIPS & ADVICE

Many people think that making compost is too difficult a process to use in their gardens, but oh, how wrong they are! The composting process is very simple. You normally throw away your kitchen scraps, old flowers, garden rubbish and maybe your grass clippings. However, you can make compost in a few weeks by using all the things that you would otherwise have thrown away from your kitchen and garden.

Simply combine all these items in a compost bin, and they will heat up quickly and rot, as long as you turn the pile regularly. A host of microscopic creatures turn your waste into something wonderful for your garden. These little critters need oxygen, so turning your pile every few weeks will help air to circulate.

You can compost grass cuttings, manure and young weeds (not those that have put out seeds), as they are all quick to compost. You can mix them with fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable plant remains, rabbit or hamster bedding, and soft prunings.

Composting needs air, moisture, and warmth. A traditional compost heap is just a heap of waste materials, which can take between six to twelve months to produce wonderful, usable compost. You will find that it rots faster in the summer. The secret to great composting is to mix several different ingredients, as the good bacteria needs a variety of food and nutrients to thrive. A compost pile with only weeds or leaves will not decompose properly, as the working microbes need nutrients in other sources such as starter soils and kitchen scraps. Also, never let your compost heap dry out, but don’t keep it too wet, either.

Compost is ready when it has a rich, dark color. Packed with nutrients and healthy organics, mix it into the soil near your plants for a powerful dose of healthy - not to mention free - organic fertilizer for your garden.

Contributed by Goorganicgardening.com, a resource site on organic gardening and composting tips.

There is a great benefit, both financially and health wise, to growing your own veggies. Growing them using organic methods is not that difficult, and the payoff is safe and healthy food that is more nutritious for you and helps your garden renew itself for the next growing season.

There is nothing more satisfying than to grow your own carrots, eat your own tomatoes and dig your own potatoes. The principles of being able to produce good quality vegetables relies on good quality organic soil. Healthy soil is the product of tiny organisms and microbes that cycle and renew nutrients, which in turn helps plants get at those nutrients and become stronger and more robust, better able to fight pests and disease. Not to mention that they will produce bountiful, tasty and juicier food!

Some tips for growing vegetables

• Marking off your garden can be a big job. Staking and running strings is one method, but the string can get in the way of planting. Try marking the garden off with flour. Use the flour as you would chalk to mark your garden, as the flour will wash away.
• Try saving space by planting crops that mature at different times. For example, plant radish seeds with other vegetables, such as carrots and beets. The radishes will germinate first and will almost be ready to eat when the other vegetables begin to sprout.
• Plant lettuce between rows of other plants. The lettuce will benefit from the shade during the summer and will take up less space in the garden.
• In colder climates, keeping the soil warm enough for early harvests can be a problem. Lay black plastic over your prepared bed and cut holes in it just large enough for planting and watering. The plastic will keep the weeds down and help to warm the soil. When the weather warms up, remove the plastic, or just lay some mulch over it.
• Keep cutworms from chewing on new seedlings by wrapping a piece of newspaper, straw, or aluminum foil around the roots and stems of seedlings.
• To save space in your garden, try planting corn with light vining crops, like beans and peas. The corn stalks will support the vines and you will get two crops in the space of one.
• To have vegetables throughout the summer and fall, try staggered planting. Plant the vegetables every two weeks or so. Corn and tomatoes work well with this type of planting. As you finish eating the first planting, the second planting will be ready, then the third, and so on.
• Try shading delicate vegetables with sunflowers, as they filter sunlight over shade-loving plants, like cucumbers and lettuce. Just don’t plant them too close as they can sometimes retard the growth of some other plants. Growing corn to shade cabbage or spinach is another idea.
• Pine needles placed in the bottom of a planting hole or trench can prevent scab on potatoes.
• Artichokes send up suckers that you can transplant. Simply remove the sucker, taking care not to damage the roots, and start a new plant.
• To control weeds around your asparagus plants, try putting down three to four inches of sawdust mulch from untreated wood. The sawdust discourages insects, but the asparagus can poke through quite easily. If you like white asparagus, heap soil or mulch around the spears so just the tips show.

Organic vegetables tips contributed by Ena Clewes. Ena is a professional horticulturalist and regular contributor to Goorganicgardening.com, a site on organic gardening and composting tips.