Organic Gardening How To Blog

Have you ever been cooking and wished that you had some fresh herbs to add to your family’s meal so that it would taste even better? You probably have and I know I use to make those wishes up until a few years ago when I started growing my own herbs in my organic garden.

Most people consider herb gardening too time consuming and not worth the trouble. But, it’s really not hard to do and having fresh herbs tastes so much better than using those dried out packets that you get at the store.

In most cases, you can grow an herb garden either indoors or outdoors…either way will work. But, the first thing you need to decide upon is what type of herb seeds is it that you want to grow.

Herb garden seeds can be found at almost any organic garden store. You could make a herb garden using small plants that others have already grown from seeds, but I think you’ll be much happier growing your own herbs from seeds….it’s kind of like being a mother…most mothers would rather have her own child versus adopting an infant.

To begin, choose the herb seeds that you want to grow. When choosing, closely read the “recommended climatic conditions” information that is usually printed on the back of the seed packet. Some herbs won’t grow in certain types of climate. Thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary, dill, and parsley are some of my favorites. Consider the things that you most often cook and think about what flavors would go with those recipes.

Once you have purchased your seeds, you will need to sprinkle them on top of moist soil and cover them with another light layer of soil to keep them moist. Read the instructions on the back of the seed packets to ensure that you are planting them correctly. A great way for beginners to start is to consider purchasing a herb garden kit . These kits have all the components for growing an herb garden successfully.

Many organic gardeners start their herb gardens indoors in pots and then move them outside to their organic gardens when the conditions are right. You can do this although you may decide just to keep the herb garden permanently inside.

Once the seeds start sprouting, it’s important to give them proper care. Weed and water your herb garden regularly. To furthur assist you on growing your own herbs, watch this short video…it’s just over 9 minutes long:

And, remember, if you grow more herbs than you can immediately use, you can naturally dry them and use for months in the future. A while back, I wrote an instructional article on doing that and if you haven’t read that article, you can read it here…Organic Gardening How To – Drying Herbs Naturally.

Believe me, growing your own fresh herbs is easy! And, all of your efforts won’t be wasted when you find yourself picking fresh herbs from your organic garden and adding them to your family’s meal.

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Are you familiar with dibbling? It’s a great way to plant bulbs in your organic garden…particularly in areas of your garden where you already have bulbs planted and growing.

What exactly is Dibbling?

Dibbling is a method of cultivation that uses a tool called a dibber to plant bulbs or seeds. Yes, that’s a picture of a dibber on the upper-right hand side of this page.

A dibber is basically a short pointed stick that allows you to push it into the ground so that you can drop a bulb or seed into it…simple, but it works effectively! If you have other plants in the area, a dibber allows you to plant bulbs or seeds without digging up the ground.

To get the most out of this method of planting, just follow these steps:

1. First, thoroughly wet the ground. It’s much easier to push a dibber into the ground if it has been moistened, especially if you have clay in your soil.

2. Decide on the depth of the hole. Different bulbs and seeds grow best at different depths. If you have purchased these bulbs from your local organic garden center, ask them for their recommendations on the depth of the hole. Normally, it’s 2-3 times the size of the bulb.

3. Using a ruler, measure the recommended depth from the end of the point on the dibber and mark with a pencil or eraseable ink.

4. Make the hole by firmly pushing the dibber into the ground…stop when you have reached your desired depth. If your bulb is somewhat large, you can wiggle the dibber to make the hole larger at the end of the point.

5. Place the bulb or seed into the hole and fill the hole organic garden soil .

That’s it…quick and simple. Until next time from the Organic Gardening How To Blog…

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The answer to this question really depends on what type of organic garden you have.

For example, if you have an aquatic garden…or a water garden…then snails can be beneficial. Snails are helpful in this type of ecosystem because they will help stir up the sand and gravel and will eat decomposing material. Snails are helpful in this situation.

Snails are NOT Helpful in most Organic Gardens

On the other hand, if your garden is a vegetable garden or a garden of flowers and bushes, snails are a problem. Snails will eat and destroy much of your foliage in this type of garden.

SOLUTION to this PROBLEM in your Organic Garden

If you find snails in your garden, there are four main ways to rid yourself of these slimy pests (these solutions are very similar to the ones I outlined in my article about slugs…read Slug That Beer). Watch this video to find those solutions:

Julie Chai recommends using Sluggo as one of the ways to get rid of snails. If you’re interested in this method, I recommend Monterey Sluggo Snail & Slug Control …it’s an organic product.

I mentioned that there are four ways to get rid of snails and this video only mentioned three. The fourth way to rid your organic garden of snails is to spread Diatomaceous Earth throughout your garden…a thin, light layer is all you need. In 3-4 days, you’ll find the snails dead around the garden.

Diatomaceous Earth is soil with sharp edges that will slice the skin of the snails as they crawl through it. The snails dehydrate and die. You will need to reapply this Diatomaceous Earth in your organic garden after it rains.

That’s it…until next time from the Organic Gardening How To Blog!

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Wouldn’t you like to spend more time outside in your organic garden?

So much of our time is spent inside preparing meals for our family and friends. And when those friends and family members do come over, we spend much of our time in and around our kitchen. So, my husband and I decided to build an outdoor kitchen and living space right next to our organic garden.

People love to eat outdoors’ especially if you live in a scenic area. There is just something about it that seems to make your food taste even better.

When planning an outdoor kitchen, there are a few things that you need to decide on first. Where are you going to put the kichen? How big do you want it? Are you going to put a roof over it? Do you want a floor covering? And, exactly what do you want in that kichen?

My husband and I knew that we wanted our outdoor kitchen to over-look our organic garden. We also knew that we wanted bricks to be on the floor although we could have chosen tile or just plain concrete.

We also knew that we wanted a grill , a smoker , an outdoor refrigerator and a sink surrounded by a number of outdoor cabinets .

For furniture, we chose an outside table and chairs with several bar stools and a bench . We wanted to make sure that there was plenty of space for our family and friends to sit while they were visiting us.

You too can enjoy an outside kitchen during the warm months. Just plan ahead so that you end up with exactly what you want.

I hope that video gives you some other great ideas…until next time from this Organic Garden blog.

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I actually have to tell you that I got excited early this morning…and here is why. Last night, we had a light rain here in South Carolina. I got up early this morning to take my daily walk and that walk takes me past where we usually plant our organic vegetable garden.

As I was walking by that plot of soil, something very small caught my eye…red ants…the red ants were out of their hills and were strolling about. That’s when I realized that spring has sprung in our organic garden and that it was going to be an early spring!

You see, Mother Nature has her own story to tell and while this has seemed to be the longest, coldest winter that I can remember, Mother Nature was giving me a positive sign. Red ants don’t normally get active until spring is very close by…I think it has something to do with the temperature of the soil.

Spring excites me because I am such an avid gardener. All winter long I think about the coming spring and what new things my husband and I can plant in our organic garden. This year, it is going to be the Ghost Pepper…the hottest pepper known.

Now, we have already planted our vegetable seeds and have been maintaining them inside of our home, but with these early signs of spring, I think we will be able to re-plant them outside in the very near future…that’s even more exciting!

Here is a short video you can watch…it’s a celebration of an early spring in our organic garden:

Until next time from the Organic Gardening How To Blog…

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