In a previous Organic Gardening How To Blog article, I discussed the proper procedure for pruning your organic roses (if you haven’t read it, read it here Organic Gardening How To – Pruning Roses). In this article, however, I want to discuss the proper tools that the organic gardener should use for pruning plants, bushes, and trees.

If you need more information on the procedures for pruning different types of fruit trees, I found a great PDF called Training and Pruning Fruit Trees that was free to download. It’s a 16-page report written by by North Carolina State University.

You can’t prune properly if you don’t have the right tools… and pruning tools need to be kept sharp. Here is a list of pruning tools that you can use.

1. Bypass Pruner – Also called hand pruners, these are operated with one hand and are similar to snips. Bypass pruners are intended to cut branches that are 1″ and smaller in diameter. Cutting brances any larger than 1″ can damage the tool and your fingers.

2. Loppers – Loppers are for cutting bigger branches and are operated with two hands. This tool looks similar to bolt cutters. Due to their long handles, you have greater leverage.

3. Hedge Shears – Hand operated hedge shears look like over-sized scissors and are intened to cut mall branches and leaves. Their handles are typically shorter than the handles on a lopper and the cutting face is longer. When choosing hedge shears, choose one that fits your hands comfortably.

Almost any organic gardener needs a set of loppers, bypass pruners, and hedge shears… these are basic.

4. Pruning Saw – Also called folding saws and limb saws, this tool is intended to cut branches that are 1″ and thicker and small diameter limbs. You operate this tool with one hand. The blade is typically bow shaped and tapered towards the end. When choosing a pruning saw, choose one that cuts in both directions… both when you are pushing and pulling the saw blade.

5. Pole Saw – These saws are intended to cut branches and small limbs that are out of reach when standing on the ground or on a ladder. They consist of a saw (similar to the blabe on a pruning saw) that is attached to a long pole. Be cautious when using this tool, especially while on a ladder… moving the pole saw back-and-forth could throw you off balance and cause injury if you fall from the ladder.

All of the tools mentioned above are hand operated. Of course, in today’s world, there are many electrical and gas powered versions of these same saws. These powered saws are powerful and work much faster, but they are more costly, require more maintenace, and can be very dangerous.

Following is a Organic Gardening How To video that shows the proper use of some of these tools:

When brand new, these tools will be very sharp and will work very effectively for you. But, after using for a short amount of time, these tools will become dull and you will need to take them to a saw sharpening shop to have them re-sharpened or you can resharpen them yourself…which is what I do.

I found a great tool online for sharpening saws and I found it on Amazon.com. It’s called the GardenSharp Tool Sharpener and it really works great… it’s easy to use and it only costs $11.99. This tool has 24 user reviews on Amazon and has received 4 stars. Read those reviews and see what you think.

I also found a YouTube video that demonstrates on how to use this saw sharpener. Now, in this video they are sharpening knives (I’m not sure exactly why!?), but I use it basically the same way to sharpen the blades on my saws. Watch this video:

That’s it for now… until next time from the Organic Gardening How To Blog.

Technorati Tags: Bolt Cutters, Bushes, Cutting Face, Diamet, Gardening Roses, Hand Pruners, hydroponic gardening, Loppers, North Carolina State University, organic foods, organic garden, Organic Gardener, organic gardening, organic growing, organic pruning, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, Proper Tools, Prune, pruning, Pruning Fruit Trees, Pruning Plants, Pruning Roses, pruning saws, Pruning Tools, Right Tools, Saws, Snips, Time Of Year, Two Hands, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic

who live in the northern hemisphere, and I know that most gardeners are not raising an organic vegetable garden during these cold months…at least, unless you have a green house or an inexpensively constructed dome house. That’s why in this Organic Gardening How To article I wanted to take a few minutes to encourage others to give organic gardening a try in this coming spring.

Organic gardening is no harder than any other type of gardening, it only takes a little bit of ingenuity. For example, if you have pesty aphids in your garden, instead of buying harsh chemicals, use what Mother Nature has naturally provided you to rid your garden of those pesty insects. Our environment will be much healthier and you can be proud of what you have accomplished.

Organic vegetable gardens results in produce that is better than anything else that you can buy. The produce is nutritional and much healthier for you and that’s why most of the world’s major chefs are now using only organic vegetables and fruits.

If you haven’t tried organic gardening before and if you might be interested in giving it a try, I found this great video on YouTube that will show you how simple it is to get started. Watch this Organic Gardening How To Blog video:

If you are new at organic gardening, start your vegetable garden out in a small plat of ground…this will allow you to get your “feet wet”. If you run into problems along the way, return to this blog and enter some search terms into the Search Window on the right sidebar of this blog…you should be able to find answers to any of your questions and/or problems.

I encourage all of you that are not already doing it, please give organic gardening a heart-felt try…I think you will be glad (and healthier) for doing it!

Until next time from the Organic Gardening How To Blog…

Technorati Tags: Aphids, Chefs, Few Minutes, Garden Insects, gardeners, Green House, Harsh Chemicals, hydroponic gardening, Ingenuity, Mother Nature, Northern Hemisphere, organic foods, organic garden, organic gardening, organic gardening how to, organic growing, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, Organic Vegetable Gardens, organic vegetables, Plat, Search Terms, Search Window, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic, Vegetables And Fruits, Word Of Encouragement, Youtube

I’ve just finished picking the organic horseradish that I planted this year… this is the second year that I have grown this organic vegetable. And, as I always do, I began to think about what new type of vegetable there was that I could grow in my vegetable garden come next year… something that I had never grown before. Well, what came into my mind was wasabi (perhaps that came into my mind because we had just eaten wasabi at a Chinese restaurant last night). I decided to do some research on the possibility of growing it.

I found out that wasabi is a perennial plant in the mustard family and is native to Japan. It’s grown for it’s stem or root which when ground up produces a hot, pungent flavor similar to horseradish. The biggest difference, however, is that after is is eaten it leaves a rich, sweet taste in the mouth with no burning sensations… unlike horseradish.

The most important thing that I found out about growing wasabi is that it is incredibly difficult to grow. The plant grows in cool and moist temperate climates… that’s why it is mostly grown in selective regions in the mountains within Japan. There are very few regions in North America that have a climate suitable for growing wasabi, with the exception of certain coastal regions in the Pacific Northwest.

I did find a well-written PDF on growing this organic vegetable in the Pacific Northwest. If any of the visitors to this website live in that area and would like to learn more about growing their own wasabi, click on this link to get a FREE copy of Growing Wasabi in the Pacific Northwest.

For the rest of us, we need to look elsewhere else to find something new and unique to grow in our organic gardens next year. I did enjoy growing horseradish again this year and, if you have not done this, you can find read an article I wrote on growing organic horseradish by reading Organic Gardening How To – Growing Organic Horseradish.

Before I leave you, I did find an interesting Youtube video that explores a Japanese wasabi farm. The video is only 3-1/2 minutes long and you can view it below:

You know, I just thought of another interesting organic vegetable that I might be able to grow next year… how about mushrooms? I’m off to do some more research…

Until next time from the Organic Gardening How To Blog!

Technorati Tags: Burning Sensations, Chinese Restaurant, Climate, Coastal Regions, growing wasabi, horseradish, Hot, hydroponic gardening, Japan, Mountains, Mustard Family, North America, organic foods, organic garden, organic gardening, organic gardening how to, organic gardens, organic growing, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, Pacific Northwest, Perennial Plant, Pungent Flavor, Sweet Taste, Temperate Climates, vegetable garden, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic, wasabi, Yout

Your once bountiful garden has been invaded by pests intent on devouring everything they can get their grubby little hands on. Maybe your spider mites treatment isn’t working, bacteria has infected a number of your plants, or even bigger pests such as rabbits or deer and have decided to feast upon your luscious fruits and vegetables. No matter what the pest is there are a number of measures you can take to save your garden without using harsh chemicals and pesticides or other invasive methods.

The Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences offers one such approach to pest control, it’s called Integrated Pest Management or IPM for short. This first step is identification. It may go without saying but to know how to get rid of a pest you first have to know what it is. The preventative measures used against insects are not going to be the same against mammals or other species.

The next step is Prevention and Exclusion. What this means is preventing invasive pests from showing up in the first place by eliminating their foods sources and water supplies by fixing leaky plumbing, cleaning your kitchen, making sure garbage is securely wrapped. This also means caulking any cracks and making sure pests have no way to enter your home.

Another preventative measure is to add coffee grounds to your garden. Not only do coffee grounds add nitrogen to the soil they are also acidic and can raise the PH of the soil to plant friendly levels. These grounds can also repel many pests such as slugs and deer. Introducing strong scents, such as scented soap and cheap perfume, is one method that can deter larger pests. In addition to adding coffee and strong scents to your garden you can also bring in some of the pest’s natural predators, such as spiders and some snakes, to reduce the pest population.

All the preventative measures in the world can’t save your garden if you don’t adhere to the next step in the IPM approach, Monitoring. You need to keep an eye on any new infestations or pests so you can stop them before they do extensive damage to your garden. One way to do this is to place traps and to keep a detailed document concerning where and when problems occur.

Lastly, Multiple Tactics, especially non-chemical tactics if possible, is the last step to maintaining a healthy garden. See what works best for your garden through trial and error and apply these measures accordingly.

The Integrated Pest Management approach focuses on preventing pest problems. This long term process is more environmentally friendly than spray based approach and as a result can reduce the need to use pesticides. If pesticides are needed than it is important to use organic ones that won’t contaminate the water supply, do even more damage to your plants, or do harm directly via exposure to toxic chemicals. Until next time from the Organic Gardening How To Blog…

Technorati Tags: Bountiful Garden, Cheap Perfume, coffee grounds, Fruits And Vegetables, Harsh Chemicals, hydroponic gardening, integrated pest management, Invasive Methods, Invasive Pests, ipm, Ipm Approach, Leaky Plumbing, Little Hands, Luscious Fruits, Natural Predators, organic foods, organic garden, organic gardening, organic gardening how to, organic growing, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, Penn State College, Pest Population, Preventative Measure, Preventative Measures, Scented Soap, Spider Mites, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic, What This Means

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.

Technorati Tags: basil, Climatic Conditions, Dill, Flavors, Fresh Herbs, Gard, Garden Seeds, Growing An Herb Garden, growing herbs, Herb Garden, Herb Garden Kit, herb gardening, Herb Gardens, Herb Seeds, herbs, hydroponic gardening, Moist Soil, Oregano, organic foods, organic garden, Organic Gardeners, organic gardening how to, organic growing, organic herb garden, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, Parsley, Seed Packet, Seed Packets, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic, Worth The Trouble

Many types of vegetables, such as zucchini, cucumbers and peas, are viny plants and take up a great deal of garden space if planted solely on the ground. You may be especially shocked at how much space it takes if you grow more than one of these plants.

To solve this type of problem, grow these types of plants on a trellis. The trellis can be made out of wood, PVC, steel pipe, or even wire. I’ve provided a video below that shows a number of different ways to build a trellis. Watch this Organic Gardening How To video:

My favorite way to make a trellis is the third way that they show in the video…making it out of PVC pipe. I’ve used that way of doing it this year and it was simple to do, inexpensive, and worked very effectively. Best of all, come Winter I can disassemble it and store it in a small space in our carport.

Another cool thing about making a trellis in this manner is that I can start growing lettuce much earlier in late Fall because the lettuce is shaded from the heat of the sun.

An added benefit to growing viny vegetable plants on a trellis is that the leaves get more exposure to the sun and will stay much greener. And, cucumbers grow much straighter due to the force of gravity… this makes them much easier to peel and cut.

Until next time from the Organic Gardening How to Blog…

Technorati Tags: Added Benefit, Blog, Carport, Cool Thing, cucumbers, Different Ways, Force Of Gravity, Garden Space, Growing Lettuce, Heat Of The Sun, hydroponic gardening, Leaves, organic foods, organic garden, organic gardening, organic gardening how to, organic growing, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, Pvc Pipe, Steel Pipe, To Build A Trellis, trellis, trellis gardening, Types Of Vegetables, vegetable garden, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic, vegetable plants, Youtube

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…

Technorati Tags: Dibber, dibbling, Digging Up The Ground, Garden Soil, hydroponic gardening, organic foods, organic garden, organic gardening, organic gardening how to, organic growing, organic soil, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, Pencil, Plant Bulbs, plants, seeds, Using A Ruler, Using A Ruler Measure, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic

Last November, I wrote an Organic Gardening How To Blog article that I need to make a correction on. That article was called Mold On Azalea Stems – Organic Garden Pest Control.

In that article, I reported that I had learned that “mold” that I had seen growing on some our azalea plants was Sooty Mold and all I had to do to control it was to do a better job controlling some of the insects in our organic garden.

Well, Sooty Mold can certainly be a problem that you might need to control in your garden, but after vigorously trying to control insects in our garden and the problem persisted, I figured the author of this Organic Gardening How To Blog needed to do something different.

So, last week I cut a branch off one of my azalea plants that had this “mold” on it and I took it to a field office of the Clemson University’s agricultural department… this office was about 30 miles away.

A professor there immediately identified my “mold” problem as that of being lichen (which is actually an organism…fascinating, huh). He told me that the lichen was harmless to the azaleas, but the fact that I had lichen on the azaleas was an indication that the plant was not healthy…something was wrong with the plant’s health.

The professor could not tell me exactly what was wrong with the health of the plants, but he suggested that I get a pH testing kit and test the soil immediately around the base of the plants that had lichen in them. Azaleas are very picky about their soil and like an acidic soil between 5.0 and 5.5.

He also suggested that I prune and fertilize the plants with an organic fertilizer (See all Fertilizers) that had a NPK ratio (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium ratio) of 4-5-4.

These are now the things that I’m working on in an attempt to save our precious azaleas.

There is an important lesson learned here… if you have problems in your organic garden and you’re not sure how to correct those problems, seek out the help of other professionals. Many colleges and universities have field offices that can help you… for little or no charge.

I want to say “Thanks” to Clemson University for the help they gave me… and I’m not even a graduate of that University!

That’s it for now from the Organic Gardening How To Blog…

Technorati Tags: Acidic Soil, Agricultural Department, azalea, Azalea Garden, azalea mold, Azalea Plants, azaleas, Blog, Clemson University, Control, Fertilizers, Garden Pest Control, hydroponic gardening, insects, Job, mold on azalea, Mold Problem, Nitrogen, organic fertilizer, organic foods, organic garden, Organic Garden Pest Control, organic gardening, organic gardening how to, organic growing, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, Organism, Potassium, Professiona, vegetabl organic, vegetable garden organic

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!

Technorati Tags: Aquatic Garden, Bushes, Chai, Diatomaceous Earth, Foliage, Garden Of Flowers, Garden Snails, hydroponic gardening, organic foods, organic garden, organic gardening, organic gardening how to, organic gardens, organic growing, Organic Product, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, pests, Sand And Gravel, Sharp Edges, Slug Control, slugs, Snails, Type Of Ecosystem, vegetable garden, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic, Water Garden, Water Snails

It’s June and you know they’re coming…if they haven’t already arrived. Bugs, that is…bugs by the thousands. Don’t wait. Act now! Spraying your plants with organic insecticidal soap is today’s Organic Gardening How To tip.

Rather it be your roses, organic vegetables, or hibiscus you know that insects are going to soon be chewing away on your tender loving plants. Don’t wait until they’ve created damage…attack them before they attack your gardens.

One of the easiest and least expensive remedies is to spray your plants with an organic insecticidal soap. Here’s the recipe that I use the most:

• 2 Tablespoons of Dr. Bronner – Pure-Castile Soap Peppermint
• 1 Quart of water

Simply mix and transfer to a spray bottle.

This spray works best on soft bodied insects such as aphids, thrips, mealybugs, white flies, spider mites, leafhoppers and caterpillars. The fatty acids in the soap disrupts the outer membreane of the insects and their cell contents are able to leak out killing them quickly.

For larger insect or insects with harder outer membranes, spray with a pepper spray that I discussed in an earlier article…it’s also inexpensive to make.

Organic gardening is not difficult, but for the best results the gardener needs to be pro-active. Don’t wait until your garden is infested with these un-wanted insects…spray now and spray often!

Watch this Organic Gardening How To video for some more info on organic insecticidal soap:

Yes, you can buy already prepared insecticidal soap , but use the recipe I gave you above if you want to save money.

Also, a few words of caution…always spray your organic insecticidal soap on a few leaves of all the different types of plants that you want to spray and wait 1-2 days. Some plants will have a negative reaction to organic insecticidal soaps. If the leaves wilt, don’t spray!

For more info on controlling insects in your organic garden, check out one of my other posts called Pest Controls From Your Kitchen Cabinets.

Until next time from the Organic Gardening How To Blog…

Technorati Tags: Bodied Insects, Caterpillars, Cell Contents, Dr Bronner, Fatty Acids, Few Words, Gardener, gardening, hydroponic gardening, Insecticidal Soap, Insecticidal Soaps, Leafhoppers, Loving Plants, organic foods, organic garden, organic gardening, organic gardening how to, organic growing, organic insecticidal soap, organic vegetable, organic vegetable garden, organic vegetables, pepper spray, Peppermint, Pure Castile Soap, Spider Mites, Spray Bottle, Thrips, vegetable garden organic, vegetable organic, Words Of Caution