Garden Soils

Composting Made Easy

Composting is not new but an old method that has been around for some time. This method of gardening has proven to be beneficial in so many ways that at every turn persons are composting in home gardens and also on a wider scale.

Foods that are grown by composting are healthier than chemically grown food crops. The use of composting or organically grown foods goes hand in hand. These foods are grown naturally without the use of chemicals that contributes to food contamination.

Although the approach to composting might be different the end results are all the same, growing foods that are chemically free, filled with vitamins along with better flavors. In this article, however, we will be looking at one method of composting (dig and drop) that has proven to condition the soil with a better food crop yield.

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Best Garden Soil Amendments

The goal of every gardener is to reap a good harvest, whether we’re planting fruits, vegetables, herbs, a flower garden, etc.. it gives great joy to reap the rewards of the time and money that was invested. But to be able to have success there are several key components which are involved garden soil being one of them.

Good garden soils are at the root of having much success which many have overlooked leaving them confused when they don’t have the kind of results that’s expected. As mention earlier garden soil is at the root of having a garden that’s thriving, therefore, we should start here (the soil) and build from the ground up.

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How to Keep Pest out of Your Compost

Composting has become so popular, this nutrient-rich soil is a gardener’s gold. Compost is great to grow all sorts of plant species especially edible plants because of the great yield. Compost is a plant’s dream not only because it’s nutrient-rich but because of its conditioning effect.

However, one of the challenges that so many persons face that engage in the building of compost is the many pests that are attracted when composting. If these pests are not brought under control can become a big problem, if you are one of those persons who desire to start composting without the interference of pests or seeking to rid your compost of pests then continue reading for the solution to build a pest-free compost pile.

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Tips on Preparing your Soil for Successful Planting

One of the key elements to having much success with your garden is the soil in which plants are grown. Garden soil is at the root of a plant’s health therefore care should be taken when choosing the right soil type. Garden soil is not dead as some may think but is very much alive with billions of microbes that are busy at work ensuring that the right conditions are met for our plants to grow healthy.

Many plant diseases can be traced back to poor soils therefore it’s important that we pay close attention when choosing and preparing our garden soils to meet our garden plant’s requirements.

Springtime presents the opportunity for us not only to connect with nature but to work in our gardens growing plants that will not only bring balance to our eco-system but create a garden oasis (flowering plants) also to reap a good harvest (edible plants). During the winter months if not all of us some of us await with great anticipation for the weather to warm up so we can get into our gardens working the soil to begin growing our favorite plants.

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A great way to Grow Organic without spending a Dime!

A great way to save on fertilizers and to grow foods which are healthy is to Grow Organic, our kitchens believe it or not is a gold mine and can save us so much money if we only scarp and not trash the gold. There is a saying that ” one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”

Those potatoes, onion, banana peels, etc.. can be used to enrich our garden soil this natural organic will work wonders.

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Giving your vegetables a head start

Garden vegetables are as good as the soil they were planted in, don’t get me wrong because garden plants can be planted in the right soil type and still suffer setbacks because of some other reason but what I want t say here is that garden soil is at the heart of growing plants that are healthy which will give you a good harvest come harvest time.

I have had a few vegetable gardens as a child and to be honest with you my little garden flourished and I was able to enjoy the fruits of my labour because I made sure that my garden was well taken care of. For those of you who have tried over and over again to grow vegetables but without success, you have come to the right place to have garden success.

There is nothing like eating the fruits of your labour this was my experience on many occasions and you can have this experience also. So just follow along and get set as you finally once and for all put an end of not being able to reap a good harvest of the time and efforts that you put into your garden.

You may say but I already have the perfect soil that’s ok there is nothing wrong with helping your soil by adding natural organics which will further build your soil.

Soil Type

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Building your sandy soil for your dream garden

Sandy soils present a challenge to many gardeners because sandy soils are hard to work with. These soils are soils which cannot retain water or nutrients. Because of this many dream garden suffers set back leaving the homeowner confused and in despair as to what went wrong. The good news is you can still have your dream garden by making improvements to your sandy soils.

How to identify sandy soils

Let’s take a stroll into your garden, and see what we can find. Now what I want you to do is to scoop up a handful of soil in your hand, rub the soil with your fingers, how does it feel? if the texture is hard or gritty then it’s possible that your garden soil is sandy. To further inspect your garden soil squeeze it in your hand to make a ball and release the pressure, if the ball falls apart after you release the pressure then you are a step closer to knowing what type of soil you have.

The final test is if the particles size is large you have come to the end of your investigation and have solved the problem which is sandy soil. It is these size particles which are the cause for its poor water and nutrient holding capacity because of the space between them.

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Making your garden soil work for you

At the root of every garden, plant and what contributes to their health and development is the soil in which they are grown. Therefore it is so important to know the type of garden soil you’re working with in order to have success. Just as there are different species of plants so is our garden soil. What I found interesting however is as diverse as garden plants and soil may be every garden plant have their soil requirement in order to thrive, so one of the keys to garden successfully is knowing your plants and what soil type they will thrive in best. What we will be looking at in this article is making your garden soil work for you.

Clay soil structure

Clay soils are soils that drains very poorly. These soils have the ability to retain water for a long time before drying out, because of its ability to hold water plants that are installed in this soil type will become weak and sickly because of poor drainage which will eventually lead to fungus development followed by root rot and death of that plant. What is also good to note is that the soil particles are so tightly squeezed together that it will not allow for proper air circulation.

Clay soil identification

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Moving Toxins The Natural Way

The world of plants is so amazing in that plants can be used for so many things and in so many ways. Some examples include plants that can be used for food, medicine, for shelter, beautifying, etc…

Plants can also be used to clean the air that we breathe by pulling toxins out of the air. But what scientists have discovered is that plants can also be used to remove impurities from the soil trapping them in their cells or breaking them down causing them to be least toxic.

Plants are so beneficial therefore we should do all that we can to preserve them by protecting and also planting them to ensure their continued survival as they serve us.

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Getting your soil to work for you

Successful gardening depends on many factors, I have heard so many people say how they killed their plant that was brought from the plant nursery and they have no idea why this happened.

While it is so true, strange as it may sound there have been many persons that have had garden success and failure without even knowing why, for many it was sought of good luck but what we want, however, is not to have so call luck when it comes to plants but rather having the acquired knowledge that will pay of in the long run.

One important factor that plays a  big role in the life of a plant is the soil. Knowing your soil type and how to make improvements is the difference between garden success and failure.

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Energizing Your Garden Soil

Soil or dirt as we know it is not dead as some people think but is very much alive with billions of microbes. What amazed me many years ago as I did a study on garden soil is that a teaspoon of garden soil contains billions of soil microbes, believe it or not, these soil microbes are responsible in part for the overall health of our garden plants.

Soil microbes have the awesome job of breaking down organic matter converting them to nutrients and then releasing these nutrients to our garden plants to be taken them up by their roots. Organic matter is anything that was once living. It could be leaves that fall from the trees onto the soil surface, the bodies of dead rodents, animals, or insects even dead trees, and plant roots are all considered to be organic matter. In other words, anything that was once living but now dead is organic matter.

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Growing successfully with soils

Does garden soil really matters or is it ok to believe that soil is soil, therefore, it doesn’t matter what we use it is a sure guarantee we will have garden success or should we approach this topic with an open mind thinking there might be a difference. When it comes to soil many people are not sure therefore it is crucial to have some knowledge of soil type to have success with gardening. There is no such thing as a green thumb but rather acquiring the knowledge that will pay off in the long run.

Many people have garden successfully without understanding that one of the key ingredients was the soil that made such a big difference, this was the experience that I had as a child when I created my first garden along with my parents and many neighbours that had gardens. Over the years, however, I have learned soil type and the importance of having knowledge in this area to reap a good harvest.

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The Benefit of Indoor Composting

Composting can really get your garden plants off to a great start because composting is a safe method that has proven to be so beneficial to our plant’s health providing us with the kind of harvest that is fit for a king.

The awesome thing about creating compost is that all of the ingredients which are used are natural which means the crops we grow will be of the highest quality.

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Making our soil richer for better quality foods.

I know what you are thinking but don’t let this picture gross you out. These little guys are actually helping our herbs, fruits, and veggies to be of better quality by providing them with the right conditions to thrive in.

Worm Casting

Worm casting may not be a pretty sight but the benefits these little guys bring to our gardens are pretty amazing. What is worm casting and how does this relate to our garden plants?

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Starting and Maintaining a Compost Pile successfully

When we think about growing quality fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc…. it depends in part on one thing and that is the type of soil that we use to grow them. The soil is so important to plant life because plant life depends on the soil in order to grow healthy giving us the results we’re looking for.

And a smart way to go about this is to create our own compost pile. Compost piles are created from natural products that we find right in our kitchens like portions of vegetables leftover from Sunday dinner or it may be that banana peel from the banana which you use to make a banana smoothie or yet again it may be that onion skin which you peeled from that onion to make a salad.

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Adjusting our Garden Soil for our Plants to Survive

What is soil ph and how does it relate to plant life?

Without a balanced soil ph, it would be impossible for plants to survive because soil ph greatly affects plant life.

All ph simply means is a percentage of hydrogen. There is alkaline soil and there are acidic soils. Both of these soil types affect plant growth and plant life.

Different types of plants require different soil types. Some plants love acidic soil while other plants prefer alkaline soil and still there are some that prefer more neutral soil.

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Nature’s Gold

One thing to remember is that in order to have a healthy garden, soil plays an important part if you are to have any success. Those delicious fruits and vegetables that we see when we go to the supermarket can only be produced in part because of the soil quality that they were grown in.  The soil is such an important part of a plant’s life that without it, we can forget about those wonderful fruits, vegetables, and herbs that we love and flavor our meals with.

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