It's a Jungle Out There

Plants, Gardens and Gardening

Archive for the 'Organic Gardening' Category


   Mar 28

Cheaper Prices For The Lifetime And Mantis Dual Chamber Composters

If you often collect kitchen scraps and the like but do not know what to do with them, well, what you need is a good composter or compost tumbler. This is somewhat like a machine that turns waste products into something very useful. Not all people may need a composter. But if you do have a garden at home or are planning to put up one, then you must really get a composter. It's a good thing we know a pretty good source for such an item.
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   Nov 03

How Leading a Green Way of Life Can Help Preserve Our Planet

One thing we must all be interested in is the importance of adopting a green lifestyle. It means a lot to succeeding generations. All the things we're doing now that damage the planet will have a significant impact in the long haul. Everybody can join the fight, including children and older folks. There has been more information on this subject in the past decade, than anytime before. The concerns of the environment have been shared by numerous groups, such as the government, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Boy and Girl Scouts, and others.

Famous men and women have become more and more involved by making public service announcements and donating funds. This has caught the eyes and ears of business enterprises. They contribute by manufacturing safer products for the planet - review solar panels to see the wave of innovation manufacturers are responding with. To encourage other manufacturers to do the same, stop using their products if they don't. When their earning starts decreasing, they'll perk up their ears and join the cause, even if they are reluctant to do so. Commercial enterprises are there to make profits, and if enough people refuse to purchase environmentally destructive products, they will have to change or fold. The consumers have more power than they think, especially if they work together. When it comes to the environment, the people can really foster quick changes in the way particular manufacturers conduct their business.

People can make a real great difference if they opt to recycle. Daily, we throw out more stuff than you can even imagine. Over the course of merely one year, the regular home's one bag of garbage each day has a tremendous impact upon the local landfill. To help with this problem, you can begin by removing glass, plastic, cardboard, styrofoam and paper goods from your regular garbage bags. When you begin doing it, you will be amazed at how much you can separate out that can be recycled. It is really simple to do when you have bins for every product to recycle. To make this easy to remember on a daily basis, simply place your collection bins in an accessible spot, such as your garage or backyard.

Regarding paper products in particular, there are some things you can do to utilize less. These are just a few sustainable energy solutions. Why use paper napkins when cloth napkins may be washed and used over and over? You can really reduce the amount of paper you go through by merely using both sides. Use the backs for scratch paper, if nothing else. You can even create your own notepads by cutting paper you don't need into squares. These will make for terrific shopping lists or notepads for telephone messages and other family notes. Also getting rid of unneeded mail will reduce the amount of paper you use.

In essence, living a green life is simply minimizing the waste in your life. Although they're surely terrific, you don't need solar panels or a hybrid automobile to live greener. Do little things that are common sense ways to live green.
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   Sep 13

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of A Mobile Chicken Coop

Portable chicken coops or mobile chicken coops are usually preferred by chicken owners nowadays. Especially when chicken owners are willing to build chicken coops themselves, they go for a mobile chicken coop. The demand for portable chicken coops is ever-rising simply for the reason that they have a great number of advantages. They benefit the owners more than the immobile ones.

Out of the many uses of a mobile chicken coop, one is that it can be cleaned without much difficulty. Since these coops have a comparatively smaller size, they can be easily cleaned.  One of the most important advantages of a mobile chicken coop is its low-cost. Construction charges for building a portable chicken coop is very less. It consumes less time and effort as well.

The materials required to build a mobile coop are very common and inexpensive. One can even make use of things lying around.  Portable chicken coops have another good quality. Since the size of a mobile coop is small, it takes less time for the owner to feed their birds. The coop can be kept close to the owner’s house and this way feeding the chickens become easier. So, while going in for a portable chicken coop one should consider this fact also.

However, apart from the benefits, mobile coops also have certain drawbacks. Portable coops have limited coop size and so only a limited number of birds can be kept.  Such coops should also be constructed properly because since they are movable they are more susceptible to wear and tear.

Whether you want to build a portable chicken coop or a regular one, I would recommend you to get easy chicken coop building plans, because they are usually suitable for all eye balls. So it doesn't matter if you don't have any woodworking experience, because with such instructions, it's just the matter of following the guide.

Extra Large 20-25 Wheels Poultry Chicken Coop Shed Ark
Extra Large 20-25 Wheels Poultry Chicken Coop Shed Ark
Paypal   £319.00
Ex Large Highline 20-25  Poultry Chicken Coop Shed
Ex Large Highline 20-25 Poultry Chicken Coop Shed
Paypal   £299.00
Extra Large 20-25 Poultry Chicken Coop Shed Ark Hut
Extra Large 20-25 Poultry Chicken Coop Shed Ark Hut
Paypal   £260.00
UNIVERSAL HOOK ON DRINKER or FEEDER - galley pot coop D cup grit chicken rabbit
UNIVERSAL HOOK ON DRINKER or FEEDER - galley pot coop D cup grit chicken rabbit
Paypal   £.99
Large Custom Chicken Coop ( Hen Gerbil Guinea Rabbit) House Cage
Large Custom Chicken Coop ( Hen Gerbil Guinea Rabbit) House Cage
Paypal   £149.99
Chicken Coop Coup Poultry Hen House Rabbit Hutch (01)
Chicken Coop Coup Poultry Hen House Rabbit Hutch (01)
Paypal   £142.99
Chicken Coop Poultry Rabbit Cat House & Run CC047 SPECIAL OFFER up to 4 hens
Chicken Coop Poultry Rabbit Cat House & Run CC047 SPECIAL OFFER up to 4 hens
Paypal   £109.99
4kg Feeder ~ 2 Litre Drinker ~ Dummy Egg Chicken Coop  Set
4kg Feeder ~ 2 Litre Drinker ~ Dummy Egg Chicken Coop Set
Paypal   £3.68
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   Jul 14

Get Rid of Pests Organically

It stands to reason that you don't want to spray or treat anything that you intend to eat with any nasty chemicals.  Neither do you want anything on your garden that is going to have an adverse affect on the nice insects in your garden. There are various ways to go about organic gardening.  You could try complimentary planting where you plant one type of plant to protect another but this does not always work. If you have plenty of room you could plant enough for both you and the insects but the insects will probably attack it all anyway. Or you could try neem oil insecticide.  This is fully biodegradable, so is an eco friendly insecticide over the long term. Neem oil is not toxic to mammals the only possible issue is if they were to eat loads of the stuff it may affect conception by causing temporary infertility, but all in all this is a very good way to deal with the insects that tend to ravage your plants.

Did you realize that another method that our grandparents use to use was to spray crops with soapy water, this is a great way to get rid of things like black fly that tends to affect bean crops. Working on this principle you can now buy insecticidal soap this is great as the same as us insects don't like to eat soap and they don't like crawling over it either they don't like the slippery feel to it. The only thing to remember with this is that you will need to reapply after a while especially after rain for it to remain affective. This soap will deal with all soft bodied arthropods such as aphids, spider mites, psyillids, mealy bugs and green fly. and at the same time cause no damage to the butterflies, earthworms or honeybees.

Natural Control of Garden Pests By Jackie French
Natural Control of Garden Pests By Jackie French
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Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer - 12sqm Natural Organic Garden Pest Control nematodes
Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer - 12sqm Natural Organic Garden Pest Control nematodes
Paypal   £10.95
Be Nice to Nature: Natural Pest Control by Greet Buchn
Be Nice to Nature: Natural Pest Control by Greet Buchn
Paypal   £.99
Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer 100sqm Natural Organic Garden Pest Control nematodes
Nemasys Vine Weevil Killer 100sqm Natural Organic Garden Pest Control nematodes
Paypal   £29.95
Green Ceramic Toad House Shelter - Environmental Natural Pest / Insect Control
Green Ceramic Toad House Shelter - Environmental Natural Pest / Insect Control
Paypal   £9.48
LADYBIRDS : NATURAL PEST CONTROL BY DARREN J.MANN
LADYBIRDS : NATURAL PEST CONTROL BY DARREN J.MANN
Paypal   £3.50
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   May 28

Composting: To worm or not to worm? That is the question…



People who are thinking of creating their own compost heap may consider using worms.  But is that a good choice or a waste of time?  When thinking about how to compost, you have to consider nature's little friends.  They are helpful, but mean you have to consider a few extra factors in creating your compost heap.

When considering using worms for composting, you need to consider that you must build a bin for your worms.  This bin should be a wooden box, metal tub, or plastic basin, as they each allow for proper and necessary air circulation.  You want a shallow bin, no more than 18 inches deep, since the worms eat near the surface and a deeper bin will result in unwanted foul odours.  

To figure out the size of the bin needed, measure your kitchen scraps for a couple of weeks.  Allow one square foot of space for every one pound of scrap materials per week.  It is recommended to estimate a little larger rather than too small as you don't want to crowd the bin.  Before using your bin, always scrub a new bin with detergent and rinse with hot water before you use it.  If you are building a wooden bin, do not use pretreated woods.  They are harmful to the worms and could contaminate your compost.  Make sure your worm bin has 9-15 holes drilled in the bottom to allow for air circulation as well as letting the compost drain of excess moisture.  Keep the bin somewhere relatively cool, such as a basement or alley beside your house, as worms do not like hot living conditions.

So far all you have considered in your efforts to living off the grid is the compost bin for your worms to live in.  But another consideration is the bedding you need for the bin.  Bedding holds moisture in the bin.  Your bedding materials should be biodegradable and free from chemicals and pesticides.  Some suggestions are shredded newsprint or computer paper, shredded cardboard, leaves, peat moss, or crushed eggshells.  Having a good mix of paper and natural materials, like the eggshells, will help your compost to work faster.

So what kind of worms should you use?  Is it as easy as digging up worms in your backyard?  Yes, and no.  You'll want to get redworms.  They are capable of reproducing quickly in captivity and are quick to break down materials into usable compost.  How many worms do you need?  Approximately two pounds of worms is estimated for every one pound of daily scraps.  There are about 1000 worms per pound.  About one pound of worms is sufficient for a 2 foot by 2 foot bin.  If you're worried about the worms reproducing and crowding the bin, that shouldn't be a concern.  The population will level itself out and sustain a number that can be sustained based on the amount of food available and the amount of space.

So are worms necessary to composting?  No.  Is it a better way to go when starting a compost?  That is up to you, and if you want nature's little helpers to give you a helping hand in becoming more Eco-friendly.



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