Gardening Jlhongm

Just about gardening information

Gardening

Easy Steps To Gardening With Confidence

September 27, 2018

Thank you, good foods from Mother Earth, our life sustainers, for making us happy when we are hungry”. Chief Jake Swamp

Good food from the earth is organic foods. To keep your garden simple and healthy, you must insure that it has a healthy support system. Good soil and plant fertility go hand in hand.

Here are 5 tips to help accomplish your organic gardening goals.

1) Seeds, plants or shrubs must be planted at a particular time. Fruits and vegetables have a specific number of days from planting to maturity. Make a calendar, begin collection planting times, and include instructions for growing by each month of the year. In America there are many different growing zones. There are also frost zones. If you are familiar with these zones, growing and harvesting will be a snap.

2) A garden journal is of immense help. Take pictures of where each plant that produced well is located in the garden. Make note of planting times, where you received the plants or seeds from or any changes that may need to be made. There are many helpful computer programs available that will keep this type of information organized.

3) Using an organic method to grow and harvest foods definitely make a taste difference. Used directly from the garden, these foods can be served raw or with very little cooking, but always must be throughly washed and cleaned before serving. An added plus is no taste of being harvested and shipped green.

4) Growing a pollinator garden includes furnishing flowers, vegetables or both, that humming birds, bees and other insects will frequent. Up to 90% of plants, even the self-pollinated, benefit from cross-pollination and many different insects. The wind also plays a vital role in plant pollination. Honey bees, wild bees and bumble bees are beneficial. Be sure to leave a wild area in a corner for bees needs. Some are ground living, some will nest almost anywhere. Bees are drawn to many different blossoms and herbs. When bees and birds are present, the garden will produce more seed and fruit because the pollen is more live.

5) If there is no time or space, to make an organic garden then seek out an organic farmer. Maybe he comes to the local farmer’s market bringing fresh food daily or twice a week. Many times farmers feature pick your own areas when harvest is plentiful.

Ask friends and neighbors, or your neighborhood health food store for suggestions to find organic produce.

Gardening

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Setting up a Square Foot Gardening Layout

September 20, 2018

In a lot of countries a day-to-day worry of many people is how they can provide for their own families. The high price of standard fruit and vegetables usually makes doing so an actual challenge. Having said that, several have determined a relatively basic solution, planting some of their own food! Chances are you’ll very well choose to try out beginning a small garden your self. True, there may not be a lot land close to your own house, but probably there is some terrain close by that you can arrange to develop. Think of all the bucks you are able to spend less by producing great tasting and healthy food! Growing plants could even be the best way for you to obtain some necessary exercising. A patio or garden may also be a family project that your children will love. Indeed, cultivating a vegetable garden is certainly useful.

Why pay your resources on stuff that you can grow your self? Depending on the garden soil as well as the local climate, it might be plausible to plant items like okra, peppers, spinach, parsley, lemongrass, green onions, cassava, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn right next to your house. At the very minimum, these types of a vegetable garden can complement your familys diet, and you may even have certain extra goods that you can sell. In the event you do not have the desired area of soil necessary for that garden, it would help to make a square foot gardening design.

The Rewards of a Square foot gardening Design

With the use of several bits of wood made as vegetable garden beds, a square foot gardening layout could already be cultivated inside of a small spot inside your backyard. This kind of square foot gardening layout allow for a number of levels of garden containers placed in on top of the other permitting for that empty space in a yard be applied for the best. Through smartly setting the mentioned plant boxes, a square foot gardening plan shall definitely make a fantastic beneficial matter for your entire family who has a tendency to the mentioned vegetable garden. It’s indisputably true that the explained sort of garden layout best matches the need of those living in locations with smaller free lots which could host significant vegetable back garden cultivation.

This particular square foot gardening design may be used both on indoor or even in vegetable garden designs. With the successful selection of soil and vegetables to grow, this kind of square foot gardening plan would certainly yield the best fruits of labor that had been produced by the cultivators of the vegetable garden.

If you are aiming to make a vegetable garden that will best meet your needs plus your familys wellbeing demands as well, it will be best to take square foot gardening layout into account, especially if you are coping with small area locations for that mentioned garden.

Yes, absolutely, the size of the square foot gardening may possibly not matter so much, but the most important to take into account is that of the soil, the location as well as the type of planting that will be embedded within the garden. Any square foot gardening design, no matter how small the design will surely give you the best advantages that you simply will need.

Gardening

I Choose Square Foot Gardening

September 17, 2018

Square foot gardening has been on my radar only slightly less time than any other type of gardening. Until the last couple of years, I had not the time, space, or energy to plant a vegetable garden of any kind, square foot gardening or no. My gardening efforts were limited to a few ornamental flowers in the foot-wide bed outside our front window. Recently, the desire to plant a vegetable garden has been a more feasible goal as I have more space and time for my home and garden. I’ve seen several square foot gardening examples, including my mom’s; she’s very experienced with vegetable gardens, has had success square foot gardening. I’ve been excited all winter to try it in my own garden.

The idea of square foot gardening appeals to me for many reasons, but maybe the biggest in my mind is that a more compact vegetable garden equals less square feet of potential weed terrain. My gardens have not performed to their potential in the past, largely because after I plant, I lose steam and the time I spend working in the garden just isn’t enough to keep up with the weeds. Square foot gardening, maybe in a raised square foot garden, sounds fantastic – less weed potential on two accounts that way!

The compact soil use in square foot gardening appeals to me for reasons beyond the weed factor. I like the idea of efficiency, and by planting somewhere around 16 different vegetable varieties in a 16-square-foot space, square foot gardening gives us the epitome of garden efficiency. Not only is garden efficiency a preference, it’s economical. I won’t need as much peat moss or other garden soil prepping products if I’m only planning to grow vegetables in a small area. Now the only problem will be what to do with the extra garden space! I’m thinking a raspberry bush – a delicious square foot gardening bonus.

Last but not least on the square foot gardening appeal list is the aesthetic appeal. I did a quick online search to check out some square foot gardening and was surprised to find how sharp the beds look! My grandmother’s vegetable garden was amazing, but it wasn’t much to look at – lots of dirt with peas and carrots and other vegetable varieties interspersed. Square foot gardening can be planned around the vegetable variety you want AND ornamental value. There are plans online for endless styles, including vegetable gardens for kids, square foot gardens based on a recipe, and some that just look exotic. I plan to do my square foot gardening in the back yard, but it’s pretty impressive to think that I could put it in the front without compromising on style.

Between the internet and my mother the garden genius, I figure I should be an expert on square foot gardening by the time I can get my husband to build some raised garden beds for our soon-to-be- square foot garden. I can’t wait to choose my vegetable and aesthetic combination and get my square foot gardening plant on!

Gardening

Make Your Goal Living the Simple Life

September 10, 2018

A recent article in the New York Times “the Island where People Forget to Die” by Dan Buettner really got my attention. I am a registered dietitian and yes it is a good goal to lose weight if you need to, and to lower your cholesterol, blood sugar and triglycerides if you are on medications for these conditions. I suggest a full examination not of your body, or weight but your total lifestyle. Coincidentally I am writing this article during the recent “Franken storm”. My “normal lifestyle” has changed to a much simpler one. This situation has given me reason to pause.

This article is a must read. It identifies a man in his mid-60’s diagnosed with lung cancer and given nine months to live. He chooses to return to his ancestral roots in Ikaria Greece. What occurred was astonishing. He adopted the local ways of living and his strength started returning. The years passed and his health continued to improve. Today, at 97 years old, three decades later he is cancer-free! He never received chemo therapy, took drugs or sought therapy of any sort.

So what happens on this island that improved this man’s health? Geographically the air and water have been identified as being responsible for extending life. There have been other communities with centenarians. There are similarities within all these communities that can be helpful for all of us to heed.

The residents of this island choose to have a simple life. Their day starts late morning with a breakfast of goat’s milk, wine, sage tea or coffee with bread and honey. Lunch includes beans, potatoes, greens and whatever home grown seasonal vegetables are available. Often dinner is small with bread and honey. Meals and social times extend late into the evening sharing stories, wine and or teas. The Ikarians farm their own vegetables, raise their own animals, and enjoy drinks made from locally grown herbs. Their focus is not on monetary success, multitasking and watching the clock; instead they choose to enjoy an enormous sense of community and time for daily naps.

As an RD I counsel patients and together we create goals. My initial assessment includes information for genetics, lab values, as well as diet and exercise habits. Very often it comes to light that my patients are under stress or don’t have a social network, in addition to other weight and health issues. The Ikarians don’t seem to have these stressors and they certainly seem to enjoy socializing with a close community of friends. Could these differences make so much difference with health? Research has indicated that dementia, cardiovascular disease in addition to cancer have been delayed or totally avoided.

The Times article has brought more of my attention to the importance of “way of life”. So let’s examine this way of life that seems to be so beneficial. Our cultural ways of multitasking, rushing and watching the clock are not included in Ikarian residents thought processes. Focus on taking naps, enjoying the social aspect of eating and having a lifestyle that naturally includes being active as opposed to gym time seem to reap impressive health advantages. Everyday life includes daily walking, gardening, and heavy manual labor. Another topic that I found extremely relevant was not particularly what these residents eat but what they do not eat such as sugar and soda. Their diets are based on the Mediterrean diet, a plant based format for Ikarians consisting of goats milk, wine, teas, coffee, whole grains, honey, beans, and home grown vegetables. The Mediterrean diet emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. This diet includes moderate amounts of alcohol but limited dairy and meat products.

Low intake of saturated fat is associated with lower risk of heart disease and olive oil has been found to reduce bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. Tryptophan found in nuts, seeds, legumes, soybeans and other soy products, tuna, shellfish and turkey is one of ten essential amino acids. The body uses tryptophan to synthesize serotonin which is helpful in regulating appetite, as well as elevating moods and increasing the ability to enjoy beneficial sleep. Coffee, also included in Ikarian diets, has been controversial but of late research credits it with lower rates of diabetes, and heart disease. Basically to summarize, the additional benefits of the Ikarian diet include fewer pesticides, more foods in their natural form and choices that are loaded with beneficial vitamins and minerals. There is no mention of packaged and processed foods or beverages.

This wonderful article really got my attention. It ended by the cancer victim showing no further signs of cancer, and returning to the US to ask his doctors if they could explain what happened. When the interviewer asked “What happened?”this former cancer victim replied “My doctors were all dead.”

Gardening

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Cures For Poison Ivy Tips To Reduce Redness And Itching

September 4, 2018

The human skin is the largest organ in the human body. When we have so much skin covering the whole body, it is natural that we need to take good care of it and be sure that no harm comes to it. There are some instances when the skin gets rashes and other afflictions, which can be quite debilitating as well as irritating. It is no wonder that around the world, taking care of the kin is a million dollar business, which seems to be relentlessly growing with each passing year. One of the afflictions that one encounters is poison ivy symptoms, which cause a great deal of concern and worry to individuals around the globe. It is itchy and often strikes someone when they are enjoying themselves outdoors camping, hiking or gardening. It catches one out of the blue and at times when we may not be prepared.

The main cause of poison ivy symptoms is urushiol, which is a sticky substance that is found in the poison ivy plant. It is also found in other poisonous plants like poison oak and poison sumac. Urushiol is known to cause dermatitis which results in the severe itching response. Allergies occur when the body comes in contact with allergens or alien substances that cause irritation. Some people get welts as part of their reactions.

There are many parts of the world that are seen to have a preponderance of poison ivy plant, The poison ivy plant is seen in many parts of Northern America including the US and also some parts of Canada. The plant is common ion New England as well as in some parts of Mid Atlantic and South Eastern parts of the USA. It is seen in higher altitudes of over 1500 meters and though it is not at all an arid plant, it does grow in various kinds of soil . Though we like to be carefree when walking on trails, we need to have some awareness that poison ivy may lurk there.

Some of the most important poison ivy symptoms are the inflammation and red mark rash marks that appear in the body. These could also lead to some non colored bumps which become blisters . In very severe cases, there could also be incidence of anaphylaxis, which in very severe cases can also cause an anaphylactic shock. Allergic reactions can lead to respiratory problems for certain people. This is one of the main reasons why people who show poison ivy symptoms, should not neglect or ignore these signs. Be aware the urushiol oil can spread easily and that if one has some on one’s clothing or shoes it can then go on another part of the body or to anyone that touches it.

In case of poison ivy symptoms, one can use calamine lotions, jewel weed, baking soda soaks or Vicks Vapor rub in order to give some relief. Some people say that oatmeal baths are excellent to reduce inflammation and the eruptions. Don’t forget that you can also get an allergic reaction if you inhale burnt poison ivy so don’t just start burning brush unless you know what types of plants they are.

If you see someone with poison ivy symptoms, you need to advise the person to get medical advice and attention immediately to avoid complications later. Wear long sleeves when you romp in the woods and this will also be helpful for tick bites as well.

Gardening

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