Organic garden fertilizer – feed your garden with cover crops
Fifth generation farmer John Berden, Michigan, uses cover crops for fertilizer in his farm fields and his family vegetable garden. John produces dry beans, soybeans, wheat, oats, and organically certified cover crop seeds on his 500-acre farm without using any commercial fertilizer supplements.
In his home garden, John also depends on cover crops to build soil fertility. He uses a three-year rotation program, planting a cover crop the first year to build fertility, followed by a “light-feeding” vegetable crop, like peas or beans, in the second year and a :heavy-feeding” crop, like corn or tomatoes, in the third year.
“The microbes in the soil thrive on the habitat created by cover crops,” John explains. “When the cover crops are cut and tilled under, the microbes greatly increase in numbers and feed themselves on the plant residues.” In turn, the microbes generate nutrients in forms that plant roots can absorb.
Ingredients and supplies
2 pounds per 100 square feet cover crop seed (soybean, oat, and medium red clover seed)
Rotary tiller or digging fork
Directions
1. In the spring, sow 1/3 of your vegetable garden with cover crop seed, spreading the seed lightly by hand and raking it in after planting. John recommends combining 2 or even all 3 kinds of cover crops in the same planting.
2. Water the seeded plot well.
3. When the seed has germinated and the cover crop plants are 10 to 12 inches tall, till the plants into the soil. You can also cut the plants to the ground and dig them in by hand, but be forewarned – digging in a cover crop by hand can be a tough job! You may want to rent or borrow a tiller instead.
4. At the end of August or in September, reseed the plot with more cover crops as before. John says that, for the second seeding, a combination of oats and red clover is best.
5. Allow this crop to remain in place through the fall and winter. The crop will be killed by frost, but leave the dead plants in place to protect the soil from erosion during the winter.
6. The following spring, till the cover crop under. Allow 2 or 3 weeks for the crop residues to break down, and the plot will be ready to plant. You may want to work the soil lightly again just before planting.
7. Sow seeds or plant transplants of light-feeding vegetable crops
8. Tend and harvest the crops.
9. The following spring, sow seeds or plant transplants of heavy-feeding vegetable crops.
10. Tend and harvest the crops. The following spring, it’s time to start again with a year of soil-building cover crops.
How to store and harvest your herbs
Herbs may be the most versatile plants on earth. Of course, they’re unsurpassed for spicing up virtually any dish, but herbs offer much more than seasoning.
The seeds, leaves, and even roots of culinary herb plants are power-packed ingredients outside the kitchen, too. Hard-working herbs can be used as natural cleansers and disinfectants. Some herbs can brighten a room with their scent. Others add natural beauty to crafts and gifts.
Part of the appeal of herbs is their intense fragrance and flavor. There are rich choices of formulas that will
help you get the most from your herb garden. But before you can use them to their best potential, you need to know how to harvest and store herbs.
Harvesting and storing fresh herbs
There’s nothing like the luxury of knowing that you have a supply of fresh herbs growing just steps away from the kitchen. Because nothing beats the flavor of just-picked herbs, the best time to harvest
herbs is when you need them! However, if it’s more convenient to plan ahead, early in
the day is the best time for harvesting. Head out to the garden with sharp scissors or clippers just after the morning dew has evaporated.
Unless it’s time to harvest the whole plant, think of harvesting as pruning the plant for continued growth. Clip off up to one-fourth of the plant by pruning the tips or cutting off whole stalks that detract from the plant’s appearance.
If you won’t be using the herbs right away, shake off any surface dirt and submerge the stalks upright in a glass of water. To store for longer than a day, place the glass in a plastic bag, tie it loosely with a twist-tie, and refrigerate. Alternately, you can wrap the cuttings in a damp paper towel and enclose the bundle in a plastic bag. Either way, most herbs will stay fresh for up to three days when refrigerated.
To prepare fresh herbs for cooking, snip the leaves from the stalk with scissors, allowing the leaves to fall onto a cutting board. Then mince the leaves with a sharp knife. You can also roll a small handful of the herb into a ball and use sharp scissors to cut the herbs into fine pieces. You can use a food processor to chop large amounts of herbs but if you try this method, take care not to over-process the herbs or you’ll end up with green mush.
You can use fresh herbs in place of dried herbs in any recipe. Simply increase the amount of dried herb that’s called for with two- to three-fold that amount of fresh herb. This takes into consideration the loss of water in dried herbs: As herbs dry, their Flavor becomes concentrated. In most recipes, it’s best to add either fresh or dried herbs in the last 15 minutes of cooking to retain the most delicate flavor.
Garden design ideas – pictures
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How to build a raised garden bed
Improve your soil with NO digging, using this nifty raised bed recipe from landscape designer Pat Lanza of Wurtsboro, New York.
You just layer the ingredients for these “Lasagna” beds right on top of the existing sod or soil. Pat says that her recipe will explain how to build raised garden bed “in half the time and with a third the work” of conventional bed-preparation methods! Pat’s “Lasagna” recipe is for a 4 x 12-foot garden bed.
Ingredients and supplies
Newspapers, wet (no glossy colored sections)
4-cubic-foot bale peat moss, moistened
3 bushels grass clippings
3 bushels shredded leaves
3 bushels compost
4 bags dehydrated manure or 4 wheel-barrows full of aged barnyard manure
1 bucket wood ashes or 4 cups limestone
Plastic sheet (to cover bed)
Directions
1. Measure the bed and mark the corners, then stomp down any tall weeds or grass.
2. Lay wet newspaper – about 10 to 12 sheets thick – over the sod, overlapping the edges.
3. Now make your “Lasagna”: Cover the paper with a 2-inch layer of moistened peat moss, then 4 inches of peat, then 4 inches of shredded leaves, 2 inches of peat, 4 inches of compost, 2 inches of peat, and 4 inches of manure. (You can substitute other organic materials, such as hay or straw, for the peat moss, grass, leaves, compost, and manure.)
4. Moisten each layers thoroughly as you go, repeating the layers, until all the ingredients are used. Sprinkle the ashes or lime over the top of the bed.
5. Cover this “lasagna” with plastic, using rocks or bricks to secure the edges, and let it “bake” for at least a few weeks – the longer the better.
6. When you’re ready to start planting, remove the plastic, and stir all the ingredients together with a garden fork. Then pop in your plants, water, and mulch.
Yield: One 4×12-foot raised bed that can provide fresh herbs, vegetables, and flowers for 1 to 4 people all season
Note: Pat says this recipe gives you a rich, raised bed with delicious soil and without any digging. “It’s so easy, and it takes little time and money,” she adds. And, just one season after you build your bed, you’ll find that even the hardest clay soil under it will be looser due to the magic worked by the composted materials in the bed (and the earthworms they attract).
Create the perfect soil for raised beds! After covering the top of the pile with plastic, sun-bake lasagna-like layers of organic ingredients for a few weeks. The materials will break down over time to create rich, crumbly compost you can grow your plants in.
Italian Herbs in Your Garden
Having an Italian herb garden could be quite an advantageous experience due to the fact that Italy is a homeland of the most well-known and delicious herbs that are used worldwide. The most tasty plates have Italian origin, and, without any doubts, herbs have their rightful place in the Italian cookery.
One of the most well-known Italian herb is basil that is widely used in various Italian plates. However, not many people know that basil is not only an excellent relish, but also an asset in gardening. By planting basil with peppers and tomatoes it is possible to better the taste of the vegetables. In addition to that, basil is an excellent repellent of flies and mosquitoes.
Parsley, despite the ins and the outs of its planting, is a necessary ingredient not only in the Italian, but also in a worldwide cookery. Long time before there were introduced breath fresheners, fresh parsley has been known for its refreshing qualities and was used after meals to dispose of the bad breath, that is why in certain cultures it has become a custom to dish up parsley on a saucer, and it has manifested itself in the contemporary cookery in using parsley as a topping in many meals.
Oregano is used not only as a delicious addition to a main course, but also for decorative purposes: mellow oregano has wonderful small violet blossoms. It is better to crop oregano when it has blossomed because only during blossoming it has the most delicious taste.
Fennel’s seeds are used to better the taste of Italian sausages. Quite a remarkable feature of this herb lies in the fact that ripe fennel forfeits its palatability traits. Since it is a perennial herb, in order to enjoy it fully, it is advisable to transplate it within the period of two-three years.
Just as basil, the use of rosemary in the gardening can be a real advantage. Ripe rosemary is a bush with blossoming petite blue blooms that would draw bees. Despite being sempervirent perennial, it endures poorly cold weather.
Garlic is considered to be the most widely used herb in Italian cookery. It is impossible to imagine Italian herb garden without the distinct taste of garlic. It can be planted in almost any soil, and it does not require much effort of a gardener to have a fertile gather. Refrigerated garlic can be preserved for a later use indoors.
Sage is used widely in Italian cookery: in different types of meat plates, salads, and the list goes on and on. Sprouts of this herb are considered to be its most delicious part, that is why it is necessary to prune it during this period of vegetation, and after its blossoming it is possible to crop it.
Definitely, a gardener can choose to include different herbs in an Italian herb garden. It is necessary to consider the specific requirements for planting particular herbs, and whether they correspond to the existing surroundings. In addition, it is worth to consider Italian herbs not only as spices, but also as a means of beautification of environment due to their distinctive shades and scents that will be prevailing even when they are planted with different herbs, creating an illusion of Italian countryside.
Harvesting and storing herbs from your garden
In order to enjoy fully the outcome of gardening and growing herbs in particular, it is worth to put a certain effort into this process. As well as into process of harvesting herbs and storing them right way.
First, it is crucial to choose the suitable time to harvest herbs. Inappropriate weather, such as too strong wind or intensive warmth can cause the disintegration of herbs’ vital oils. The best time for harvesting herbs is quiet moistureless early morning due to the reason that moist soil prevents herbs to produce rich amount of oil; it is done after dew has evaporated from the leaves of herbs afore the blossoming of herbs. Definitely, it is not necessary to harvest the whole herb; its part would suffice (it is advisable not to cut more than a third of a foliage for the plant to be able to re-generate it), and it can be stored for a later use. One should always remember to check insects and remove affected leaves before one harvests herbs.
It is possible to store herbs, using three techniques: freezing, drying and keeping them in a substance such as salt or vinegar. The easiest way to store herbs is, of course, to freeze them: one needs only to trim herbs into ¼ inch bits and put them on a dripping-pan in a food wrapper or frozen-food paper. After freezing, herbs can be removed from paper and stored with other plants to be used later. Another way is to dry herbs. In order to do that, one needs to tie with a ribbon six to twelve stalks together, dispose of any leaves near the roots. The bunch should be stored in a crispy obscure place. If it is necessary to store leaves separately, it is possible to keep them on a netting or a shelf, rolling them over from time to time, completely drying them out. Apart from natural drying process, it is possible to enhance it, using dryers, ovens and even microwaves, but it is definitely not the best way to dry herbs. The third option is to use substances, for instance, to store minced mint, tarragon or basil, it is possible to pour vinegar on them, and they can be kept in such state within months. Another choice is to add salt to fresh herbs, thus making aromatic salt. By the time when herb is wholly drained, part brown herbs from aromatic salt and store it air-proof boxes.
Undoubtedly, many people prefer to use herbs immediately after harvesting them. Herbs need to be washed carefully before they are used in meals. The best way to accomplish that is to place herbs in a deep dish full with fresh water, or in a sink for a bucket of herbs, then add two tablespoons of salt to remove insects from herbs. Then, herbs should be dried in a salad spinner.
Different types of herbs are used for many different uses. Each different type of herb has their own list of instructions on how to use, harvest, and chop them. Make sure into research the specific type of herb you are using to use it correctly.
Herb Garden – How To Start?
Throughout the centuries, herbs have been used extensively for various purposes. The first documented uses of herbs date back already to Ancient Egypt and Ancient China. The Bible mentions quite frequently different types of herbs; in the medieval texts, there are many allusions to the significance of herbs and their possible use. Nowadays, any gardener would find highly beneficial to plant herbs because of their universal application in cuisine, medical treatment, even gardening. Thus, it is a great loss for the gardener not to have a small herb garden that would serve a particular function, especially when herb cultivation does not require much effort due to the fact that herbs mix well with other plants, and can be easily stored within the house.
Lets discuss how to start your herb garden. There are several ways how to store herbs. Usually, it is done either by cultivating a herb garden within the house (e.g., in the kitchen,) or in a small patch of an outdoor garden. A patch of four by six feet is sufficient to sustain a small family. Culinary herbs (both fresh and dried) are used mainly in cooking as a topping in a main course or in salads, or, for instance, to spice up a meal. Such herbs are quite of avail not only in cooking, but also for decorative use due to their distinctive odour and beauty that are fair enough reasons to cultivate them in one’s garden.
Furthermore, plants can be annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees, and herbs are no exception. In herb planting, it is worth to use well-drained soil. If soil is too puddled or heavy, it is necessary to add a manure. For many herbs, direct sunlight is preferable, but there are ones that require full or afternoon shade. Remarkably, the number of herb diseases and harmful insects is quite low. In dry, hot weather the possible threat for humble plants are red spider mites, aphids can harm dill, cumin, anise or fennel, and rust can adversely affect mint.
It is possible to cultivate herbs in different ways: they can be bought and replanted into an indoor garden or grown from a seed. The latter could be more enjoyable because it is possible to monitor the whole life cycle of a herb, and such experience can be very advantageous in terms of use of a herb in its stages of growth. The vast majority of herbs are grown from seeds. In order to do that, during the late winter months it is necessary to prepare a shallow pot or a box. As it has been stated before, in order to grow a lush herb garden, the soil should be well-drained and light. Root system of herbs is relatively shallow, that is why the seeds should be only slightly covered with soil, and, according to the established rule, finer seeds require shallower soil. In the spring, it is possible to replant the sprout to an outdoor garden, but it is worth to take into consideration the fact that some herbs, such as dill, fennel, anise and coriander, should not be replanted at all.
In conclusion, herb cultivation, without a doubt, is seemingly easy and a very beneficent experience; however, in order to be a successful gardener, it is necessary to acquire a lot more knowledge on herbs. This article is only an introductory article, and for the further information, please visit the rest of this site.
Classification of Herb Garden Plants
Herb garden plants, just as other plants, according to their lifespan can be divided into annuals, perennials and biennials. Apart from that, it is possible to classify herbs in many ways.
In fact, each herb has its own distinctive features that are present only in a particular type. Because of that, it is necessary to gather as much information as possible on the use the specific herb and its handling. Various herbs and their use are subsequently explained in this article.
It is worth to know that such annuals as summer savory, basil and cilantro endure frost poorly, that is why every year a gardener should plant them from a sprout or a seed. Such perennials as winter savory or sage handle cold weather better, and they grow by the year. Biennials, on the contrary, have two vegetation periods: the leaves are formed during the first vegetation period, seeds and blooms in the second period. After that, the plant perishes. A gardener should plant such biennial plants as parsley, caraway, and angelica in the garden during the late spring, and the soil should be fine-grained and somewhat moist. The seeds need to be put near-surface arow and covered with the soil. Fine seeds should be planted in a sandy soil for seeds to thrive smoothly. To keep the soil wet during the emergence of seedlings, it is advisable to coat the garden-bed with a coarse texture or paper.
It is possible to classify the herbs according to their use. It is a common knowledge that culinary herbs are the most favorable due to their vast use in cookery. Such herbs as savory, marjoram, thyme, basil, sage and chives are quite spicy, that is why they should be used sparingly. One of the most widely used herb, parsley, is usually served as a relish. Sweet herbs’ blossoms or foliage has a distinct enjoyable odor, and such herbs as mint, rosemary and lovage could be used as in various essences, eau de toilette, etc. Apart from fragrances, sweet herbs can be used to freshen up clothes or bed-sheets. Aromatic compound can be made of dried sweet herbs that would sustain their odor permanently. For this purpose, the most suitable herbs are lemon verbena and lavender. Herbs can be really healthful; many of them are used for medical purposes. Throughout the centuries, it has been a common belief that herbs are an excellent cure for various diseases; in contemporary medicine, herbs are also used extensively, but on occasion, medical authorities proclaim homeopathy to be superficial and overpraised. Herbs in medical treatment should be used cautiously because there are herbs that are poisonous and can harm one’s health.
Every so often herbs are used due to their beauty and not merely because of their savor, healthiness or odor. There exists a great variety of beautifully colored herbs: for instance, vividly colored blossoms and foliage is the unique trait of oriental herbs, valerian has crimson blossoms, whilst chicory and borage has pretty blue blossoms, etc.
It is possible to classify herbs into different categories according to their use, but it should be taken into consideration that many herbs have various functions. Mint, for instance, can be used not only in cookery, but also in preparation of healing teas and pest management. Herb gardening can be beneficial in many ways, and, in order to decide which herbs to plant, it is necessary to acquire the relevant knowledge.
Herb Garden Kits Overview
There are many (future) gardeners who are willing to have herb gardens, but the lack of knowledge prevents them from doing it successfully.
In order to grow a proper herb garden, it is necessary to find answers to the following questions: which herbs have better vegetation, when growing from seeds? Which soil it is advisable to use for a particular herb? Acquiring herb garden kit, the customer immediately receives answers to all those questions, alongside with detailed information on successful maintenance of a herb garden.
Italian herbs, culinary herbs, international herbs, German herbs, herbal tea herbs, salsa herbs and more – all that is available in a herb garden kit. All herb garden kits provide the gardener with beginner’s suite, each comprising different set. In all kits there are seeds, as well as planters, and most of them contain soil or pellets for seeds; detailed instructions that would ensure the achievement are included as well. Some of kits include a dome that preserves necessary temperature and moistness that would ensure a proper development of a root system, and, in general, the steady growth of a herb, and some include recipes that show the extensive use of a particular herb in cookery. In other websites, there are newsletters one can sign up for to receive a useful information on various recipes and supplementary information.
A particular attention should be paid to an indoor herb kit garden that maintains all the advantages of indoor herb garden planting. First, indoor herb garden is within a hand’s reach, and it means that there is no need to leave a cozy apartment to add necessary flavouring to a meal, or to harvest and store herbs for a later use. Second, the prevailing constant temperature in a house allows growing the herbs that cannot endure cold season. Third, despite various types of herb garden kits, they all are space-saving and well-packaged that makes them easy to store in not very large areas. Fourth, it is not an easy task to choose an appropriate place in the garden to plant herbs due to the unpredictability of a much-needed sunshine, and an indoor herb garden kit provides such place. Additional advantage of such kits is that it is possible to control the amount of water that herbs consume: during the rain, too much water can damage herbs. The last, but not the least is the fact that due to the attached instructions, it is possible to do the guess-work, experimenting with planting. All this ensures the achievement in growing indoor herb gardens.
Probably, a gardener’s self-esteem improves alongside with the enhancement of one’s skills in growing any herbs in a garden. Naturally, to attain such level, it is necessary to devote a large amount of time in learning the basics of gardening, and in this case, a herb garden kit can become quite an asset, when a gardener has a trustworthy “partner” in maintaining a garden and, as a result, enjoys fully the final outcome. Whenever one feels sure of one’s skills, it is possible to continue growing herbs in one’s own garden and achieve the perfect mastery in gardening.
Recommendations for Growing Herbs in Pots
It is possible to rear herbs in a house in pots or cans, and, apart from that, in window or pendant cases, and it is no more laborious than rearing herbs in an open. This is due to the fact that household and open herb gardens demand matching conditions. So lets discuss conditions for growing herbs in pots.
There are three crucial factors that determine the vegetation of plants in general and herbs in particular: sunshine, soil and water. Sunshine is the defining factor in the successful vegetation of plants regardless of the area of their planting. In order to provide plants with necessary amount of sunshine, it is necessary to dispose them either in a kitchen or in another part of apartment, preferably near the south or west window, to obtain as much sunshine as possible. Undoubtedly, various herb types are in need of various amount of sunshine, but none of them can exist without sunny area. In addition to natural sunshine, there are artificially created UV lamps that help to sustain necessary conditions. In addition to constant sunshine, herbs need tight, not too fertile soil. The most suitable substance for planting herbs is as following: two thirds of sterilized potting soil and one third of dry or perlite soil for those herbs who are grown in cans. For fine drainage, it is necessary to place an inch of gravel at the bottom of the pots. For those herbs that grow in a house, it is advisable to use a teaspoon of lime for 5-inch pot to ensure enough amount of palatableness of the soil for the benefit of the herbs. Those herbs that grow in pots are in need of constant watering. Damping the herbs and pebbles should preserve enough moistness for the herbs. Such herbs need more water than those that grow in an open due to the fact that they are planted in cans; despite that, extra humidity can harm herbs, that is why the roots of the herbs should be dry.
It is more beneficial to grow herbs in cans because it makes them easy to transport to whatever place one chooses appropriate. Annuals can remain in a house permanently, but perennials require being placed in an open during the summertime. Even though it is advisable to place all the herbs in a house afore first frost to preserve their foliage, it is not required to do that with mint, chives and tarragon due to the reason that, cold period approaching, they “doze” and preserve their freshness even during the light frost.
It is a common knowledge that it is possible to plant all herbs in cans, but some of them grow in cans finer than others. Mint, for instance, is a herb that needs to be cultivated only in cans due to its extensive vegetation. In general, maintenance of a house herb garden is quite effortless and beneficial experience: the herbs are readily available whenever there is a necessity. Following the steps mentioned above, it is possible to care efficiently after herbs, but it is worth to take into account that it is necessary to repeatedly feed herbs and replant them every year to ensure the best vegetation, as well as remember to keep perennials in an open at a particular period of time. Apart from that, it is necessary to harvest and dress herbs every now and then to enhance their vegetation. Use herbs in cookery, reserve them and share with your friends.
