If you want to start an organic garden, you need to start with organic gardening fertilizer.  This is the base for your organic garden success.

Purchasing organic fertilizer can be costly and you are unlikely to order it online, unless you go with a condensed product.

The best solution is an organic liquid compost that you can mix with water and spray on your garden area.

You can treat the area in the fall to detox the soil in preparation for the spring.

You can also spray the liquid compost on new plants and it provides an energy boost that will help the plants take off.

The great thing about organic gardening fertilizer that is a liquid compost is that it goes straight to the roots and starts getting results fast. It can be used on vegetables, flowers and any problem area in your yard safely and effectively.

You have a lot of Organic Gardening Fertilizer options, and we suggest a liquid compost to energize your plants fast.

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I love salad.  However you want to fix it - lettuce is my favorite staple for lunch and dinner - especially in the summer months.  I was pleased to find an article about growing lettuce even during the month of August by using a high tunnel and plenty of shade.

Barbara Pleasant has written an article on growing lettuce under a shade cloth and provides detailed instructions. 

Garden voices published an article on growing lettuce at home as well - however, they focus on the tips for growing during the cooler months as lettuce isn’t fond of the warm temps.  That’s why Barbara’s article is so cool.  She said that taste testers found the lettuce grown under her shade cloth tasted great!

There are a number of places you can purchase shade cloths to get started.

Have you tried growing lettuce in the summer?  What happened?

Remember a dose of Great Big Plants energy drink for even healthier lettuce!

photo courtesy of Vegetable Garden Guide.

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Tis the season for flying insects and unwanted critters messing with the harmony retreat you’ve created in your yard.  How do you discourage unwanted visitors from your yard?

I recently came across a lively discussion on the benefits of hanging a bag of water from your trees to discourage bugs.  If you have time to read the string of more than 120 comments ( you have too much time on your hand) you’ll get a chuckle, as I did.  Though I only read about 1/3 of the comments. 

However, seriously - what do you use to keep the bugs at bay?

Harry Kipper has written an article entitled How to Defend a Garden from Pests that offers a variety of tips for reducing the number of pests in your yard.  I like the fact that he offers organic solutions, even using the concept of “survival of the fittest” in his suggestions - using larger pests to control the smaller ones.

How do you remove the threat of pests?

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The county fairs are just around the corner - it isn’t too late to add a secret ingredient to your prized plants!

Just a little plug for our favorite energy drink:  Great Big Plants.  If you haven’t tried it, this summer is the perfect time.  For prizing winning entrees, add 4 ounces of Great Big Plants to one gallon of water.  Apply one time every other week during growing season and one time per month thereafter.

It is the affordable, healthy way to feed your plants.   

photo courtesy of Dan’s public gallery at the Iowa State Fair.

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Add some interest to your border garden with a handmade fence or trellis you can construct from twigs and branches you collect. 

Mother Earth News has a wonderful article with complete instructions for how you can transform branches into a wattle fence like the one pictured above.

If you are interested in a more complex, environmentally friendly solution - check out the video library at Whistling Willow - their fences, garden gates, trellis and teepees are magnificent.

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We all know about the honey bee and pollination - the age old story of the birds and the bees - right?  But there other insects that can be good for our plants?

Garden Guides has put together a reference guide that lists the beneficial insects and how you might use them to benefit your garden.

The chart lists the type of insect, which pests it eliminates and how to use them to benefit your garden.  It also suggests including plants rich in nectar such as catnip or dill as feed for the good insects!

Check it out - it’s great information. 

photo courtesy of Common Garden Pests

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August is right around the corner and although it seems we’ve had adequate rain this summer, some plants are already showing signs of fading in the summer sun.  What can you do? 

I’d invite you to read a post Hans wrote awhile back that does a great job of explaining what happens to your plants in the heat called Heat Tolerance for Your Plants.

He lists a few things you can do:

• Select varieties suited to high heat
• Shade plants
• Apply a foliar shade film
• Mist plants to provide cooling
• Mulch around base of plant
• Adequate irrigation at all times
• Amend soil salts
• Apply Great Big Plants

I also found an article from the University of Arizona (talk about your hot, dry heat) in which the author, John Begeman shares his thoughts on reviving summer stressed plants. 

I like his first piece of advice:

Don’t waste time nursing plants back that are too far gone.  How do you know?  If leaves are scorched brown and stems and branches are dry and brittle, it’s too late.  Probably the plant was in the wrong place.  Moisture loving plants in dry places, shade loving plants in sunny spots all spell disaster. 

How many hours have we wasted trying to save a plant that really was beyond saving?  He suggests that before you pull out scorched plants, check the stems and brances for life. 

Scratch the stems with your thumb nail starting at the ends and moving down to the plant base.  If the scratching reveals brown, dry wood, keep moving down the stem.  When you reach live wood, it will be green or cream colored and moist.  Cut these dead branches off, just above a side branch, side shoot or dormant bud.

He also reminds that pruning encourages new growth.

John recommends preparing a special mixture for the soil as well:

For soils that have become hydrophobic, sheading water, apply a mild soap solution.  Mix up a teaspoon of liquid dish washing detergent in a gallon of water.  Use this solution to wet the soil.  The soap breaks what’s known as surface tension of the soil.  This is what repels water, causing it to shed off without being absorbed.  One application is enough.  Once the soil has been wetted, it should be kept moist.

What do you do to revive summer over-heated plants?

photo courtesy of BCSS Liverpool

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We just talked about giving gifts to your favorite gardener, but what about the gifts you can give FROM your garden.

As our fruits and vegetables ripen the obvious gifts are the fruits of our labor: the extra tomatoes, radishes, etc.

But what about clippings from your favorite plants to help a friend share in the joy of gardening?  Essortment published a fairly comprehensive guide to starting plant clippings. 

This video by Joe Gardener is also a great visual for tips on plant cuttings.

Consider a party with your gardening friends and everyone bring plant clippings to share.   A great way to expand the variety in your garden without the expense.

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Looking for a unique gift to give your gardening loved one?  Clean Air gardening put together a listing of gardening gifts for the men and women in your life who love to till the land. 

They have tools and pots and garden gnomes but the one I thought was cool was the Wearable Stool.

Perfect for the gardener that needs to sit while they weed or prune and reasonably affordable.

Gifts.com has a whole collection of sites that offer gifts for the gardener and one really caught my eye:  Poetry stone kits.  You’ve seen the garden stones with your child’s hand and foot print or some that offer a predetermined saying, but with this kit you spell out the words on bricks you make yourself.  Cool.

If you could get any gift for the garden - what would it be?  Have you told anyone?

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Sometimes I think we tend to assume people know all the basics of gardening, but what about the person just starting out?  You purchase a home and for the first time have a little bit of dirt and dream of planting flowers?  Now what?

iVillage Garden Web has compiled a list of the most common mistakes new gardeners make.  The list is a compilation of comments from viewers and is really comprehensive.  What’s number one on the list?

 Overwatering Most new gardeners think that the more water the better when usually, just the opposite is true. Take the time to learn exactly what the water needs of you plant is and count to 10 before turning on the hose. If you are watering anything daily you are probably watering too much.

Natalie Walsh, a reporter for the Schenectady, NY Daily Gazette wrote an article this spring entitled New Gardeners Should Start Small.  She offers simple yet sound advice for the novice gardener.

What does every new garden need?  Plenty of fertilizer.  Remember for your new or more established plants and lawn - keep a bottle of Great Big Plants energy drink on hand!

If you had to offer one tip to a new gardener - what would it be?

Photo courtesy of Thorpe Arnold

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