Friday, September 10, 2010
Posted by admin on May 14, 2009
If you can’t afford a rain barrel then simply put buckets, pots out in the yard, in your garden to collect rain water to use.
Some people feel overwhelmed with having to get a rain barrel or other water system going, but you don’t need to. Use whatever you have around the house to collect rain water in and use it to water your garden or flowers after the rain.
Posted by admin on May 12, 2009
It’s that time of the year…
start taking care of your lawn.
Raise your lawnmower’s height. Taking off more than 1/3 of the height of the grass at any one time will seriously hurt your lawn’s ability to photosynthesize. Leaving a taller lawn will not mean you have to mow more frequently. Like all plants, grass relies on its leaves to produce energy. When too much of that productive area is removed during mowing, the plant races to grow more.
Compost or mulch the grass clippings. Use the mower’s mulching setting to return extra nutrients to the lawn.
Control Irrigation. Install shut off devices that stop irrigation when it’s raining, or install a smart controller that waters according to local weather, soil conditions, and plant type. Also review sprinklers’ positioning and coverage quarterly, repairing any broken or leaking sprinkler heads. Reposition to eliminate runoff onto pavement.
Use an eco mower to mow the lawn. No gas, no noise. Just eco friendly way of mowing the grass.
Pull weeds by hand or mow over them frequently. Weeds, like grass, rely on sunlight for food. Frequently removing those leaves will hinder their ability to grow.
Consider some creative landscaping. While this doesn’t improve your lawn itself it can improve your landscaping and save you money time and is eco friendly. Planting native plants, especially those that use less water, will decrease the overall impact of your lawn-related activities. Rain gardens or grassy swales can help you reduce storm water runoff.You should also plant wildlife-friendly flower, fruit, and vegetable gardens.
Plant large trees. Planting deciduous, shade trees on the south and west side of the house can reduce summer cooling costs and lower energy consumption, which also translates into reduced carbon emissions. Trees are also valuable in shading paved areas to help reduce heat in your landscape. Shrubs and wildflowers can also provide food, shelter, and nesting sites for wildlife. Avoid planting invasive species.
Posted by admin on
The best time to water plants is usually in the morning.
Doing so helps be more efficient with the water and helps to promote healthy plant growth.
Mornings are usually cooler.
Water evaporates at a slower rate in morning when it’s cooler than in the heat of the day.
Posted by admin on April 30, 2009
According to EPA here are some benefits of composting.
Compost use can result in a variety of environmental benefits. The following are a few of the most important benefits:
Compost enriches soils
Compost has the ability to help regenerate poor soils. The composting process encourages the production of beneficial micro-organisms (mainly bacteria and fungi) which in turn break down organic matter to create humus. Humus–a rich nutrient-filled material–increases the nutrient content in soils and helps soils retain moisture. Compost has also been shown to suppress plant diseases and pests, reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers, and promote higher yields of agricultural crops.
Compost helps cleanup (remediate) contaminated soil
The composting process has been shown to absorb odors and treat semivolatile and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including heating fuels, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and explosives. It has also been shown to bind heavy metals and prevent them from migrating to water resources or being absorbed by plants. The compost process degrades and, in some cases, completely eliminates wood preservatives, pesticides, and both chlorinated and nonchlorinated hydrocarbons in contaminated soils.
Compost helps prevent pollution
Composting organic materials that have been diverted from landfills ultimately avoids the production of methane and leachate formulation in the landfills. Compost has the ability to prevent pollutants in stormwater runoff from reaching surface water resources. Compost has also been shown to prevent erosion and silting on embankments parallel to creeks, lakes, and rivers, and prevents erosion and turf loss on roadsides, hillsides, playing fields, and golf courses.
Using compost offers economic benefits
Using compost can reduce the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides. It serves as a marketable commodity and is a low-cost alternative to standard landfill cover and artificial soil amendments. Composting also extends municipal landfill life by diverting organic materials from landfills and provides a less costly alternative to conventional methods of remediating (cleaning) contaminated soil.
There are many ways to compost:
You may want to start off with a compost crock or compost basket that you can keep handy on your counter. They’re odor free and ventilated. They’re small enough to keep on kitchen counter or if you get the compost basket you can hang it from the kitchen door under sink to keep it out of way. This is great for collecting all your compostable items prior to taking them to your compost pile or to your indoor composter if it’s in a different location than your kitchen (mine’s in the laundry room since there’s no power outlet under kitchen sink).
You can have an outdoor compost pile that you hand turn regularly.
Spinning composters are also used outside so you don’t have to hand turn the compost materials.
You can have an indoor composter which is excellent way to compost when living in apartments, condo’s, townhouses or simply for indoor convenience. I have the Nature Mill Composter in green.
The Nature Mill Composter allows you to add up to 120 lbs. of food and paper items a month without the hassles of maintenance. No installation required, simply plug into a power outlet. The computer in the machine controls mixing, air flow, temperature and moisture for ideal compost, and rich food for your garden, with one batch every two weeks. Size: 20’’ high x 20’’ deep x 12’’ wide. Fits into a standard kitchen cabinet. Features include: foot pedal for convenient hands-free operation, vacation mode (automatically activates after a period of inactivity to conserve energy, and optimize heat and mixing for curing), security locking feature for public areas such as offices or restaurants, and spare carbon filter included for years of hassle-free operation.
Get yours now here
Posted by admin on April 26, 2009
Plant an herb garden or any other container garden or window box garden.
If you have kids, it’s a great lesson for them to see where food really comes from in it’s natural state.
They’ll take pride that they grew it and it helps the environment while teaching kids too.
