Apr 30, Impatient With Organic Gardening

Are you waiting for your seeds to grow - your potatoes to sprout?

Can you resist the temptation to go probing around your bean seeds to see if they are growing. "Everything comes to him who waits" is the best practical guide.

Today however, I just couldn't resist probing around a newly planted Peony. Close by my Tree Peony was growing well. But the herbaceous Peony is planted deeper and I couln't help thinking I'd put it too deep.

So very very carefully I started scraping away the soil to find the shoot. And I was immediately struck by the strong odour of peony root. - Arrr it must be growing strong - I thought.

This odour is similar to that produced from Bergenia roots. It's probably a chemical defense that builds up in soil air around the plant. And this may protect the plant from pests.

As I scraped the soil back the scent was released. And sure enough there was the Peony shoot growing strong just below the surface.

Recently I heard how some gardeners use Astrantia to keep slugs out of their garden. Apparantly the leaves release an odour that slugs hate. And in this garden the slug prone Hostas were in abundant supply but untouched.

Now there's some organic gardening know-how for you to try.

To make the most of your garden this year visit these links.



Grow even more seeds and plants - the best prices for American Gardeners are here.


Quality Seeds (no thrills packaging) - U.K. experienced mail order and I always make savings with them.

More variety below.

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Grow The World In Your Garden with Eden Project Seeds on this link.

Easy Seeds for Children and Organic Seeds variety is the spice of gardening life and you'll find some nice plants here.

Happy gardening.

Apr 27, Organic Gardening As A Royal Past-Time

I don't like to write too much about my garden because most people are really interested in their own gardens.

But when it comes to royalty it all seems very different. Everyone wants to know what Prince Charles is growing in his organic garden. And will William follow his father's footsteps into the garden?

You can get more on those questions from this link and the ladies can get a close-up look at the Ring too.

U.K. visitors to my website should click the flag to change to your country page.

So what about my garden?

Well I'm a little worried about the dry weather we are having. But all my seeds are coming up so far. I'm growing a red leaved Pak Choi 'Ruby'. Dark colored leaves are high in antioxidants.

Today I planted potatoes in between a standing Leek crop still being harvested. There's more information on continuous cropping on this link.

It's also been a time for early salads. My winter lettuce are standing in the greenhouse in plenty.

That reminds me to mention: the advantage of container growing.

Containers let you move your crops around when the weather changes

Containers can isolate plants from soil disease problems and

give your garden soil a rest while you rotate plants, and

let you grow over hard surfaces.

But except for the above I like to avoid containers because they dry out and need to be filled with compost.

If you've seen my web pages on growing potatoes in containers and raised beds you'll be pleased to learn that seed potatoes are still available here. So don't miss out. Check the link to select yours. It's great to have good food growing and some in store.

Happy gardening and - as they say - more follows...

Apr 27, Gardening Catalog Summary for Organic America

Review of online gardening catalog s goes straight to the practical stuff you need for gardening, saving you time and money. Take the green approach here.

Apr 27, Growing Seeds at Home

Help on growing seeds for your home and garden can be found here. This information explains the basic and essential requirements for growing seeds. Find out what you need to make them grow. It's simply explained here.

Apr 27, Seed Mat

Pre-sown seed mat helps you create themed gardens. Use them to grow sloping gardens as well as for pots, containers and hanging baskets. Find more on seed mats here.

Apr 27, Organic Crop Rotation

Find a crop rotation suitable for organic gardening and year long production here. The benefits of crop rotation and how to fit your plants in are described here.

Apr 27, Flower Seeds

How to grow flower seeds for a mass of attractive flowers at low cost. You can fill your whole garden in one year. Select from the widest and unusual flower ranges and enjoy the immense satisfaction of a splendid flower show around your home

Apr 27, Vegetable Seeds

Start growing today with vegetable seeds. Everyone agrees you get the best tasting food from your own grown organic vegetables. You also get your own choice variety. This page shows you what you need to know to succeed.

Apr 21, Good Earth Compost

We all know of the ever present pressure to continue with short term exploitation of resources and use of chemical fixes. And in our present economic circumstances those in charge are more vulnerable to wavering.

I want to highlight just one issue.
The use of Peat in compost. In England measures were taken to reduce peat in garden compost. Our well-known gardener Geoff Hamilton pioneered the force for change.

Now they are saying that he was mistaken. That Irish peat is mainly used for burning. And gardeners are complaining that they can't grow anything without peat.

Peat is clearly an example of a limited resource. But most importantly it provides wildlife habitat.

If it's being exploited for burning that's something else to take care of. But I can't go back to using it.

And for a very good reason that any organic gardener worth a cabbage should know about.

Because there's a very good alternative that is wholly organic and sustainable.

Yes I do find that compost made from recycled materials are not working out too well. When is the horticultural industry going to get it's act together? Yes we have loads of poor quality compost under the erroneous name of multi-purpose. So what's the answer?

I've tried and tested it and it's really simple. It's home-made leaf mold. You don't have to pay a penny for it. But it can be made into ideal seed sowing compost.

Just a few tips. Remove any woody, fibrous or strawy material because fungus may grow on those bits.

Pure leaf mold contains very few weed seeds. But you can flame over the surface first.

Another method is to mix it with organic fertilizer and leave it in trays as a stale bed for a couple of weeks before sowing.

All plants turn into leaf mold and garden compost when they die. It's what the soil's made of and it's what plants like most. And it works pure and simple.

Happy gardening.

Apr 20, Types of Garden Rake

Compare the garden rake for different gardening jobs. You'll discover different ways to use them in your garden. You'll also find labor-saving rake alternatives.

Apr 16, Starting Seeds At Home

Find ways of starting seeds to more of your favourite plants in your home and garden. This page explains the organic essentials to success in propagating seeds

Apr 14, Natural Weed Killer

Find a natural weed killer and fertilizer here. This organic stuff greens up thin flakey lawns and stops weed seedlings growing under cloches & netting, around vegetable & flower beds.