Monday, April 28, 2008

Organic Gardening Saves You Money

This article shows why organic gardening not only saves on the cost of your food but also is much healthier for you and the environment. You can also make money by selling organically grown produce at your local farmers market.
The ever-rising cost of fuel is driving the cost of produce up. Why? It takes fuel to till the fields, plant the crops, harvest the crops, and transport them to market. Plus many fertilizers are made from petroleum. All these increases in the cost to farmers, food processors and transporters are passed on to you, the consumer.

Another factor is our government's push to make ethanol from corn. More corn crops are planted instead of other traditional crops and less corn is used for food causing shortages in the food crops. Supply and demand kicks in and the cost of produce climbs.

So what can you do about it? Simple, grow your own produce. What does a packet of seeds cost? Maybe 1 to 2 dollars. And that one packet will grow 30 to 40 dollars of produce at current grocery store prices. That's like getting your vegetables for free. As long as you are going to grow your own vegetables why not do it organically? Organic gardening saves on the costs of fertilizer and pesticides, as well as saving you and your children from being exposed to many cancer-causing chemicals. Organic gardening is also good for the environment because all those chemicals in the fertilizers and pesticides won't end up in the streams, lakes and drinking water.

You can also earn extra money by taking your surplus organically grown produce to the local farmer's market. Organically grown vegetables command a higher price from the health conscious people so the 30 to 40 dollars you save by growing your own can actually turn into 100 dollars at the farmers market.

Organic gardening has many benefits. It is much healthier, it saves money, it is good for the environment, and you can make money from the extra produce grown that you cannot consume.



About the Author
My name is Jennifer Kelso and I am a passionate gardener. I have a website that I encourage you to visit for more information on organic gardening. My website is at http://Gardening-Advice.info

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Vegetable Gardening Tips

With the costs of living rising all the time, it may be possible to save money and increase your family's health at the same time by growing vegetables in your backyard.
It's a good idea to choose your favourite vegetables to grow and plan beds for early, middle of the season and late varieties.

Most vegetables require at least 6 hours of sunlight per day, some need 8. Some quick growers like lettuce and radish can be grown between the rows of plants that take longer to mature, like beet or corn, thus making full use of the area available.

Throughout dry periods, vegetable gardens need extra watering. Most vegetables benefit from an inch or more of water each week, especially when they are fruiting.

During the growing season watch for insect pests. If you discover a bug problem early it will be much easier, but be careful to not use pesticides once the vegetable are close to being picked unless it becomes an absolute necessity. Organic gardening is one healthy and environment-friendly option. Once you have reaped your crop, put the vegetable waste into your compost pile so that it can be recycled for next spring.

It is important to protect your vegetable garden from wild animals looking for a tasty treat. Make sure your garden is surrounded by a fence that will keep out dogs, rabbits, and other animals. The harm done by wandering animals during one season can equal the cost of a fence. A fence also can serve as a frame for peas, beans, tomatoes, and other crops that need support.
Protection is needed in order for your vegetable garden to yield a bountiful harvest. Hard work will pay dividends if necessary precautions have been made.

About the Author
Mark Hester wrote this article along with his buddy, Herbert "Red" Roberts.Red loves to landscape and garden. He has started a blog to share his passion and many years experience. Visit Red at http://www.myeverydaylife.net/landscaping/ for tricks and tips you can use today to make your yard and garden into the recreation or show area you desire.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Getting Your Garden From the Source

Many people don't know where to begin when they are talking about planting a garden. They have good intentions and they have a great deal of interest in planting a garden they just don't know where to start. Once you have figured out what to do and how to begin your garden planting then you should be fine; however sometimes people need a little bit of guidance to get them off on the right foot. If you are one of these people and you need some help in getting yourself going on your garden situation that you can often go down to the hardware store or the plant store and buy plants which are ready to be put into the fertile soil. While this may seem like some to be a bit of a copout it is a way that many people are able to appreciate the garden situation and are able to begin their garden without too much money being spent.

Buying Your Seeds Direct
If you don't want to introduce live plants into your soil because you don't know how good your soil is that one of the things you can do is buy your seeds direct. Seeds are sold through catalog offers or through the use of the Internet and they allow for people to be able to begin their garden without even leaving their home. If you feel like you have good soil to be able to support a plant then you should certainly see about getting some seeds for your garden.

However many people don't even know where to begin with their soil. For this you need to be able to buy some good topsoil and till the soil so that it will be able to support your plants and generate routes down deep enough that the plans will be able to live. For some instructions on this you can go to numerous online resources or you can even buy a book. There are plenty of books about gardening which are available and which will tell you what type of soil you need for what planet is he want to grow. The latest information is probably the best so if you can get a newer book or if you can get a newer edition of the classic book or if you can just go on the Internet you would be able to find all the information you need.

Low Cost Is the Way To Go
If you are concerned about money then you should probably not be investing thousands of dollars in your garden; there are many interesting and fun ways to keep the costs low and still enjoy your yard. If you want to find out more ways about how to keep the costs down on your gardening you should definitely head over to one of the gardening super centers. There are people at any of these great home improvement stores who'll be able to talk to you at great length and in great detail about what type of money you would need to spend for what type of plant is to look at the grow; then you can go home and order them on the Internet or through a catalog.

About the Author
Clinton Maxwell regularly creates detailed reports on areas similar to chainsaw sharpeners. You can discover his articles on oregon chain saw sharpener and chain saw sharpeners at http://www.insidewoodworking.com .