gardening Archives - Nature's Realm

Feeding our Feathered Friends in Winter

February 18, 2013 by Tim Leave a Comment

With winter upon us it’s important to feed our feathered friends. It’s not as easy for the birds that do stick around for the winter to find food as it is in the summer. In general, don’t prune back any perennials that have seed heads such as Coneflowers, Asters, Ornamental Grasses, etc as these become valuable food sources for the birds.

Another important thing to maintain is your bird feeders. If you have bird feeders you have our in the fair-weather months, the birds learn to rely on them and will continue to rely on them for the winter months. It is important to regularly stock your bird feeders with seed to keep the birds full, not to mention coming back to your property for some fun bird watching.

One thing we do not want to feed to the birds visiting our yards especially water fowl, is bread. While we often think that by ‘throwing bread to the birds’ as a way to dispose of our stale bread that we are helping our feathered friends we are actually doing them a disservice.

Feeding bread to the birds provides the birds with food that is of no nutritional value, encourages the birds not to scavenge for their own food, encourages birds who would normally migrate to not migrate in the winter months and can actually cause death in some species.

Bread, when ingested by ducks and other water fowl and then followed by water, can actually cause the bread to expand and suffocate the bird. Other alternatives to bread are halved grapes, frozen peas and bird seeds.

Here are some things to consider when selecting bird seed:

– Blue Jays will feed on full peanuts (i.e. peanuts in the shell)

– Woodpeckers will feed upside down, hanging suet cake holders upside down will encourage woodpeckers to feed there

– Cardinals like sunflower seeds and prefer to be fed at a fixed feeder at a height of 5′

– Chickadees like Safflower seeds as do some Woodpeckers. Bonus – squirrels do not!

By keeping an eye on what types of birds regularly visit your yard you can develop a “feed list” of seed to purchase to keep the birds coming to your yard.

Enjoy our feather friends!

Tools for Your Garden

February 11, 2013 by Tim Leave a Comment

For gardeners, there are a number of tools that are important to have in your “garden shed”. These tools will help make your job in the garden a little bit easier all while making your garden look that much better!

Pruners – a pair of good bypass pruners is essential for any gardener. Bypass pruners work very much like a pair of scissors. Bypass pruners have two blades that are curved that “pass by” each other when an object is cut. Pruners are used often in the garden, from removing dead wood, to shaping shrubs to deadheading perennials – you won’t find a gardener that ventures too far into their yard without a pair of pruners in hand! Fiskars Garden Pruners are among my favorite pruners.

Tip: it is essential to keep your pruners sharp and clean. After pruning infected plants be sure to sterilize your pruners with a disinfecting wipe or in one part bleach to nine parts water. This will prevent spreading disease to other plants. As you notice your pruners getting dull (i.e. not making clean cuts, wood splintering, etc) sharpen your pruners as soon as possible. This will prevent damage, and potentially disease from entering your plant material.

Rake – there are two types of rakes, a fan rake and a hard rake. You definitely need a fan rake in your garden tool shed as it is essential for raking leaves. There are different styles of fan rakes from metal to plastic, to ergonomic styles to ones that fold making picking up your leaves easy! A hard rake is a great tool in the garden. The hard prongs will slide though the garden soil loosening any old roots and picking up and debris and rocks.

Knee Pads – being in the garden for hours on end can be hard on anyone’s knees! A good pair of knee pads can save your knees especially if you find you are kneeling on ground that is anything but soft (think rock garden!)

Garden Cart – while a wheel barrow is very useful for moving soil and dumping compost, etc a garden cart can be very useful for moving other items in the garden and a bit easier on the back. A garden cart is much like a wagon and allows you to move pretty much anything, from bags of soil and mulch, to plants, to pots, to watering cans of water. It’s a great way to move your purchases from the car to the backyard or from one garden to the next (and yes, you can load it up with compost too!)

Hose – a good quality hose can be a life saver! A lightweight hose made of polyurethane will not kink or crack, and will be much easier to lug around the garden. You will also find that a hose with brass fittings will never have the fittings crushed or warped if it is accidentally stepped on or run over, which can be a common complaint of hoses without this feature. Williams Sonoma makes an excellent line of hoses that are perfect for both the professional and home gardener.

Watering Wand – watering wands are fantastic for watering your garden, containers and especially your hanging baskets. The long handle extends your reach into the basket easily saving you a whole lot of wear and tear on your body. Many rain wands also have a valve switch right on the handle so you can switch the flow of the water on and off in between containers/baskets.

Other tools that are handy to have include: a trowel, a spade and shovel, a pair of loppers and a watering can. There are many gardening tools on the market today targeted to different tasks. So while you’re not lounging around in your sun time garden furniture (unless you’re the kind that likes to lounge around outside in the cold), testing the tools out in the store before your garden blooms is the surefire way to find what works for you and get you prepared for the coming spring.

Biodynamic Gardening, A Garden’s Natural Cure

January 7, 2013 by Tim Leave a Comment

Bio-dynamic gardening is a method of special organic gardening that calls for treatment of gardens as individual and unified organisms. It emphasizes balance in the holistic interrelationship and development of plants, animals, and soil in a self-nourishing system even without external outputs.

The very special aspect that bio-dynamic gardening brings into the picture is that is gives emphasis on looking at the soil and the farm in a broader perspective. This only means that a garden is not just any area or plot but more of an environment where living organisms thrive. Having this line of thought the message of giving care and sustenance to every bit of creatures within the vicinity is given a high level of significance.

Although bio-dynamic gardening is regarded by many as a form of a pioneering modern ecological gardening technique, it would be more fair to say that it actually exists since the beginning of life on Earth. Natural eco-systems are, in fact, well-balanced ensembles of plant and animal life suited to the specific weather and soil conditions of the area they grow in.

Principles of Bio-dynamic Gardening

Bio-dynamic gardening emphasizes the use of composts and manures instead of the usual artificial chemicals applied on soil and plants. While it has many things in common with other organic gardening methods, bio-dynamic gardening is unique in that it uses fermented mineral and herbal preparations (e.g. compost additives, natural field sprays), and an astronomical planting and sowing calendar.

One of the best-known techniques of bio-dynamic and organic gardening in general is crop rotation, otherwise known as crop sequencing. This is a method that involves the cultivation of a series of crops that are part of different types within the same area or agricultural vicinity. This is done in sequential times or seasons to promote many benefits in crop production. One very good example is the prevention of pathogen and pest build up that is normally takes place when only a single crop type is used.

Crop rotation also creates a specific balance that is vital in avoiding deterioration and reduction of soil nutrients. This balance can be associated with the varying fertility demands of the various crops utilized. Soil structure is also strengthened when deep-rooted and shallow rooted plants coexist in a given land plot.

Crop rotation offers an ideal medium for cultural control. This means that there is adequate defense against pests and diseases that can wreak havoc in a garden. The principle behind this is that the use of constant variation in crop types helps in placing pest population levels to a low percentage. As plants that are members of the same taxonomic family attract similar pathogens, the regular change in the planting location can break down or limit the cycles of pest development.

Besides the use of animal-originated fertilizers (manure), one of the methods extensively used in bio-dynamic gardening is planting cover crops (green manure) with the goal of improving and enhancing any conditions pertaining to sustainable agriculture. Moreover, cover crops offer an essential way of managing soil fertility, moisture and quality, while they also help battle weeds, pests, and diseases that may inhibit ideal plant growth and crop production.

More Bio-dynamic Gardening Techniques

Animal life in bio-dynamic gardening includes mainly useful insects and earthworms. In the past, the use of earthworms and their castings or excretions in promoting plant growth had been widespread. These days, more and more gardeners and agriculturists are reverting back to the old, organic and chemicals-free mode of gardening.

Putting earthworms into gardens and plant plots has become a standard in ensuring that plants will grow better and healthier. Earthworms take care of loosening the damp soil, transporting rich nutrients from the topsoil to the subsoil and making burrows that could facilitate further entry and circulation of air and water into the soil.

Vermicompost has been observed to free cabbage, pepper and tomato from savage and harmful pests like aphids, mealy bugs and caterpillars. Though the exact scientific reasons for the events are still yet to be determined, experts suggest that it is because vermicomposts are rich in highly essential nutrients that help vegetable cops become stress resistant and eventually unattractive to pests.

To Sum Up…

A garden is able to produce or come with a certain result geared to positivity if allowed to. This can only happen when the proper resources are manipulated accordingly.

Due to climate changes and natural calamities erosion may occur that may lead to the destruction of soil components and quality. Now, bio-dynamic techniques of gardening aim to boost the defensive mechanisms of the soil and increase its vitality and richness. This will eventually lead to the formation of even more fine soil structures that will produce high quality flowers and crops, while promoting a healthy and sustainable gardening model.

The unique facet of bio-dynamic gardening is that it teaches soil handling and care as a significant way of life by building a relationship with nature. It helps forge a strong connection that can truly lead to massive changes on the quality and benefits of crops and flowers. Moreover, it brings the practitioner in a certain oneness with the land, a land that will solidify his very existence in this world.