I love gardening! If you're anything like me, you can't wait for this
nasty winter weather to take a hike so you can be outside all day in the
warm summer sun planting your favorite flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
Heck, I already started putting my gardening stuff out earlier this
week when the weather was in the low forties. Guess I'm eager to plant.
With warm weather approaching, its almost time for Spring cleaning,
which means getting your garden in order. The following 10 gardening
tips and tricks will have you gardening like a pro in no time!
1.) Get Rid Of All That Nasty Dirt Under Your Nails
One
of my least favorite things about gardening is waking up the next day
after a shower and still having dirt under my fingernails. Fortunately
there is a trick that works great to prevent all that garden gunk from
accumulating under your nails as you work in the garden. Simply draw
your fingernails across a bar of soap. Doing so will effectively seal
the undersides of your nails so that dirt can no longer collect beneath
them. Wow! Such an easy solution for such a common gardening problem.
Finished gardening for the day? No problem! Use a nailbrush to remove
the soap, and your nails will be sparkling clean again. Gone are the
days of gardening all weekend and then showing up to work on a Monday
morning with nails full of dirt.
2.) Water Your Plants Like A Pro
The next time you boil or steam vegetables for dinner, think twice
before pouring the water down the drain. Instead, use it to water your
potted patio plants. You'll be amazed at how the plants respond to the
vegetable soup surprise! In addition, when watering plants in your
garden be sure to apply water directly to the soil surface. If you're
doing this correctly, the water should slowly soak in, rather than run
off. This can be done most effectively by using a watering can or a
open-ended hose at half pressure. Furthermore, knowing when to water
your plants and how much water they should get is crucial to maintaining
a successful garden. Don't worry too much if you kill a few plants
along the way, practice makes perfect and eventually knowing how to
properly water each plant in your garden will become second nature.
3.) Boost Your Soil's pH
One of the easiest, most cost efficient ways to acidify the soil of
your plants that need it most, such as blueberries or rhododendrons is
to save leftover coffee and tea grounds and sprinkle about one quarter
of an inch of the grounds, once a month. Doing this will help keep your
soil's pH levels on the acidic side, and is also more eco-friendly than
using store bought methods to boost levels.
4.) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
One of the easiest, cheapest, and greenest ways to garden is to
recycle items and re-use your everyday waste. Items such as toilet paper
rolls or coffee filters work great for potting seedlings in your
garden. Since these types of items are biodegradable they can be planted
directly in the soil. When it comes to reducing and re-using did you
know that you can save certain seeds to re-grow next year? Or how about
the fact that certain vegetables can be grown from older discarded
veggies? Just a few examples are onions, green onions, and avocados.
There are all kinds of online guides that show how to do this.
5.) Make Your Own Potting Mix
Soil can be expensive, and a lot of times most store bought soils
contain lots of harmful chemicals and carcinogens. In addition, there
are a lot of soils out there that are bad for the environment, as well
as insects, and wildlife that may come in contact with your garden. As a
vegan I know that I try to avoid using things like pesticides in my
garden, as the bee population is already in danger, and other animals
and insects can actually be very beneficial to helping your garden grow.
Something I struggle with is trying to find a soil that is vegan
friendly. I never realized until recently just how many soils contain
things like feathers, blood, bone, etc. Making your own potting mix is a
great solution to all of these types of problems. You won't have to
worry about it having harmful ingredients, it could potentially cost
less, last a lot longer, and in most cases is probably even better for
your plants than any store bought soil would be.
6.) Drying Herbs Quickly
One of the quickest and easiest ways to dry herbs from your garden is
to wait for a sunny day and lay a sheet of newspaper or paper towel down
on the seat of your car, arrange the herbs in a single layer, and then
roll up all the windows and close the doors. Your herbs will dry up in
no time! Even better? Your car will smell great! Who needs air
fresheners, when you have the power of fresh herbs?
7.) Make Your Own Garden Markers
I don't know about you, but for me, gardening is really therapeutic
and once I get started I get really excited and sometimes a bit carried
away. When this happens, it can be hard to remember sometimes what
seedlings you planted where. Sure, you could run to the store and spend a
ton of money on those cute garden markers you saw in the gardening
section. But why waste all that money when you have plenty of materials
at home that can be just as useful? Making your own garden markers at
home is fun and will save you a lot of money in the long run. Besides,
it can be fun to decorate each marker in its own unique way. Some items
that work great for making markers include stones, clothespins, popsicle
sticks, etc. Simply write on them with a black permanent marker and
decorate and place in your garden as you see fit.
8.) Fertilize From Scratch
Fertilizers or soils already containing fertilizer can be quite
costly. If you are looking for a way to save money and have your garden
be more eco-friendly then why not make your own fertilizer at home? One
of the best homemade fertilizers is epsom salt. Simply combine 1 Tbsp.
of epsom salt for every gallon of water. Sprinkle on and around plants
to keep pests at bay. Epsom salt is extremely rich in magnesium sulfate (two minerals that are both crucial to a plant's health), making it the ideal homemade fertilizer and pesticide.
9.) Keep Birds Out Of Your Garden The Natural Way
Birds are notorious for stealing items out of the garden, especially
when it comes to berries. Two inexpensive, natural, and perfectly safe
ways to keep birds and other pests out of your garden is to buy netting
from your local hardware or gardening store to wrap around your
strawberry plants. This will render birds and rabbits unable to reach
the plants, making it impossible for them to take off with the berries
or snag a bite. A second way to keep birds out is to paint stones as
strawberries and place them around your plants. The birds will stay away
from your ripe strawberry plants because they will think the newly
ripened berries are stones.
10.) Quickly Washing Your Harvest
When it comes time to harvest your vegetables, try investing in a
laundry basket. Collect all of your produce in the basket and then rinse
off right there in the yard with a hose. This method makes washing your
harvest easier than ever, and the basket acts as a strainer, allowing
you to wash everything quickly. Goodbye dirt, debris, and heavy lifting.
Hello, easy clean food! Need more gardening tips visit home page for more information!
