Posts Tagged ‘Flowers’

  1. 6 Ways to Control Weeds for Vegetables and Flowers

    Posted on October 15th, 2011 by admin

     
     

    Weeds are the major problems of home gardeners, as a small scale or a large scale gardening. It entails time, efforts, and money, and sometimes eats up most of your resources in maintaining your garden.

    The use of commercial weed control method would also affects our environment by air pollution and besides its being costly, draining your budget.

    Therefore, as a gardener, you should plan properly how to control weeds before going into this venture to avoid further frustration resulting to great losses in your part.

    The best defense against weed occurrence is prevention . It is much cheaper and easier to prevent weeds to grow than to kill them after they appear on the ground.

    When planning your garden, see to it that youll eliminate weeds in the growing area prior to planting. Be sure to remove the entire plant as well as the seeds as much as possible to avoid after growth.

    In the field of agriculture cultural management aspects, this is a very effective means of preventing weed growth without chemicals. In soil solarization, it involves removing all plants and weeds and retiling the soil. After the soil has been moistened, cleared and raked to remove any roots, rocks, and sharp objects, it is covered with a clear polyethylene sheet stretched tightly in place for 4-6 weeks during the peak sunlight of early summer. (You can use rocks or cinderblocks to hold the plastic in place.) The sun will totally heat or cook the soil killing any unsprouted seeds or remaining weeds.

    With the use of plastic mulch, placed on top of the soil, it helps to suppress weed growth by blocking sunlight to the soil preventing germination.

    Biodynamic or French Intensive Gardening is generally grown in raised beds. The soil is double dug to a depth of two feet which allows plants to more easily send their roots deeper down to access water and nutrients. The plants are planted close to each other so that the foliage of each adult plant will touch the foliage of another plant. This creates a leafy cover known as a living mulch. This will minimize weed growth as well as stabilizing soil temperature and moisture retention by the soil. You also get a higher yield from a smaller space by planting closer together.

    Vinegar solution is sprayed on full strength to kill weeds. You can use it between bricks or paver stones to kill weeds and grasses. When applied directly to the soil, salt will also kill grass and weeds between bricks and will deter regrowth.

    __________________

    Cris Ramasasa, Freelance writer, writes about home gardening and Internet marketing tips. You can get a copy of his latest ebook How to get started in FlowerGardeningand Vegetable Gardening made Easy and lots of tips, Free articles, and bonuses at:

    Cris Ramasasa is a retired Horticulture teacher for 29 years and Freelance writer. Writes home gardening tips and resources. Written ebooks titled: How To Get Started In Flower Gardening and Vegetable Gardening Made Easy.

    www.crisramasasa.com – Still under construction

    Please visit www.rotheraine.com for full video
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  2. First Sustainable, Organic, Biodynamic Flowers in Philippines

    Posted on October 14th, 2011 by admin

     
     

    Our goal is to tread lightly on the planet. We are mindful of the acts we do in our Philippine Flower Farm, knowing that each act of tilling, growing, harvesting and packaging, can do damage or save the planet. One of the most concrete steps we do this is through implementing. When we grow or harvest our Philippine flowers, we remove some nutrients from the soil. If we do not replenish these, the land suffers and we can no longer use the soil for farming. Sustainable agriculture means replenishing the soil while minimizing the use of non-renewable resources, such as natural gas or mineral ores. We engage in concrete steps to ensure that our Philippine Flower Farm produces flowers indefinitely, without causing irreversible damage to the health of an ecosystem. This would entail redefining our practices and processes on the soil, to produce Philippines flowers and foliage that are not only profitable but also healthy. The second is socio-economic, where we enhance the quality of life of our farm workers. Sustainably grown goes beyond organic, as organic refers only to specific chemical and pesticide free practices. Sustainability embraces a much broader perspective and deals not only with production but also in environmental and eco-system issues, and social matters such as the farm’s workforce and community.

    We have been fortunate to work with and among Philippine indigenous tribes or natives. They have worked with us imparting the wisdom and heritage of their ancestors on Philippine flower farming. These include sustainable farming techniques that rely on natural methods handed down from generation to generation by the Talaandigs; the Higaonon; and Bukidnon farmers. Alongside their wealth of knowledge on natural methods, we have merged technology and science, to implement agricultural techniques that build our Philippine flower farm soil fertility, while protecting our air, water and wildlife. We have merged and developed a deeply rooted natural system of production, pest management, and weed and fungal control. Among these:

    We practice natural methods on cover cropping, composting, and crop rotation;

    Our main source of soil fertility is legume cover crops, which provide nitrogen, micro nutrients and organic matter. We use nitrogen-fixing and leguminous plants that are native to our farm, that form symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria called rhizobia. These are plants that modern farming would have otherwise deemed as weeds. The natives have taught us to use these plants as a viable source of fertilizer. Also, the cover crops provide habitat for beneficial insects, keeping pests very low. Our farm prides itself with beneficials such as lady bugs;

    Our farm has learned to rely on natural controls for soil-borne diseases and to ward off pests. Among these, we use natural insect traps, neem tree extract and beneficial bacteria and fungi to treat our soil;

    We hope to eliminate the use of toxic and persistent chemicals found in industrial pesticides and herbicides. That way, we control pests and diseases with the least environmental impact, phasing in organic products over time; and

    We have learned to follow the cycles and phases of the moon in scheduling our pest management and control, taking into account that the life cycles of these creatures that coincide with the moon’s phases.

    We embrace these practices in our Philippine Flower Farm and adopt them in our daily tilling, growing or harvesting. By relying on the knowledge handed by those whom we believe are most in tune with nature and the earth, we build healthy and rich soils to produce Philippines flowers and plants that are healthy and thriving.

    Our Philippine Flower Farm encourages careful water use, energy saving initiatives, greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts and product packaging minimization.

    Our Philippine Flower Farm infrastructure has been planned and built bearing in mind our carbon footprint. Our greenhouses are built using renewable resources or recycled material. Among these are bamboo, wooden pegs, stones, old tires, and similar materials;

    We have designed and positioned our greenhouses to ensure that we use the least amount of energy for our crops. Our buildings use natural ventilation, and rely on the strength or gentleness of winds for its natural ventilation. Thus, we eliminate the need for energy-powered fans;

    We rely on the forces of gravity for our irrigation, taking advantage of the gift of natural spring water, and use trickle- irrigation to conserve water and prevent erosion;

    Our irrigation systems do not use more water from the natural spring than is naturally replenished; and

    Our greenhouses are designed so we can harvest and utilize rainwater to irrigate our plants and treat our Philippine flowers.

    We wish to have minimal or zero waste on our Flower Farm and encourage composting and recycling of our agricultural and non-agricultural wastes;

    We recycle crop waste, weeds, twigs (almost everything!) and livestock manure for composting; and

    Packaging materials to send flowers to the Philippines nationwide are recycled and reused over time.

    Because of our efforts to use natural methods and products, and our minimal use of heavy equipment or machinery, we protect the ecosystems around the Philippine Flower Farm such as rivers and streams.

    Your flowers are the result of the dedication and diligence of a handful of farmers in Bukidnon, a number of them natives. They are led by Toto, a native from Bukidnon, whose passion for growing flowers is quite infectious. Our women team are led by Dadang, whose green thumb magically turns every plant green. Our farmers harvest the flowers at their peak freshness early in the morning. We try to get all the flowers in for processing before lunch. Early afternoon, our farmers are able to go home to tend their own farms or gardens, or play with their children. Our Flower Farm prides itself in ensuring a safe, equitable and healthy work environment. We provide our farmers with access to the principal needs. We also support our farmers and their local community through preferential hiring, purchasing, infrastructure improvements and community problem solving. We believe in balancing work and play, having passion for what we do, and celebrating the fruits of our harvest.

    Each Flower Depot bouquet is hand selected, carefully arranged, and shipped fresh from our Philippine Flower Farm, with the dedication and commitment to wholly move our farm from traditional and commercial practices to sustainable farming. We hope to transition to a sustainable, organic or biodynamic agriculture in the future. Our ultimate goal is to protect our environment and also enhance the lives of our workers, as they are free from unhealthy and toxic pesticides. By practicing sustainable farming, we hope to build a better and more sustainable future, and lighten our footsteps on the planet.

    Our farm is a happy and vibrant ecosystem. In fact, our farm is home to birds, toads, earthworms, snakes, bees and and many many more. What does this mean for your flowers? Since our flowers are grown from vibrant plants, our flowers are also healthy with rich green foliage and bright brilliant blooms.

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  3. How to Make Flowers Bloom Using Biodynamic Farming

    Posted on October 10th, 2011 by admin

     
     

    Isn’t it really nice to see your garden blooming with beautiful and lively flowers? As a gardener, you should know that you need to put a lot of investments just to attain that primrose appeal you have always longed for. Aside from your expenses for seedlings, you should also invest more money for fertilizers and ample amount of time and effort to maintain the cleanliness and the conduciveness of your garden. Not anymore. These days, techniques in biodynamic farming could help lower or eliminate costs in buying and applying fertilizers to plants.

    If you aim to save on costs and time, but at the same time make your garden more blooming with countless flowers, you should consider investing in vermicultured worms. Did you know that doing so would help you not just cut expenses on chemical and synthetic fertilizers but also opt to spend more time guarding your flowering plants against pests? Earthworms have long been considered the gardens’ superstars. Together with several friendly fungi and non-harmful bacteria, expect that worms can be able to turn your garden into a primrose.

    There are several reasons why earthworms are able to help keep flowers in your garden healthy even all year long. First, worms significantly help the entry of air and water into the soil. It is a common knowledge that earthworms dig burrows. When they do so, they are able to loosen soil, providing needed oxygen to plant roots. The burrows also bring more room where roots can spread.

    Vermicultured worms break down various organic substances like leaves to become important nutrients that are essential to flowering plants’ overall health. Because of their crawling activities, earthworms help transport nutrients from the topsoil to the subsoil, about six inches deep. The organisms also help keep pH level in the soil just ideal for plant utilization. At the same time, the crawling organisms secrete slime-like substances that contain generous amounts of nitrogen, which in turn give plants their dark green color as well as stronger leaves and stems.

    Unfortunately, the volume of earthworms naturally thriving in your flowering garden may not be enough to bring about immediate results. As a matter of fact, natural earthworms in the garden may extinct and dwindle because of too much supply of sunlight, lack of moisture and exposure to risks brought about by predators like birds and insects. That is why there is a need for you to invest in vermicultured worms, which can be bought and transferred easily into the soil in your garden. If you are really determined to make your flower bloom more and livelier, try out investing in such artificially cultured worms. You are assured that your garden would be healthier and more organic.

    Many gardeners could attest to the usefulness and effectiveness of this biodynamic farming technique. There is no need to buy chemicals and fertilizers that could pose risks to human health and to the environment. Let earthworms take care of your farming. The creatures are naturally farming friendly.

    Get more complete tips on Biodynamic Farming , visit: www.biodynamicfarming.getmytips.com

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  4. Dog Training: Digging Behavior and Correction

    Posted on April 3rd, 2011 by admin

     
     
    1421946254 53d8ef133a m Dog Training: Digging Behavior and Correction

    When it comes to dog training there are two differing sides of opinion when it comes to dogs and their digging habits. Firstly, many dog trainers think that a dog is a dog, and we should permit him to express his true canine nature by allowing him free reign over the yard and flowerbeds. The other dog training experts feel that a flowerbed is a flowerbed, and no dog should even think about expression his dogginess if such an expression comes at the price of a ruined flowerbed.

    Most leading dog training experts favor the middle ground for training your dog. Although many dogs do love to dig, and it is healthy for them to be permitted to dig once in a while, theres a difference between allowing your dog to express their inner puppy, and allowing him to run rampant in the backyard. No dog training professional would agree that a dog should have to come at the price of a garden, and vice versa. When if comes to dog training, flowers and dogs can coexist peacefully if you train your dog correctly. If your dogs developed a taste for digging, it will just take a bit of time, and some ingenuity, on your part to resolve the dog training problem satisfactorily.

    To start with, if you have yet to adopt a dog and your concern for the fate of your garden is purely hypothetical, consider the breed of dog that you would like. If you’ve got your eye on a specific mixed-breed dog, what aspect of his mixed dog heritage seems to be the most prominent?

    Dog breed often plays a significant role in any given dog’s personal opinion of digging as a rewarding and valuable dog pastime many terriers and Nordic breeds in particular (Huskies, Malamutes, some members of the Spitz family for example) seem to particularly enjoy digging.

    Every dog training expert will, of course, say that when you get right down to the sum and substance, every dog is first and foremost an individual, and theres no real way to predict whether or not your chosen four legged friend is going to be a burrower or not. However, if youre trying to reduce the likelihood of an involuntarily-landscaped garden as much as possible, It is suggested you stay away from all breeds of terrier (and for those that did not know, the name means ‘go to earth’, after all!) and the Nordic breeds.

    Why do dogs dig?

    Dog training professionals often agree on the following reasons, and they are in no particular order, as to why a dog will dig:

    * General Lack of exercise. Digging is a good way for a hyped-up, under-exercised dog to burn off some of their nervous energy.

    * Boredom. Bored dogs will find a ‘job’ to do, something rewarding and interesting, to help the time pass by.

    * Digging is often the ideal solution for a bored dog: it gives him a sense of purpose, and distracts him from an otherwise-empty day.

    * The need for broader horizons. Some dogs are just escape artists by nature no matter how much exercise and attention they get, its nearly impossible to confine them to an area. For a Doggy-Houdini, it’s not the digging itself that is the reward, it is the wonderful unknown that exists beyond the boundaries they were confined to and dogs love to explore a world of unfamiliar scents.

    * Separation anxiety. Often when a dog is seriously pining for your company, digging under those confining walls represents the most direct path to you. Separation anxiety is an unpleasant psychological issue relatively common among dogs but because its so complex, we wont be dealing with it in this article but keep an eye out because I will be writing about that in detail in another article.

    Training the habit out of your dog

    Dog training experts agree that most of the reasons contributing to your dogs desire to dig suggest their own solutions. If your dogs not getting enough exercise (generally speaking, at least forty-five minutes worth of vigorous walking per day), take him for more walks it will help you and your dog stay fit and healthy. If your dog is bored, give him some interesting and durable toys and chews to play with during your absence, and wear him out before you leave so he spends most of the day napping. As for an escape-artist dog, they might need to be crated, or at least kept inside the house where hes less likely to be able to break out of his or her confines.

    For those dogs who just like to dig as a pastime in itself, though, here are a few basic dog training tips for controlling inappropriate excavation as much as is reasonably possible:

    * Restrict your dogs access to the area concerned. This is the most effective thing you can do: if hes never in the yard without active supervision, theres no opportunity for digging his own personal tunneling system.

    * Use a natural deterrent. Almost all dogs will shy back, horrified, from the prospect of digging anywhere that theres dog poop. Even the ones who like to eat poop (a condition known as coprophagia) generally wont dig anywhere near it as it offends their basic natural, fastidious dislike of soiling their coat and paws.

    * Use natures own protection. If the continued digging is bothering you because its upsetting the more delicate blooms in your garden, plant hardier blossoms: preferably, those with deep roots and thorny defenses. Roses are ideal and a natural deterrent.

    * A more time-consuming, but super-effective way of dog training is to roll up the first inch or two of turf in your yard, and lay down chicken-wire underneath it. Your dog wont know it is there until hes had a few tries at digging, but once hes convinced himself that its pointless (which wont take long), hell never dig in that yard again. As we say, time consuming but very, very effective.

    Accept your dogs need for an outlet, give him a place to dig

    If your dog is set on tunneling your yard into a pot marked, grassless lunar landscape, but youre equally determined to prevent this from happening at all costs, take a moment to consider before embarking on a grueling and time-consuming preventative strategy.

    Setting yourself the goal of eradicating all digging behavior, period, is pretty unrealistic. It is not fair on you (since, really, youre setting yourself up for failure), and its not really fair on your poor dog either. If hes a natural-born digging machine, its just part of his personality, and he needs at least some opportunity to express that in some form.

    But a lawn and a dog dont have to be mutually exclusive. The most humane and understanding thing for you to do in this case is simply to redirect his digging energy where you can live with it and he can love you for it.

    The simplest dog training solution in this case is allocating him an area where hes allowed to dig as much as he pleases. Once this zones been established, you can make it understood that there is to be absolutely no digging in the rest of the garden, and you can enforce your rules with a clear conscience. As set these boundaries you know your dog now has his own little corner of the world to turn upside down and inside out as he chooses and all parties are happy.

    But what if you dont have a “spare corner” of the backyard for your little digger to call his own? What if the whole thing, grass, flowerbeds, and gravel path, is just too dear to your heart? This is ok, there is a solution to this as well. You can invest in a sandbox, which you can place anywhere in the garden.

    You can even make one yourself (the deeper, the better, obviously). Fill it with a mixture of sand and earth, and put some leaves or grass on top if you like for effect and get your dog interested in it by having a scratch around yourself, until he gets the idea.

    Ensuring the boundaries are clear

    One great dog training tip is to make it clear to him that the sandbox is OK but that everywhere else is a no-dig zone, spend a little time supervising him. When he starts to dig in the box (you can encourage this by shallowly burying a few choice marrowbones in there), praise him energetically and if he starts digging anywhere else, correct him straight away with an extended finger or hand command and state a firm “No!” or “ahh-ah-ahhhh”.

    Then, redirect him immediately to the sandbox, and dole out vociferous praise when digging recommences.

    To really clarify the lesson, give him a treat when digging gets underway in the sandbox the close proximity between the correction (for digging out of the sandbox) and praise/reward (for digging in the sandbox) will ensure that your point strikes home and you will have dog training success.

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  5. Gardening in South Africa

    Posted on March 17th, 2011 by admin

     
     

    Visit SiteAs soon as your payment has been confirmed your account will be activated. All you then need to do is to LOGIN to the website with your username and password

    We offer a 3 month, 6 month and 12 month subscription and have kept our prices affordable for everyone.
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