|
|
 |
|
Here you will find useful information and recipes to help you take care of your yard and/ or garden
organically, efficiently, naturally, and Toxin FREE.
|
|
|
What does it mean to Grow Organically?
It means working with nature and adjusting with the laws of nature
to provide a sustainable, healthy eco-system for not just plants but for all creatures.
These Principles Include:
Building and maintaining healthy soil.
Using cover crops, which improve soil structure by adding organic
matter. Cover crops are un-havested crops grown to improve soil quality or enhance pest management as a means of conserving
soil and enhancing production.
Choosing plants appropriate to your specific area as well as those that attract beneficial
insects and avoiding the use of syntetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides.
Under the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Organic Program
(NOP), "organic" has become a legal term as defined by the federal government so only if certified
under the NOP may the term "certified organic" be used. NOP regulations define what products and
processes are allowed under certified production.
Fertilizers:
Organic fertilizers are made from naturally occurring mineral deposits and organic
material, such as bone or plant meal or compost manure.
Organic fertilizers stimulate beneficial soil microorganisms and improve the structure
of the soil. Soil microbes play an important role in converting organic fertilizers into soluble nutrients that can be absorbed
by your plants.
Synthetic fertilizers are made by chemically processing raw materials. Synthetic
fertilizers are water-soluble and can be taken up by the plant almost immediately. In fact applying too much synthetic fertilizer
can "burn" foliage and damage your plants.
Because synthetic fertilizers are highly water soluble, they can also leach out into streams and
ponds. They can also last a long time in the soil, air and water and adversely effect species that thrive there.
Organic fertilizers, Compost nad Manure can provide all the secondary and micronutrients
your plants need. For the long term Health of your garden, feeding your plants by building the soil with organic fertilizers
and compost is best. This will give you soil that is rich in organic matter and teeming with microbial life.
|
Bringing Good Bugs
Into Your Garden
One of the best things you can do to protect your garden
from unwanted pests, is to bring in carnivorous insects. In otherwords good bugs that will eat your bad bugs. You
will want to order these bugs online or at your local plant store.
Ladybugs, Lacewings, Dragonflys, and Praying Mantids,
are most commonly sold bugs to protect and care for your garden.
Ladybugs: Hippodemia Convergens
is the most successful of the Ladybugs; it will eat mostly aphids but will go after other bus as well. Cryptolaemus montrouzieri,
also known as "Crypts" or "Mealbug Destroyers" and they are just that. They like to eat mealybugs. Rhyzobius+ Lindorus
Iophanthae, or the Singular Black Lady Beetle will eat scale insects.
Lacewings: Another pretty addition,
and like the ladybug, they also like to eat aphids.
Dragonflies: will eat your mosquitoes.
Where as "Mosquito Eaters" or "Cranflies" do not.
Praying Mantids: think of them
as spiders they will eat anything that lands in their path. Keep in mind though that they will also eat your good bugs.
And unlike the ladybug who "seeks and destroys" the Praying Mantis will wait for its prey to come to it. Which means you
would need to be patient with waiting for your pests to disapear.
Your local Garden Center will sometimes sell these bugs,
but the easier faster way of getting ahold of these bugs is to find them online. For more information on bugs that will work
for you please visit:
|
Organic Yard Care Power Point slide show
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Slow Release Organic Fertilizer
4 parts seed meal (like cottonseed, or neem seed)
1/4 part agricultural lime
1/4 part gypsum (or double the agrc lime)
1/2 part dolomite lime
OPTIONAL (best):
1 part boemeal, rock phospate, or high phospate guano
1/2-1 part kelp meal (or 1 part basalt dust)
You can substitute grass clippings (high in nitrogen) for seed meal.
|
For Deer Deterrent (large volume applications):
1 cup of milk
2 Tbl cooking oil
2 Tbl dish soap
2 whole eggs
2 gallons (8 liters) of water
Use in pump sprayer.
|
To Repel Slugs & Snails:
Sprinkle diatomaceous earth (must be re-applied after watering, except
drip irrigation)
or sprinkle crushed eggshells around plants.
Slugs and snails do not like sharp things
|
For Fungus:
Equal parts milk and water Mix
Spray 3times per week
For Powder Mildew:
2 Tbl Baking Soda
1 quart Water
Make in spray bottle; shake, spray, repeat every few days.
|
Acid Loving Plants:
(Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Camellias, Hydrangeas, Evergreens,
Blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Potatoes & Radishes. Thse are just some examples of low ph loving plants.)
Coffee Ground Tea for Acidic Fertilizer:
used coffee grounds
water
pitcher or other container you can pour from.
Place used coffee grounds in a pitcher or other container you can
pour from. Add room temperature water to the pitcher to dilute coffee grounds. Let sit for 20 min. or so. Pour coffee ground
tea on any acid-loving plant.
|
To Repel Mites, Aphids, Mealies:
2 Tbl of dish soap
2 Tbl of hot sauce (Tapatio, Tabasco, etc)
1 quart of water
Make in a spray bottle, shake well before using. Spray on plants.
|
To make a Beer Trap:
2-3 inches of beer
or
1 Tbl of Yeast
1 Tbl of Flour
1 Tbl of Sugar
1 cup of water
Cut a 2 inch hole about 2/3 up the side of an empty margarine tub or plastic yogurt container. Bury
the container so the hole is just above ground, and cober with lid. Remove dead slugs daily.
|
A good fertilizer is 'Compost Tea' -- though to keep it aerobic (oxygenated)
instead of anaerobic, you'll need a small (30-50 gallon) aquarium pump.
In a 5-gallon bucket:
1 small shovel of finished compost (no big chunks) in a burlap (rough cloth) bag
2 Tbl molasses
2 Tbl seaweed or fish emulsion
1 tsp citric acid, or 2 500mg tablets of vitamin C, or several Tbls of lemon juice.
Cover with water and turn the pump on. It should be ready in two or three days (warm weather = faster
brewing). Strain the tea when done and ue immediately; it can be poured or sprayed on.
If the tea is smelly like old flower water. it has not been oxigenated enough and contains
no beneficial microorganisms. Do not ue on garden as it may contain alcohol from fermentation. which is
toxic to plants.
|
|
|
|
Soil
It's all about the soil when it comes to
healthy lawn care. Healthy soil equals a healthy lawn that will easily outcompete most weeds. Maintain healthy soil pH.Certain
weeds such as dandelions prefer a slightly acidic soil. Using dolomite lime will raise the pH levels and help the grass crowd
out the weeds.Keep nitrogen levels up. Other weeds such as clover obtain their nitrogen from the atmosphere and can indicate
low nitrogen levels in the soil. The easiest way to keep nitrogen levels up is to leave your grass clippings on the lawn.
Other substances that can be applied to increase nitrogen include bat guano, cottonseed meal and blood meal. Always use natural
soil amendments instead of chemical fertilizers. Examples of good additives include blood meal, fishmeal, fish emulsion, seed
meals, bone meal, rock phosphate, greensand, kelp meal, manure and compost.
116 W. 2nd Street * Chico, CA 95926 * (530) 891-6424
Copyright Butte Environmental Council 2008
|
|
|
|
