Gardening

How to Care For Your Garden Tools During the Winter

Every good gardener knows that the right tools are like good bugs—they can make the work easier. As with most things, a good garden tool can cost a fair amount more than the base-line unit. If you're going to shell out money, you should get the most use out of the tool. The proper care can keep your tools in great shape, or even bring back to life an old tool you might find at a yard sale. Preparing and properly storing your tools for winter are important maintenance practices for the longevity of your tools. Lucky, this process is fairly quick and inexpensive.

Step 1: Clean Your Tools

It's important to clean your garden tools before storing them. Fertilizer can deteriorate your tools, and mud can hold moisture that will lead to excess rust. For general cleaning, use soapy water and rinse until clean. You can remove stubborn clumps or caked on material by using a putty knife, wire brush or steel scrubber. Dry your tools with a towel.

Step 2: Sharpen Your Tools

This is the perfect time to get your tools ready for next season. A flat file is great for most tools. (You can usually buy one at your local hardware store.) You can use it to file the blade to restore the edge. Be sure not to make the blade too thin, as this can cause the gardening tool to chip. Take items like shears to a professional if you are unsure how to sharpen them.

Step 3: Maintain Handles

Gardeners know that wooden handles can start to split and crack over time. For split or splintered handles, use sandpaper to smooth the wood. To prevent cracks, use linseed oil. Put a small amount of oil on a towel and work it into the wood. You will see the color of the wood darken as the oil works into the grain. Continue applying the oil until the handle has an even coat.

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Step 4: Prepare a Storage Bucket

Use an old pot or bucket that is large enough to store your tools. This doesn't have to be as big as your rain harvesting container. Fill the container with enough fine sand to cover the metal of your tools. Mix in enough WD-40 or vegetable oil to make the sand moist. You'll need approximately 1 quart of oil for 5 pounds of sand.

Step 5: Store Garden Tools

Now you're ready to insert your tools. Place the metal parts of tools, such as the blade of shovels, hoes, forks or knives, into the sand. This is where they will stay until you want to use them. If you decide not to use the sand method, you will need to oil all the metal parts and leave the oil on them all winter. This can be a little tricky because they need to be covered enough to be thoroughly coated without causing the oil to drip or puddle.

Step 6: Get Ready for Next Season

When the next season approaches, you will be ready for a successful garden. All that you will need to do is wipe off any excess sand and oil from your tools. Use a towel and place the mixture back into the bucket. You can use this mixture again next year, as well as throughout the year.

Using these easy techniques will keep your tools in great condition, letting you enjoy them for many years. Using this process, you can even revive an old tool. Find more information about organic gardening at our DIY blog.

How to Harvest Rainwater to Water Your Garden

Water is one of the essential requirements for growing plants. Rain is the natural way plants receive this, but in most gardens, including raised beds, rain alone is not enough. Rain has an ironic habit of either giving too much or too little. In some areas, you may not get rain for a month at a time. The solution may appear obvious: turn on the faucet. However, there is another way. You can collect rainwater and store it for future use.

For every 2 inches of rainfall, your garden gets approximately ½ gallon of water for every square foot. This means that if you collected water from 2 inches of rain over a 10-foot by 10-foot space (or 100 feet squared), you would have 50 gallons of water.

How to Harvest Rainwater

The easiest way to collect rainwater is by using your roof. In a moderate precipitation, the average home will fill a 55-gallon container in two to three hours by only collecting water from one side of the house. This idea of conservation fits well with natural gardening, but any utility conscious individual may want to try it.

The easiest way to collect the water is to use your existing gutters to funnel the water to a collection device for rainwater. You may need to purchase a downspout converter that will allow you to collect the water as long as the storage device is empty. These devices will adjust the flow of the water so that any excess rain will follow the original exit path once the storage container is full. Without this feature, you may have water back up and overflow the gutter in heavy rains, which can lead to issues around your home. For example, an overflowing gutter could increase soil erosion around your house's foundation.

Storage Containers for Collecting Rainwater

You'll find many different rainwater storage containers on the market. While size is one of the biggest differences, with a small container only holding a few gallons and a large one holding over 500 gallons, containers may have different features to consider. The most basic containers have a lid that helps keep the rainwater clean. The lid allows you to access the water and dip out of it when you want. For a little more money, you can buy a container with a valve on the bottom. This lets you attach the garden hose right to the collection device.

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Making Your Own Water Harvesting System

Gardeners can make all the components they need for a rain harvesting system from materials at the hardware store or even from around your house. This can be a great way to think outside the box. For a rain diverter (the piece that sends the rain from the gutter to the container), you can use PVC pipe. Remove the downspout and attach your PVC pipe directly to the gutter with one end. Make sure to use a large diameter pipe to keep the water from backing up. A filter at the top of the PVC pipe will help keep debris out of your water containers.

For the container, find something that is non-corrosive. The most popular material for a storage device is a large plastic container. Choose one that has a tight-sealing lid. You can connect the PVC pipe to the container by drilling a hole in the top of the lid.

You can also add a valve at the bottom of the container in order to attach a hose for watering. Before attaching the valve, you can heat the plastic around the hole with a hair dryer to make a better seal as you tighten the valve. The pressure from the water at the top of the container will force the water through the garden hose at a surprising rate.

If you wish to connect another container to the main unit, drill a hole into the side of the unit about 2 to 3 inches from the top. The second (and subsequent containers) must be either lower in elevation or shorter than the previous unit. From the hole in the side of the first unit, attach a pipe to the top of the next unit. As water rises to the hole in the first unit, it will flow over to the second.

If you don't like the idea of using plastic storage containers, you can find plenty of alternatives. With some creativity and design, your containers could become a piece of art. You can paint the containers or use decorative pieces to add to your backyard landscape. Large pieces of pottery can make great rain-holding vessels.

You can also hide most containers with bushes or a fence. Regardless of how you come by harvesting rainwater, you will have the benefits of pure water at an ambient temperature. Both things help to grow fast and strong plants instead of shocking their systems. Find more information about organic gardening at our DIY blog.

How to Harvest Your Own Tomato Seeds

Tomatoes are a very diverse food. The color, flavor, liquid, size, and aroma change dramatically from one type of tomato to the next. Being self-pollinating, which means the pollen and egg of the same flower interact, the tomato plant is a great stand-alone product. Tomato plants that will grow well are hard to identify from a young plant or seedling. Your best bet is to harvest tomato seeds from a plant that has produced well in the past.

The Variety of Tomato Seeds

Just as organic plants and heirloom plants have differences, so do the seeds. While heirloom tomatoes will produce the same fruit year after year, hybrid and genetically modified seeds won't. Some genetically modified plants produce seeds that are sterile, which means they will not produce another plant regardless of your actions.

Hybrid seeds will usually produce a plant, but the offspring will not be the same as the parent plant. The longer you harvest the seeds, the more likely the offspring is to revert to characteristics of the two or more plants it was derived from. Typically, you will not have as good of a second-generation plant as you did with the first. Therefore, heirloom tomato plants are the choice of gardeners who are passionate about harvesting garden seeds.

The Harvesting Process

When you're ready to start your tomato legacy, you'll want to follow these steps.

Step 1: Choose Ripe Tomatoes

Ensure that you pick only ripe tomatoes for harvesting seeds. You will be able to tell whether they are ripe because the tomato will be a vibrant color different from the young tomatoes. The fruit will also be slightly soft to the touch and will pull away relatively easy from the vine.

Step 2: Cut the Tomatoes

Place a tomato on a cutting board and turn it on its side, so the stem is parallel to the cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut the tomato in half.

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Step 3: Squeeze the Tomatoes

Hold a tomato over a glass jar, which should be among your standard indoor garden tools, and squeeze it. You can use something other than glass but stay away from metal. A baby food bottle works well, or you can use a canning jar from the craft store. Squeeze out all the juice, pulp and seeds. You may need to use a small spoon to help with the process.

Step 4: Allow the Seeds to Cure

Place the container with seeds and liquid in an area out of direct sunlight. The smell may become a little intense, so you might want to choose some place away from normal traffic. Allow the seeds to set until they are partially covered by a whitish cloudy mold. This will take about 3 – 5 days, and you may need to add some water to keep the seeds covered, depending on your area.

Step 5: Clean and Rinse the Tomato Seeds

Now that the mold has had an opportunity to kill off any harmful bacteria or disease that might have passed onto the new plant, spoon off the mold from on top of the liquid. Fill the container ¾ full of water and stir the seeds. Bad seed will float to the top and good seeds will settle to the bottom. Pour the liquid out while retaining the good seeds. Continue this process until the water is clear.

Step 6: Strain the Tomato Seeds

Empty the seeds into a fine mesh strainer or a coffee filter. Rinse the seeds thoroughly under running water.

Step 7: Dry the Tomato Seeds

Place the seeds onto a plate and allow them to dry completely, approximately 1 – 3 days. Keep the seeds out of direct sunlight and stir them once or twice a day. Try to keep the seeds from touching until they are dry.

Step 8: Store the Seeds

Now you are ready to store your seeds. Use an airtight glass jar, like the one you used earlier. Place the seeds in a cool and dark area until you are ready to sprout them next season.

If you plant multiple plants, keep an eye out for slight differences. You may notice that one bears more fruit or that another has larger fruit. Find the one that you like best and harvest seeds from the fruit of that plant. With a good eye, your tomato plants can become better and better each year. Find more information about organic gardening at our DIY blog.

Critters That Help Your Garden Grow

Garden critters often make people cringe, especially when they are on food. Unfortunately, bugs and insects have discovered that few things taste as good as fresh produce. Reaching for the bottle of pesticide is not the only way to win the battle — many different bugs will fight for you. These bugs eat the bad bugs and not your plants. The next time you see one of the following bugs in your garden, thank it.

Ladybugs

Lady beetles, more often called ladybugs, are a true friend to the gardener. Their life cycle takes them on a metamorphosis journey that includes egg, larva, pupa, and adult. In the larva and adult stages, ladybugs eat aphids. As adults, they also eat white flies, scales insects and mites. A few species even eat mildew and fungus.

In addition to its appetite, a ladybug has other ways to keep garden pests out of your food. Adult ladybugs have a hard round body with short legs, and they are usually a crisp red with a range of black spots. The bright color contrast symbolizes toxicity to potential prey, scaring away many unwanted insects. Ladybugs also excrete hemolymph, a toxic and foul-smelling substance, from the leg joints.

If you aren't blessed with ladybugs, you can buy ladybugs to add to your garden. These garden critters reproduce quickly and lay up to 1,000 eggs within just a few months. Most gardeners find that they only need to purchase a small number of ladybugs to populate an entire garden. For a small raised garden bed, you may only need to transplant one or two from other areas nearby.

Praying Mantis

The praying mantis is a skilled and stealthy predator insect. The garden insect eats other insects and some larger species even eat small invertebrate animals, like lizards. These skilled hunters aren't selective in their diet and will eat the good bugs along with the bad, but this balance can create a natural garden balance.

Praying mantis, commonly misspelled preying mantis or praying mandis, are usually green or brown and blend into the leafy terrain as if they were a branch on a stick. The predators have several factors that make them good garden insects.

They can rotate their arrow-shaped heads to look behind their bodies, which is a rare trait.

They can remain virtually motionless while waiting for prey.

They keep their front legs folded, as though praying, allowing them to snatch and capture food.

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Pollinating Bugs

Every garden needs pollination from an outside source. This usually happens when an organism uses your plants or flowers for food or shelter. The organism will move from one flower to another, introducing leftover pollen from the previous plant. Some common garden pollinators are butterflies, syrphid flies, humming birds, and bees.

One of the best-known and best-suited organisms for pollination in a garden is the honeybee. These garden workers work well when they have a hive somewhere close to your vegetables or flowers. In fact, beekeepers ship thousands of hives across the U.S. every year in order for these hard workers to pollinate huge farms.

If you don't want to purchase garden pollinators, plant flowers or vegetables that will attract them. You may even want to sculpt your garden around these plants.

For a butterfly garden, find out what butterflies are in your region and then look at a butterfly chart from the Butterfly Website to see what plants to use. For example, the Anise Swallowtail butterfly prefers Queen Anne's lace and Joe Pye weed or buddleia.

For syrphid flies, also called hover flies or flower flies, you can plant dill, lavender, crimson thyme, and caraway, among other things.

For humming birds, plant flowers in or around your garden. Hummingbirds favor columbine, anise sage, coral honeysuckle, and trumpet creeper.

For honeybees, you can plant flowers, trees, vegetables, fruits or herbs. Some common fruits and vegetables for attracting honeybees include blackberries, wild garlic, pumpkins, and cantaloupe.

Garden bugs play a vital role in a healthy garden. Numerous insects help to keep the soil aerated and fertile for your plants. Furthermore, different regions have different good and bad bugs to keep in balance. Let the battle of nature keep your garden healthy and fruitful. For more gardening tips and information on organic gardening, visit our DIY blog.

The Difference Between Heirloom, Organic, and Conventional Seeds

Every garden begins with a seed, but the type of seed can vary dramatically from one garden to the next. The seed will eventually play a major factor in the shape, size and yield of your garden plants, so it's important to take the time to consider the differences between heirloom, organic and conventional garden seeds.

What Are Heirloom Seeds?

Heirloom seeds can be one of the hardest and sometimes most expensive types of seeds. Most heirloom seeds come from a strain of plants that is over 50 years old. The plants are usually open-pollinated varieties. This type of seed will be fertile and will produce the same plant year after year. Heirloom does not mean organic, but an heirloom seed fall under an organic classification based on the National Standard for Organic Agriculture.

Heirloom Seed Benefits

Most heirloom seeds, like those at Rare Seeds will produce fruits and vegetables with more flavor than other kinds of seeds. The taste is often more rich and robust. Another benefit is that there are more varieties of heirloom produce and plants than their conventional counterparts.

Heirloom Seed Drawbacks

The fruits and vegetables of an heirloom seed have a tendency to be less uniform in shape. This can work well for the backyard gardener, but most commercial farmers get better sales with uniform fruits and vegetables. Heirloom seeds are also not as resistant to drought or disease during their lifecycle. Gardeners often avoid buying heirloom garden seeds because they cost more and because they often yield less than a garden seeded with conventional starters.

What Are Organic Seeds?

The USDA organic label is upholds the rigorous guidelines of the National Standard for Organic Agriculture. If a seed falls outside the standard, it cannot bear an organic label. Under these guidelines, a seed must come from produce grown in soil free of unapproved fertilizers and unapproved insecticides. The seed must be natural and without genetic modification.

Organic Benefits

The old saying, "You are what you eat," is the main reason behind organic gardens. Many believe that ingesting something genetically modified or produced with chemicals has a negative effect on the body with long-term consumption. The results for numerous studies have caused organizations to ban the use of past food production practices, and more studies are on going to evaluate today's practices. Organic seeds, like those at Seeds of Change will give you the right start to produce a healthier garden as long as you stick to organic practices while gowning the produce.

Organic Drawbacks

Organic growing has two major drawbacks. First, organic garden seeds cost more than conventional seeds. Second, gardeners need to use organic practices during the growth process in order to maintain the benefits of organic seeds. This makes it more difficult to maintain the garden than the conventional seeds.

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What Are Conventional Seeds?

Most people use conventional garden seeds. This is the type of seed that you'll find in nearly all stores near the garden tools. If you don't see an heirloom or an organic label, the seed packet contains conventional seeds.

Conventional Benefits

Conventional garden seeds are the cheapest seeds on the market. They typically produce a uniform product and have a higher yield than the other types of seeds. Many of the genetic modifications will allow the seeds to grow well in your planting zone, even if the crop is not indigenous. Other modifications will protect the plant from certain growing issues and insects, creating a more durable produce.

Conventional Drawbacks

Many of the seeds produce by your crop will be infertile and not produce another crop for you if harvested. If the seed does produce, it will not be exactly like the first seed you planted — it will begin to revert to the original plant it was derived from. Additionally, the produce of these seeds is usually not as tasty as the heirloom and organic varieties.

Finding the Right Garden Seeds

The type of seed you will use in your garden may be more important to you than ever before. If you are not an attentive gardener with the best climate for growing, use a conventional seed. If taste and purity are your main concern, choose heirloom seeds. If you prefer both options, consider an organic seed. It may provide you with just the hybrid that you are looking for. Find more information about organic gardening at our DIY blog.

Tomatoes, the Vegetable That Is a Fruit

Tomatoes are scientifically a fruit. The plant forms from the ovary of a flower and contains seeds. In the culinary world, the tomato is a vegetable because of it savory flavor and its uses. Depending on the contexts, both terms can be correct. Regardless of which side of the debate you find yourself on, there's no denying the large variety of taste, shape and use for tomatoes. The right tomato can be a perfect focus of a meal or a great part of the melody. Here are some common types of tomatoes.

Heirloom Tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes include a wide range of produce. Gardeners can trace the history of these seeds back at least 50 years, and many have a history that begins before the U.S. Heirloom seeds are unaltered from their original source and provide a robust flavor that is best as a focal point of a meal. For a quick but tasty meal, pair heirloom tomato slices with mozzarella, basil and olive oil.

Cherry Tomatoes

The cherry tomato, which grows well in a raised garden, received its name not because of its flavor, but because of its size. The tomatoes range in size, but they are usually around the size of a cherry, or your thumbnail. Many have been crossed and cultivated for years to produce the best snacking tomato.

Cherry tomatoes are perfect for pasta salads or in premixed green salads since you don't need to cut them. As an added benefit, using whole cherry tomatoes reduces extra liquid in the salad. Plus, the squirt of fresh tomato juice in your mouth can be quite refreshing.

Beefsteak Tomatoes

The beefsteak variety produces large round red tomatoes, and it is a hybrid of two popular kinds of tomatoes. These tomatoes are usually an award-winning size, and the plant in your organic garden will usually produce a bunch of 1-pound to 1.5-pound tomatoes. The uniform-shaped globes of beefsteak tomatoes have a great consistency for sandwiches and hamburgers.

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Green Tomatoes

While the green tomato is not a specific type of tomato, it should not go without notice. In actually, green tomatoes are unripe. Gardeners may not want to pick their tomatoes early during the middle of the season, but they may have many toward the end of the season that will not reach maturity before it gets too cold for them to grow. The texture of a green tomato is more firm than a ripe tomato, and the flesh slightly resembles a zucchini. You can use these tomatoes for fried green tomatoes, salads, sauces, desserts, and other tomato recipes.

Super Italian Paste Tomatoes

This tomato grows to about 6 inches in length and ripens to an orange-red color. Just as the name suggests, this tomato is excellent for use in pastes and sauces. You can bottle and store the paste for use throughout the winter. Additionally, this tomato is full of flavor and is enjoyable fresh from the vine in your beautiful garden.

Roma Tomatoes

The roma tomato has a meaty flesh and is a bright red oval shape when ripe. The flesh has few seeds and less liquid than other tomatoes. The outside is firm and holds up well to heat. Roma tomatoes work well on pizzas or cooked under the broiler with cheese on top. The roma is also a great tomato for stuffing and cooking in the oven. The stuffing can be one of hundreds of recipes, or you can easily create your own.

Regardless of whether you call a tomato a fruit or vegetable, the edible part of the tomato plant is versatile and delicious. The above categories are just the tip of the iceberg. Each category has more subcategories. Whether you decide to grow or buy your tomatoes, you can make them the centerpiece or the background to a wonderful meal. Learn more about organic gardening at our DIY blog.

How To Plant Successful Raised Garden Beds

Raised gardening beds bring together form and function in a way that is easy for anyone to do. The gardening technique is the best way to ensure that you have a balanced soil that is free from toxins and weeds and ready for planting. If you haven't thought about this garden type, read on to discover the benefits of raised garden beds.

When you use raised garden beds, you may find it is easier to control pest because you're working with better soil. The right soil mixture reduces the amount of water you will need to use to produce a better garden yield. For added savings, install a weeping irrigation system, which will virtually eliminate the evaporation that can occur with normal watering.

Additionally, raised garden beds allow you to segregate your plants better than you can do in a traditional garden. It's also easier for you to rotate crops each year, which can help eliminate nutrient depletion in the soil. The confined space makes it easier to bundle plants closer together, which can make it more difficult for weeds to take root.

Finally, you can easily adapt raised beds into green houses or protected areas by covering the beds with screens or plastic covers. With all these benefits, why would someone not use a raised bed? The answer is simple. It looks like it is going to be a lot of work. While building a raised garden bed can take time, you'll spend less time weeding and tending to your garden.

Garden Location Is Key to Raised Bed Gardening

The location of your raised garden bed(s) is very important. Putting the bed in the right place can make your job as a gardener easier. Since most people use permanent raised beds, consider how you use your yard all year long. Also, keep the following things in mind:

Align your row of beds in a north to south direction to ensure full light exposure.

Choose a level area, when possible, to reduce the amount of digging you'll do when making raised garden beds.

Ensure that you have easy access to a water source.

Make sure that you have enough space for all your beds. Each bed should be about three-feet wide by 6-feet long. Allow for at least 18 inches in between each one or enough space for a lawn mower if there will be grass between the gardens.

Avoid placing the planter underneath a tree that will block too much sun.

Don't set planters too close to the house, or the roof may block the sun.

Keep your raised gardens away from gutter drains, waterspouts or other places where water may continuously drip.

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Building Raised Beds for Your Garden

Most gardeners build raised garden beds using wood. You can use a plan like the ones from Popular Mechanics. While any wood can work, the best wood for longevity is red cedar. Many people feel it is important not to use treated wood because toxic chemicals can leach from the wood into your soils, where it can enter your plants.

Railroad ties may seem like a good wood source, but be careful. Most have a chemical coating of creosote, which is a toxin derived from coal. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has listed creosote as a possible carcinogen.

Once you have a source of wood, you can build your raised bed by creating a rectangle with the wood. You only need the walls to be about two feet tall, but you can make higher walls if you want to pay for more material. Remember, it will take more soil to fill a taller garden bed than a shorter one. If you want to keep your costs low, leave the bottom of the bed open. This requires less wood for construction and less soil.

Alternatively, you can use other materials to build raised garden beds. Recycled materials can be an eco-friendly way to start your container gardening. Pair an old claw-foot bathtub filled with vegetables and a vintage pedestal sink filled with herbs. You just have to ensure that the drains are open before adding the soil and plants.

For a western theme, use old animal troths. The walls are just the right height for a raised garden. If you still want to use lumber, look for reclaimed wood, perhaps from an old barn. Some gardeners prefer to use rocks to make garden walls. You can find rocks on your property or collect them on your travels. Brick pavers from an old street make or privacy glass can make interesting raised beds, as well. Be creative.

Plan Now for a Successful Garden

A little extra work up front will pay out huge dividends for many seasons to come when you used raised garden beds. Whether you want to plant flowers, herbs or organic vegetables, you can create healthier plants with the controlled environment of a raised garden.

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