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Newsletter#21
Dear Subscriber,
Here is Your Organic Vegetable Growing Newsletter
#21
--------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday,6th. March 2005
-------------------------------
How Do You Design The
Right Garden For Your Area?
Contributed article:-
How Do You Design The
Right Garden For Your Area?
Gardening can bring a lot of joy,
entertainment, and stress
relief for years to come. In fact, having a
creative hobby
can do a lot to improve your quality of life - and
gardens
will do a lot to improve the appearance of your home.
The
first thing you should do before you even start planning
your garden is to
figure out what type of garden you want.
Are you looking for something where
you can just plant a few
flowers to enjoy during the growing season?
Are you looking
to design a small herb garden or vegetable patch?
You
should use the type of garden you want to help you choose
which design
elements you want to use.
Next, you need to find out what sort of climate
you live in.
You can do this by looking online for temperature
climate
maps. You can also check by looking up the statistics
for
rainfall and average temperatures for each month of the year
where you
live.
After you have decided what type of garden you would like
and
have gathered data about the climate, the next step is
to think about the
plants you would like to have in your
garden. Consider which plants both fit
into the limitations
of the growing season for your location and can endure
its
typical temperature amplitudes.
There is one more factor to
consider, when planning a garden
~ the amount of shade each of your plants
requires. Double
check that there is sufficient light in all locations
where
you are going to plant.
After you get all of the previous steps
figured out, you'll
be ready to plan your garden. Make sure that your
plan is
both simple to keep to, pleasing to you, and takes good
advantage
of the space available to you.
Plants that need a lot of light should be
placed away from
the buildings, since the buildings will block some of
the
sunlight during the day. You should also make sure that
there
are not too many taller trees in the area, as those
can block the light
too.
Deciding which plants to grow near the house, and which
should be
in the open also requires some thought. If you
prefer the sunshine streaming
through your windows, then you
are best not to have bulky trees or bushes
near the house,
where they will block the sunlight.
The best plants
for growing near the house are herbs or
vegetables, if you have decided that
you will grow them.
This way herbs and vegetables are handy when you need
them
for cooking. If your garden is predominantly a vegetable
one,
consider how to arrange vegetables by location in order
to make sure they
have sufficient sunlight, while at the
same time their location is not far
from your kitchen and it
is most convenient for you, when you need them for
your
cooking.
Last, but not least, take into account your
personal
preferences, when designing a garden. If there are
particular
extras you would like to have, for instance
winding pathways or gazebos,
include them in the initial
design of the garden. Your outdoor garden is
constrained
only by the limits of your creativity and the growing
season
in your location.
David Kurshel is the owner and chief editor
of BIO
<a href="http://www.biogardening.com">Gardening</a>
--
an extensive gardening resource site. For more information,
articles,
and a newsletter about gardening. go to:
http://www.biogardening.com
Companion herbs
COMPANION
HERBS
------------------------------
Please Note:- The term Herb is used very loosely and may include
references
to vegetables,fruit,flowers as well as plants normally called
herbs.
Contributed Article :-
Growing Herbs in Your
Garden
Herbs are one of the top gardening options.
They don't take
a lot of skill to grow and they are the most useful of
all
plant groups. For cookery, aromatics, medicine and
decoration, herbs
come in useful. From a gardener's
perspective bugs and plant diseases seem to
avoid herbs, so
they are close to the perfect choice for the
household
garden.
Herbs used for medicinal purposes include garlic,
which
can improve cholesterol levels, Echinacea for cold and
flu
prevention, and chamomile for stress relief. Many herbs
are used in
cooking, the most popular of which include
oregano, rosemary, thyme, dill,
and ginger. Both lavender
and mint are popularly used for their fragrances
and most
herbs make aesthetically pleasing additions to any
garden.
There is a vast array of herbs for the garden, and each
will
have it's own needs to learn about. Overall however
your herbs will benefit
from good draining soil and
shouldn't receive much fertilizer. To get that
all
important drainage in your soil you could incorporate some
rock
pieces. If you over fertilize your herbs will be
less
flavorsome.
Keeping herbs pruned helps keep them healthy. You
should
take out the new buds when you see them. (Unless of course
you
regularly use them in your cookery in which case you'll
be doing all the
pruning you need.) Herbs are best gathered
before the sun's heat is really
felt but after the dampness
of first light. If you pick between these two
points you'll
enjoy your herbs all the more because the flavorful oils
are
at their best.
With the onset of winter some herbs need to be harvested
or
brought under cover. If you choose to harvest then there
are plenty of
ways to keep the herbs for a long time. To
begin with always wash and
carefully dry the cut herb.
Drying herbs is an old and still popular
choice for keeping
picked herbs. The traditional country method is to
bunch
the herbs and hang them from the roof beams in a cool,
damp-free,
unlit space. If you want a more modern method
then herbs sandwiched between a
pair of paper kitchen
napkins can dry out in the microwave. Give them a
one
minute blast and then shorter zaps of twenty seconds a time
until you
fee they've dried out. They should be a bit
crispy. When it comes to using
dried in the place of fresh
in your recipes use about half the amount of
dried as
compared to fresh. The most simple thing to do is just to
lay the
herb leaves on a tray until the moisture has dried
from them.
Freezing
herbs is also a popular method of preservation.
Using a food processor or
blender, add a little bit of
water to the herbs, blend, and place the mixture
into ice
cube trays. You can then use your herbs, as you need them
by
adding the cubes directly to dishes. Another
alternative to the ice cube
trays is to put the dried
leaves directly into a freezer bag. Frozen herbs
have the
best flavor if used within a few months.
A herbologist is the
professional who is best placed to
help you out with selecting a mixture of
herbs. Any
herbologist will be able to select the plants you want
to
achieve the blend of taste and smell that you have in mind.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Do You Have
any tips You would like to share with readers?
You will be given credit for any tips submitted and a link
to
Your web page if You have one.
Every Tip used will be placed in a draw every 3
newsletters
and someone will win software or a gardening
book.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Happy
Gardening,
Ed.
PS If You Have a Question about organic Gardening E-mail me.
edcrain@edcrain.com
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