Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Hey guys you remember when I was telling you that companion planting was good for plants? I told you about how corn helped beans and beans helped corn? Well guess what? Planting certain plants and herbs can also deter pests from overtaking your garden! Haven't you guys always wanted to grow organic produce but ended up having to spray your plants to save them from determined, destructive pests? Have rabbits eaten your roses or raspberries? Have you ever heard to plant garlic cloves in the same area as your roses or raspberries? The garlic deters the rabbits from eating the roses and there are a TON of different plants you can plant in your garden so you wont end up having to spray it with chemicals. Look at this site and you will be utterly amazed: http://www.gardensablaze.com/Companions/CompanionPest.htm

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Been doing some studying on what type of gardening is best and have found a lot of people that favor the companion planting method. This method, in case you don't know it is where the gardener combines vegetables together for specific reasons that are beneficial to either the plants or the soil. For example, some would plant beans at the foot of their corn stalks. There are a couple of reasons this is beneficial. First, the corn must be at least two weeks in the ground before the beans are planted or the beans could retard the corn's growth. So lets pretend it has been two weeks since our corn stalks were placed in the ground and now we are planting our beans. The shade from the corn stalks allows the beans to grow in shade, which is what they prefer, but it also allows the beans to vine up the natural climbing post the corn stalks offer. Now what do the beans offer the corn? Strangely enough, the beans pull nitrogen from the air and force it down through their roots which seeps into the soil, supplying the corn with the nitrogen it needs to produce a healthy crop. Beans are a heavy nitrogen producer, while corn are heavy nitrogen users. Click on this link to learn more: http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html