CompostaBlog

It’s easy,very inexpensive and they taste better too so lets get started!

STEP 1: Which tomatoes should I grow? If you have a long growing season then you would want to go with an indeterminate variety which grows all summer long. If your growing season is short then you would go with a determinate variety which produces its fruit quickly (in as little as 85 days or less) and ripens all at once.

Step 2: Now that I have bought my seeds what do I do with them? Six to eight weeks for the end of winter I line up little paper cups filled with peat moss and put one seed in each cup. I then place them in a sunny window sill and water almost daily as peat tends to dry out quickly. Make sure not to over water or let the seed/roots sit in excessive water as this will kill them.

As your seedlings grow transplant them into larger and larger containers, each time burying them up to the first set of leaves. The plant will send out roots from the buried stem and will develop a stronger root system by the time they are ready to be planted outdoors. Once your seedlings have taken off and the threat of frosts are over move your plants outdoors for a few hours each afternoon to get them acclimated, or hardened off, before actually planting them in the garden.

Will any soil work? Tomatoes need a rich, well-drained soil ideally full of organic matter, so get started on that compost pile early.

How much sun do they need? Tomatoes require full sun which translates into no less than 6 to 8 hours a day. Plants will be weak and unhealthy with anything less.

STEP 3: Okay it’s time to transplant. Transplanting is an important step and if you do it carefully, you can look forward to an abundant crop of healthy mouth watering tomatoes.

Once your tomato plants have been hardened, or acclimated to outdoor conditions, and night-time temperatures continually exceed 50 degrees, it’s time to set your plants out into your garden or patio containers.

After planting your tomato plants its a good idea to place organic mulch around them. mulch helps keep the soil most and helps keep fruit off the ground, preventing rotting. The advantages to Mulching is that the soil retains moisture requiring less waterings. Also, the mulch acts as a slow release fertilizer and helps keep the weeds down.

STEP 4: It’s a good idea to prune your plants by pinching off the small leaves which appear in the crotch above a larger stem. Don’t pinch off too many large leaves or the sun will burn developing fruit. Pinching back the top of the plant after it reaches the top of your stake or cage encourages more flowering and fruit.

How often should I water them? Your plants should be deep watered 2 to 3 times a week or more depending of your soil type. If the plant is seen wilting in the middle of the day, ignore it. They will perk right back up by late afternoon. If the plants look droopy in the morning, they need water.

All that hard work gardening is getting ready to pay off and depending on what type of tomato plants you chose more than likely you will have an over abundance of ripe tomatoes.

When the fruits have ripened, pick them by bending back the fruit at the notch on the stem. They can be eaten straight from the plant, or can be stored for up to a week in the fridge.

Tomatoes store well in a cool, dry location. Do not put them in the refrigerator. While they last longer in the refrigerator, they will lose their flavor and texture. To slow down ripening keep them out of direct sunlight.

Good luck and happy gardening!

Penny owns and operates http://PennysTomatoes.com where she sells tomato seeds and offers advice on how to turn those seeds into tons of mouth watering tomatoes. She has written articles for South Carolina Womans Magazine and was a guest on Southern Style, a local show in Myrtle Beach.

More on Growing Tomatoes

Compost is what is left over when organic matter decomposes. Organic matter can be things like vegetable scraps, leaves, mown grass and any other garden waste. This material will decompose without any assistance at all, though you can help it along and enjoy the benefits of compost faster if you wish.

Because it doesn’t contain a high level of essential nutrients, compost is not considered an actual fertilizer. Instead, it is treated as a soil conditioner or amendment. Compost does supply many good things to the soil. It attracts beneficial creatures like earthworms and it improves the soil composition.

Cold composting is basically just making a pile and letting it sit in the bin. This takes longer than hot composting. Hot composting is when you take a shovel and turn your pile every few days to supply more oxygen to the microorganisms in your compost pile.

Location

First, decide where you will put your compost pile. Check for city ordinances that may regulate where you can put a compost pile, or if you can even have one. A compost pile can get messy, so put it somewhere that you can reach with a hose so you can do clean up if necessary. Bugs will be attracted to your compost pile, so keep this in mind. If you have a free corner in your garden that is far enough away from the house and the neighbors could be the perfect spot for that new compost pile.

Containers

There are many composting products for sale today. They even have gadgets that will rotate your compost for you, but really, the only thing you need is a compost container. Some people simply fence off the compost pile, while others use a bin or container of some kind to put their organic matter in. This can be recycled, home made or purchased at a store. While there are many composting bins to choose from in all sorts of shapes and sizes, the easiest ones are simple. Don’t spend more than you need.

Layer It

A good way to begin a compost pile is with layers. Start with fallen leaves or grass clippings, and then put some soil on it, then put in some kitchen waste. Eggshells, scraps of fruits and vegetables and coffee grounds all make good additions to a compost pile. Do not ever add meat or pet waste to your compost. Once you have more layers, add another layer of soil and manure.

Moisture

Keep your compost pile moist, but not wet. Add a little water if it seems to be getting dry. You may want to consider adding a little beer to your pile. The yeast in the beer will keep the bacteria in your compost pile and make sure they’ll be happy. It doesn’t really matter if you add beer or water, just keep it moist.

Maintenance

A compost pile doesn’t need a lot of maintenance. Just continue adding your garden trimmings and kitchen waste to the pile. Occasionally mix in a little soil and manure to encourage decomposition. Keep the pile moist and if you remember, turn the pile about once a week to improve air circulation and aid the decomposition process.

The compost is ready to put in your garden when it looks like dark soil and smells like earth. Just add to your garden and mix it in. If you want to add compost to your indoor plants, you need to sterilize it first. Layer it on some foil on an old baking sheet and put it in a 200 degree F oven for about half an hour.

There isn’t one best way to make compost. No matter what you do, organic matter will decompose. Find the style that works best for you and your garden and get composting!

Check out The Joy of Rose Gardening now at http://www.roseflowergarden.com, to find great articles, advice, tips and much more on rose gardening topics.

More Compost Help

Compost piles must hold a minimum of organic material before they will maintain rapid decomposition. So the pile should be at least 3-feet-by-3-feet and 4-feet tall. Naturally piles can be larger. Moving leaves to the pile, then chopping them up with a lawn mower or leaf shredder before they go on the pile aids composting considerably, as small particles decompose faster than large ones.

There are other things we can do to accelerate composting and make it more efficient. As slightly wet leaves decompose quicker than dry ones and rain may not penetrate the pile center, I’d dampen dry leaves before adding them. Ground limestone may also be scattered in if we add a bunch of oak leaves and we’re concerned about the acidity they may generate in our pile. Scatter about a pound of lime for every five leaf layers. But do not use lime if your compost will be given to acid loving plants such as mountain laurel, blueberries, azaleas, rhododendrons and potatoes. Adding lime to compost is an option rather than mandatory.

The addition of fertilizers speeds composting. Scatter 1 cup of fertilizer for every 15 square feet of pile.
Two pounds of dried cow manure can be the fertilizer. The addition of fertilizer is not a necessity.

Shady piles seem to compost faster than sunny ones, as they more promptly retain the moisture microbes need. Drenching a dry pile with water can be helpful in hot weather. Construct your pile lower in the center and higher on the sides, that way rain will go in more easily. Covering the pile with plastic sheets to reduce evaporation can help in conserving that most important water supply. Turning the pile every month with a garden fork or similar tool aerates our microbes and speeds composting.

Garden waste material and vegetable scraps make great compost additions, but don’t place meat, bones, glass, plastic or metal in the pile. Keep material loaded with weed seeds, plant disease or insects out of the pile. Never put in material that’s been treated with herbicide. Straw or hay can be added, but seeds in the hay may not decompose, sometimes causing weed troubles. Pine needles may be added, but because of their waxy coatings, they may take longer to break down. If you add twigs make sure they are small and broken, or they will take forever to break down. If you add newspaper they need to be shredded into tiny strips. Choose an inconspicuous site for the pile. While piles aren’t ugly, they are seldom beautiful.

Compost has so many garden uses that I never get enough of this terrific stuff. I blend compost into every planting hole, whether I’m planting a dogwood tree, petunia beds, tomatoes or anything else.

Jim’s articles are from extensive research on each of his topics. You can learn more of organic materials by visiting: Compost Piles

Organic Gardening Tips

In some areas allotments are like gold dust and there are long waiting lists. You may well be able to get around this by choosing another site or simply offering to take on an overgrown plot. If not, the good news is that an authority believes there is a real demand, it has statutory duty to provide a sufficient quantity of plots to lease them to people living in the local area.

The government website helpfully points that out ‘If local people feel there is a need for allotments which is not being met, they can get together a group of any six residents who are registered of the electoral role and put their case to the local authority’. You may find that you get six people together just by spending a Sunday afternoon at your nearest allotment. Alternatively you can put posters up at existing sites, in your library, local pub or anyway that may be of interest.

The National Society of Allotment Gardeners can offer helpful advice on getting the local council to take notice, and imagine the sense of satisfaction you’ll get from knowing you were instrumental is creating a brand new site!

Alternatively, if you want to get planting right away you could approach a neighbour or an existing allotmenteer who looks like they are struggling with their plot, and tactfully offer to lend a hand. They may well be delighted with the help and you can share the fruits of your labours, as well as tasks like watering and weeding. And unless you have a large family, a half-plot may be better suited to your needs at first. It’s well worth remembering that allotment sites vary in the facilities they offer, the rules and regulations they enforce, the rent charged and their attitude towards children, women, organics and so on. If you have a choice of sites, check them all before making a decision. Talk to plot holders to get a ‘feel’ of the place.

Location- Close to home, ideally within walking distance, is the most practical, and the most likely to retain your enthusiasm.

Check the sites rules and regulations- If you want to plant fruit trees, keep hens, paint your shed, use plastic mulch or grow flowers you may not be able to on some sites!

Do you hate bonfires? Some sites don’t allow them; others restrict burning to certain days of the week

The cost- The average annual rent for an allotment plot is £25- though rents can be as little as 50p or as much as £100. This usually includes the cost of water, but may not. They may also be reductions for pensioners and people on benefits

Organic plots- If you want to grow organically ask if there is a specific ‘organic area’. Don’t be put off if the answer is no. You can still run a successful organic plot, and, as you may succeed, others may follow. Organic vegetable gardening is very important for a lot of people.

Good society- Some allotment sites have a very active community with a trading shed, a meeting place or mentors offering to help newcomers for example.

Vandalism- By their very nature, allotments are at risk from vandalism. Ask about this!

Learn more about allotments and the resouces offered by the National Society of Allotment Gardeners. Enrich your knowledge about organic vegetable gardening from a trusted source.

More On Community Gardening

ASAP Plant Minerals is unique, compared to commonly available soil treatments. There is nothing like it on the market today. The formulation of ASAP Plant Minerals organic soil amendment contains all the critical 14 essential minerals plants need to flourish.

Water molecules hydrate the minerals once created by their proprietary process and protect them from degenerating into less bio-available forms. In dry forms, dehydrated minerals recombine into clusters and are far less available for absorption by roots of plants. The action on the minerals by the roots to chemically break them down into sizes that can be absorbed takes life energy and creates an energy deficit experienced by the plant.

Research has revealed a profound difference in the uptake and utilization of ASAP organic soil amendment in flower and crop plants. Their unique form of magnesium is the cause of the double foliage and flower sets, while other minerals move quickly from the soil up into the leaves to the chloroplasts to create phytochemicals to rapidly grow the plant and infuse the fruit with additional nutrients in the pulp and skin.

This is why ASAP is marketed to organic growers. Why offer a way to increase the nutrition in the skin of fruit and vegetables if you have to remove the skins and outer leaves because they are contaminated with petrochemical pesticide. This makes no sense. The consumer gets food that actually feeds them without risking cancers later in life. Disease and genetic aberrations causing cancer is far less confusing than medical science would like you to believe.

There are only three ways to get cancer: radiation, reduced oxygen pressure at the capillaries and environmental toxins. If you don’t work in a radiological environment and don’t smoke then the last way is the only one that you have to worry about. The individual genetic susceptibility to threshold levels of specific toxins is the tipping point into cancers. Everyone has a different set of sensitivities and is part of the evolved human survival mechanism. Detoxification in this chemical-age is critical and foods grown with ASAP may improve your chances especially by eating organically grown foods. Certainly the phytochemicals found in grape skins, blueberries, black raspberries, strawberries, carrots, aloe vera and cranberries have been identified to help and eliminate the antagonistic chemicals that cause the scales to tip. Why coat food with pesticides and introduce the antagonist with the cure?

Why hydration is so important: It has been shown experimentally that metal mineral water complexes can interact with chromosome DNA like magnesium minerals vibrating at specific frequencies in water.

Researchers in one particular experiment found that microwaves of around 3 gigahertz could resonantly drive a longitudinal vibration mode in DNA chains by electrically coupling with minerals residing on the hydrated backbone of the DNA helix. Therefore the operating theory at this time is that the correct metal minerals could transform a damaged configuration back into a normal configuration to maintain proper DNA function.

This is the exciting part of research. It is certain that ASAP soil treatment will increase yield and nutrient values in organically grown crops fed ASAP, it may also prove to provide foods to eat to help prevent cancers.

But beyond all that, the ASAP grown food just simply tastes better.

August Dunning is the head Research Director at http://www.asaporganics.com

Article Source: http://www.organicgardenarticles.com