Resources for Organic Gardening
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Just for Kids
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NGA offers the Web's largest and most respected array of
gardening content for consumers and educators, ranging
from general information and publications to lessons
and grants. Explore our Web site and discover a world of
gardening possibilities.
Organic Ag Info, searchable organic resources by topic,
region, etc. Emphasis is research reports, but also links
to grower groups and other support organizations.
Gardening in cities has become a lost art. This page is devoted to re-introducing the practice of growing your own food. Enjoy gardening while helping our community enjoy the benefits of organic, pesticide-free produce. You can grow what you need now and package it for later use.
Non chemical problem solutions
Use of Baking Soda as a Fungicide:
1 ounce to a gallon for lawn and flower beds
1/2 ounce to a gallon for cucumbers, eggplants, and strawberries.
Dawn dish soap 10 oz to a Ortho garden hose end sprayer, set the dial at 1 tbps. Breaks the friction in the soil, destroys insect eggs and stimulates hair root growth. this will make 20 gallons and cover 5,000 sq ft of lawn garden and shrubs. Apply every two weeks. Click here for lawn tips
Don’t use more soap than the recipe calls for,
or you can kill the plants.
Insecticidal Soap Spray for spray bottle
Combine ingredients in a bucket, mix, then transfer to a spray
bottle as needed.
1 tablespoons liquid soap
1 quart water
All-Purpose Pesticide Soap Spray
Strong smelling roots and spices such as garlic, onions,
horseradish, ginger, rhubarb leaves, cayenne and other hot
peppers, are all known to repel insects.
INGREDIENTS
A handful of roots and spices
Enough boiling water to cover
Soap Spray (recipe, above)
Add the roots and spices to the bottom of a mason jar. Cover
with the boiling water, screw on the top, and let set overnight.
Strain, and add to the Soap Spray. Note that this will rot,
so use it all up or freeze leftovers for another time.
Garlic Spray
Use 2 to 4 heads garlic remove outer shell and mash, cover with boiling water, screw on the top, and let set overnight. Deer and rabbits hate the smell of garlic. chopped up garlic around roses prevents aphids.
Chipmunks
Blood meal is a natural fertilizer, it wont burn your plants and will deter chipmunks and cats from your garden.
10 Unusual Uses for Garlic: Treatment for Acne, As Mosquito Repellent, Protection for Your Pets, Garden Pesticide, Antibiotic, Fish Bait, Glue, Cough Syrup, Aphrodisiac. Link
Mole control:•Stink them out of house and home with Pest Prevention Potion: 1 cup of ammonia, 1/2 cup of dish soap, 1/2 cup of castor oil, and 1/2 cup of urine mix in bucket and pour into a 20 gallon hose-end sprayer. Saturate the runs, and water in well.
Grubs: Natural control for grubs is Milky spore
Ants: 1/4 cup Boric acid mixed with 1/4 cup of sugar sprinkle in areas where you see them, reaply if it rains. For non chemical solution spread corn meal or harmony grits in small amounts, when it gets wet it no longer works. These two items swell in their stomach and cause it to burst.
Ants hate cucumbers. Keep the skin of cucumbers near the place or ant hole.
To get rid of mice or rats :
Sprinkle black pepper in places where you find mice or rats. They will run away.
Weed control using vinegar: Recipe_ 10 drops of dawn dishsoap, 1 pound of table salt and 1 gallon of vinegar. If you do spray with vinegar, don't pull the trigger until you're right up close to the targeted weed. Don't spray on a windy day, as the wind could carry your vinegar spray where you don't want it to go -- on your grass. You may have to repeat this several times since the store vinegar is (5%) in acetic acid.
click on poster for details
Finlandia Gardens
35200 W. 8 MileRd. Farmington Hills, MI 48335
Dow Gardens
1018 W. Main Street
Midland, MI 48640-4292
Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve
13988 Range Line Road
Niles, MI 49120
Leila Arboretum Society
928 W. Michigan Avenue
Battle Creek, MI 49017
W.J. Beal Botanical Garden
Michigan State University
412 Olds Hall, Office
East Lansing, MI 48824-1047
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
1000 East Beltline NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Hidden Lake Gardens
Michigan State University
Rte. M-50, 6280 W. Munger Road
Tipton, MI 49287
Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum
University of Michigan
1800 North Dixboro Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-9406
Slayton Arboretum of Hillsdale College
Dept. of Biology
33 E. College Street
Hillsdale, MI 49242
Botanical Garden Society of NW Michigan
P.O. Box 1247
Traverse City, MI 49685-1247
For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum
2142 N. Genesee Rd.
Burton, MI 48509
Applewood - The C.S. Mott Estate
1400 East Kearsley Street
Flint, MI 48503
Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy,
Community Organic Garden
8383 Vreeland Rd
Ypsilanti, MI 48198
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Plant Finder: Select your plant,
Zone, Color, exposure
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Eco-Friendly Solutions for Garden Pests & Diseases.
Natural remedies are the best solution to most pest problems and create non toxic solution when kids and pets are involved.
cucumber peel, garlic, orange peel and a few other thing I'll mention
as we go along act as a force field which will turn most insects around and cause them to leave the area.
First you must identify what you're dealing with.
6. Plant Files: The Largest Plant Identification Reference Guide
Aphids: Aphids are the most common garden pest and are difficult to control by spraying. Luckily, one ladybug can eat dozens of aphids a day, seeking them out wherever they hide. Ladybugs also prey on mealy bugs, scale, leaf hoppers and mites. Bait the area with raisins lady bugs are drawn to it and will keep your garden clear of the pests. Pollen is a food source and they seek certain types of flowering plants, including dill, cilantro, yarrow, wild carrot, angelica, cosmos, geraniums and dandelions.
Dragonflies: beneficial insects that help control pest insects include dragonflies; parasitic (non-stinging) wasps; tachinid and syrphid flies; and the colorfully named damsel, assassin and big-eyed bugs.
Ants: 1/4 cup Boric acid mixed with 1/4 cup of sugar sprinkle in areas where you see them, reapply if it rains. For non chemical solution spread corn meal or harmony grits in small amounts, when it gets wet it no longer works. These two items swell in their stomach and cause it to burst.
Notice: More people kill plants by over-watering than by neglect
Damping off: pythium, a common fungus. The spores of this fungus require cool, wet soil in order to infect plant tissues. Pythium can also infect seeds as they are germinating, causing seedlings to rot before they make it to the soil surface. Use a well-drained mix when starting seeds indoors or in a greenhouse. Allow the soil to become relatively dry between watering's.
If soil is to dense mix Canadian peat to a depth of 4 inches to the soil that will help drainage.
Late blight (Phytophthora infesters) Protect tomatoes and potatoes from late blight now
Bees: A colony can have 50,000 to 60,000 workers. Instead of destroying them when a problem occurs call your local bee keeper association and they will supply you a beekeeper who will remove the hive just to have the bees.
Example: http://www.sembabees.org/
Soil condition
Before anything is done with the soil you first have to find out what you have and the easiest way to do this is with an empty mason jar.
Fill the jar half full of dirt from the spot in question, Dig 4" deep, then fill to the top with water. shake very hard for about 1 minute and set it to rest for 24 hours.
After 24 hours every thing in the jar will stratify in layers, now you can tell the make up of your soil.
More on this later.
You can buy a pH kit from most garden centers or you can have Cooperative Extension service test it for you, usually for a nominal fee. Some garden centers also provide this service.
Sterilizing potting soil
Sterilization eliminates fungi, bacterial diseases and destructive bugs that may be in the soil. spread moist soil 3" thick on baking sheet and cover with foil.
Set your oven on a low temperature at about 160 to 170 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes PS. a higher temp is not better.
Odor can be offensive when being cooked. Make sure your house is well ventilated when sterilizing soil. The following links will provide recipes for the various type of plantings you may want to do.
Soil Mixtures and Planting,
Most plants are killed by over watering not neglect.
Make your Lawn the best in you’re your nieghborhood
Straightforward regiment of basic task will make your lawn the envy for your neighbors. Simple rules will make it a pleasure not a task. Water, feed, mow, and control weeds. More is not better when working a lawn consider this a recipe too much of something will spoil the end results.
Start with a spring tonic, which I learned from Jerry Baker a master gardener in our area. All-Season Green-Up Tonic
1 can of beer,
1 cup of ammonia,
1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid,
1/2 cup of liquid lawn food,
Mix all of the ingredients in a bucket; pour into a 20-gallon hose end sprayer. Do this once every 3 weeks. The dishwashing liquid breaks the friction in the soil. The beer and ammonia will speed up the decomposition of the thatch and stimulate root activity.
Step2
Water regularly: Lawns need at least one (1) inch of water a week. To prevent guesswork, set out a few pie tins and time how long it takes to fill them. That way you won’t waste water.
Step3
Mow often not on a calendar time basis. You should never cut more than 1/3 of the length of the total height, this will stress the lawn. The higher the grass the less evaporation. Maintain a 2 1/2-inch height and cut when it's about 3 1/4-inches tall.
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Fertilize: Overall health and resistance to disease means a regular feeding schedule. Early spring pre-emergent to keep weeds from germinating. Slow release nitrogen to extend the feeding period.
Feed in early spring, late spring, summer and fall. Liquid fertilizers are OK for a quick kick but are not good for extended feeding.
•The dishwashing liquid keeps the insect population down.
The dishwashing liquid keeps the insect population down. •Use natural organic fertilizers where available
Use natural organic fertilizers where available •Over fertilizing can damage the lawn.
Over fertilizing can damage the lawn. •Cutting the lawn to short can stress it.
Cutting the lawn to short can stress it. 