Globally Green Living

If you’re interested in organic gardening and want a chance to win the organic weed killer Nature’s Avenger, check out the organic weed killer giveaway being held by Crunchy Domestic Goddess.

Nature’s Avenger is natural, effective and smells good because it’s made with natural citrus oil (d-limonene). This dehydrates the weed and kills it completely within 24 hours. You can see it start to shrivel within a couple hours and there is an example of that on the Nature’s Avenger website.

I end up pulling a lot of them out by hand which is a real pain. You have to dig deep to get to the root and that can be time consuming.

Ingredients for homemade weed killers include salt, vinegar, clove oil and dish detergent. Boiling water isn’t bad either, although it might kill any other plant that’s close. I successfully killed the roots of a bush I didn’t want in my garden with boiling water.

Organic Weed Killer Recipes

If you want to try making your own, here are some recipes with variations of the mentioned ingredients.

• Organic Weed Killer Formula: Small Farm Permaculture and Sustainable Living

• Using Lemons as a Weed Killer: Treehugger

• Natural Weed Killer by Sonia at Gather

• Weed Control Ideas by Judy Stouffer at Tau Topics

• Homemade Weed Killer Recipes: Robin’s Web

Some of those weeds are tough and require stronger concentrations of acid but try combining the lemon juice and vinegar. The weeds won’t like it that’s for sure. As a bonus, the combo also kills grease and if you combine vinegar with borax, you can even clean your barbecue grill.

Things are finally warming up here which means I can plant some vegetables soon. So far I have some chives and basil that bounced back from last year.

The basil is particularly tough and I saw the healthy green sprouts trying to burst through the snow several times. Here’s a pic of it growing all sideways.

Herbs and spices can turn almost any bland food into something more exciting and tasty. Shelly has an interesting post up on Earthly Eating about the medicinal properties of some herbs and includes a yummy recipe.

This year I plan to expand my garden but need to recruit a couple guys to dig it up for me since the last time I gave that a go on my own, I almost snapped my back. Last year the tomatoes and zucchinis were successful but some of my jalapeño peppers shriveled up.

The food crisis hasn’t hit us with higher prices but it’s predicted that it will. We can’t grow wheat or rice to supply our family with but potatoes, onions, carrots and cabbage are some things that grow well here. We have raspberries coming but animals kept jumping on my strawberry plants last year. I’m hesitant to try them again because it was discouraging. Does anyone have any hints on keeping critters away from strawberries? If so, do share.

I bought a book on gardening in small spaces and it was a little disappointing because it mostly focused on making it look pretty.

Thankfully we do have the internet and there are plenty of people offering their practical advice, experience and encouragement to help us grow our own harvest.

Anais from Path to Freedom has started a Back to Basics Challenge encouraging us to preserve our harvest by canning, freezing, drying and more.

Back in January Anais started the 100 Foot Diet Challenge. I wasn’t aware of it back then but I’m on it now. The challenge is simply to create a meal at least once a week with homegrown food. It’s a great way to improve your nutrition, become more self sufficient and decrease your carbon foot print.

Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl, teaches us about urban sustainable living. She designed her organic garden so that it would be inviting and fit in with the city. Her garden has 15 raised beds altogether and rabbits, chickens and compost help fertilize it.

Patti has also included an arbor with a seating area that I agree is important if you want to encourage people to spend time in the garden. My mother has always had one and it is a beautiful inviting gateway to her garden.

She grows grapes on it so that they wrap all around it and flowers peek around the edges. It is sort of slanted sideways now and has been somewhat neglected since dad died but we can revive it with some new sturdy wood.

Raised Bed Gardens

Raised bed gardens are perfect for an urban environment because you can put them on pavement and move them around where you like. They are also perfect for people with disabilities because they’re more accessible. Here’s a video with simple instructions from Patti on how to build a raised bed for your garden.

Indoor Gardens

How about an indoor garden? Patti gives us tips on planning and setting up a successful indoor garden with this five part series. She makes it looks easy and also shares her supply list along with costs. Her indoor gardening supplies added up to less than what it would cost to buy a whole kit. It’s still snowing here but I’m eager to get some seeds started indoors.

Most natural pest control methods are not only safer than commercial methods but also cheaper. I enjoy hardy plants like daisies because of course they’re hard to kill and I’m not known for my green thumb.

Ladybugs as Pest Control

Apparently, ladybugs love daisies so that certainly explains why I have so many of the darn things come the spring. Ladybugs will eat aphids, mites and whiteflies and a lot of people purchase them since they are beneficial insects to have in your garden.

Praying Mantis

These insects are not quite as common but you can purchase their eggs. I would suggest these be used with caution because they will eat just about anything including beneficial insects and each other.

Other pest control options

• Milk and water mixed in equal parts will get rid of powdery mildew as well as grubs. Use in a spray bottle.

• Cayenne pepper diluted in water will kill mites but be careful not to go overboard because too much will damage plants as well. Only a pinch is needed per liter of water.

• For more specific recipes for alternatives to insecticides and fungicides, see this helpful home remedies web site. Some interesting ingredients included in their potions are garlic, lemon and orange peels, onions, chives, hot peppers, mustard, baking soda, salt, clay, rhubarb leaves, and tomato plant leaves.

• Crushed eggshells add calcium to your garden soil and deter slugs. The finer they are ground up the easier they will break down in your soil. For a little slug, crushed eggshells are like trying to walk through large shards of glass.

For further eco-friendly ideas for your lawn, check out Natural and Sustainable.