Eco Gardeners

Isn’t it frustrating when you have taken the time, energy and money to plant your annuals, flowers, veggies and then have them destroyed by an unexpected low temp night? I hate when that happens!!!

The Happy Gardener’s organic SeaResults Micronutrient Solution is an effective way to help your plants make it through a cold night. Made from OCIA certified sea vegetables, this top-selling fast-growth plant food will increase your plants’ tolerance to frost even when its applied just one hour before dropping temperatures! Simply douse the soil around the plants’ perimeter using 1 teaspoon SeaResults per gallon of water.

Excerpt from “Green Living Journal”
by Vanessa Behrens, THG Consultant
Organic gardening requires a completely different approach to traditional, chemical-based gardening techniques. As more and more gardeners throughout the country become aware of the harmful effects of chemical use on our families, communities, and environment, the more educated we must become on alternative methods of plant and lawn care, pest control, and sustainable agriculture.

Even though we don’t eat the grass growing in our yards, one of the biggest dangers to our health is related to how we care for our lawns. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a study of 9,282 people nationwide, found pesticides in 100% of the people who had both blood and urine tested. The average person carried 13 of 23 pesticides tested.

To read the entire article, click on http:/ /www.greenlivingjournal.com/page.php? p=9143&PHPSESSID=e6d0fe20f6fc6f246bb87c

To view The Happy Gardener’s line of organic and safe lawn care products, contact your local Garden Consultant or visit our web site www.thehappygardener.info

Organic lawn care practices allow homeowners to continue the enjoyment of a healthy, green lawn while maintaining a healthy, green environment. Safe for use around children and pets, our vegetarian lawn care helps you build a truly green eco-lawn.

Here’s what The Happy Gardener recommends:
Early Spring:
• Lawns need an early application of fertilizer and pre-emergent weed control in spring. It can be applied as soon as the grass has grown enough to need mowing. The Happy Gardener’s organic Lawn Feed n’ Weed provides a slow-release, nitrogen feed (that won’t contaminate ground water and well water) AND a grain-based pre-emergent weed control. Apply 50 lbs per 2500 square feet with a standard spreader on medium setting.
• Most grass varieties can be seeded in very late April through May. Wait until early to mid-May for Bluegrass. Be sure to wait at least 3 weeks between seeding and applying a pre-emergent weed control.
Spring:
• Top-dressing is the periodic addition of a thin layer (1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch) of soil or compost to the surface of growing turf. After topdressing, at least three-fourths of the grass plant should be exposed to sunlight. To make your own nutrient-rich compost, check out THG’s line of composters made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.
• Overseed thin spots early if missed last fall.
• When mowing, only one-third of the leaf area should be removed at one cutting. Try to avoid mowing any lower than 2 inches in the spring and adjust the height upwards during hot weather.
Early Summer:
• Lawns thick with healthy, resilient grasses will suppress weed seed germination and growth, and limit pest and disease infestation.
• An optional application of THG’s Lawn Feed n’ Weed can be applied in early summer before signs of heat and drought. Our certified organic sea vegetables contain natural root growth hormones to establish a healthy, strong root system for reduction of drought, pest and disease.
• Watch for signs of moles. Contact THG for their line of organic pest control.
Summer:
• Apply a monthly Lawn Conditioner to give grass roots the strength and durability to survive hot, dry weather. THG’s organic Lawn Conditioner is safe for children, pets & wildlife and will not contaminate ground water/well water. Available in a hose end sprayer, apply 16 oz concentrate per 2500 square feet.
• Lawns can generally rely on the water nature provides. If nature doesn’t provide adequate rainfall – at least an inch per week – you will need to water. Irrigate only enough to prevent turf wilting. When irrigation is needed and conditions are hot and humid, water between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. to reduce disease. However, during a drought, a healthy lawn will go dormant and it will survive until moisture returns
• Collect rain water with a homemade rain barrel. THG offers a Rain Barrel Kit for an affordable and recycled water collection project.
• During June and July, several patch diseases can cause lawn problems. Keeping your lawn healthy and mowed at the proper height will help avoid these problems. This will also keep your lawn from burning out.
Early Fall:
• If you plan to reseed your grass, early fall is the best time. This gives the grass seeds plenty of time to germinate and establish them selves before freezing weather sets in.
• Have soil test performed if you are unsure of basic fertility and acidity levels.

Fall:
• The last application of fertilizer is the most important one for both high and low-maintenance lawns. If your lawn tests show your soil is lacking in nitrogen, apply a winterizing organic fertilizer. THG’s organic Lawn Feed n’ Weed will not only prepare grass for winter, but also give you a head start towards achieving the green turf you’ll want next spring.
• Do not apply lime routinely to established lawns unless a soil test indicates a need. Excess can be as harmful as deficiency. Established lawn soils seldom need to be limed unless a soil test indicates a moderately to severely acid soil of pH 5.5 or lower.
• Plant or seed new lawns early.
• Aerate where needed to relieve compaction.
• Thatch buildup is a major contributor to lawn diseases. If your soil is highly compacted or a heavy clay, use a plug-type aerator that will loosen the soil, help reduce thatch buildup and allow better penetration of air, nutrients

As we all start fertilizing our lawns this fall, there are a few things to remember. Chemical lawn care systems leach into and contaminate our water supply. It’s easy to grow a green, healthy, weed-free lawn without the dangers of chemicals. No more little white flags warning to stay off your treated turf, nor incidents of our Canadian Geese dying from ingesting chemically treated grass.
Did you know that…

• -Worldwatch, a nonprofit organization, reports that not only are toxic chemicals contaminating our groundwater on every continent which endangers our water supply, 67 million birds are killed each year and the honeybee population has shrunk dramatically.

• -More than 1 million children between the ages of 1 and 5, ingest at least 15 pesticides every day from their diets. Think of the food chain here for a moment…the EPA has allowed sewer sludge to be spread over our farmlands because they considered it “fertilizer”. Whatever we have been eating & whatever drugs we are putting into our bodies, go through the sewage treatment plants to become this sludge.

This illustrates the phrase, “We are all connected.” Alternative methods for lawn care are now being offered. Products need to be listed as safe around children, pets and water supplies.
Chemicals cause the plants’ food supply to be depleted, which is why companies need to “treat” your lawn so frequently. Think of the soil as your body. The gut is 70% of our immune system. When we use antibiotics, we suppress the immune system telling it that something else is going to do its job. More types of antibiotics are being developed due to our resistance to them. Our digestive system becomes less effective and thus you can see how most diseases come from our gut. The same thing happens with the soil. We feed the surface layers but forget about the roots.
THG’s Organic Lawn Care:
THG has developed our exclusive organic lawn fertilizer made with organic certified vegetables and grains. For fall application, apply 50 lbs per 2500 square feet using a standard spreader on medium setting. Our Lawn Feed n’ Weed promotes healthy root systems to withstand the cold winter months. Ask your Garden Consultant for details or email us at info@thehappygardener.info

Vermicomposting

Composting with Worms
Vermicomposting, or worm composting, is different than traditional composting. Worm composting is a process that uses red earthworms, also commonly called redworms, to consume organic waste, producing castings (an odor-free compost product for use as mulch), soil conditioner, and topsoil additive. Naturally occurring organisms, such as bacteria and millipedes, also assist in the aerobic degradation of the organic material.