Eco Gardeners

QVC started offering its first line of organic gardening products this past Friday on the Patio and Garden Show.  Featuring The Happy Gardener’s top two selling products, SeaResults fast growth plant food and Organic Foliar Feed pest control.

You can watch the segment  at the following link and if you have used either of these products you can write a review to share with customers.

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.M27031.desc.Happy-Gardener-Org-Sea-Results-Micronutrient-Foliar-Feed

QVC, the world’s largest home shopping network will begin selling The Happy Gardener’s organic gardening products this Friday, April 27, 2012 on the 3 pm EST Patio & Garden program. Annette Pelliccio, founder and eco-entrepreneur, is excited for the national exposure that her Ashland- based company and eco-friendly products will gain at the height of the gardening season.

“This opportunity to partner with such an amazing retail television network will allow us to reach so many more home and community gardeners than we could have ever done on our own,” says Pelliccio. “To be able to teach even a fraction of its 1.5 million viewers per hour about the benefits of choosing organic, eco-friendly practices is really going to make a big difference for the future health of our environment. It will also provide us with the ‘As Seen on TV’ status which will open many doors to grow our company.”

QVC lawn and garden purchasing team chose to feature The Happy Gardener’s two most popular products for their on-air debut. SeaResults Micronutrient Solution, a fast-growth organic plant food designed to optimize root development and bloom/crop production, and Organic Foliar Feed which develops healthy leaf growth while eliminating pests such as aphids and Japanese beetles. Pelliccio will demonstrate the products with QVC Host, Dan Wheeler.

The Happy Gardener provides gardeners with a complete line of organic gardening products that are safe to use around children, pets and wildlife. More details and contact information can be found on www.thehappygardener.info or contact at 804-798-9280 or email info@thehappygardener.info

On the 8th day til Earth Day my children said to me,

“Our garden should be full of birdies.”

Now is the time to encourage birds to your garden. With the gardening weather finally here, they will appreciate the shelter, food and water you can provide. They will surely repay the favor throughout the summer by becoming your personal eco-garden pest control.
Along with bird houses, bird baths and feeders, the plants you select for your landscape can have a great effect on the number of insect-eating birds who call your garden “home.” I recommend contacting your local extension office for native plant varieties, but here are a few tips on choosing bird-friendly plants:

Plants for Habitat- A wide variety of plants provide nesting sites and protection from predators. Some of the most popular among birds are Wild Lilac, Wax Myrtle, Oaks, Elderberry, Sage, and Willow.

Plants for Nectar- Planted mostly for their value to hummingbirds, nectar-rich plants also attract a variety of insects, which are a food source for hummers as well as other bird species. Examples include Honeysuckle, Salvia, and Fuschia.

Plants for Fruit- Many species of birds depend on the fruit produced by plants for the bulk of their diet. Shrubs such as Wild Grape, Elderberry, Wax Myrtle, Currants and Gooseberries attract an amazing number of birds in their fruiting season.

Plants for Seeds- Plants such as Oaks, Sages and Bunchgrasses produce an abundance of seeds loved by your feathered friends.

THG offers eco-friendly birding products made from 100% recycled milk jugs, water and soda bottles. Click here to view or go to www.thehappygardener.info

On the 9th day til Earth Day my children said to me,

“Making compost is smart & costs us no money.”

Why compost?
Composting is an easy, environmentally beneficial way to turn yard and kitchen wastes into a dark, crumbly, sweet-smelling soil amendment that will build your soil, increase garden production and do wonders for your landscaping. It is as easy as putting your recyclables out for pick up!
Composting will:

• Save you money by lowering garbage bills and replacing the need for commercial soil amendments.

• Increase production by improving the fertility and health of your soil.

• Save water by helping the soil hold moisture and reducing water runoff.

• Benefit the environment by recycling valuable organic resources and extending the lives of our landfills.

What is Compost?
Compost is the end product of a complex feeding pattern involving hundreds of different organisms, including bacteria, fungi, worms, and insects. What remains after these organisms break down organic materials is the rich, earthy substance your garden will love. Composting replicates nature’s natural system of breaking down materials which are slowly dismantled by the small organisms living in the soil. Eventually these plant parts disappear and humus keeps the soil light and fluffy. Humus is our goal when we start composting. By providing the right environment for the organisms in the compost pile, it is possible to produce excellent compost.

Click on the following link to watch a really cool animation of the composting process:

http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/composting/what_happens_in.html

What Goes in the Composter?
yard trimmings, garden debris, vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, algae, seaweed, lake moss, kitchen rinse water, cardboard, dryer lint, crushed eggshells, hair, newspaper, oak leaves, pine needles and cones. Did you know that the average household produces more than 200 pounds of kitchen waste every year?
What Doesn’t?
meat, fish, oily foods, milk products, pet manure, diseased or insect infested plants, weeds that have gone to seed, coal or charcoal ashes, lime, bones

The Happy Gardener’s founder, Annette Pelliccio, shares the benefits of composting in this 5 minute Youtube video intro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoLWCNYxTc0

Compost4Fun Virtual Game: this one’s fun for all ages!
Try maintaining your own virtual compost bin by exploring the house and garden, looking for potential household waste to compost. See if you can get onto the Compost4Fun scoreboard by getting the right balance of green and brown waste.

http://compost4fun.recyclenow.com

On the 10th day til Earth Day my children said to me,

“Let’s grow and eat organic veggies!”

Buying organic produce can admittedly get pricey, so how about growing your own food instead of painstakingly manicuring that lawn for the umpteenth time? An estimated 40 million acres of  American states are covered in lawns, making turf grass the United States’ largest irrigated crop. All that for little more than ornamentation. It’s time to return to the use of gardens as food sources—you won’t find fresher, healthier, or cheaper eating anywhere else.

Growing your own organic produce allows families to get involved with a fun and purposeful activity while providing nutrient-rich meals. You can’t get more local than your own backyard!

Even if space and time is an issue, there are easy ways to ‘grow your own’ organic veggies, fruits & herbs in containers or with square foot gardening.

Some useful resource articles:

http://eco-gardeners.com/2009/05/suggested-fruits-veggies-herbs-for-containers/

http://eco-gardeners.com/2008/04/square-foot-gardening/

http://eco-gardeners.com/2008/02/small-space-veggie-gardening/

We’ve all heard the Chinese proverb, “If you want to be happy all your life, plant a garden.” All of us gardeners understand that one! But we also know how disappointing it is when we plan a garden, plant the seeds and the seeds just don’t come up. So why do we continue to plant seeds rather than buy established seedlings and transplants? Because all of us gardeners also know that plants grown from seed are going to provide us with the healthiest and most abundant plants.

One strategy for ensuring seed germination success and increased rate is to soak the seeds in a seed germinating solution before planting in the soil. The Happy Gardener’s SeaResults Micronutrient Solution is a gentle yet highly effective organic plant food that can also be used for seed soaking. Formal tests performed at Stony Mountain Nursery proved that by soaking seeds in a diluted solution of SeaResults Micronutrient Solution for just fifteen minutes before planting will increase seed success and root growth.

Day 6 of SeaResults soaked seed vs no soak

This photo shows two Morning Glory flower seeds. One had been soaked in SeaResults Micronutrient Solution for fifteen minutes before planting. The other had not been soaked and was planted in soil as per seed package instructions. The seed soaked in SeaResults shows significant root and leaf growth on Day 6 in comparison with the Day 6 seed not soaked.

Soaking your seeds prior to planting is an easy and inexpensive way to provide your future garden plants with more success and healthier development.