Eco Gardeners

The Happy Gardener’s Eco- Grow Kits make ‘growing your own’ organics  easy and affordable

According to the Garden Writers Association 2009 Edible Gardening Trends Report 41 million US households grew vegetable gardens last year and 19.5 million grew herb gardens. These numbers of edible gardening projects are expected to rise in 2010 and the main reason is to supplement household food supplies.

The Happy Gardener, Inc has been helping families and communities throughout North America grow healthy, organic vegetables, herbs and fruits since 2006 when they introduced their exclusive line of Happy Naturals ™ organic garden products.

“Just Add Dirt” Eco-Grow Kits are The Happy Gardener’s newest product addition. These kits offer the most eco-friendly grow kit on the market by including everything needed for growing organic, nutritious edibles in 100% compostable pots. Simple instructions make it easy for the most amateur gardener and the containers allow for small space gardening too. Also included in the kit are organic seeds, SeaResults ™ Organic Plant Food, soil conditioner and water retaining mats. Just add your own dirt and get growing.

“We wouldn’t think of having our customers pay for dirt. Doesn’t that just seem wrong?” states The Happy Gardener’s founder and product developer, Annette Pelliccio. “Get the dirt from your backyard or compost pile. Our focus is to help families grow nutritious food while saving money. Growing our own berries, salad mix and a variety of vegetables saves my family of three an average of $380 during the summer months alone.”

Saving money isn’t the only reason to grow your own organic produce. Rutgers University conducted a study comparing the nutritional values of organically grown produce with commercially grown. An example of study findings includes organically grown lettuce containing 55 more grams of calcium and 509 more grams of iron than the commercially grown variety.

Gardening is once again becoming part of our country’s daily lifestyle, creating family balance in today’s technology obsessed world. Pelliccio states, “We would love to help the 80+ million virtual gardeners on Facebook’s Farmville take their knowledge of growing animated produce and get back outside in the fresh air and play in the real dirt.”

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For more information and/or photos for “Just Add Dirt” Eco-Kits and Fundraiser Program, and The Happy Gardener, or to schedule an interview, please contact Annette Pelliccio at 877-798-9280 or annette@thehappygardener.info. The Happy Gardener website is www.thehappygardener.info

Growing fruit, vegetables and herbs in containers is the perfect solution for those with limited gardening time, space and resources.  Here are a few of our favorite varieties that work very well grown in containers on your deck, patio, balcony or anywhere with at least 6 hours of sunlight. We have also included soil depths for specific plant health and growth.

Herbs: mint, sage, rosemary, basil, thyme, parsley, dill, lemongrass

Vegetables: Potatoes, chard, lettuce, cherry and bush tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, summer squash, Asian greens, pole beans.
Fruits: strawberries, blueberries, goji berries
Planting Depth

• 4-5 inches: chives, lettuce, radishes, other salad greens, basil, coriander

• 6-7 inches: bush beans, garlic, onions, Asian greens, peas, mint, thyme, pole beans, carrots, chard, cucumber, eggplant, fennel, leeks, peppers, spinach, parsley, rosemary

• 8-9 inches: beets, broccoli, okra, potatoes, sweet corn, summer squash, dill, lemongrass

by Jennifer Bateman, Independent THG Distributor

A great way to get your children involved in gardening is to allow them to have ownership of the garden space. Most children love pizza, so planting a pizza garden is a fun activity where they will learn about plants and gardening and growing their own food. They can even give the excess to those in need through the Plant A Row for the Hungry national campaign of which The Happy Gardener is a proud Bronze Sponsor.

Getting Started:

To make things more interesting then the standard row or box, try creating a circular garden that is divided into pie-shaped “pizza slices” for the plants. Since raised beds are best, you can use plastic lawn edging to make a circle or recycle that old kiddy pool that’s been lying under your deck. If using the kiddy pool, be sure to either remove the bottom or make many, many holes to allow excess water to escape. Select a location that receives 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. Lay out your circle and then remove all the grass as you don’t want grass popping up in the middle of your pizza. Kids love to dig in the dirt so let them go at it!

Once you’ve removed everything and loosened the top layer of soil, you’ll need to add more dirt to raise the bed above the level of the surrounding area. Since this is a child friendly project, you will need to mix your own chemical free dirt. Mixing equal parts of plain top soil, compost and coir fiber will give you a fantastic growing medium that won’t compact with watering and will allow good water retention and air circulation. Conditioning the soil with a child safe fertilizer like THG’s Pour n’ Feed for Vegetables & Edibles at the start of the growing season will insure that the plants have the nutrients they need.

You’ll then need to mark off the pizza slice sections. This can easily be done with heavy twine and some stakes to hold it in place. Put one stake in the center and the rest on the outside of the edging material. Run the twine from one side to the other wrapping around the center stake. This will provide structural support to keep the sides upright.

Plants:

While starting from seed is a fun activity, children often prefer the instant gratification that comes from seeing plants already growing in their garden. To make a great Italian style pizza, you’ll need at least:

Roma Tomatoes – Sweet Basil – Oregano

If you have a large enough circle or are using a kiddy pool, you’ll want to consider including:

Cherry Tomatoes – Green and Red Bell Peppers – Jalapeno Peppers – Onions – Parsley – Thyme

Make sure you select high quality plants with strong stems and healthy leaves.

Planting and Care:

Since tomatoes are tall, they will need to be staked or caged and placed on the northern most pizza slices so they don’t block the sun from the other plants. The rest of the plants can be spread out in the other slices as everyone “gets along” except onions and parsley so if you’re doing both, plant them as far apart as possible.

Water thoroughly with SeaResults Micronutrient Solution™ as soon as everything is in place to ease transplant shock. Spread a two inch layer of mulch to help suppress weeds and conserve moisture. While any type of organic mulch will work, using straw looks like pizza cheese and is fun for the kids.

Herbs can tolerate low water conditions, but tomatoes require at least one inch of water per week. If you have a problem with pests, make sure you use an organic pest control that is safe for food edibles. THG’s Outdoor Foliar Feed Plus and/or Foliar Feed Plus Garlic will do the job nicely.

Harvest:

With a bit of care, you’ll soon have enough produce to make your very own home-made pizza. The children will enjoy seeing the plants grow, the fruits and flowers form, and, most importantly, eating (sometimes right off the vine) the delicious food they’ve grown themselves. Please remember to donate some of the extra to your local Foodbank to help feed the hungry in your area.

Notes:

If you don’t have a large enough garden area, this activity can still be done in containers on your deck or patio using the largest you can find. You can use the same child safe soil mixture of plain top soil, compost, and coir fiber, but you’ll need additional moisture retention material like THG’s Store n’ Feed Mats and/or Store n’ Feed Gel. Plant one large plant in the center and the smaller ones around the edges. Make sure you don’t over crowd and remember that tomatoes will still need to be staked even if in a pot. Keep an eye on water levels as containers require more watering then gardens.

I know that “Green Tips” can be found everywhere, but I was very impressed with TreeHugger.com’s Top 10 List and wanted to share it with you. Here it is….

#1. Keep it real

You know what they say about Mother knowing best? Well, Mother Nature never needed to steal sips from a chemical cocktail of pesticides, weed killers, and chemical fertilizers to keep her act together. Nix the poisons and layer on some all-natural compost, instead. Call in beneficial insect reinforcements to wrestle pesky garden pests to the ground.

#2. Make compost from kitchen scraps

Compost like a champ by throwing in your vegetable waste, instead of allowing it to be trucked off to the landfill. Known as “gardener’s gold,” compost enriches soil fertility by giving it a shot of high-powered, plant-loving nutrients. Aside from stimulating healthy root development, the addition of rich and earthy compost also improves soil texture, aeration, and water retention. Why waste your hard-earned cash on commercial products when the real deal is free for the taking? Speed up the process with the help of earthworms.

#3. Buy recycled

If your delicate aesthetic sensibilities balk at the idea of reusing yogurt or takeout containers to house your hydrangeas, check out the myriad environmentally friendly planters and raised-garden kits now available. It takes less energy to recycle something than to mine virgin materials, so whether you choose recycled copper, plastic, or even rubber to anchor your tender shoots, it’s all copacetic. Admire your handiwork and eco-smarts while lounging on recycled lawn furniture.

#4. Grow your own food

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 the 48 contiguous American states are covered in lawns, making turf grass the United States’ largest irrigated crop. American homeowners apply a cringe-worthy tens of millions of pounds of fertilizers and pesticides to their lawns, often at many times the recommended levels. 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 (or cheaper) eating anywhere else.

#5. Join a community garden

Urban dwellers bereft of a yard shouldn’t fret: You can still get in on the hoeing and growing action by signing up for a plot at your local community garden. Community gardens typically have a communal composting area, as well, so if you don’t have room for one of those triple-duty rotating barrel composters in your home, here’s your hookup.

#6. Go native

Now that you’ve learned some of the merits of “de-lawning” your home, consider replacing the ol’ putting green with native and indigenous plants, whether they’re cactus gardens in Arizona or bottlebrush grasses in Northern Michigan. Already adapted to local conditions, native plants are easy to grow and maintain, generally requiring less fertilizer and water, as well as less effort to rein in pests.

#7. Harvest rainwater

Adding a rain barrel is an inexpensive and effortless way to capture mineral- and chlorine-free water for watering lawns, yards, and gardens, as well as washing cars or rinsing windows. By harnessing what’s literally raining from the sky, you’ll not only notice a marked dip in water costs, but also a reduction in stormwater runoff, which in turn helps prevent erosion and flooding. Pop a screen on top of your barrel to keep out insects, debris, and bird missiles, and make frequent use of your water supply to keep it moving and aerated.

#8. Water with care

While we’re on the subject of water, adopting a few smart-watering habits will do much to stretch out your supply, especially during dry, hot spells in the summer. Adding mulch and compost to your soil will retain water and cut down evaporation. Plus, soaker hoses or drip irrigation only use 50 percent of the water used by sprinklers. Water early in the day so you can avoid evaporation and winds. And the best place to drench your plants? Directly on those thirsty roots.

#9. Bring on the butterflies and bees

Provide a pesticide-free sanctuary for our pollinator pals, such as butterflies and bees, by growing a diverse variety of native flowers they’re particularly drawn to, such as wild lilac, goldenrod, and lemon balm. (Gardens with 10 or more species of attractive plants have been found to entice the most bees.) If you haven’t already heard, we’re in the throes of a major bee-loss epidemic, which is causing beekeepers in North America and Europe much hand-wringing. Because pollinators affect 35 percent of the world’s crop production—and increase the output of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide—extending a little hometown hospitality could go a long way.

#10. The power of 4

Get hip to four “R”s of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenScapes program: Reduce, recycle, reuse and rebuy. You want to reduce your output of waste to ensure you’re using materials efficiently. Reusing compost and tree clippings for mulch, or rainwater for watering take up little time and energy, but offer plenty of environmental bang for your buck. Recycling saves resources, while rebuying means seeking products that meet your needs, but are more environmentally friendly than your usual purchases—take, for instance, solar outdoor lighting versus electric-powered fixtures.

The Happy Gardener can help you with all of your Green Gardening needs. Check us out at www.thehappygardener.info

One of my favorite organic gardening techniques has to be cover cropping. Though I am definitely not a topic expert, it is one of those practices that is so easy yet so beneficial.

After you have cleaned out your end-of-season vegetable garden, consider planting a cover crop. Common cover crops include rye, oats, peas, millet or clover. Just sow the seed into the soil, let it grow throughout the fall/winter months, and then simply dig and turn the crop over in late winter/early spring.

Benefits of cover cropping:
1. Increases soil microbial activity;
2. Provides nutrient enhancement as the nutrients become available during decomposition of the cover crop;
3. Increases rooting action because the crop loosens and aerates the soil;
4. Helps with weed suppression: Weeds flourish in bare soil. Cover crops take up space and light, shading the soil and reducing opportunity for weeds to establish. Rye and millet provide the most effective weed control;
5. Helps with water conservation because the soil cover reduces soil crusting and surface water runoff.
The National Organic Program (NOP) mandates that organic farmers manage crop nutrients and soil fertility through the use of cover crops.

Home gardeners can’t afford not to use cover crops for enhanced soil fertility; our long-term economic and ecological sustainability depends on it.

The Center of Disease Control reports this week’s outbreak of salmonella food poisoning linked to uncooked tomatoes in nine states.

At least 17 people in Texas and New Mexico have been hospitalized. Fortunately nobody has died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Another 30 people have become sick with the same Salmonella infection in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, Illinois and Indiana.

“In Texas and New Mexico, raw large tomatoes- including Roma and red round tomatoes- were found to be a common factor in the 40 illnesses. But no farm, distributor or grocery chain has been identified as the main source,” said Casey Barton Behravesh, a CDC epidemiologist working on the investigation.

Salmonella is a bacterial infection that lives in the intestinal tract of animals and is usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces.

Tomatoes are such an easy plant to grow organically in our backyards. In the garden or in containers these abundant summer fruits can be grown and harvested without using products containing animal by-products and chemicals.

The Happy Gardener’s line of Happy Naturals plant foods are made from certified organic vegetables and grains. To learn more about their vegan line of Happy Naturals, go to www.thehappygardener.info