Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Robotic Organic Gardening


Robotic Organic Gardening is the coolest new thing. You are now saying to yourself; Yah Right! How can it be pure organic gardening if you are using advanced technologies like robots? That just doesn’t seem right some how? It may not seem right, but it is now available. Imagine the problem of weeding an organic field, you cannot use pesticides or chemicals otherwise it would not be an organically grown crop.


Well that problem has now been solved by Bjorn Astrand from the University of Hamstad in Sweden who has developed a robot, which has the visual acuity to recognize the difference between a weed and the actual crop. It travels down the rows and picks the weeds one by one; well, actually it can pick many more than one weed at a time. This means certified organic foods and crops and lower and more comparable prices.


Does this mean curtains for Cargill and Monsanto? Certainly not, there is still GM Crops for growing medicine, fuel and massive growing to feed the world. They have diversified into BioTech and are doing fine. But you can bet that as these types of robotics become more available that farmers will in fact look at this option.


Currently due to the cost of this it still does not makes sense for the non-organic commercial farmer. Right now it cuts the hand weeding costs by half for the less efficient organic farmer. But the day will come when robotic gardeners will be less expensive and therefore widely used. That future is nearly here. Think on that.








"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Backyard Organic Gardening Grow And Eat Healthy


People take part in organic gardening outdoors as a relaxation passtime. It gives a sense of well being when they achieve a colorful array of flowers. Some people go further than that, and create a garden for their own food. The organic movement has shown increased popularity over the past few years, and organic food is getting easier to get at the grocery stores, but gardeners would like to do it for themselves. Organic gardening outdoors isvery relaxing. In addition to organically produced flowers, you're able to grow vegies, fruits, and some herbsswhich are flavourfull and you know exactly what's gone into their creation. There is not any finer food on earth.


Organic gardening means no chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides what so ever. Every gardenerhas fought with garden pests, but you can findcleaner ways of getting rid of them. After all, it's what people years before had to spend time at and they still had food. You just they still had food}} a bit of cunning. One trick to get rid of those annoying aphids is to plant marigolds near to your vegetable patch. Let nature take part in its thing, and organic gardening will be less expensive and give you peace of mind. A lot of people are worried, especially parents, about all the chemicals that are used in regular non organic food growing. Often times these harsh products can end up in our water. Organic gardening outdoors means your pets, kids, and everyone else, can play in the garden safely in a no chemical area.


Backyard organic gardening will require the mysterious world of compost making. This is much more interesting than grabbing some store bought chemical product. It isn't anything that strange really, you just require to know what you can use and more variety makes for better compost. Quite simply, this is an excellent way of using kitchen and garden waste. You can use your own potato and other vegetable peelings. Rose prunings will help with the texture and old coffee grounds will help it smell better! Make sure all the ingredients are dry.


A few more tips about organic gardening outdoors.for the everlasting battle with keeping the soil mosit, healthy, and weed free,you can come up with your own mulch by simply mixing up pine needles and fresh grass clippings. Also you can get bugs using a mixture water, dish soap, and cooking oil.


Organic gardening, even if you only have a tiny patch of land, ensure you can have a natural relationship with food production and natures cycles. Somewhere on the way, we all pushed that aside, and we became accustomed to jumping in the car to go to the soulless supermarket to pick up bland food. Most of uswon't ever think where it originates and if a better way might exsist. Your children can become involved with organic gardening too, teaching them to learn where and how their food was made. They will have interesting and intriguing helping get compost ready and thinking up ingenious ideas on how to remove bugs. Best of all, they'll enjoy eating the delicious food that was grown via backyard organic gardening.








For more information about outdoor activites, and gardening take a peek at out website Outdoor Activites

Gardening Grows On You


Gardening is good for you, good for your neighbors, good for your kids and good for your dog. Especially if you do it the right way. Gardening has been around for ages, and it's almost so ingrained into our genes, it's like an instinct. In the sense that gardening feels good to do, to dig, and plant a seed and watch it grow. It's kind of an analogy for what it means to being human. It just plain feels good to see something you've planted, mature and come to fruition as a living thing. Something mystical almost about gardening. Not to mention, there are the additional benefits of the after effect of all your gardening accomplishments. Astetically, there really is nothing more pleasing, warming and comforting to look upon then a bountiful garden. Whether it is rose garden, a vegetable garden,or just a garden of plants, bushes and flowers of all varieties. It touches a human feeling at pretty much an unconscious level. I feels just right. Even a little planting or gardening in an otherwise artifical environment makes the whole environment feel more natural.


Organic Nirvana


While there is plenty of artificial stimulants, preservatives, and preventatives to aid in the gardening process, there is something to be said for the whole organic gardening process. Not only is it a healthier choice for us, but it's one less thing to fret about with all the misinformation these days about what things you need to avoid. That in itself is a mental health reason to choose organic gardening. Not to mention, for those of use who like a challenge and are constantly trying to stay off the tried and true approach, organic gardening provides many possibilities. Finding new and and inventive natural ways to keep the pests away, and help the garden grow can be fascinating. Again another mind satisfying result.


Neighborly Abundance


As anyone who knows a gardener can attest to, gardeners are the worst estimators around. They always seem to plant far more than they can eat, cook, or can. So as a result all their friends, families, and neighbors end up with baskets and baskets of tomatoes, peppers and whatever cornucopia the harvest has brought. And of course, this whole giving aspect of gardening is bound to make both the gardener and gardeners friends a much happier lot. The whole idea of giving is better than receiving really sprouts up here. And since receiving is not so bad either, all the rest of us enjoy the benefits of our backyard farmers exploits. Of course if organic gardening was employed, then it's better for everyone involved. Helps keep us all away from those nasty store bought vegetables, with enough growth hormones to visit the giants castle at the end of the bean stalks. So, get gardening all you green thumbs, I've got an empty cupboard.








For more on gardening visit gardeningfunonline.com or read other gardening articles at foolishmumbles.com/category/gardening

Organic Vegetable Gardening - A Labor Of Love


Successful organic vegetable gardening can demand a great deal of work and careful planning. This includes the preparation of the soil by enriching it and protecting the soil from the infestation of harmful insects.


Organic vegetable gardening is unlike from conventional gardening in two major ways. They differ from the utilization of fertilizers and pest control. The fertility of the soil depends on three components: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.


Nitrogen increases the growth of lush foliage. Phosphorus assists with strong roots and sterns. Potassium protects the plants from disease and low temperature. These nutrients are required for every plant that stays alkaline for more than a year. In conventional methods, man-made fertilizers are used to enrich the soil. Commercial fertilizers are available as a mixture of the three primary ingredients mentioned. However, in organic vegetable gardening, these nutrients are added in a different fashion.


Composting is a very effective organic way of enriching the soil. Compost can be made easily in pots from your backyard with garden and kitchen food waste. Materials like leaves, lawn cutting, pine needles, weeds, carrot tops, spoiled fruit and vegetable, animal manure and the like, can be used to attain good compost. The decomposition reaction of the organic material forms bacteria and fungi in the soil. This aids in changing over unavailable nutrients like nitrogen to ammonia and nitrates making it usable for the plants. This process is known as nitrification. Rock phosphates, natural occurring deposits of phosphorus in combination with calcium, can be mixed with the compost. Natural potassium occurs in substances like wood ashes, tobacco stems, seaweed, potash salts and ground rock potash. They can be also mixed for organic vegetable gardening.


The organic material takes longer to break down and affect the soil. Therefore it should be added at least two weeks before planting the vegetables.


The pH scale extends from 0 to 14. 0 indicates extreme acidic conditions. 14 is extreme alkaline and 7 suggests a neutral soil. The most inexpensive and effective material for elevating the pH is ground limestone. Dolomite limestone has an extra ingredient, magnesium, which many soils lack. If the pH of the soil is alkaline, finely ground sulphur is used to lower it.


Pest control in organic gardens is likewise done in a dissimilar manner. Organic vegetable gardening relies in the theory of manageable pest levels. This model theory, suggests that the pests are not to be completely eradicated, but kept at an easily manageable level maintaining the balance and concordance.


When pest resistant varieties are planted, natural predators and parasites are used to consume the harmful insects. Mulching the soil serves to avert direct contact with sunlight as the harmful organisms need bright sunlight to develop. These methods employing organic vegetable gardening techniques will facilitate in enhancing a healthy and abundant crop.








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Organic Flowers - Beautiful Flowers the Natural Way


By growing flowers the organic way, you can reduce or eliminate altogether the use of hazardous chemicals. The soil will be naturally nourished and chemical poisoning will not be a danger for the gardener. This is very important because, unfortunately, chemicals such as pesticides do not stay within the soil. They can contaminate gardens, homes and the water supply. Anything contaminating the water supply will eventually find its way into your body and can negatively affect your health. Chemicals used in gardening, especially pesticides, have been blamed for contributing to ozone depletion and even cancer. Buying or growing organic flowers can help to save the environment and look after your own health. Chemical pesticides are not necessary to grow beautiful plants and flowers.


Choosing to plant organic flowers enriches the soil naturally and lets you enjoy gardening without worrying about pesticide-related health issues, such as dermatitis, breathing problems and even tumours. If you wish to avoid toxic chemicals that cause pollution and disease, organic flower growing could be ideal for you. Growing flowers the natural way is rewarding and fun. Home grown flowers make perfect gifts as well as looking lovely in your garden.


If you are a gardener using toxic chemicals, the soil and groundwater can become poisoned too, resulting in the poisoned plants becoming part of the food chain. Small animals eat the chemically poisoned produce, bigger animals eat the smaller ones and we eat them. If you care for the environment, it is wise to say no to unnecessary chemical products. If you are not protected from these products, the toxic chemicals can get on to your body and clothing and be spread to any children or others close to you. Gardeners and farmers in contact with chemicals often suffer from skin problems such as dermatitis or eczema. Organic gardening can prevent this. Chemicals such as pesticides can also evaporate with water into the air, resulting in contaminated rain or snow.


If you don't happen to have green fingers, you can still opt to buy organically grown flowers. This supports organic organizations and farmers who employ organic practices. Many such farmers support charitable or humanitarian causes themselves so your money will help the whole organic cause in the long run. Supporting and promoting organic farming or organic gardening saves the environment from pollution and can help in the prevention of diseases. Organic plants and flowers are priced similarly to the chemically enhanced ones, so it is best in every sense to buy or grow organic.








Lee Dobbins writes for Backyard Garden and Patio where you can get great landscaping and gardening tips as well as learn more about organic gardening.

Organic Gardening


Gardening can prove to be a difficult task which requires much patience and effort if you wish to be successful in maintaining a healthy and attractive garden. Having said that, I would like to review a gardening guide called "The Gardeners Handbook", which is a gardening guide for people who have not had much experience with gardening, as well as for intermediate to advanced gardeners who are seeking more information on gardening techniques and secrets.


This book gives great information on aspects such as choosing the right location for your garden,how to lay out a garden, weed removing secrets and how to prepare the land for the plants you want to grow. Those are only a handful of the many aspect covered. The guide also comes with an Audio mp3 version of the entire book. The package includes bonus ebooks consisting of "Terrific Easy Guide to Landscaping"- an 83 page ebook telling you EVERYTHING you need to know about landscaping from a homeowner's perspective, "The American Gardener" - 155-page ebook telling you everything on the soil and layout of gardens, on the managing and making of hot-beds and green hourses; and on the propagation and cultivation of several sorts of vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers in your garden.


"Organic Secrets"- explaining the plain, simple facts about growing your own healthy organic produce in your garden. The cost of this Ebook package is very cheap which is great considering the fact that you receive 3 extra free gardening books with it. For me personally, gardening has never been a strong point and I have learnt that it certainly requires the right attitude, patience and technique to get the desired effect and deliverables. So I hope this short review has been helpful to anybody with little or great knowledge for that matter on gardening.








Did you find this Gardening review helpful? For more information on this Gardening Handbook visit my home page at:

Organic Container Gardening - No Garden? No Problem


If you want to try your hand at growing your own organic flowers and vegetables but have no garden, don't worry. Many people grow organic products successfully using a container. You can keep the container wherever is convenient or move it around if you need to.


A container describes any vessel which can hold soil. It might be natural, such as a clay or wooden container, or you can use an old wheelbarrow, plastic carton or bucket. As long as it is not going to fall to bits when watered, you can make use of it. It is important that your chosen container can drain because most plants dislike being over-watered. If the container does not have holes in it, you can make some with a drill or knitting needle, depending what the container is made out of. An inch or so of broken clay pots, gravel or pebbles in the bottom of the pot ensures good drainage, while a layer of leaf mold or ripped up paper on top of the clay or gravel can help to retain adequate moisture.


Living, organic soil is very important in organic container gardening. If you are using a garden, you can gradually add organic matter to the existing soil but if you plan to use a container, you need to begin with organic soil. You need organic soil, capable of holding water without drenching the plants' roots too much because there is no subsoil in the container. Adding peat moss to the organic soil is a good way to do that. You can grow organic products in peat moss by itself without adding soil if you prefer.


Depending on the size of your chosen container, you can grow whatever you like in it. As long as the pot is big enough, you can choose from herbs, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, lettuce and many other vegetables. Organic seeds and plants should be used for organic gardening to produce a true organic product, but as long as you don't plan to sell the product, it is up to you. It can be fun to experiment!


Pest control is much easier in organic container gardening than in regular gardening. You can see the whole plant and pick off bugs such as hookworms. You can bring it to a faucet to wash the leaves and stem when the plant is in a pot instead of in the garden. You probably won't see cutworms if you are using containers but you might find slugs. Simply sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the soil around your produce to get rid of them.


If aphids make a home on your plant, you can sort this problem out by buying a pack of ladybugs which will eat the aphids without destroying your produce.


Anyone can have a go at organic container gardening. It is easy and can be very satisfying to grow your own food. Organic food tastes so good too. If you can place your container in a sheltered area with natural light, it is possible to grow produce in it throughout the year.








Lee Dobbins writes for Backyard Garden and Patio where you can learn more about organic container gardening.