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NatureMills Plus Composter

June 3, 2009 in Furniture & Appliances, Organic Gardening by Jennifer | 1 comment

Composting is one of the best things you can do for a healthy planet and garden. Not only do you eliminate landfill waste when you compost, but it’s free organic soil, and you save money on your garbage bills.

One comprehensive composter is the NatureMills Plus Composter. (shown above). Benefits of this composter include…

  • Mixes automatically – hands-off mixing ability.
  • No trash odors when kept inside. Continuous air flow and a powerful carbon filter remove odors.
  • Can be used indoors or outdoors or even under the cupboard. Outside use works even in cold weather, rain, or snow.
  • You can add food and other waste any time, any day, up to 120 lbs per month. Waste items are processed continuously, mixing every 4 hours, until they are completely ground down to small particles.
  • NatureMill is made from recycled and recyclable materials.
  • Energy use is just 5 kwh / month, or about $0.50/month – less than a garbage truck would burn in diesel fuel to haul the same waste.
  • New compost is ready every 2 weeks. A red light will tell you when to empty the machine. Just open the door and remove the compost and place it in your garden.
  • All NatureMill models can handle pet waste, kitty litter, and cage beddings.
  • You only have to replace the filter every 5 years.

Watch this video about it…

NatureMills makes other composters as well. Visit NatureMills to learn more.

Green Garden Planning: Recycled Garden Stones

March 23, 2009 in Organic Gardening by Jennifer | 1 comment

Now that you’re getting started with spring gardening prep, you should consider working recycled stone into your landscaping scheme.

Landscaping design by Zorock

Benefits of using recycled stones in your landscaping…

  • You can add some color to your landscape with fewer water guzzling plants.
  • Some companies, like Zorock use only natural coloring techniques for their stones, which means that their stones are non-toxic and safe for your family and pets to be around.
  • May detract pests like termites and other buggies.
  • Stones help keep your ground cooler and retains moisture.

Landscaping design above by Zorock

You can place stones around specific areas to block off garden plots – say herbs vs. flowers, use them to set off your pool, and used in place of mulch. Of course you can also use larger stones in your yard for stepping stones, as plant markers, and more.

You can see more stone-in-the-garden design ideas at Zorock or check out another cool recycled stone dealer,  Recycled Rocks!.

If you’re interested in using rocks inside your home for decor purposes read: Green Candle Arrangements.

Have A Dream Green Garden – Three Eco Garden Ideas

January 21, 2009 in Organic Gardening by Jennifer | No comments

I’ve been saving these three links, two longer than the other, for closer to gardening season. Since it’s time to plan for organic seeds, I figured why not post these three cool garden ideas.

Balcony Gardens, Country Living in your Condo:This first link is a nice little piece on planning a super container garden. Not totally green-minded, but I like it, because one part of sustainability can be home gardens, Just because you don’t have a large yard, you shouldn’t be left out. The post covers a few basics, water sources, and boxes. A great starter if you live in an apartment or condo.

The second link is beautiful; recycled materials: eco greenhouse construction. Images of a gorgeous greenhouse made with sustainable materials. Not word heavy, but visual motivation for you hard core organic gardeners.

Lastly, a post that offers more help for you urban gardeners, a folding greenhouse set-up. It’s tight and tidy, made for small spaces. Perfect if you love to garden, but are short on space.

Now what are your garden plans for the upcoming spring season?

Organic Gardening Planning – Helpful Tools for Organic Seeds

January 12, 2009 in Uncategorized by Jennifer | No comments

In the last post we looked at getting a jump on your organic gardening with organic seeds. Here are some more helpful tools…

Organic Seedstarting Mix: 100% Organic Germinating Mix with sphagnum peat and perlite for a fine texture, and the addition of compost, protein meal and trace minerals for healthy growth.

Garden Starter System: Reusable vs. plastic seed starter bins. Other ways to start seeds include recycled egg cartons, yogurt cups (cut a hole in the bottom), or real planters that later will hold flowers.

Sun-Mar Continuous-Use Auto Flow 200 Composter: If you don’t have a composter yet, it’s time to get going with that. You still have time to start recycling your food scraps into healthy soil for the summer gardening season.

Grab a great organic gardening book: Read the rest of this entry »

Earthworms for Your Home Organic Garden

August 24, 2008 in Organic Gardening by Jennifer | No comments

If you’d like to have an organic garden at your house, the first thing you need to do is get your soil in tip-top organic shape.

girl with worm

Earthworms are key – there are other organic soil issues of course, but earthworms cost little and it takes almost no time to implement a good earthworm plan into your garden. Earthworms scurry about (ok crawl) and loosen up plus condition soil. They also leave earthworm droppings all over the place (yuck), but the droppings have some characteristics of fertilizer, so it’s a good thing.

If you already have earthworms in your soil (look around after a rain), then you’re in good shape. The presence of earthworms means one, you don’t have to purchase any, and two that your soil is likely in good shape. If you have no worms you can pick some up at a garden center. Add them to your soil and keep watch. Earthworms that don’t survive means your soil is probably lacking a vital component (i.e. organic soil amendments).

Stay tuned for more organic home gardening tips.