How to Use Orange Peels in Your Garden to Boost Plant Health and Deter Pests

 

Photo source:  Martha Stewart

"Oranges are delectable fruits packed with vitamin C, but believe it or not, orange peels have several benefits for your garden. The peels can act as a compost material to enrich your soil or be used in the garden to deter common pests like aphids. Rather than throwing your peels away, we spoke to gardening experts who shared their tips for using orange peels in the garden."  Comments from Martha Stewart.com

As an organic gardener, I am always happy to learn more about using things like orange peel that we usually discard to benefit our garden.  So many benefits, but has to be done in certain ways to see the results.

Click here to go to the Martha Stewart.com article.

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Say Goodbye To Garden Pests

 

Photo source:  Outdoor Guide

"If you frequently find yourself battling pests in the garden, you're probably willing to try anything to get rid of them. Store-bought sprays offer a chemical solution, but those can sometimes be harmful to plants. They also pose a risk to bees, butterflies, and other garden pollinators. Luckily, there are several home remedies worth trying, some of which require little more than basic kitchen scraps."  Comment from Outdoor Guide

I've had fierce battles with the slugs in my part of the world.  As an organic gardener, you must learn natural tricks other than using chemicals.  It can be done!

Click here to go to the Outdoor Guide article.

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Make Compost Tea – Fertilize Plants Naturally

 

Photo source:  This Is My Garden

"Plain and simple, there is no better and more economical way to power your vegetable plants and flowers naturally than to make and use your own homemade compost tea. And is it ever simple, fast and inexpensive to make. In fact, if you happen to have your own compost pile, you can make an endless supply all summer – for free!"  Comment from This Is My Garden

As an organic gardener, I routinely made compost tea with great results.

Click here to go to the This Is My Garden article to learn about fertilizing plants naturally.

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Preventing weeds in an established garden

Weeding has got to be one of the most dreaded tasks in the garden.

Click here for an article with great ideas to prevent weeds in an established garden.

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Natural Ways to Combat Aphids

Finding an infestation of aphids on one of your favorite plants is not something you want to see in the garden.

One of the tricks I learned to combat aphids is to keep the leaves clean, even if it is just a routine spray of water.  Once you experience aphids, you don't want to go there again.

Frugal Family Home has an excellent post on aphids that is very informative on all aspects of these pests. Click here to go to the article.

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Companion Planting Top 10 Plants

One of my organic gardening habits is to plant marigolds with my peppers and tomatoes since they assist in keeping the pests away.  Making small changes in your gardening routine can make a big difference.

The blog Imperfectly Happy has posted an article on Companion Planting that is very helpful and informative if you are interested in adopting some of these practices in your garden!  Click here to go to the article.

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Using Eggshells in the Garden

Recycling . . . I love using something that is usually thrown away in useful ways.  Eggshells are free and so beneficial in the garden.

As long as I can remember, eggshells were always put in the soil mixture when first planting tomato plants. We sprinkle eggshells as a mulch when slugs become a problem.  Those are the ways we have used eggshells in our organic garden.

I never used an elaborate technique for preparing the eggshells . . . just dried them out before using them. However, I have since learned it is important to prepare them for use in the garden.  Here is an excellent article on how to prepare your eggshells before using them.

11 Ingenious Uses for Eggshells from Good Housekeeping

Other links with information on using eggshells in the garden . . . from eHow and How Stuff Works.

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