Mother Earth's Garden

Can you believe it? As of November 1st I’ve been blogging at Mother Earth’s Garden for 2 years! I’ve had a great time writing here. I completely forgot about the anniversary over the weekend, and didn’t even remember until today.

I’ve had a great time sharing gardening tips and stories with Mother Earth’s Garden readers over the last couple years, and I thought I’d touch on some of my favorite stories today. Here are a few of the most popular posts posts with readers, and some of my favorite posts to share:

The Fall Colors In My Garden
Become Bee Aware
A Walk Through …read more

1 Comment

The other day I talked a little about Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire premiering on PBS. Today I have information about a new interview Michael did with Organic Gardening about the dangers of organic factory farms, the future of organics, and what he thinks of Michelle Obama.

The interview appears in the the November/December/January 2009-2010 issue of Organic Gardening magazine, which hits newsstands today. I got to take a sneak peak at the article (even though my own issue of Organic Gardening hasn’t arrived in the mail quite yet.
I enjoyed reading the interview, and learning more about Michael Pollan and his …read more

No Comments

I have a variety of beneficial insects in my garden, and I attract beneficial insects to my garden by providing cover, moisture, and avoiding the use of pesticides whenever possible.
Some of these beneficial insects help pollinate my garden, others help guard it from unwanted pests, but they all help my garden be a better place.
Here are 5 of my favorites.
1. The Praying Mantis ~ I never get tired of seeing these beautiful creatures. When I see them in my summer garden I know they’re consuming all those pesky little bugs.
2. The Butterfly is a beautiful pollinator. I …read more

No Comments

One of my absolute favorite beneficial insects is the the ladybug. Ladybugs are small round beetles that range in color from red to orange, with black spots.

If you want to avoid using chemical pesticides, attracting beneficial insects to your garden becomes very important. It’s a vicious cycle, once you use pesticides it’s hard to get beneficial insects like lady beetles to come to your garden.
So how do you attract ladybugs to your garden?

Ladybugs love strong scented herbs and flowers with plenty of pollen. Some of their favorites include dill, cosmos, cilantro, fennel, tansy, and yarrow.
Provide plenty of …read more

No Comments

You don’t have to use chemical sprays and dusts to keep the pests out of your garden. Here are some companion herbs you can plant with your vegetables to help repel pests naturally:

Catnip~ Repels Japanese beetles, squash bugs, aphids, and ants (sorry, not responsible for what it does to your cats)
Borage~ Repels many worms including tomato horn worms and cabbage worms, so get some borage cozy with your tomatoes
Pennyroyal~ Deters fleas (don’t use on cats it can be toxic if they lick their fur)
Cilantro~ Aphids and spider mites
Basil~ Repels flies and mosquitoes
Lavender~ Repels fleas
Oregano~ Cucumber beetles and aphids

So instead of …read more

No Comments

According to TomatoFest® Garden Seeds, here are the top ten heirloom tomato varieties going into 2009:

Brandywine (pink)~ is one of my absolute favorite tomatoes. I have at least a few Brandywine plants in my garden every year. They’re a large pink skinned variety, perfect for serving on sandwiches.
Paul Robeson (purple/black) is a Russian heirloom tomato. Since it originates in a cooler climate, it will set fruits in cooler weather. Making it a great choice for zones that stay cooler later into the spring.
Aussie (red) is a large red meaty tomato, another great slicing and sandwich tomato. It makes …read more

1 Comment

You have to go over to Tree Hugging Family and check out the creepy composting video she has posted! It’s quite disturbing. I hope my compost bin never licks its lips at me…Yikes! I think that would be one thing that could get me to quit composting…

1 Comment

Epsom Salt is a low cost, naturally occurring remedy for your garden. It helps deter many garden pests, and helps your plants flourish and grow.
Check out some of the things it can do for your garden according to the Epsom Salt Council:
Research indicates Epsom Salt:

Helps seeds germinate.
Makes plants grow bushier.
Produces more flowers.
Increases chlorophyll production.
Improves phosphorus and nitrogen uptake.
Deters pests, including slugs and voles.

The Council also provides some great tips for helping you apply Epsom Salt to your garden, or potted plants in the proper amounts:
Tips for your plants and garden using Epsom Salt:
· Houseplants: …read more

No Comments

Someone asked the question on my post Have You Ever Grown A Purple Carrot, about where they could find purple carrot seeds. So I thought I’d put together a few of my favorite heirloom and unusual seeds resources to help you find purple carrots, and other unusual, and heirloom vegetable seeds.
I’ve linked to the purple carrot seed page on most of these, but they’re also excellent resources for other seeds as well if you take a look around.

Victory Heirloom Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Seed Savers Exchange

Do you have a favorite source for rare, heirloom, or open-pollinated seeds? Please feel free …read more

5 Comments

Do you have a few extra tomato seeds, but you need some pepper seeds? Do you have a beautiful heirloom flower you’d like to share? Check out the Garden Bloggers’ Seed Exchange and swap your extra seeds for something you need.
In this tough economy swapping something you have for something you need can be a lifesaver, so save some of that money you were going to spend on seeds, and find some great heirloom varieties while you’re at it.
If you don’t want to swap online, set up a seed swap, or plant swap with some friends and neighbors, …read more

No Comments