Archive for October, 2008
Fall Vegetable Gardening for the Homesteader
October 24th, 2008
Fall Vegetable Gardening Provides New Challenges even for the experienced homesteader with a green thumb. Many people completely ignore the Fall garden because of the challenges, and focus on preparing the bed for the Spring planting.
For most garden enthusiasts, the arrival of fall means a harvest and a long rest for the vegetable garden beds. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. With a bit of careful planning and appropriate timing, you can enjoy a second harvest of cool weather crops throughout the autumn months with fall vegetable gardening. There are a number of vegetables that will thrive in the cooler months of fall, like root vegetables and leafy greens and a variety of cabbages. To select the best fall growers, check packages for descriptions like “cold hardy” or “quick maturity”. This will ensure that the plants you select for your fall vegetable gardening will give you the harvest that you are hoping for.
Timing
Timing is truly everything when it comes to fall vegetable gardening, since you will want to beat the first hard frost to ensure that you get a good, healthy crop. Some plants don’t even survive the first fall frosts, so they would probably not be good choices for your fall vegetable gardening efforts. To find out what the frost calendar is for your area, you can contact your local extension office. They can give you the best ideas of dates to plant for fall vegetable gardening, as well as a list of potential crops that will work well this time of year. Some plants actually like the shorter days and cooler temperatures of the autumn months, and will reward you with sweeter tasting veggies than you would enjoy in the hotter summer harvest.
Protection
Some of the crops that you choose to plant in your fall vegetable gardening will require some protection to survive the frosty nights of this season. This means that you will need to keep your eye on the weather reports during the months of September and October, and be prepared to cover those vulnerable plants when the temperatures begin to threaten to drop to frost point. You can purchase protection for your plants, or you can construct your own out of old milk bottles or worn bed sheets. By protecting your plants through the colder nights, you can allow them to thrive during the warmer days, and extend your harvest by a few weeks. Some plants will even continue to grow through hard frosts if they have proper protection at night.
Fall vegetable gardening will allow you to enjoy your favorite hobby past the warm weather months, and give you a crop of sweet vegetables that you might be able to enjoy all the way to Thanksgiving with a bit of luck in some areas. Happy fall gardening.
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Garden Tractors – Your Farming Friends
October 21st, 2008
You love gardening. You spend a lot of time taking care of your garden and farm. You plant herbs and shrubs, you cut lawns, till farms, do watering, trimming, pruning – the works! It is a tedious job at times. How about some assistance? Well, garden tractors are there to help you.
Development
The Western Malleable and Gray Iron Manufacturing Company, produced the first garden tractors. The first one was developed in 1937, and was sold by Montgomery Ward. Two years later, in 1939, the first riding tractor became available, and then in 1950, the first riding lawn mower came into existence.
Gradually the size of the tractors went on getting reduced, while the features and facilities, increased. A smaller sized model farming tractor was designed in 1972, and that’s where today’s compact garden tractors found their roots.
Usage
Garden tractors are farming tools to be used for diverse farming activities :
- The job of pulling heavy loads can be physically tough. They can assist you with the job at hand. Let these heavy-duty machines do all the hard work.
- Cultivators, provided with garden tractors, may be used for plowing, thus making your farms more fertile. Tilled land, according to the experts, is always a good idea if quality crops are to be expected.
- Often used for mowing lawns in gardens. Trimming with the help of tractors, helps reduce odd grass lengths, bringing the parts of the surface back in sync.
- Plowshares embedded in garden tractors, are mostly used for purposes other than gardening as well. A stack of snow may be cleared with the help of plowshares.
Handle with Care!
Garden tractors are machines after all! Proper care must be taken while operating the system, to keep ourselves safe and our good investment safe as well. Here are some guidelines :
- One should always turn off the engines before moving out of the driving seat.
- Servicing should never be attempted while they are in operating mode.
- Garden tractors, with running engines, should never be left in closed garages to avoid accidents.
- Neither the driver nor the idle sitters on the tractors, should smoke there.
- Your body should always be kept at a distance from the operating machinery.
- Speed of the miniature machines should be taken care of.
- It is always advisable to regularly check whether the brakes are working properly.
- Untrained drivers should not be allowed to experiment with the machines.
Buying Tips
You need to be cautious when buying. Following are some guidelines to help you:
- Guarantee of the product purchased and warranty period associated, should be checked.
- Getting your new purchase insured proves to be a good move. Do so when it is time for the warranty to expire.
- It is always better to ask in advance if servicing will be provided at some extra cost, or the price you pay would take care of it.
- Be wary while choosing the brand. Verify that the parts are available close to your location. Getting compatible parts at a later date can get difficult.
- First aid treatments should be learnt to help you in case of of accidents and emergencies.
No doubt with the right care and handling your Garden Tractor could last for years.
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Stop tossing tomatoes!
October 14th, 2008
Tips to saving grocery money: Stop Tossing Tomatoes
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Tags: budget, food, frugal, grocery savings, homestead, left overs, menu, save money, savings, stretch gorceries, tips, tomato | 
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Farming Basics and Why you Should Buy Flax Seed
October 12th, 2008
There was a time when farming was the way of life in almost every country around the world. The animals and crops that are raised on farms provide us with the food we eat, we cannot live on without it. We also get other materials from farms like cotton, wool, etc. Farming is still the most substantial occupation in the world even though the number of families who farm for a living is steadily decreasing.
Coupled with the beginning of scientific farming methods and labor saving machinery, farming has become a lot more productive than it used to be before. There’s an exponential growth in the yields of some major crops because of the development of better plant varieties and fertilizers. Animal waste has also elevated largely because of caring for them and breeding them in larger quantities. The use of tractors and other modern farm implements has, however, lessened the need for farm labor.
The single most notable factor that affects the quality of the grain, hay and silage on a farm is moisture, according to professionals in farming. As a result of this, moisture management is a continuous process. This is done by hay moisture testers, which speedily and accurately measure the moisture in the field, bin or storage.
Killing the weeds Without killing the crop!
The health of the crops has to be protected from weeds and bugs. Many herbicides and pesticides are available to do this. Among these, the Crossbow herbicide is an great product that kills woody brush like blackberry plants; scotch brook and the poison oak. It is the triclopyr ingredient in the herbicide that makes it so effective.
The grass remains unhurt and only the blackberry plants are killed by the Crossbow herbicide. However, it is a swell idea to keep the blackberry plants and spray the herbicide because there will be enough leaf area for herbicide absorption. This will take in enough to kill the root. The best time to spray this chemical is late spring since this is when the plant stems appear fully extended.
Crossbow herbicide is oil based which could be undesirable, particularly during warm weather, which causes the herbicide to vaporize and settle on the neighboring plants. One way to get around this is to apply it on a cloudy day to prevent the sensitive plants in the vicinity from overspray.
Buy flax seed, because they are good for you.
It is a good idea to buy flax seeds from a farm since they are fresh. From a health point of view, flax seeds and oil of the flax plant are greatly desired. They are rich in Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) belonging to the group of substances called Omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential to protect from heart disease. Flaxseed oil is wonderful for the heart because it is the richest source of ALA. It can also protect against certain cancers in the ground or whole form because of the lignans available in it.
Thanks for reading this article today; I trust it has been informing to you in some way or another.
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Benefits of Organic Farming
October 1st, 2008
Organic farming is a different sort of farming practice which is different from the conventional farming. With organic farming, better and healthy food ingredients can be cultivated. The whole process of organic farming is natural. Basically, the organic farmers deal with the farmlands in a much careful manner. The organic farmers spend lots of time in improving their land. Soil combination and positioning are two key ingredients of organic gardening. There are certain benefits of organic gardening. With strong commitment to the lands, the organic farmers improve the agricultural processes. Soil foundation of the food chain is the key feature of organic soil. The organic products moreover meet strict standards and as a result almost all the products are of good quality. Organic certification is the public’s assurance that products have been grown and handled under persistent toxic chemical inputs. Through thorough study of these techniques, organic ingredients of better quality are achieved. Well balanced soil helps in the growth of better plants. Conventional farmers only add nitrogen. Potassium and phosphorus but the organic farmers use things like rock dust; the organic farmers use many beneficial soil organisms instead of removing them. More information is available from AgCommoditiesInc.com
Organic ingredients have become popular across the nations because of its purity and healthy nature. Organic ingredients do not reduce the possibilities of any residue of herbicide, fungicide or any pesticide within the functional ingredient. Genetically, engineered products can be detrimental for the plant’s health. It has been found from studies that the organic farming keeps the topsoil undisturbed and this helps in better production and crop rotation. Again by producing organic ingredient, soil poisoning can be stopped. But the fact is clear that organic farms require more labor. The food ingredients are now highly in demand, the healthy natures of these food ingredients are causes of its popularity. Food ingredients are used for preparing chocolates, snacks and various food products. Conventional farmers use chemicals which kill microscopic bacteria. Many of these bacteria enhance the plant’s ability to absorb nutrients. The fillings and the frying oils, coco butter etc are some of the delicious items prepared from organic ingredients. Organic ingredients are also used for making frozen food items. The elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching are done during soil building and along with this it prevents soil, water and air pollution. For maintaining the natural harmony, it is indeed required to maintain the ecological balance. Organic ingredients are widely used for both foods and agricultural products; nowadays, even cotton is also grown following the process. The food ingredients are now highly in demand. Functional ingredients are also highly being used for yielding better and tastier products. For further information, one can refer to the website AgCommoditiesInc.com
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