Among gardeners who like to stay natural and environment friendly, a no-till policy is not uncommon. they realize that plowing into the soil loosening and breaking it up only helps with soil erosion, helping the rain and the wind blow off topsoil, and of course helping the rain drain off pesticides into the ground. But over the last couple of years, they haven’t been able to keep up their commitment. They’ve called in the tilling machines to rip up the soil, and to mix in herbicides. They’ve had enough of terribly stubborn weeds that seem to suffocate every other garden plant around. They are the new scourge of the gardening enthusiast, the gardening problem to end all gardening problems – they are the superweeds.

It’s the same thing that has happened with people and bacteria. People have been recklessly popping pills for decades now and bacteria and other organisms have just become accustomed to them; health documentaries on the Discovery Channel can’t stop trumpeting how the future will just about be all about battling tenacious super germs that will just laugh at all standard drugs you could throw at them. We will have to take to especially powerful drugs of the kind we usually use only for cancer chemotherapy. In the same way, gardeners across the country are beginning to battle all the gardening problems that come from super weeds – with the use of super toxic herbicides. When they can, they’ll try to rip the weeds out by hand; but it just takes too much time and effort.

Farming and gardening in this country have turned full circle – to a time when no one had any weapon against weeds and pests other than their own to low-tech hands. Using super powerful herbicides will only result in poisoned plants, lower yields, and health problems. It all started 10 years ago in a farm and Delaware that grew soybeans. It was just one kind of superweed back then, and it seemed like they would find a way around it. All of a sudden though, everyone’s reporting gardening problems of this kind of a dozen varieties that affect every kind of garden plant and every kind of farm crop. At a time when everyone’s so enthusiastic about genetically modified soybeans, cotton and corn, seeing what happens when a plant is genetically modified (by nature in reaction to unnatural problems) should lead to a bit of caution. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone loves tomatoes, especially homegrown vine ripened ones. However, tomatoes, like humans are prone to certain diseases that could overtake them and kill them. Here is an explanation of the most common ones.

First, there is Early Blight. Early Blight is a disease that will affect foliage, the fruit, and the stems of the tomato plant. It causes the leaves to die and this means that the fruit can die from exposure to the sun. Crowded or undernourished plants are more susceptable.

Next there is Gray Leaf Spot. This disease will hurt the leaves of the tomato plant. It first attacks the oldest leaves. It kills off the leaves from the inside out. This will keep fruit from growing.

The third disease is called Leaf Blight. Leaf Blight will attack both fruit and leaves of tomatoes. This type of disease spreads rapidly. This is actually what caused the Irish Potato famine.

Another disease is the Septoria Leaf Spot disease. This is the same type of disease as Late Blight. It affects the oldest leaves and then the newer leaves.

Southern Blight is another disease that affects tomatoes. It is a white moldy substance on the bottom part of the stem closest to the soil. Most often these plants that are affected will just collapse.

The next type of disease is Verticilium Wilt. Although the name says wilt the leaves of the tomatoes that have this disease do not actually wilt at all. This disease will keep the tomatoes from taking in the water and nutrients it needs to grow and be healthy. Read the rest of this entry »

An Easy Garden
Do you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor but not spending a lot of time and effort in your garden? Then you should consider an herb garden. The herb garden is one of the easiest gardens to maintain and one that will give you rewards with little effort. The herb garden is the perfect garden for a beginner or someone who does not have a lot of time, or just wants to do some gardening but not fuzz much about it.

Getting Started
An herb garden is easy to plant because it does not require a big space. You can plant it in pots, and move it around as needed. Pots give you the flexibility of controlling the weeds, pests, and watering without a lot of fuzz. If you use pots, make sure to allow for drainage so you do not drown the plant. You can set automatic watering bottles or globes, even vitamins. You can grow herbs inside your home as well as outside, even in your windowsill.

You can buy the seeds to grow your herbs, but if you want to skip this step, you can buy the small plant and just transplant it to the ground or pot. They usually grow fast, and you will have fresh herbs available to use in your kitchen. You will have fresh flavor in your dishes, but will save money in your groceries, too. You can start with a few of them such as parsley, mint, and basil. Keep adding more herbs to your garden as you make some progress. Experiment and have fun. Read the rest of this entry »