Have you ever tasted healthy homegrown vegetables or
smelled beautiful flowers grown right in your back yard? Well, now you can!
With my help you will have a yummy homegrown salad or a gorgeous bouquet in no
time!
I know you may have learned how to plant your own garden
in science class or you decided to pick up the remote and watch the health food
channel and learned what you know from there. But their advice usually involves
using things that are harmful tfor the environment. Stuff like pesticides and
weed killer can harm your garden and its inhabitants. You may have learned that
some bugs can harm your garden and animals. Or that weeds can cause crowding.
Your right but there is a greener way to keep those things away and also keep
your garden healthy and great for the environment!
Planting your Garden
1. First, you need to find the perfect seeds! Many seeds can
be purchased from garden centers, mail order catalogs, or on the Internet or
even your local Wal-Mart. You want to make sure that you check the back of the
seed package to see how long it takes the seeds to grow, how much water the
seeds need each week, and if they need to be planted in a certain type of soil.
You may need to try to get seeds that have the same
characteristics so you don’t get mixed up between watering days. If you cannot
find any plants that have the same characteristics try to get the same plant.
2. Second, you need to find the best place to plant your
garden. Plants need sun to grow. But too much sun can kill them especially if
you are not able to water them every day. You also need to check around your
plot to make sure there are no snake or rabbit holes. You don’t want to be
surprised by a snake while planting and rabbits can eat your plants!
3. Third, clean out all rocks and weeds beforehand so your
plants have a few days to start growing.
4. Fourth, when you are ready to plant make sure you have the
right soil. Be sure to plant your seeds in even rows.
5. Fifth, when you put the seed in the ground put some water
on the seed, cover it with soil and fertilizer and water it again. Then wait
for when the seed package says to water again.
6. A tip for a vegetable garden would be to put a stick or
round cage around tomatoes. A tip for a flower garden would be if you are
growing roses, putting a stick
around where you planted the seed so your rose bush can grow tall and healthy.
How to keep it green, while protecting your
garden!
2. Sprinkle coffee grounds and eggshells around the base of
plants to repel ants (who can exacerbate an aphid problem), snails, and slugs.
3. For a great fertilizer you can use compost! Yep, I know it
sounds gross but really compost is recycled coffee grounds, lettuce, some
fruits like apples and oranges, soil, dead leaves and the last ingredient is WORMS! Yep, worms are also
a great resource that you can use for your garden. They help mix and fertilize
the soil in your garden. They help make compost.
4. Another way to get rid of aphids is ladybugs. Ladybugs
love aphids for breakfast lunch and dinner! Ladybugs won’t harm your garden.
5. Deer love gardens. Sometimes deer can’t get the nutrients
they need just eating grass and leaves. So they sneak up at night to munch on
your wonderful garden. To keep them away put up a yarn fence. Just measure your
garden, get poles and put them all around your garden, then take some yarn and
twine it around the poles. For extra protection, tie cans from the yarn to scare the deer away.
6. Another predator of the garden is birds. Birds can take
seeds right out of the soil and when the plants are grown birds steal your food
or take flowers for a nest. The eco- friendly way to keep them away is to make
an old fashioned scarecrow. To make a scarecrow, take a pole (wooden preferred)
and an old shirt. Put the shirt on the pole and tie it to the pole at the top
and bottom. Then stuff the shirt with straw or hay. You can also stuff a sack
and tie that to the top of the pole and draw a face on it. You can also put up
a fake owl another other bird of prey to scare away birds. For peskier birds
like crows try to put both a scarecrow and scare crow.
7. Now for those pesky weeds! Weeds are always a bother
because they cause crowding. Crowding is when your poor plant gets overthrown
by a bunch of weeds or other harmful plants so it can’t grow properly or not
grow at all! The best way to get rid of weeds is with your hands or a gardening
tool called hand rake.
8. Let it rain! When it rains it helps water your plants so
don’t cover them up before a storm (unless there is hail).
Gardening tool’s list:
Rake:
A rake is used to scrape away dead leaves to make room for your garden.
Shovel:
Some gardens don’t need a shovel. It depends on the size of your garden and
which plant you have.
Floppy
Hat: Don’t forget to wear at hat in the garden. A hat will help you to not get
too hot and will also help against with sunburn.
Sunscreen:
You don’t get a sunburn.
Hose:
A hose is used to water plants. Make sure to keep the stream gentle and don’t
water too heavily.
Watering
Can: A watering can is used to water your garden but you have to keep refilling
it.
Hand
tools: These are smaller versions of a shovel, rake, and other large gardening
tools. Also don’t forget an apron or gloves.
I
hope my advice helps you in your journey to the perfect garden and the greenest
garden in the state!
Be Forever Green! Check out GSGATL for more green gardening activities in honor of the
Girl Scout Forever Green project. Click here.
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