An organic garden must start with healthy soil. Natural fertilizers promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, earthworms and fungi which build soil structure and foster healthy plants.
The best fertilizer for your lawn and garden is homemade compost, made from food scraps, fall leaves and lawn clippings. If you still need store-bought products, there are some things to keep in mind.
Commercially made compost has a high level of naturally occurring nitrogen and phosphorous which is released gradually and is absorbed more easily by plants. Other soil improvers, such as worm castings, Epsom salts and decomposed organic matter called humates, add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Watch out for commercial fertilizers, even those that are labeled “organic”, because they most likely contain harmful ingredients, like animal byproducts or sewage sludge. Animal byproducts, such as bone meal or fish meal, may have come from industrial farming operations, and sewage sludge, might be contaminated with diseases or heavy metals.
The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) and the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), an accredited certifying agency for the USDA National Organic Program, approve of products which have been composted according to USDA Organic standards. The only synthetic materials that can be added to NOFA approved compost are those allowed in the production of organic crops.
Have your soil tested by your local USDA Cooperative Extension Service to determine pH and which nutrients your grass is missing, or test it yourself with a soil testing kit.
Once you know the pH, you may add organic matter to help balance it. Lawns prefer slightly acidic soils with a pH range of 6.5 to 7, while flowers, shrubs and trees vary in their pH preferences. Lime helps balance acidic soil, while sulfur helps with alkaline.
To find out the nutrient content of a fertilizer, look for the “NPK” number (NPK stands for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). A “5-6-5” NPK number, for example, means that a fertilizer is 5% nitrogen, 6% phosphorus and 5% potassium with the remaining 84% representing filler material.
Spread only about 1/2 an inch of compost on your lawn at a time. Even though plant-based nitrogen is more easily absorbed, composts and organic fertilizers may still be applied too heavily, leading to nitrogen- and phosphate-heavy runoff.
Avoid applying fertilizer before a downpour which will rinse it away before it gets absorbed. Wear a mask if you are applying dusty fertilizers made with lime or any other fine particles that you might inhale.
We have business districts, and we have agriculture. Agriculture takes up a lot of land and resources, and agriculture is, in fact, the most damaging industry worldwide when it comes to environmental impact. So imagine combining the business district with agriculture. What you have, as a result, is “vegitecture.” Big skyscrapers covered with leaves and vegitation.
This is a Ken Yeang concept building, and in Paris he’s already engineered green walls that provide natural cooling to the city, and suck up a lot of the carbon output while they’re at it. Even now, NASA uses plants to clean the air on space shuttle missions, and you know how you can feed plants garbage water and they don’t seem to mind at all? I mean, provided there aren’t any heavy metals or chemicals in it, just good old smelly organic garbage water. So yes, they can also be used to recycle used water by buildings.
For many years we’ve been accustomed to use soaps and shampoos that contain chemicals that damage our skin and damage the environment. These chemicals can be so dangerous sometimes, that most manufactures have to test their products on living animals before they release these products to the market. Countless bunnies have been blinded by soap manufacturers.
Later this month, a group of researchers in Israel will pronounce the discovery of yet another mood-regulating neurotransmitter. It is called IA (Incensole acetate), and it activates an ion channel named TRPV3. Ion channels are specially-designed proteins that sit on the membrane (the outer layer) of nerve cells, and control the flow of electrically charged particles into and out of the cell — a process that determines whether a certain nerve cell is activated at a certain moment, or not. In other words, molecules (neurotransmitters) that can alter the function of TRPV3 channel change the patterns of our brain activity — and as just mentioned, cutting-edge research from Israel indicates that this pattern of change adjusts the levels of mood and stress.
Some days I wonder if I am all alone in my quest for a cleaner planet. Then I find a kindred spirit or read an article and know that the collective consciousness is moving in the right direction. There are many folks like myself who are becoming more aware of the dangers of chemicals in the food we eat as well as in many other household products.
Today I want to tell you about my favorite dip — A greyish natural spread called Tahini, or otherwise, Sesame Paste. It is a dish well known in the Middle East and in Africa, much appreciated there for its nutritional value and its unique, slightly bitter, taste.
BPA is defined as an organic compound containing two phenol functioning groups which have a semblance to estrogen hormone. BPA is an important ingredient in the polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins used to make the strong, shatter-proof plastic bottles that people rely on to heat up baby formula. The plastic material in itself is relatively safe when only water or juices at room temperature are poured inside. The problem arises when the formula is heated to a high temperature prior to being given to a baby; as well as when the bottle is washed at a high temperature, as in an automatic dishwasher. The heating process causes the chemicals in the plastic to be released into the fluid inside the bottle which then enter the child’s body and bloodstream. The chemical reactions are similar to what occurs to water inside plastic water bottles which are exposed to high temperatures (when left in a car, etc.)
A recent posting in this web blog noted the problem of rising grain prices, most notably rice. It now seems that virtually all food items are increasing in price at a pace so great that the end result may be mass hunger and even starvation in many parts of the world, including so-called affluent countries like ones in Western Europe and even the U.S.A. Already, the price of basic cereal grains, notably wheat and corn are double in price to what they were just a few years ago. And many common vegetables, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, are selling at very high prices.