organic gardening and compost bins

A Complete Preparedness Package

The One-Day Homesteading Class complete in

6 Dynamic tapes by Kathleen Lamont

of Back to Basics

The Organic Gardening Workshop – Includes Planning your Garden, three ways to build your soil; composting techniques; seeds: starts, harvesting, storing; cloche building, greenhouse, cold frame, raised bed gardening, organic psest control; beekeeping; suggested books; resources and catalogs.

3 hours

Long Term Food Storage & Preserving the Harvest Includes six essential food items to store; canning and freezing; grains, beans and berries; seed sprouting; dehydrating; root cellaring; vacuum sealing.

3 hours

Setting Up the Self-Sufficient Homestead – Includes how to choose undeveloped land or land with an existing home. How to find water; alternative energy sources; farm animals: cows, goats, sheep, hoses, pigs, and chickens. Water: finding, pumping, storing, and purifying. Also included, how to put together an herbal medicine kit; the value of aquaculture; what is a CSA, and community living.

3 hours

The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman

Master grower Eliot Coleman presents the simplest and most sustainable ways of growing top-quality organic vegetables. Coleman presents practical information n Marketing the harvest, small-scale equipment, and farming and gardening for the long-term health of the soil. Thorough in its scope, this book includes chapters on farm-generated fertility, the winter garden, pests and plenty of information resources. “Every small-scale grower and serious gardener should have a copy of this book.” Robert Rodale

The Orchard Mason Bee - The life history, Biology, Propagation and Use of a Truly Benevolent and Beneficial Insect, by Brian Griffin

Raise pollinating bees in your own backyard--here is all the information needed to capture & raise these docile wild bees at home. A must resource book for every fruit tree grower, whether a backyard gardener, or a commercial orchardist. These gentle little bees nest in holes in wood & are easy to propagate. They are native to almost all of the U.S. & Canada & they are far better pollinators of fruit trees than honeybees. Illustrated with charming drawings by Sharon Smith, the book discusses the history, propagation, and use of the bee in a friendly conversational style.

Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Setup & Maintain a Vermicomposting System by Mary Appelhof

The definitive guide to vermicomposting--a process using

red worms to recycle food waste into nutrient-rich food for plants. Provides complete illustrated instructions on setting up and maintaining small-scale worm composting systems. Internationally recognized, the author has worked with worms for nearly three decades. Topics include different bins, what kind of worms to use, worm reproduction, preparing worm beddings, how to meet the needs of the worms, what kinds of foods to feed the worms, harvesting worms, and making potting soil from the vermicompost produced. Second edition.

Rodale’s All New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening

Over 400 entries of the most practical, up-to-date gardening information ever, collected from garden experts and writers nationwide for homesteading types and gardeners alike. The listings are extensive from Animal Pests to Zucchini, you will have the basics of organic gardening at your fingertips. This book is to gardeners as what Back to Basics is to homesteaders. 690 pages and 300 illustrations.

Compost Happens - This video shows you how to take garden and kitchen scraps and make black, rich soil. It is a step-by-step guide on how to build a compost bin and how to correctly layer the ingredients. As a bonus, the star of the video, Watson Burkhead, shows you how to set up a worm bin for that extra-rich worm compost to feed your house plants.

36 minutes

West County Garden Work Gloves

THE ORIGINAL HIGH PERFORMANCE GARDENING GLOVE

This is the perfect glove for overall garden work. Use it for maintenance and clean-up, light hauling, pruning, and planting. It provides protection against thorns, splinters, blisters—even knocks and bruises. The Work glove supports and protects your hands while going unnoticed as you go about your tasks in the garden. Its supple man-made fabrics make it lightweight, flexible, and durable. And it maintains its close fit even after repeated washing.

FEATURES:

Terry cloth brow wipe

Poly/Cotton loop terry thumb for extra absorption.

Polyurethane Padded Suede Palm

Polyurethane suede palm gives all the protection of leather, but won't dry hard or crack even after repeated washing. Protects from thorns, glass, rough surfaces, tool impact.

Reinforced stress points

Extra layer of protective suede is sewn in at all wear points .

Adjustable cuff

Brushed, anti static polyester elastic for comfort. Keeps out dirt and debris.

Stretch mesh back

4-way stretch nylon mesh for enhanced ventilation, flexibility, and fit.

Washable

Machine wash warm, tumble dry low. Won't shrink, harden, or crack. Be sure to close all Velcro tabs before adding to the wash.

Garden Bio-Film is designed to protect your plantings from weeds and stimulate warmth for uniform growth, then return itself naturally to the earth after the plantings reach maturation. The film also serves as a plant protector during frost and wind warnings.

Garden Bio-Film is lightweight, yet denser than plastic of equal mil. Both the film and the vegetable-based pigmentation used for color are certified for use in organic growing. To use, simply prepare the soil and lay the film over the planting area. Cut slits to place the plantings and provide water access. Cover with mulch or dirt. The film will begin to decompose between 50-60 days as the crop reaches maturity. After 90 days the film will be 95% returned to the earth, adding its nutrients in the process. The film can be tilled into the soil at any time during the growing process.

Natural Root Aid Bio-Solution - A blend of two wonderful products that together create a transplanting solution dip that will minimize transplant shock and stress. Useful when transplanting bare root, fruit trees, bonsai, asparagus, berries, bulbs, roses, vegetable starts, rooted cuttings and seeds. With the benefits of Norwegian Seaweed for healthy cell development and the benefits of the root mycorrhizal that increases root structure, nutrient uptake and storage. Mixed together the combination makes an incredible transplanting root dip.

Vegetable Gardens, Flowers and Farms.

Garlic Barrier is a very strong liquid garlic extract that mixes with water and is sprayed on farm and garden plants to keep insects off. In fact, the garlic used in Garlic Barrier is a very powerful variety which is much more potent than the garlic found in grocery stores. There is a huge list of insects that it works on and you may see them by reviewing our label on the Garlic Barrier web site. One gallon, properly mixed with water, covers 10 to 12 acres of row crops or 5 acres of orchards. It imparts no garlic taste on any crops or plants that are sprayed. It's all natural and listed by OMRI as suitable for organic farm use. It's marvelous for farm, home garden and lawn care use and completely safe around people, pets, animals and fish.

Birds and Fruit Trees

Garlic Barrier does a wonderful job of keeping birds from eating fruit crops like cherries, pears, apples, figs and berries. In cherry trees, dilute one gallon of Garlic Barrier in 300 gallons of water and spray the solution on the trees to keep birds away from your fruit for a week. Only spray the trees when the fruit begins to ripen and the first birds appear. Garlic Barrier leaves no taste in the fruit at all and there is no re-entry time so you can spray up to the day of harvest.

Compost BioActivator

Jump start your compost pile with our 100% organic Compost BioActivator. Contains billions of beneficial microorganisms which ensure fast and thorough decomposition of organic waste. Easy to use, just sprinkle into your compost bin over your compost pile, moisten and turn. One pound Compost BioActivator treats a 3' x 3' x 5' pile, approximately one ton of raw material. Recharges cool, non-active compost piles too..!