My Life, My Organic Garden

The Japanese Hori Hori knife! In Japanese it Hori means “digging.” This is an amazing tool that has taught me to be very thoughtful about weeding. I love just pulling out weeds from the top so I can have a nice-looking garden for a little while, but BOOM! the weeds come back in full force. Weeding like that is probably the equivalent of cutting back or dead heading, which means I have been encouraging weeds this entire spring season.

My neighbor gave me a lesson in weeding and she let me use her Hori Hori knife, which have I already said it is awesome? I’m not the only one. Check out this video to learn more about it. The cheapest price I can find is $34.99, but it is well worth it I imagine. Made in Japan it is good quality. I almost cut myself with it so you must be careful! (Today I was weeding with the knife and I saw an unusual rock, and I tried to move the rock and it was actually a box turtle! wow! Side story…)

I go under each section of ground while sitting, and rock under the ground. The ground loosens and I can just take the weeds out with all the roots. It works well with sod and grass too. I also used it to cut some stronger stalks of a plant and it seemed to be just as good as the clippers.

They come in a carbon steel or a stainless steel blade. My experience was with the stainless steel one, but I bet the other one is good and durable! If these links do not work over time I would just go ahead and do a search on the internet or ask your local nursery. I haven’t found it locally, though.

I really don’t like this site to be about buying products and reviews, but man! This is an amazing tool. Have I already said that?

Happy Gardening! Diggy Diggy!

I’ve been getting to know some more online vendors, and I’ve really enjoyed Garden’s Alive and the Gardener’s Supply Co.

I bought some organic rose care supplies over the weekend. These websites can be very expensive and I recommend that we always try to find the products local, if possible. Sometimes it is just impossible to get something local, though.

My tip is to find 2-3 online sites or supply companies that have an email newsletter. Once you sign up you can watch their discounts in your Inbox. I have a separate email account I use for these types of things. I already knew I wanted to buy the few items for our roses, but I waited until Memorial Day Weekend, and the company emailed me a discount coupon for the site. I ended up getting everything half off.

So, I sort of have a running list of things I want or need, and I just watch the email coupons. Nothing I need/want is dire, so I take my time watching discounts on 2-3 sites. I usually end up not wanting it anymore or I find a product that is similar at a local store.

The yard got a little out of control while we were traveling, but a neighbor let me borrow his gas mower and it was the only way I could get it cut down. Now the yard looks nice, and I have been pulling weeds like crazy. I read all the articles that say to weed and prepare beds in the early, early spring, but even when I do that the plants get so healthy this time of year it still needs a lot of maintenance. We have lettuce, early riser pea vines (no peas yet), and other plants I purchased as starts (tomatoes, basil, and some herbs). My experiments this year is an eggplant, cabbage and broccoli. I have to keep telling myself to Water! Water! Water! Some years I don’t water as much as I should, and those plants need to be watered often I think. Two years ago when I was on the Bloomington Garden Walk a person who had a wonderful garden stated that her gardens never worked out until one day her mom called. When she told her mother of her gardening woes, her mom reminded her to water. This gardener stated that once she started to water the plants, especially during establishment, her gardens took right off! Try running a marathon without enough water, and we can probably imagine what the plants feel like when they are dehydrated. Simone, my neighbor, is teaching me about the art of growing roses, except I am learning methods to care for them organically. I love the idea of having roses, but shortly after planting three smaller bushes deer came and ate most of the buds. What learning experience! I sprayed them with some organic-based smelly stuff (garlic, rotten eggs, etc.), and secretly I’m OK with this because I feel bad that we really did take the deer’s land when the community built houses. They are just eating! I’m going to keep learning about growing roses organically, but I am going to stop worrying so much about the deer. (Of course I’m still going to hang my soap out and put human hair around the beds, etc…. to ward them away…) This week I will take pictures to update everyone on the garden’s progress. These plants really are like good friends. I am so glad to see them!