Teach Children Gardening and Give Them a Natural Head Start in Life

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Admin | Permalink 0

A new study conducted for Britain’s Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has found that encouraging children to learn gardening boosts their development by helping them become happier, more confident, and more resilient. In addition, gardening also helps teach children patience and the benefits of a healthy diet and lifestyle

The study was conducted by researchers at the National Foundation for Children, who surveyed 1,300 teachers and 10 schools. Teachers who used gardening as part of their learning experience reported that it improved children’s readiness to learn. The teachers also reported that gardening encouraged pupils to become more active in solving problems, as well as boosted literacy and numeracy skills. Now the society is urging that gardening should be incorporated as a key teaching tool in school’s regular curriculum instead of being an optional extra-curricular activity. Moreover it’s up to you how you make things interesting to your children.Try to install a playground mall in your home garden area, because children find it interesting to play there, and as they spend more time in the garden, it will be easier on your part to convince them about the importance of gardening and loving the plants.

For more playground mall options you can visit www.playgroundmall.com.

Back garden, Front yard, Natural landscaping, Safety measures

First Aid For Gardeners

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Admin | Permalink 0

For all its pretty rewards, gardening can be a pretty harsh hobby. With all the cutting implements, contact with flora and fauna and hours spent toiling under the hot summer sun, it’s easy for a gardener to overdo it and pay the price.

We asked Les Johnson, director of training at St. John’s Ambulance, for the right way to treat the whole host of injuries you could succumb to in your garden.

The essential first aid kit

•    Assorted bandage sizes
•    Clean dressings (like gauze pads)
•    Medical tape
•    Surgical gloves
•    Triangular bandages (for making slings)
•    Antibiotic cream or ointment  (like Polysporin)
•    Calamine lotion

Unless you or someone you know has known allergies, an EpiPen is not recommended for the first aid kit. “They’re expensive and expiry dates need to be monitored very carefully,” Johnson explains.

Cuts: The abundance of metal garden tools (which can be, let’s face it, a little bit on the rusty side), as well as the natural occurrence of tetanus bacillus in the soil, puts gardeners at a higher risk for getting tetanus. Johnson’s recommendation: “If it’s been a while, you might want to talk to your doctor next time you’re in and see if you need an updated tetanus shot.”When you do cut yourself in the garden, the first thing you should determine is how bad the bleeding is. In most cases, cuts will be superficial and only require cleaning.To clean a cut, dip a clean cloth or dressing in warm, soapy water and wipe away from the edges of the wound. This keeps dirt from getting into the cut. Once it’s clean and dry, apply some antibiotic cream and apply a bandage. Keep the wound covered for a few days to help speed healing and prevent infection.If the bleeding doesn’t stop right away, apply another dressing on top of the soaked dressing; repeat as often as necessary until the bleeding has stopped. Never remove the soaked dressings, as this can interrupt the clotting process and prolong bleeding.

That’s why keeping a first aid survival kit at your home and garden area is always considered as a wise and smart decision. To buy best survival kits you must visit www.survivalshop.org. They have the whole range of best quality survival kits.

 

Back garden, Front yard, Safety measures

So what’s vertical gardening all about? 13 Reasons to grow your vegetables in a vertical garden

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Admin | Permalink 0

Jack had it right when he planted the magic seeds that grew into a sky high beanstalk. Not only did he stumble upon the principles of vertical gardening; but Jack also discovered the path to abundance and self-reliance when he realized he could provide for himself and his family as a result of the riches he discovered after growing vegetables vertically.

Just like with most new ideas, at first the idea is novel and a small group of people embrace it while others look on thinking they’re crazy; however, there comes a tipping point when enough people recognize that the crazy idea is actually the leading edge of genius and all of a sudden, everyone’s doing it. That’s what’s happening with the idea of growing food vertically, taking advantage of the uncharted sky and reducing your garden’s footprint.

Essentially, there are two types of vertical gardens — those that grow in soil and those that grow in water. Water-based growing mediums are either aquaponic or hydroponic. Hydroponics is a method of growing vegetables and other plants in water without soil and nourished with a mineral nutrient. Aquaponics is a growing system combining the raising of aquatic animals such as fish with hydroponic gardening, where plants are cultivated in a water medium all in the same tank. The symbiotic relationship between the plants and animals produces a vital growing medium and a sustainable food production system. Both systems provide organic or non-organic growing environments for vegetables. Old souls love to putter in the garden, but the oldest of souls usually complain about their backs and knees hurting. Vertical gardening enables you to grow veggies without ever bending or getting on your knees again. Grow vertically in plant pockets, hanging planters, stacking containers, recycled pallets, in stacked flower boxes, table garden systems, plant trees, in greenhouses on tables and up-cycled ladders. If you can imagine it, you can grow it.Save space with a vertical garden, especially if you have no land or a very small yard. Grow up the side of your fence, on a wall, the deck, your balcony, in a green house or even inside in the garage.Some vertical garden systems are portable and can be moved from outside to indoors on wheeled apparatus.

Back garden, Natural landscaping