If you want to inspire some gardening love in your child; pint-sized gardening gear will make a fab gift this holiday season. Luckily, there’s a wide range of gardening supplies out there that’s made just for kids. Below are 5 cool garden-minded toys, kits and tools for budding future gardeners.

Green Toys Indoor Gardening Kit – made eco-friendly with recycled milk jugs, this great little toy set comes with a pea pod shaped garden tray, three wee pots, a garden trowel, organic seeds, and soil. The whole set is packaged in recyclable materials.
Alex My Wooden Flower Press – this award winning …read more

When it comes to garden seeds, especially organic garden seeds there are all sorts of kooky sounding terms that go along with it. Sort some of the basics out below.

Genetically Modified Organism: More common is the abbreviation GMO. This term applies to any animal or plant that has been genetically engineered. Most folks who believe in organic gardening do not support GMO due to the fact that much more research is needed before it’s considered 100% safe. Also note, most GMO seeds are sold to commercial not home gardeners. Learn more about the GMO debate.
Heirloom vs. Hybrid: These two terms …read more

Monitor your watering is a smart thing to do year round, but during larger seasonal changes it becomes even more important, especially if one of your goals is to conserve water. For example, here in Oregon the rainy season is hitting us. Actually it’s been so cold it feels like the snowy season is hitting us… but I digress. In any case, water use will vary now because we’re seeing more rainfall.

To conserve makes sure you…
Watch your water levels. Your garden really doesn’t need that much water and you can calculate fairly precise amounts at Be Water Wise. Once you …read more

Earthworms are part of the plan if your goal is to have a beautiful garden without all the chemicals. Of course worms aren’t the only tool for organic gardening, but they are super handy and they love your garden.

Earthworms like to crawl around in the dirt (well, or at least they slither about) and while they move they loosen soil and condition it as well.
They leave their little worm droppings all over the place – which is a lovely thought I know, but actually their droppings carry some of the same characteristics of fertilizer (yay).
Worms are cheap. Compared …read more

According to the National Gardening Association (NGA) organic gardening, or all natural gardening, is growing quickly in popularity with more folks then ever using all-natural gardening methods. Results from NGA’s 2004 and 2008 Environmental Lawn and Garden surveys show that “Households that use only all-natural fertilizer, insect, and weed controls increased from an estimated 5 million households in 2004 to 12 million in 2008.”

When the 2008 Environmental Lawn and Garden Survey asked U.S. households, “In your opinion, how important is it that residential, commercial, and municipal lawns and landscapes be maintained in an environmentally friendly way?” 89% of said households …read more

Bonnie Plant Farm has been offering goods for beginning and experienced gardeners since 1918, but in 2008 they went green in order to do their part to help conserve the environment. Bonnie Plant Farm’s CEO notes that their green effort includes an increased use of mainly biodegradable peat growing cups, a simple step that most plant companies should take, as millions of plastic potting cups hit the landfill annually.

Other green options that Bonnie Plant Farm uses currently are more organic fertilizers and pesticides, plus they’ve got a new recycling facility at their headquarters which reuses and recycles supplies, tags, pots, …read more

I thought for the weekend some of you might enjoy a terribly disturbing composting video. I’ll be back a little later today with a longer, more useful gardening post, but it’s also good to have fun. I originally posted this at another blog of mine Tree Hugging Family, but it’s way too cool (um, or scary) not to spread all over the web.
Enjoy!

Go Green Gardeners is an eco-friendly gardening company in California. If you happen to live in Van Nuys they’d be a great garden landscaping company to contact.
The company offers garden design, installation, weekly or monthly maintenance, irrigation, lighting, hardscape, and ponds and water features. But most importantly they’re dedicated to reducing water waste, organic and healthy gardening (i.e. no pesticides or herbicides), and other green garden features.
That’s all cool, but you might be wondering why I’m bringing up some random gardening company. In this case, it’s because of Go Green Gardeners living walls. I recently came across their site and …read more

If you’re planning an organic spring garden use the following three tips to keep your garden green and healthy…

Grow the right plants:
Native plants are almost always the best choice for your organic garden. Native plants are suitable to your area thus made to stand up to the natural elements better than exotic varieties. Native plants thrive in your local soil, climate, and water availability and also need less care than other plants. Find plants that will work in your growing zone at the National Gardening Association (click on regional).
Try raised beds:
Raised beds work well in many areas. Raised beds …read more