Start A Green Living Now!
Green Gardening
Organic Planting
Having your own garden and planting your very own organic produce is a great way to liven up your home made dishes and eat healthier at the same time. Not to mention, growing your own produce is a great way to be eco-friendly. For starters, you can try growing organic tomatoes and basil. If you are interested in planting tomatoes, it’s a good idea to plant them with basil. When you plant tomatoes with basil, you'll find that the basil helps to improve the flavor and growth of the tomatoes. It's also suggested to plant basil with other items such as asparagus, peppers, oregano and petunias. Basil is also know to aid in repelling thrips (tiny, slender insects with fringed wings), as well as flies and mosquitoes. Make sure you avoid planting basil near sage or rue. The added bonus of planting basil with your tomatoes is that you get a bushel of basil. Basil has a terrific odor and has a wide array of uses in different dishes. You can pluck fresh leaves and add them to pasta dishes or even your salad, or morning omelet. Basil is also a key ingredient in pesto, and with fresh basil at your ...- Bookmark :
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Healthy Plants
Many plants have a wide range of medicinal properties that make them a great all-natural choice for medicines, tonics, and nutrients. Plantain (Plantago major) Did you know that the juice from a plantain leaf can heal the pain of a bee or wasp sting? Plantains have been associated with a wide array of medicinal uses including respiratory ailments, ulcers, sores and skin inflammation. Plantains are also great for relieving itching caused by contact with poison ivy or poison oak. Plantains do have laxative properties, so it is best taken as a tea, dried herbal capsules or tincture. Chickweed (Stellaria media) The chickweed plant is a small white flowered plant that is high in vitamins A, D, B complex, C, rutin, iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, magnese, sodium, copper, silica and steroidal saponins. Saponins help the digestive mucosa in the body, neutralizing toxins. In tincture form, chickweed is great for breaking down growths both topically in wart form and internally, as in for ovarian cysts. Raw chickweed that includes the stem, leaves and flowers can be consumed in dishes like salads or prepared like spinach. Chickweeds actually taste similar to spinach. It also has diuretic properties that aid in cleansing the kidneys and urinary tracts ...- Bookmark :
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Eco-Friendly Lawn Care For Spring
Now that winter is finally over and spring is here, it's time to show your lawn some love. The trees and flowers are blooming, but your lawn will need some of your care to get back in shape after the cold winter months. Spring is a critical time to take the necessary steps to make your lawn beautiful and prepare it for the summertime. Weed and pest control along with fertilization and effective mowing are all issues that need to be addressed to make your lawn the best it can be. Just because its time to take care of your lawn, doesn't mean its time to make an investment in a collection of chemical products from your home improvement store. While chemical products can yield a green lawn, there will be subsequent damage to the water, soil and wildlife. To avoid this, take a greener approach to lawn care and check out the following tips on how to take care of your lawn the eco-friendly way. Intense winters can lead to an increase in the incidence of winter diseases like snow mold and dead spots in your lawn. Good lawn care is vital to helping your lawn recover from the damage ...- Bookmark :
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The Ideal Indoor Plants
Indoor plants provide both an aesthetic quality to the home and also have health benefits. Plants are able to filter toxins such as formaldehyde, xylene and toluene, all of which can get into the house via paint and building material. In addition to cleaning the air, plants can help reduce the symptoms of depression and reduce stress. The ideal houseplant would provide some of the above mentioned benefits but also be low maintenance, meaning it would need low to average levels of light and water. The African violet is a popular houseplant and is one of the easiest flowering plants to maintain. Use a long-spouted watering can to water the African violet so as to get the water directly on the soil and avoid getting water on the flower petals. It’s recommended to use room temperature or warm water when watering this plant. Lucky bamboo brings peace, strength and luck to the home it lives in according to Feng Shui. Lucky bamboo is one of the easiest plants to maintain because it only needs its water changed every 2 weeks and as far as light goes, it only needs moderate exposure to indirect sunlight. When the leaves turn yellow or brown, that’s an ...- Bookmark :
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Grass And The Environment
Having a nice lawn in the front or back of your house with fresh cut grass is a wonderful thing but it takes a lot of work and upkeep to maintain a lawn. From seeding, to mowing, watering, and killing weeds, keeping up a lawn is a big job. It takes a lot of energy and time as well as having a significant impact on the environment. One alternative to real grass is synthetic grass. There are plenty advantages to growing natural grass. Natural grass acts as a source of food for some animals and insects. It also acts as a carbon sink and produces oxygen into the atmosphere. Natural grass supports an ecosystem of organisms that live in the grass and break down pathogens. It can perform like a filter that prevents contaminants reaching the water table, and it has properties that help cool things or areas down. There are also plenty of disadvantages to natural grass. Maintaining natural grass requires frequent watering and use of sprinklers, especially in dry climates or in cold winter months. The greenhouse gases that are emitted when using a lawn mower or other lawn maintenance equipment are bad for the environment. Sometimes, natural grass requires ...- Bookmark :
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