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Posts tagged ‘plants’

Feb 16

2 Comments

Get Ready for Spring: Go Pesticide Free!

Does all this snow have some of you daydreaming about spring and gardening?  

Luckily spring is just around the corner, and now is a great time to start planning a pesticide free yard, garden, and home! Pesticides are often used on lawns and in gardens to limit weeds and associated pests. Unfortunately, pesticides (including herbicides, rodenticides, insecticides, and fungicides) have negative health impacts on people and the environment. 

Being pesticide free means choosing methods of controlling these weeds and pests in ways that are healthy for the environment and for you and your family!  

Salt Lake City has been working with Healthy Babies Bright Futures since 2016 to reduce exposures to harmful chemicals—many of which we unknowingly come in contact with on a daily basis. A common source of harmful chemical exposure is through pesticides and lawn fertilizer use. Salt Lake City’s Sustainability Department partnered with Beyond Pesticides to create a public resource guide for a less toxic approach to pest management and lawn care.

Why are pesticides an issue? 

Chemical pesticide use and exposure have been shown to have negative health effects on humans. Serious health effects of pesticide exposure include birth defects, childhood cancer, acute poisoning, brain tumors, and asthma. Avoiding pesticides in your yards will help protect the health of our communities.

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Apr 23

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Grow Your Own Indoor Herbs

herbs

Salt Lake City Green joined forces with KUTV2 this morning to show viewers how easy it is to grow your own indoor herb garden! View the segment.

Tools

  • Planter – choose one with excellent drainage.
  • A few of your favorite herbs – we love basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley and thyme.
  • Watering can
  • Potting soil – use a few rocks at the bottom of your planter to improve drainage.

Getting Started

If you are a novice gardener or don’t have much of a green thumb, growing an indoor culinary herb garden is an easy place to start. Most herbs are sun worshipers, so all you need to get started is a nice, sunny place in your home.

Plant

  • Start with a container large enough to accommodate growth.
  • Fill the pot with soil three quarters of the way full.
  • Moisten the soil
  • Remove herbs, loosen soil.
  • Place herbs in pot and fill with enough soil to cover the root ball.
  • Pat the soil down lightly and water well.

Care

  • Light is the most important element in growing indoor herbs. Find a spot that gets at least 6-8 hours of light a day.
    • Herbs growing long stems and few leaves are probably not getting enough light and are stretching to find it.
  • Water each herb according to its individual needs. To avoid over watering, only water your herbs when you see them start to wilt. This should be about once a week.
  • Regular clipping will promote further growth, so use your herbs frequently. But don’t cut more than a third off at one time.
  • If your herbs start flowering, they are not being clipped enough!

Enjoy!

Growing your own indoor herbs is an easy way to jazz up your cooking and experiment with new flavors — all while saving money. Just remember that fresh herbs have a 3:1 ratio, which means that you should use three times the amount of fresh herbs compared to their dry counterparts.

Bridget Stuchly with SLCGreen shows KUTV2's Mary Nickles how to plant an indoor herb garden.

Bridget Stuchly with SLCGreen shows KUTV2’s Mary Nickles how to plant an indoor herb garden.

Mar 27

Spring is Here! Think Green.


sprouts

Spring is here! Now is a great time to think green. Your backyard is a great place to grow a variety of fresh and delicious fruits and veggies this spring, summer and fall. Check out the resources below to make the most of the 2013 growing season.

What is your potential?

SolarContourMapBook_Page_07

Have you ever wondered how much food you could grow in your yard if you took the time to garden? Through the Community Food Production Mapping Tool, you have the ability to not only click on your property to find out  an estimation of its food production potential, but you will also be linked to resources that will educate and empower you to grow more food.

Salt Lake City can also provide an annual calendar of solar radiation for your property. Sample solar book (PDF). Residents are encouraged to use the grid lines to plan their garden beds for optimal sun exposure. Simply email slcgreen@slcgov.com to request your book.

Understand your soil

The heart of your garden is the soil. Whether you garden succeeds or fails, is directly related to your soil, the micro-organisms that live in it, and the organic matter they feed off of. Join Wasatch Community Gardens for their ‘Know your soil’ workshop in April, or get some tips from Organic Gardening.

Grow your own seedlings

Many gardeners have never tried to grow their own starts from seed. Here are some tips  from Organic Gardening to simplify the process.

Fruit trees

Our friends at the USU Extension in Salt Lake County have two upcoming classes that will help you learn how to make the most out of your fruit trees:

Do you have excess fruit every year that inevitably ends up in the compost? Sign up for the Salt Lake City Fruit Share Program and volunteers will help you harvest your fruit. You will keep 1/3 of the harvest, the volunteers will take 1/3 and the final third will be donated.

Gardening Workshops

Whether you are a beginning gardener just getting started, a seasoned grower looking to learn some new organic techniques, or practically a professional looking for something new to grow, Wasatch Community Gardens has a class for you.

Some upcoming April classes include:

Learn more

Salt Lake City Green has a wide variety of resources on sustainable food in Salt Lake City available at www.SLCGreen.com.

Feb 21

We ♥ Compost

WeHeartCompostSeriously. We do.

The ability to take a large segment of Salt Lake City’s waste, prevent it from filling up our landfill, and then use it to make gardens thrive, is a miraculous thing in our eyes.

Composting is nature’s way of recycling. You can turn fruit, veggies, grass, branches and leaves into dark, crumbly and sweet-smelling soil amendment. It saves you money by lowering your garbage bill (switch to a smaller waste bin and save) and helps you avoid purchasing expensive commercial fertilizers.

Salt Lake City residents have two great options – curbside compost or home composting.

Curbside Compost: Also known as the yard waste program, or the tan can, curbside composting is made easy with a 90 gallon bin picked up weekly. Currently the tan can is “vegan” – meaning it only accepts green waste. The wheels are in motion to expand curbside composting to accept more forms of food waste, so stay tuned! In the meantime, maximize your curbside bin with tea bags and coffee grounds.

Home Compost: Enjoy the spoils of your composting efforts at home! Build your own composting bin and watch your garden thrive. More home composting tips.

With two easy ways to get the job done, we bet you will ♥ compost too!

seedling