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Organic Vegetable Gardening – Plant Families

A healthy plant that can naturally defend itself against insects and disease is the goal of every organic gardner. A healthy plant also means a higher yield.

One way to have the healthiest plants is to make sure that the plants that are planted together don’t hinder each others growth. Basically, were talking about good neighbors or plants form the same plant families.

Most relationships of plants within a plant family are generally either positive or at least neutral, one exception to this rule is in the tomato family. Tomato family plants include tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and egg plants.

The exception is for tomatoes and potatoes, they don’t like each other. Certain family members should have a little space between them and only come together at the holiday dinner table.

With that said, here are some of the main plant families for vegetable gardening:

Plant Family——-Vegetable/Herb

Beet——-Spinach, swiss chard

Buckwheat——-Red orach, rhubarb

Cabbage——-Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, Chinese Cabbage, horse radish, kohlrabi, mustard, pak choi, radish, rutabaga, turnip

Carrot——-Celery, cilantro, coriander, dill, fennel, parsley, parsnip

Cucumber——-Gourd, melon, summer squash, winter squash

Grass——-Corn

Mallow——-Okra

Mint——-Basil, marjoram, oregano, sage

Morning Glory——-Sweet potato

Onion——-Asparagus, chive, garlic, leek, scallion

Pea——-Bean, peanut

Sunflower——-Artichoke, endive, Jerusalem artichoke, lettuce, radicchio, tarragon

Tomato——-Egg plant, peppers, potato (remember exception), tomatillo

If you notice a plant not listed, this list is by no means all inclusive, you can always search the Internet or checkout your local library for more information.

May 27 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »

Patio Cushions For Various Needs

Cushions make good patio accents aside from providing additional comfort and support for homeowners. Among the many types of patio cushions are chair pads, floor cushions, and pet beds.

Chair pads are being used to make hard seat surfaces more relaxing and softer to sit on. However, this primitive purpose had already evolved to more advanced usage to satisfy various consumer needs. Among those needs are cost, style, and medical conditions. Some pads can be constructed differently to meet financial capacity of more consumers. Designs like flower patterns and plaids are also available for varying themes in each home. Size is another consideration for chair pads. It must fit to various seating capacity ranging from single use to family use.

For consumers with small patios and avoids high cost and bulky patio furniture, patio cushions and furniture can be merged into one by having floor cushions. This cushion is now gaining popularity especially for younger consumers because it is cheaper, smaller, and easier to rearrange. Floor cushions like bean bags often have striking colors and firm construction giving it a sense of freshness and comfort as well.

Pet beds are obviously intended for household pets. It offers the same comfortable cushion for pets because most pet beds were made from the same material and constructed in a way that it will benefit the pets.

Aside from cushion type, another important aspect of patio cushions is its filling. Various filling provide different effects and levels of comfort.

First is the conventional foam. It is commonly used in couches, mattresses, and other home applications. It is available in varying shapes from rectangular foams to T-shaped foam blocks and its edge can be rounded depending on its application area. Custom shapes are also available for window seats and other applications like boat mattress filling.

Next filling is the outdoor foam. This foam is highly recommended for outdoor applications because of its large foam cells. Large cells allow water to penetrate to the other side of the foam with less degrading effect on the performance of the cushion. In addition, outdoor foam dries faster compared with conventional foams because of its larger cells.

Patio cushions also use sophisticated fillings like memory foams and polyurethane. Such materials offer added comfort and support to users because it can follow the contour of the body. Examples of cushions with this filling are foam sacks, bolsters, and leg pads. Foam sack is very similar with bean bag but it is filled with polyurethane foam instead of bean-like material. Bolsters are often used as fillers and is great for leg and back support while leg pads are used to lessen pain and pressure in the lower body.

May 26 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »