Save On Fertilizer Costs

Earlier this year, I did a blog about the importance of "going green", or in more definite terms- planting trees and ornaments in our surroundings.



As a follow-up, I will attempt on making a series of blog that will give us some nice tip in order to make our gardening easy, cheap, and enjoyable.



About Fertilizers & Composts



Other than enough sunlight and water, plants are treated with fertilizers in order to grow faster and healthier. However, if you have plenty of plants to tend, buying of fertilizers can be a bit costly and uncomfortable to some.



In order to save on the costs of fertilizers, farmers and gardeners opt to use Garden Composters as an alternative to create composts, or humus-like products that are applied to plants as a substitute to fertilizers. In fact, in a research study conducted in 1996 at a college university in Central Luzon, Philippines, they found out that plants treated with natural fertilizers/composts tend to grow healthier than those treated with commercial fertilizers.

At first, the use of garden composters may look more expensive than buying fertilizers, but in the long-run, this is actually cheaper, since almost all of the kitchen wastes can be placed on the composter. Also, we help to reduce wastes that are brought to landfills because instead of throwing them away, we put them instead in our composters.

Through the years, manufacturers are able to come up with more sophisticated types of composters. A very good sample is the Earthmaker Composter. The Earthmaker Aerobic Composter is a three-stage composter that is able to segregate the fresh wastes, the digesting wastes, and the maturing wastes. People who have tried it give good reviews, and even comments that this composter limits untoward smells in the area.

Another new innovation, but I think this is more expensive, is Toilet Composting. The good side about this is that you get to conserve water, since the bulk of the waste from toilets is liquid components. With this, you get to recycle the water wastes.

There are, of course, other cheaper alternatives wherein you can compost your wastes. The important thing is, we do our role in helping to reduce wastes, and in helping to produce a greener environment.

Go Green

If there is one thing that we notice over the years whenever we come home to our ancestral house, it is the sudden increase of temperature around our surroundings.


Back when we were just children, we could enjoy the cold weather even during summer days. Today, however, we experience hot temprerature even during December and January when it is supposed to be cool. One sure reason for this is the continuing decline of plants and trees around us.


In fact, the only green that remains in our place right now is the improvised Lean To Greenhouse that our father has made about 5 years ago (for those of you who are wondering what lean to greenhouses are like, you can refer to the image on the left). We only have a little space, so my father just sort of tried to maximize the area by making a greenhouse that leans on our concrete backyard where he planted some easy-to-maintain ornaments.



WHY MAINTAIN GREENHOUSES ?


There are actually a lot of benefits when you maintain Garden Greenhouses in your surroundings.

First and foremost, we help reduce the global warming that most countries are experiencing right now. Due to the abrupt climate changes, there is really a need to plant more trees and plants in many areas in order to maintain the ecological balance.

Second, plants and ornaments help our home to become beautiful and presentable to others.

Third, and as a personal reason, my father really loves gardening. So maintaining a greenhouse in the garden gave him the opportunity to do the things he love to do, with no effort at all.

And fourth, rather than just planting on bare grounds, maintaining them inside greenhouses will help them be protected from too much heat and/or too much cold. Greenhouses also help keep animals and pests from destroying the crops.


GOING GREEN

For starters, you need not set up a full-length greenhouse, as you may find it difficult to maintain, especially if you still do not have an expertise in gardening.

You may opt to maintain a Cold Frame Greenhouse. This type of greenhouse is also perfect for gardeners with limited space. Even if cold frame greenhouses are small, there are certain types which carry the same features as those of large greenhouses, meaning, that they also maitain heat and moisture within.

So space isn't really the problem. When you have to will to go green, there are a lot of opportunities to do it.