Five Non-Toxic Ways to Kill Weeds Naturally

As weeds start to pop up in your garden beds, paths, sidewalks, lawns and more, people want easy ways to kill weeds without chemicals. 

I have five easy ways to help you naturally kill weeds without resorting to a synthetic weed killer like RoundUp.

These methods are easy to do at home and will let you kill weeds in an organic way that won't hurt your local pollinators (or your local humans!)

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Tomato Growing Secrets to Help You Get The Most, Biggest, and Best Homegrown Tomatoes

For almost a decade, I've been focused on getting my tomato growing technique down to a semi-science. 

Of course, I've been growing tomatoes for much longer than that. It's just that about 10 years ago, I wanted to go from gardening simply for pleasure to gardening for purpose and got super analytical about how to get the most tomatoes possible to help reduce our food bill.

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How to Plant Lettuce

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tasty Bite. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love gardening and teaching others how to grow their own food. You don't need a big yard to grow your own vegetables - almost anyone can grow something right where they are. One of the easiest foods to grow (especially in containers?) LETTUCE!

When I see a company I already like getting in the mix to inspire people to get outside and growing - as well as supporting humanitarian initiatives like Ample Harvest, I'm excited to get on board. 

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Make Recycled Succulent Planters

If you need a way to add some green to the inside of your home, succulents are a great way to do it! Make these adorable planters out of recycled cans, burlap and lace and in just a few minutes you'll be ready with your own console table-worthy creation!

Costa Farms partnered with me on this post and provided these great succulents from their desert escape collection. Look for Costa Farms succulents at your local Home Depot and Lowe's stores.

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Nontoxic Weed Killer Recipe: Works Better Than RoundUp!

Have you been using Round Up to kill weeds on your driveway or garden path? 

Did you know that Round Up is linked to infertility, cancer, thyroid issues and a collection of other health problems? 

Even if you don't spray it in your garden beds where you are growing food, the run off gets into our ground water - which in turn can get into our drinking water. 

Overall, Round Up is BAD BAD news! Stay away!

What the makers of Round Up don't want you to know (in addition to all the health issues their product has been linked to) is that you can create your own weed killer at home with a few simple ingredients you may already have in your kitchen. 

It is non-toxic to kids and pets. Won't contaminate ground water and it really works.

Supplies

• 1 Gallon white vinegar
• 1/2 canister table salt (approx 13 ounces)
• 1/4 cup dish soap (I like Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Dish Soap for this since it is biodegradable)
• 1 gallon or larger Lawn and Garden Sprayer - be sure to use one that has not held chemicals previously. Also be sure to label it for organic gardening use only. I have one that I use ONLY for this purpose.

Some of the links in my supply lists may be affiliate links. 

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The Non-Toxic Way I Killed All My Grass (On Purpose!)

Most people don't set out to kill their grass. I, on the other hand, was on a mission.

Our neighborhood doesn't have much in the way of sunshine because the houses are built so close together. As a result, I grow things in a community garden plot so I can keep the fresh veggies coming all summer! 

For the last two years, I've been growing in a community garden was about 4.5 miles from my house and up a HUGE hill - which I would ride with my 3 year old in a bike trailer. My city recently finished building a new community garden that is a lot closer to my house - close enough that I can walk to it. Which is perfect since new babies can't go in bike trailers and I'll be having one of those pretty much any day now! 

The location was great. The price was great. 

There was only one problem: GRASS

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Gardening 101: How to Collect Calendula Seeds

This year, I had a volunteer bed of calendula flowers pop up after self-seeding last year in my courtyard. If you'd like:

• a little more control (and don't want to bank on your plants properly self-seeding themselves)
• want to move plants to a different area
• want to sell or gift seeds to others

then you will need to know how to collect seeds from your plants!

Supplies

• Calendula flowers that have gone to seed
• Large glass jar for collection
• Small glass jar for storage

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Gardening 101: How to Use Ladybugs for Pest Management

When I taught you how to plant tomatoes last month, I had a lot of commenters bemoaning their aphid woes in regard to their tomatoes. So how do you get rid of aphids organically? The answer, my friends, is ladybugs!

While there are several chemical companies who would be delighted to sell you their expensive and toxic pest control products - I'm not interested in putting chemicals on my food or killing off the beneficial insects that may fall prey to these methods. Luckily, none of that is even necessary. Instead, ladybugs are an economical, organic and fun (yes, I said fun!) way to get rid of aphids. In addition to aphids, ladybugs also eat whitefly, scales, mites, mealybugs, broccoli worm, tomato hornworms, bollworms, and cabbage moths.

Supplies

• Ladybugs - pick them up at your local nursery or even order them online
• Water

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Gardening 101: Reduce Weeds and Water Less with Mulch

One of the best things you can do to save yourself time in your garden is use a good mulch. Mulch reduces the number of weeds that sprout by blocking light to weed seeds and helps reduce water evaporation - meaning you won't have to water as often.

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Gardening 101: How to Plant Bell Peppers

Did you know that bell peppers have 2-6 times the vitamin C content of an orange? Peppers (especailly organic peppers) can be pricey - $1 or more a piece. Luckily they are easy to grow and great way to save you money on your grocery bill.

Important: Know when the right time to plant is! Don't plant your peppers until all danger of frost has passed. Where I live, that's about mother's day weekend. Use this tool to check when your average last frost date is.

Supplies

• Pepper plants (choose healthy looking plants but avoid those that already have peppers)
• Shovel or trowel
• Epsom Salt (do NOT use table salt. it will kill your plant)
• Measuring spoon
• Water

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Gardening 101: How to Plant Tomatoes

Thank you Duluth Trading Company for sponsoring this post. Check out Duluth Trading Company for tough, functional workwear.

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There are few things I enjoy more during the summer that eating the bounty of fresh organic tomatoes I grow in my garden. Last year, I grew about 140 pounds of tomatoes and even though I had to give a lot of them away, I was still able to can enough to last my family through the winter so that we didn't need to buy BPA-containing metal cans of tomatoes. 

Important: Know when the right time to plant is! Don't plant your tomatoes until all danger of frost has passed. Where I live, that's about mother's day weekend BUT the weather this week is supposed to be in the 70's and 80's so I'm planting a week early this year. Use this tool to check when your average last frost date is.

Supplies

• Tomato plants
• Shovel or trowel
• Dried egg shells
• Epsom Salt (do NOT use table salt. it will kill your plant)
• Measuring spoon
• Water
• Weather-appropriate work clothes (thanks to Duluth, I'm wearing the UPF 50 Crusher Sun Hat in raspberry and long sleeve Armachillo shirt in Raspberry Plaid)

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Gardening 101: 10 Things Beginning Gardeners Need to Know

Gardening is all the rage. Many people are putting in gardens instead of lawns, apartment dwellers are growing in containers on their balconies and waiting lists to get into come community gardens can be a year or more long. Whatever style of gardening you're going to pursue there are 10 important things you need to know about growing your own plants - especially if you're planning to eat them.

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