How many of these common gardening mistakes are causing you to work harder than you really have to?
Dear Gardening Friend:
If you’re working harder and enjoying your garden less…
...could be, you’re making a few common mistakes like our friend in the color photograph on our outside envelope --- mistakes that may be causing you extra work and added frustration.
Could be. Because one trait that the world’s best gardeners have in common is how little physical labor they actually do.
It’s true.
After all, it’s not how much you do that leads to garden success, it’s how much you know.
And, right now, if you’d like to know more and work less…
...we’d like to send you --- absolutely free --- a copy of THE BEST CARDENING IDEAS I KNOW, THE ORGANIC GARDENING HARVEST BOOK and BUILD-IT-YOURSELF HOMESTEAD… these wonderful work-saving guides are yours just for taking a no-obligation look at ORGANIC GARDENING magazine.
To get your gifts… just tear off the stamp on this page, affix it to the enclosed reply card and drop it in the mail. AS soon as we hear from you, we’ll send you the latest issue of our magazine and all three booklets…
...and you’ll be on your way towards eliminating the common mistakes that could be taking the fun and pleasure out of your gardening. Mistakes, that our friend in the photo is making like…
...MISTAKE NUMBER ONE weeding. You’ll never have to do it again…
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...because weeding is wasted work that’s rough on your back and even rougher on your garden soil. And the surface feeder roots of your plants.
Our free booklets will show you a quicker, better way to keep the weeds down: mulch! Mulch is a thick layer of spoiled hay, grass clippings, old leaves --- anything --- that you put down to smother weeds once and for all. It’s easier on your back… takes less time than weeding… and give’s your garden a neat appearance. But more important: it protects your precious topsoil from the harsh sun and dry weather. And as it rots, it continually builds more topsoil and more fertility.
If you can recall those hours spent pulling weeds on a sweltering July afternoon, I’m sure you’ll eagerly remedy this mistake. And here’s another:
MISTAKE NUMBER TWO is our friend’s long, straight planting rows. What a waste of your space and steps! Only a small portion of the garden gets used for plants this way. They rest of the space is wasted on bare rows and empty spaces that you must dutifully weed. If you garden this way…
...THE BEST GARDENING IDEAS I KNOW will help you put an end to that waste and work with the “raised bed method” --- a technique from China that enables you to grow more vegetables much closer --- so close that their leaves almost touch, thus shading and crowding-out weeds. Raised beds means less bending, fewer steps. Now you can have a big garden in a few attractive, easily managed, intensely fertile plots!
And what else is our friend in the photo wrong?
MISTAKE NUMBER THREE is mono-cropping --- he’s segregating each variety of vegetable from all the others. Not only is it an inefficient technique, but he’s asking for a lot of insect and disease trouble if a little should develop.
A smarter way is “companion planting” --- a centuries-old garden technique that is now backed up with a heap of scientific evidence. Tests show that certain vegetables and plants should be planted together because they can stimulate each other’s growth… repel each other “do better.” One example is corn planted with beans. The beans give nitrogen to the corn’s roots and the corn stalks provide “climbing poles” that save you work. There are plenty more…
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...and you’ll find a complete listing of companion plants in THE BEST GARDENING IDEAS I KNOW: all the plants that should go together… and these that shouldn’t.
And did you spot this common mistake…?
MISTAKE NUMBER FOUR is the chemical fertilizer bags lurking in the background. Why are they a mistake? Because, first of all they’re expensive. But worse, they could do more harm than good in your garden --- they may destroy inhibit the bacteria in inyour soil whose job it is to pruduce free, natural fertilizer from the air and the soil. That’s why it seems the more chemical fertilizers you use, the more you need the next season.
Chemical fertilizer can break down the structure of your soil, too, rendering it “inert dirt” that turns into a sloppy mudball when it rains and bakes rock hard under the hot sun. Makes plowing and tilling a real chore!
You’ll read about a better, cheaper, more natural way to build deep-down, long-lasting soil fertility in THE BEST GARDENING IDEAS I KNOW. It’s compost! You don’t buy it, you make it yourself from free materials that most people waste. It really works, too. The deep, dark rich soil that you build will be proof. Living proof that follows you into old age!
But the greatest mistake of all is…
MISTAKE NUMBER FIVE the poison sprays and dusts that our friend is using to get rid of insect pests. Little does he realize that those poisons are really making his bud problems worse --- not to mention the ecological havoc and health dangers he’s spreading in the environment.
In THE BEST GARDENING IDEAS I KNOW, you’ll learn why scientists believe insect pests attack: the popular theory is that insects prefer to attack weak plants, culling cut the unfit according to Nature’s plan. Thus, the healthier your soil, the healthier your plants. Weak soil (as can happen with chemical fertilizer use), produces weak plants. And that’s where the bug problem begins.
Poison sprays complicate matters. They kill everything along with the pests: soil bacteria, earthworms, songbirds and all the “good bugs” --- the praying mantis, ladybug, the green lacewing and many other garden friends --- whose normal function is to keep pests under control naturally. Once the ecological balance is upset, the pests return unchecked. Each time they get a little more resistant to the pesticide, forcing you to find something stronger.
It’s a deadly cycle that you can break with the know-how you’ll find in the free guides and ORGANIC GARDENING magazine. You’ll learn how to recognize and attract armies of “good bugs” and natural predators.
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You’ll discover simple homemade recipes for sale, non-toxic and non-polluting sprays and repellents that really work. Plus many other ways to help your plants become more insect and disease resistant, naturally.
And MISTAKE NUMBER SIX… well, we could go on and on, because so does THE BEST GARDENING IDEAS I KNOW --- there are 19 helpful, work-saving chapters in all, with tips on starting seeds right… harvesting and storing fruits and vegetables… saving more times, money, mistakes and work in nearly every aspect of your garden operation.
Hundreds and thousands of good gardeners have become better gardeners thanks to this “best ideas” book…
...and now, the Editors of ORGANIC GARDENING magazines want to send you not only a free copy of THE BEST GARDENING IDEAS I KNOW ---but two other equally helpful booklets --- THE ORGANIC GARDENING HARVEST BOOK and BUILD-IT-YOURSELF HOMESTEAD, too. Here’s why…
We want you to have these three free booklets because we’re certain that once you see how much easier and enjoyable your gardening can be… you’ll want to go deeper and deeper into the fulfilling and rewarding experience of the organic gardening world. And that’s where ORGANIC GARDENING magazine comes in. Because no other magazine can get you more personally involved in the natural world all around you.
Each and every issue of the magazine is chock-full of the best gardening ideas from our experimental farms… the latest discoveries and techniques… and the plots and patches of some of the world’s most experienced gardeners.
So when we send you free copies of the guides, THE BEST GARDENING IDEAS I KNOW, THE ONGOING GARDENING HARVEST BOOK and BUILD-IT-YOURSELF GARDENING magazine.
So act right now. The postage is paid and you’ve got nothing to lose (except a litany of unnecessary, back-breaking garden mistakes!)
Waiting to mail your book,
Robert Rodale
Publisher
