Green Pest Control for Your Garden

Good news- it's nice enough to garden outside, and your plants have been getting plenty of rain.
Bad news? That also means that common garden pests will soon be out full force. If your garden contains edibles it is understandable to be hesitant towards chemical pest repellants, because you'll be eating what you're spraying them on later. So, today's blog features some great ways to deal with pests without the insecticide.

Increasing Garden Diversity
While it may seem simple, increased diversity in gardens can help deter many pests and minimize the threat of others.

Adding Compost To Your Garden
Adding compost to your garden is a great way to protect your plants from many pests, while still drawing in beneficial organisms. Before they get thrown in the compost egg shells, nut shells, and coffee grounds sprinkled around your plants will also greatly deter creepers and crawlers from entering your garden. Similarly, Banana peels deter aphids from your plants, so the finished compost overall will have a great effect on the garden and your pest problem.

Attract Natural Pest Predators 
Bird baths and feeders are a great way to lower your pest problem because to local birds these pest provide a tasty treat! Just making your garden bird friendly will lower your pest problem immensely.

Natural Made Pest Control
Mixing a small amount of soap with water does a great job at driving away a lot of pests. One great recipe we've found is:

• 1 Table Spoon Canola Oil
• A Few Drops of Ivory Soap
• 1 Quart of Water
• Shake well, poor into spray bottle.
• Spray plant from above down, and from below up to get the undersides of the leaves.

The Oil will smother the pests in their tacks.

Have any other pest problems? Let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to get you an answer!

Photo Friday

Happy friday everyone! This weekend is our Free Day at the Yard & Tree Waste Site in Ames. We figured a wood related picture would be best! This is from a wood grinding job we did last year.

Featured Article: 5 Reasons You're Killing Your Indoor Plants

With all the rainy weather we've been getting lately, we thought that a shift to indoor plant life might be better. Indoor plants often times seem much harder to keep going. Today's article goes over the most common mistakes people make with their indoor plants, and how to remedy them.

What do you think are the most common reasons for house plants dying? What are your remedies? Share in the comments!

Read the article here.

Featured Article: Turning waste into compost

We admit, we're a bit biased in our thinking that today's article is pretty great. This story features one of the customers of GreenRU, who's material is all dropped off at our Eddyville facility. As today is Earth Day, it is important to remember the real impact that a company can make by choosing to compost their organics, and just how much of the waste stream this can alter. 

GreenRU is doing some great work across Iowa to divert organics for both large and small scale customers. If you want to learn more about GreenRU and their services or Chamness Technology and ours, feel free to contact us at our respective number: 855-RU-VERDE and 855-4U2-GROW.

Read the article here.

Photo Friday

Happy Friday, everyone. Today's photo was taken earlier this week, early in the morning. What do you think?

Make sure to share your favorite shots from this week in the comments!

Featured Article: Why Bother Composting?

As a company that offers commercial composting solutions, we're a little biased when it comes to composting. However, the Huffington Post's article from yesterday summerizes our feelings on the subject particularly well.

While composting may not be glamorous or first nature for many people, the positive outcomes can't be overlooked. With less organics going to the landfill there will be less methan gas being released in the atmosphere, and it reduces the rate at which landfills are rapidly filling.

We could make our own arguments, but why not read them from an outside source. Be sure to contact us if your business is interested in diverting it's organics as well!

Read the article here

New Items to Try In Your Garden in 2013

Well, Spring has officially been here for almost a month (even if nobody told the weather)! It's about time to start finalizing projects large and small that you are planning for your garden. We love adding new items to give our gardens some personal flair. All of these items are new ideas (at leaste to us) that we love for this year's garden additions. 

Mailbox turned Tool Organizer

 Have an old mailbox laying around that you're not using? We love this idea to reuse it as a Tool Organizer for your garden.  It's a great way to keep everything at hand when you need it!

Concrete Planter

 These concrete planters are very cute! These could be great path liners in a garden or on a patio, or a centerpiece for an outdoor table.

Found Object Outdoor Art

 This Owl is made from a variety of lids and looks great on a fence or hanging from a tree. He's a quirky and fun way to add a little personality to any outdoor space!

Cedar Storage Side Table

It seems like Cedar is the unofficial wood of outdoor furniture. That works for us, especially on lovely pieces like this one, which is stylish and will keep your outdoor cushions dry!

Have another great idea that you don't see above? Be sure to share it in the comments! We'd love to see it!