By: Nicholas Tan

Nearly every gardener has some type of gardening equipment.  In fact, it’s nearly impossible to have a garden without used gardening equipment.  What kind of gardening equipment you use will obviously depend on the size and extent of your garden, what you are able to handle, if you want to spend a lot of time in your garden or get done quickly, and finally, how much money you are willing to spend.

While many gardeners do not have expensive or high-tech gardening tools, all of them have some type of gardening equipment for cultivating.  Tools for cultivating can include both hand held tools and power tools.  What kind you buy depends on how serious of a gardener you are.  Hand tools include your everyday items like shovels, spading forks, rakes, trowels, and diggers.  These can all be used to get a garden ready for planting and are relatively easy and do not require much strength to use.  Other tools include a wheel cultivator, pickax, and mattock.

While power tools are a little more expensive than hand tools, they really cut down on the hard labor.  The most essential piece of gardening equipment is undoubtedly the tiller.  The tiller will break up the ground and get it ready for planting, chop up any debris, and help mix in fertilizer and compost.  If you don’t want to spend the money on a tiller you can hire someone or rent a tiller for one time use.  Other power tools that are very popular include chippers, garden shredders, and chain-saws.

If you have shrubs, hedges, or small trees in your yard, pruning tools are a vital piece of gardening equipment.  Pruning shears are good for branches about ¾” in diameter, while lopping shears can handle branches from a half inch up to about 2 inches.  Pole pruners are on a pole and can reach branches about 15 feet above ground.  Hedge shears and pruning saws are both larger, more heavy duty pruning tools for the serious gardener.

Since your plants must be watered in order to survive, and lets face it, it doesn’t rain whenever we want it to, gardening equipment for watering is a must have.  The one thing you can’t get along without is a water hose, everything after that is optional.  Many gardeners use sprinklers or s drip irrigation hose.  There are even timers you can purchase for sprinklers or drip hoses, if you are willing to drop the extra cash. 

Gardening without gardening equipment would be a nightmare.  Sure there are some people who enjoy getting a little dirty while they plant their flowers, but even those types of people have the most basic of gardening tools, like a rake or a hoe.  Gardening equipment is a part of gardening, as important as the dirt and the seeds.

By: Alice Chen

“Solid wastes include industrial wastes, construction wastes, agriculture wastes, house garbage, sludge, excrements, and medical wastes and so on. According to the statistics, China produces various solid wastes over 6 billion tons annually at present. In 2008, the disposal volumes of Chinese municipal solid wastes reached to 200 million tons. The production volumes of crop stalks were about 700 million tons, 3.5 billion tons of dung, 1.9 billion tons of industrial wastes. The comprehensive utility rate is very low in China. Millions of tons of solid wastes are not disposed properly in every year. 90% of Chinese industrial solid wastes are from the following industries: mining, electric power, producers and the suppliers of steam hot water, smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, chemical industry, smelting and pressing of nonferrous metals, manufacturers of food, drinks, and tobaccos, manufactures of building materials and other non-metallic minerals and manufactures of mechanical, electrical, electronic equipment. Once the solid wastes enter the atmosphere, underground water or surface water, these will be polluted, directly affecting the results of air pollution control and water pollution control.

There is no doubt that garbage power has been the major manner for Chinese solid waste disposal. Although more than 60% Chinese municipal solid wastes are from food wastes, high water content, low heat and large-scaled investments, garbage power, with preferential electricity price, tax subsidies (free of income tax) and high decrease capacity (70%-90%), receives the most popularity.

As far as the international experiences are concerned, compost technology is the fittest to the disposal of food wastes disposal. However, Chinese house solid wastes are not strictly classified. There exist odors from compost, low quality compost products, shortage of sale market, low economy problems in the compost technology. In recent years, the market scale of Chinese compost disposal cut down.  

At present, the incineration power plants in operation are about 60, with the disposal capacity of over 500 t/d, the disposal volumes of 20 thousand tons a day. The projects in process or plan are about 200. The solid waste disposal volumes can reach to more than 100 thousand tons a day after the completion of the projects. Presently, the scales of Chinese incineration power equipment market are over 1 billion USD annually.   

The disposal manners of Chinese industrial solid wastes can be divided into three: comprehensive utility (extracted from the industrial solid wastes or transferred into resources, energy and raw materials) storage (temporary storage of the industrial solid wastes in the special infrastructure or place) and disposal (disposed by the manners of landfill or incineration and non-recycled). The comprehensive utility rate of Chinese industrial solid wastes is only about 60%, but the storage volumes are more than 200 million tons, high pressure in the industrial solid waste storage.

Germany and Japan, the earliest countries to explore the sources of solid wastes, are also the origin country of recycling solid waste economy.

Nowadays, massive major industrial raw materials are from the solid wastes in the world, which were regarded as garbage traditionally. In 2008, over 40% industrial raw materials were from the solid wastes in the world. The total recycling value of the renewable resources is about 300 billion USD in the developed countries, keeping 10% growth rate. It is said that iron and steel are the mother of the industries. As the most important industrial materials, generally, 45% steel raw materials in the world are from the waste steel. Only by developing the recycling economy, will the biggest barrier of resource shortage be gotten rid of in the international sustainable development.  

With the influences of international financial crisis, the growth of Chinese economy slows down, which brings side effects to the enterprises specializing in environment infrastructure, such as piped water factories, sewage treatment plants and garbage power plants. On the one hand, the competitions among BOT and TOT programs are much fiercer and reduction in the government subsidies. On the other hand, the government payment capacity turns down as well as the limitation in the bargain abilities of the social assets. Also, the credit loans decline for the project funding is side affected. 

According to the statistics, the value of Chinese recyclable but not recycled renewable resources is more than 30 to 40 billion USD in a year. The annual scales of Chinese solid waste disposal market are about 10 billion USD, existing huge development potential.

The author wrote this report by investigating into Chinese solid waste disposal industry.

More following information can be obtained in this report:

- Present Situations of Chinese Solid Waste Disposal Industry

- Production Volumes and Disposal of Chinese Municipal Solid Wastes

- Production Volumes and Disposal of Chinese Industrial Solid Wastes

- Major Enterprises of Chinese Solid Waste Disposal Industry

- Factors Affecting the Development of Chinese Solid Waste Disposal Industry

-Influences of International Financial Crisis on Chinese Solid Waste Disposal Industry

- Development Trends of Chinese Solid Waste Disposal Industry

- Investment Opportunities of Chinese Solid Waste Disposal Industry

“

If you are interested in this article, please visit http://www.shcri.com/reportdetail.asp?id=263 to get more details

 

By: Robert

I have now taken you through the in’s and out’s of building your first compost. Or have I. There is a lot you can know when it comes to compost. My goal is not to make you an authority on the subject, but to give you the knowledge to grow and use your compost in the most effective way possible. Let us start with temperature. Some people feel the need to keep their compost in a hot (sunshine) location. They say the heat speeds up the digestion by the microbes in the compost pile. This is not necessarily true. Although good composts will be slightly warm to the touch it is not from the sunshine it will receive but from the collective body heat from the billions of microbes digesting your compost. Not to say you cannot put it in the sun but you will have to make sure you have a sufficient size of a pile to keep all those microbes busy. If you go this route a pile in the size range of one cubic meter will be needed (roughly 3feet X 3feet X3feet). You don’t want these guys to run out of material to eat and die off so this is why I suggest keeping the pile in a cool place. Most people don’t generate that much yard and kitchen waste to keep a pile this big going strong so just use a nice small one that is well taken care of and you will be just fine. How to tell if your compost is done is not an exact science. It really does not matter for a garden if you can still decipher what some of the small bits are. Any remaining material that is not decomposed will be finished off when you add your compost to the garden, but when it comes to starting seeds you want to make sure your compost is “well done”. There are huge benefits to adding compost to your garden. The best part is no matter what soil type you have it can be helped by adding compost. For sandier soils it aids in water retention by adding organic material to the mix. Or for Clay soils it makes the soil more porous so the water can drain a little quicker so you don’t wind up with a layer of concrete on top of your garden. One other point I want to bring up is that all of your composting does not have to be done in a bin. When you get a lot of material all at once (cutting a large lawn or autumn leaves), you can till them into your garden to allow it to break down there. Or you can bury your kitchen waste in a trench in the garden at least 8″ deep so your kitchen waste can decompose right where the plants will be planted next season. If you were to go with either of these routes make sure to do this in the late fall or at least two months before you plant to make sure the material is broken down enough. I would have to say the best part of composting is the various ways to which you can use it. There are the obvious ways of taking your compost and mixing it in with your soil in your garden to improve your plant growth in the next season, or when used as a topper that will be slowly incorporated into the soil. Then there are a couple of other ways to use it that are my favourites. You can actually use your compost as mulch. Unlike using it as a topper as I mentioned above mulch is meant to cover the entire area of soil around the plants instead of just a dressing around the plant. This will add nutrients to all the soil in the area instead of just at the plant. My favourite way to use my mulch is to make a tea out of it. All you have to do is make a 50/50 mix of compost and water and let it sit for a week. After that drain the water in to another container and use it for a boost of nutrients to sick plants. The leftover compost mush at the bottom can be thrown into the garden as mulch. Tea can also be used on young seedlings but I recommend you dilute it well first to avoid damaging the seeds. The last thing for me to talk about is the types of compost systems out there. You can by one or build one it all depends on how much compost you want to make and how much you want to spend. Or you could go without any bins and just make your compost on the ground. I just caution you if you choose to build your own bin to make sure you do not use treated lumber. The chemicals can leach into your compost and later contaminate your garden. In whatever system you use there will be advantages and disadvantages. Although these differences between many of these bins are usually just ease of use and aesthetic the compost you will get from most of them will be fairly comparable.

By: James Todman

Last year an EU Landfill Directive banned the disposal of almost all tyres in landfill sites. So what can you do with old car tyres?

Car Tyre specialists like Merityre pay over a £1 to ensure every used tyre is disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. And when they have over 200,000 to get rid off each year the money really starts to add up.

Nationally, tyre retailers, garages and vehicle dismantlers collect over 40 million tyres a year. 12% of these are reused after having a new tread applied. More innovative uses include creating flood defences. Others are recycled and used for products such as carpet underlay or road surfaces. An emerging market is energy recovery. It is hoped that tyres could partly replace coal as fuel source for many industries.

There are ways we can reuse car tyres at home rather than sending them to specialist disposal companies. Here are 10 great ideas:

1. Raised Beds

Car tyres are ideal for creating a raised bed for planting flowers, herbs or vegetables. A single tyre works well for lettuce and herbs. Use two or three tyres to grow potatoes.

Paint the car tyre bright colours to create a wonderful display when planting flowers.

2. Resoling Shoes

Use the rubber from the car tyre to resole shoes. It is very hard wearing.

Alternatively add a piece of leather and create a pair of sandals or flip flops.

3. Car Tyre Swing

Most people have memories of playing on a tyre swing when they were young.

Just use some strong rope and securely attach the car tyre to a sturdy tree branch for hours of fun.

4. Boat Bumper

Boat owners can attach the car tyres to the boat’s sides, to act as protective bumpers. Very useful when docking a boat.

5. Children’s Playground

Rather than spending a fortune on equipment from a garden centre, use a little imagination, some old wooden planks and a few car tyres to create a great adventure playground for the children.

6. Forcing Rhubarb

Forcing Rhubarb (growing rhubarb in dark conditions) has been practised since the early 19th century. It produces vibrant pink rhubarb that is far more delicate in flavour than the usual variety.

Place two or three car tyres around the plant just before it starts emerging from the ground. Cover the tyres with a piece of wood to create a warm, dark environment. From December to the end of March you will be enjoying succulent and sweet early rhubarb.

7. Sand Pits

Large tractor tyres are perfect for making a sandpit for the children. Just buy the special sand from a garden centre and fill the tyre.

8. Mini Greenhouse

Cover the car tyre with a piece of clear polythene to create a mini greenhouse or propagator. The thick rubber wall of the tyre is excellent insulation for creating a warm environment to germinate seeds.

9. Table

Place a flat piece of wood on top of two or three tyres for an easy to assemble table, suitable for the indoors or outside. Paint the tyres for a better effect.

10. Composter or Wormery   

Three or four tyres stacked together create a simple composter. The warm environment created by the car tyres will make short work of composting kitchen waste and grass clipping. Access the compost by removing one tyre at a time from the top.

Ask your local garage for old car tyres. Not only will you be helping them with disposal, you will reuse a non biodegradable product in an environmentally friendly fashion.

Car tyres maybe essential when driving a vehicle but they are also extremely useful around the home and garden.

By: Kolawole Olambiwonnu

Nowadays, more and more people are getting into organic gardening. Although organic gardening applies to all forms of plants, most often when you say organic gardening product, the first things that come to mind are vegetables and fruits. But, products of the organic way also cover other plants like ornamental and flowery plants. Regardless, may it be growing vegetables, flowers, or even fruits, people are trying to reap the benefits of the organic way.

Organic gardening is a science. It is not just simply planting the seeds and waiting for the plant to grow, flower or bear fruit. The process involves careful planning since organic gardening follows the natural principles of nature in soil cultivation, managing pests, and propagating plants.

However, don’t be daunted since we only mention that organic gardening is a science to emphasize that we don’t just let nature do the work. We grow our plants or crops by applying a system that is approved by Mother Nature. That’s the essence of it.

There are a lot of elements involved in organic gardening but for our discussion we will focus on general aspects of soil cultivation and pest management.

To succeed in organic gardening, we need to keep the soil healthy. You can’t use chemical fertilizers, obviously, since it negates the very purpose of the activity and also the long term use of such fertilizers damages the natural components of the soil. Composting is an essential part of organic gardening. Composts have various benefits for your plants. One, it provides the needed nutrients and improves the overall soil constitution. Second, the compost can help the soil retain more water which means less time spraying your plants with a garden hose.

Aside from proper soil cultivation, the problem that is dreaded by most growers is pest control. From flying to crawling, from walking to boring, managing pests is a vital key in producing quality organic produce or maintaining a healthy organic garden.

In an organic garden, the plants should be able to handle the damage of ordinary insect attacks or damage from common diseases. However, if you feel you need to support your plants there are several ways you could do so. You can spray your garden or plants with solutions that are friendly to the environment such as diluted soapy water or organic sprays from naturally occurring insecticide plants, the neem tree for instance.

Or another way is to “equip” your garden with friendly insects. You can find out what kind of pests are there in your garden and look for its natural enemies. This way, population of pests can be controlled by your own army of insects. By introducing natural predators, you will no longer fear of pests getting immune from insecticides. But, pest management for an organic garden really involves combinations of techniques.

With proper care, and the right techniques, your organic garden can be sustained. You can be assured that the soil is cared for and healthy, plants will be able to pollinate effectively, water will be conserved, and plants in general will survive longer.

All these elements when combined together will result to a hefty harvest of an organic garden product of your choice. Your vegetables or fruits will be fresher than before. You will have a garden with vibrant and healthy flowers.