My Farm Journal

  10 Plants that can shoo away mosquitoes   Mosquitoes are the most famous uninvited guests which always turns up for any outdoor gatherings. Sometimes they sneak into the house and disturbs our peace of mind. These pesky pests are not just annoying but they posses a threat to human and animal health. They are known to transmit many deadly diseases like malaria, dengue, yellow fever to mention some. Mosquitoes are attracted to the certain aroma and warm bodies making humans their first choice. Mosquito bites are sometimes very painful and also cause certain allergic reactions. Mosquitoes are indeed attracted to a certain aroma but it is also true that they don’t like some specific aromas release by some plants.   Following is the list of 10 plants that can shoo away the mosquitoes from our gardens and our homes. The addition of some of these plants can chase away the mosquitoes and we can enjoy evening tea or barbeque in our garden.   1. Marigold ...

  DIY Potting mixture Are you a big fan of container gardening or you love to grow indoor plants or otherwise, you live in an urban area, and due to limited space you are compelled to grow plants in the containers? Then you must of well aware of the importance of potting mixture. The potting mixture is a well-blended mixture of the growing medium and nutrients. The potting mixture can contain soil or sometimes they can be made without soil. A good quality potting mixture should be able to sustain the plants grown in them. The mixture should provide well aeration to the roots of the plants and just able to maintain optimum moisture required by the plants. Alongside, they should allow excess water to drain out to avoid the rotting of plants. Different plants may need different potting mixtures but the common of experts is that that a good quality potting mixture should be lightweight and drain well, yet contain enough organic matter to hold moisture and nutrients. Most commercial...

  Pamper your soil with cakes Soil that is low in organic content needs organic amendment along with the application of conventional nutrients. Manuring the soil with organic matter becomes extremely essential for maintaining soil fertility to ensure better plant productivity. Manure is organic matter that is obtained from the plant and animal waste that can be applied to the soil to maintain its fertility by improving the soil structure, building up the population of microorganisms in the soil, and slowly releasing the nutrients present in them. Organic manure can be broadly classified into two groups: 1. Bulky organic manure (Compost, FYM, Green manure, etc.) 2. Concentrate organic manure (Oilcakes, Bone meal, etc.) Bulky organic manures contain a small percentage of nutrients and they are applied in large quantities to meet the requirement of plants. Bulky manure is best when they are produced and applied and used on the same farm as transportation of such bulky mater...

  Must own gardening tools for beginners     Having suitable tools for every work makes the work easy to carry out. Starting from field preparation till harvest some basic tools are required depending on the type of crop and soil condition. Having suitable tool saves time, labor and cause less damage to the crops. Also, using the suitable tool will give clean-finished work. Following some basic tools every gardener should own:   1. Khurpi   A khurpi is a cutting tool with a flat blade and a short handle used for digging soil and intercultural operations in small gardens or vegetable farms. It is used for various farm processes like tilling, bed preparation, weeding, digging, and harvesting shallow roots crops at a small scale.   2. Trowel   Trowels are short-handled hand-held trowels use for digging, applying fertilizers and manuring, and also for mixing soil. Trowel has a cast iron blade with a flat or curved surface and a short ...

  Aloe vera : A Miracle Plant Aloe vera is a monocot, succulent, stemless, or with a very short plant belonging to the family Liliaceae and the genus Aloe. The leaves are thick and fleshy with colors ranging from dark green to light green and some varieties also show white flecks on the surface. The margin of the leaves is not smooth with serrated white teeth like spines. The plant produces flowers during summer after 2-3 years of planting. The flowers are produced on a spike-like inflorescence that can grow up to 90 cm in length, each flower being pendulous, with a yellow to orange color tubular corolla of   2–3 cm long. Aloe vera is known to originate from the Arabian Peninsula but grows wild in tropical, semi-tropical, and arid climates around the world. The species are mostly inhabitants of arid climates and are widely distributed in Africa, India, and other arid areas. But they are now cultivated in the agricultural field, under protected conditions, or as indoor pla...