The Principles of Organic Vegetable Gardening

More farmers are getting into organic vegetable gardening because it is cost effective and they are able to produce almost the same yield of crops. You to can do this at home but first, you have to understand the principles of organic vegetable gardening.

First, organic vegetable gardening does not use any fertilizers, nutrients or pesticides. Nature is your partner here because you will be using two things to make it all work namely sunlight and water. We don’t produce these ourselves but you have to find the ideal area and provide adequate drainage.

Aside from sunlight and water, you can help the crops grow by using compost heap from leftover food, chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure. You can mix these all together and then spread this throughout your garden.

A lot of people are grossed about by manure. You don’t have to scoop this from the toilet because this is sold in stores. If you have a dog, put on some gloves and put it there. Chickens are also great to have. Just let them roam around in the garden.

Some people use dead animals or meat products. You don’t put these in the soil but leave it for a couple of weeks in the bin because maggots will soon appear and this is what you use to help fertilize your garden.

Another helpful creature is the earthworm because it digs deep into the ground and aerates the soil bringing various minerals to the surface which also provides better drainage. This long pink colored creature also leaves casting behind that experts say is five times as rich in nitrogen phosphorous and potassium. Again, this can be purchased from the gardening store.

Organic garden is challenging since you have to deal with unwanted guests. Some of these pests include armyworms, crickets, gypsy moth caterpillars, slugs and squash bugs. Before, people used fertilizer to kill them but in an organic setting, the best weapon is the toad that is known to eat more almost every type of insect. If you have caterpillars or spiders lurking in the garden, get a bird because this is not in the toad’s diet.

In some cases, you don’t have to buy a toad or a bird from the pet store. They may come in to your home as long as you set the ideal environment for them. You can put up a bird house or a small pond. Within days, you will have some new occupants protecting your garden.

Other insect killers which you can get to do the job include the preying mantis and the ladybug because they mark their territory and eat anything that dares enter their domain.

Plants can also be used to protect your vegetables. For example, the rosemary, sage or thyme is an effective deterrent against butterflies. Marigolds on the other hand are effective against nematodes.

But despite all the flowers and creatures that nature has to offer, crop rotation is seen as the best way to keep the soil fertile. If you planted this kind of vegetable for this season, change it with another and the return to the first after this one is harvested.

The principles behind organic gardening are very simple. You just have to be practice it so you can harvest the vegetables you have planted weeks ago.

Enjoy your Closet

Whether or not you have a walk-in closet or a small space with a door, you don’t want to feel anxious when you open your closet wondering what you are going to wear or how to find it. Take the time, maybe a day or a weekend, to organize and declutter your closet. If the current system of organizing isn’t working for you, change it. Here are some suggestions and tips to help you enjoy your closet.

Forget the traditional one hanging rod in the closet and your shoes lined-up along the floor. This set-up is not very accommodating and is rarely the right fit for any closet. Look at the type of clothing you own the most of, it could be pants or sweaters and decide what the ideal way to store those items are. If you own a lot of sweaters, hanging them is not recommended, install some shelving so your sweaters can be folded. You can purchase dividers to keep your sweater stacks from toppling over. If you have pants aplenty, install a second hanging rod and put all your pants together at eye-level or slightly below.

Shelving is a good idea even if you don’t own a lot of sweaters. They are flexible and can be used for many things. Buy some inexpensive baskets or bins and use them to store your smaller items on top of the shelves – handbags, hats, belts, watches. Hooks are another must have in any closet, you can use it to store your dry cleaning before you take it in, hang your bathrobe on, or pick out your outfit for the next day and hang it on the hook so you are ready to go.

Take some time to plan out your ideal closet before you get started and make your system work for you.

Organizing your Linen Closet

Organizing your Linen Closet

A linen closet is a great place to get your organizing feet wet. It is usually an easy to complete task that can give you the satisfaction of a job well done in short order. That is of course if all that is in your linen closet is linen. If your linen closet has to play double-duty as a towel, cleaning products or anything else storage too – the first step is to decide if there is really room for everything you want to put in there and if there is a better place for any of the items.

Once you have determined what role the linen closet is going to play, decide on what type of storage system is going to work the best. Most closets of this nature function best with a series of shelves, but some hooks and small baskets can help keep smaller items from getting lost or looking cluttered. But a combination of shelves and a small hanging rod can be functional too.

Keep the most used items at eye level for easy access such as bed linens or towels that are used daily or weekly. Other common things to store in a linen closet are out-of-season coats or blankets. It is best to store these in proper containers or bags to keep them fresh.

If you are also storing cleaning products and appliances in your linen closet (iron, ironing board, or a vacuum cleaner), where you put them will depend on whether or not you have young children. If you do have little ones around, put the cleaning products up high and out of reach or better yet, install a safety latch on the door.

A nice touch to add to your linen closet is to hang lavender sachets or another scented item to keep your bed sheets smelling nice and fresh.

Reduce to Organize

Even if you are the neatest person on the planet, if you own too many things for a small closet it will be next to impossible to keep it organized. If your closet is not big enough for your belongings and there is no money in the budget for a renovation you will have to consider reducing the amount of things stored inside the closet before it can be organized and stay that way.

The first step is to determine if there is anything in your bedroom closet that doesn’t belong there. Weed out all of the intruders and find a more appropriate home. If there isn’t a better place to store the item ask yourself when was the last time you used it and when you will be likely to use it again. If you aren’t sure, maybe it is time that you donate it.

Next take everything else out of your closet so you can start with a clean slate. Go through every item of clothing, pair of shoes, or other accessories that are stored there. Create three piles – toss, donate, and keep. Before you are ready to begin placing things back in the closet have a look at what you have to work with. Can you install a second hanging bar to double the amount of hanging space you can use? What about shelving and hooks or the back of the closet door? Use any and all vertical or horizontal spaces available to you.

Until you can move into a place with a bigger closet, monitor your purchases. If you don’t have room for it in your closet and don’t need the item maybe you shouldn’t get it. Or, use the rule that if you bring something home to put into your closet something else has to go to make room for it.

Closet Organization – Categorize

The key to any successful organization project is categorizing. By grouping like things together you will make them easy to find for future use, easy to remember when it is time to put them away and your closet will look nice and orderly. Proper storage containers will make this task easy to accomplish and maintain.

Baskets, bins, and drawers are the perfect addition to any closet. They can be used to store socks in one, belts in other, just try to keep like things together. Additionally, you will want to categorize your hanging clothing. The most popular way of doing this is to put all of your pants in one area, shirts, in the next and so on. If you want to go further when you are categorizing, separate your clothing into groups of when you would wear them (to work, to the gym, at home, at night) and then group the pants and tops together within those smaller categories.

Hooks are another way to store like things together. They can be used for belts, ties, or purses. Having these smaller accessories in one place and on display will make your choices in the morning quicker. If you have a larger closet, you may want to keep your jewelry in the closet too. You can use a traditional jewelry box to keep them together or a small box for your earrings and another for your necklaces and so on.

You can think outside the box too, brainstorm how you use the different items in your closet. Maybe your workout gear can be stored in ready to wear bundles. Take your pants roll up a shirt and socks inside and they are neat inside your closet and ready to grab when it is time to go to the gym for a work out.

Closet Problems & Solutions

A messy closet is a problem a lot of people have and they aren’t sure how to fix it. The messiness can come in many different forms but the root cause is most likely a lack of organization. If you start out organized it is much easier to stay that way. Here are a few common closet problems and some solutions that can be implemented at any time.

Are your hangers a tangled mess or do your clothes constantly slip off? Sounds like you have wire hangers hanging in your closet. To prevent tops from slipping off and falling to the floor or the dreaded hanger crease in the middle of your pant leg, invest in some wooden or plastic hangers. Not only are they functional, it is more attractive to have a uniform type of hanger in your closet (all wire hangers do not count).

If you are consistently looking for a mate to the pair of shoes you want to wear you need to put a system in place to organize your shoes. There are many options for shoe organizing, you can purchase a hanging canvas shoe rack that goes on your hanging bar, a shoe tree, or install some shelving in the bottom part of your closet. This is a quick and easy job, something that can be accomplished in under 2 hours (set-up and organization).

Chances are there are many things you can remove from the closet that doesn’t belong. Put your spare blankets in a linen closet or under the bed, and take the clothes you have been meeting to drop off at the donation bin out to the car so you won’t forget to do it another day. Find the proper home for whatever else is living in your closet when it shouldn’t be.

Give Your Closet a Makeover

If you get a headache each time you have to find something in your closet, it is time to give it a long overdue makeover. Before you begin to take everything out and start to reorganize, decide what you want your closet to look like and what type of storage systems will work best for your things. Some considerations are what is working in the space now and what isn’t and why isn’t it working. Maybe you don’t have enough room for your dresses because the double hanging bars aren’t spaced out enough or you don’t have room to hang everything in which case a double hanging bar is what you need.

The first step is to start with a list of things that should be in your closet and make an inventory of what storage systems you already have. After step one, make a sketch of what you want your closet to look like when you are done, bring it to the hardware store and find what you will need to supplement what you already have. Some tips for every closet:

* Install a double hanging bar but leave room for long hanging items such as dresses or full length coats.
* Shoe storage, this can take the form of a hanging rack, a shoe tree, or lined-up neatly on the floor.
* Shelves for sweaters that can’t be hung up or small items such as purses or belts.
* Utilize small baskets and boxes for hats or jewelry.
* Install hooks to hang ties or bathrobes on.

A closet that is organized with enough room for the future growth of your wardrobe is a closet that will stay organized. Invest in quality storage solutions that you can add to as your wardrobe or closet grows.

Get Dressed in your Closet

Don’t literally get dressed in your closet, unless you have a walk-in closet that can accommodate you. But put everything in one place for when you get dressed in the morning. Why put your under things in a dresser on one side of your room and then head over to the other to get your pants and then decide the shirt you want is back in the dresser – you get the idea. Instead use the ideas below to keep everything you need in to get dressed in the morning in one place.

* If you do not have room in your closet for your dresser or another drawer system for your socks and other underwear, consider moving your dresser closer to your closet for easy access.
* Keep your jewelry in your closet either in a jewelry box or little baskets arranged by type or style.
* If you are able to move everything from your dresser into your closet, use your dresser for out-of-season items.
* Install a valet hook and hang out your outfit the night before.
* Have everything in the closet grouped together by type of clothing and occasion, if a last minute substitution has to be made this will make the process quicker and easier.

Whether you are getting ready for work in the morning or for a night out in the evening, getting dressed can be a stressful event if you can’t find what you are looking for. By having an organized closet with everything in one convenient place you can make getting ready easier. If you are one that is prone to trying on many outfits prior to making a decision on what to wear, make yourself put away all the cast-offs it will save you a headache next time.

Storage Closets

There are so many different names and categories of closets. There are bedroom closets, pantries, hall closets, linen closets, and storage closets. The storage closet is the one that can quickly become a catch all as it doesn’t have a defined purpose other than to store things. A plan is needed to keep your storage closet neat and the items stored accessible at all times. The big decision you will have to make is what are you going to store?

When you decide what you are going to use your storage closet for, think about how often you are going to be using the items inside and if there is a better place for them first. For instance, it might be tempting to store your Christmas decorations there, but is there a place in the garage where these once a year items can go? If there is, that will make room for other more frequently used belongings such as suitcases, camping gear, sleeping bags, or winter blankets.

Space is also a consideration and shelving can help solve this if it is a problem. If the closet is big enough but you don’t have enough floor space, install some shelves to get bigger and lighter items off the floor. Try and make the most commonly used items the easiest to get. If it is the summer time, the sleeping bags should be at the front and move the winter blankets to an out of the way place for now.

Be careful not to throw anything into the storage closet that you aren’t sure what to do with. If you don’t have a home for the item, is it really something you want to keep? If it is something worthwhile you will find it a home of its own without making the storage closet a dumping ground.

Organizing your Pantry Closet

When you hear someone say that they are organizing their closet, usually visions of clothing piles come to mind. But, there are many other types of closets that can use some organizational TLC. One of them is the pantry closet, we all have good intentions when we purchase food to eat it, unfortunately this always doesn’t happen. Don’t let those open, have eaten boxes of Cream of Wheat stay in there forever taking up space – throw them out!

A lot of the same tips for organizing a bedroom closet apply to organizing a pantry closet. If you aren’t eating it – don’t keep it and group like items together. In addition, keep only food items or related paper products such as napkins in the pantry. Keep appliances, pots and pans, and cleaning products in separate locations.

When you are sorting through the contents, keep an eye on expiration dates and toss out anything that is past its prime. The same goes for opened boxes of food that no one likes or eats. If you have unopened food items that aren’t going to be eaten but you know are perfectly fine, donate them to the local food bank or pass them on to a neighbor.

Make use of all the space you can. If you find that you are tight on space, consider hanging wire baskets or shelving on the back of the door to increase your storage space. Browse through home hardware catalogs or talk to an in store expert to get additional ideas on ways to maximize your pantry space while making everything easily accessible to the entire family. If food you buy comes in bulky, hard to store containers buy plastic storage bins that make it easier to get the food and store it. Cereal and pasta are both great examples to use plastic storage bins for.

Decisions – What to Keep, Toss, or Donate

The hardest part for most people when cleaning out their closets is to decide what should go back in. Most how-to articles advise that if you haven’t worn something within one year it is safe to let it go. A year seems like a long time to wait and see if you should be keeping it. Unless it is a seasonal item that can only be worn in the summer or winter, six months is realistic guideline for frequency of use. If you haven’t put on a pair of jeans in six months for whatever reason, you shouldn’t be making space for them in your newly organized closet.

Now that you have your pile of clothes that you have decided you no longer need, what should you do with them? The two common places for these items is the trash bag or a donation bin. How you decide which of the two should receive each item depends on the reason you are giving it up or haven’t worn it.

You should toss any items that are stained, ripped, worn, or any other flaw that makes the garment unsuitable. If you can’t abide with the thought of throwing out clothing, consider cutting up shirts for cleaning rags. You can also cut up denim jeans for patches – decorative or functional. One of the few places that may take donations of clothing such as this is a nursing home. If you take the time to cut up the clothing, getting rid of any stains and tears, the fabric could be reused for a quilt.

If the clothing you no longer want or need can still be worn, it can be donated. Items that fall into this category are pieces that no longer fit, you no longer care for the style or you have too many of the same item.

Different Ways to Organize Your Clothes

Everyone is unique and one way of organization isn’t necessarily going to work for all. Don’t read a how-to book on closet organization and feel that you must follow it to the letter. With any book of this nature, take from it what makes sense to you and then tailor it to suit your needs or wardrobe as the case is here. One way is to group all like items together, like your bottoms, tops, and sweaters, or you can group them according to category, work, home, or gym. Or take combine the two.

If your wardrobe is pretty consistent, meaning most of your clothes fall into one category (whether it is casual, business, or anything else), it might make sense to you to group all like items together. This method will allow you to pick one item from each grouping and you are ready to go with your outfit for the day. This gets a bit tricky if your wardrobe serves multiple purposes and it doesn’t make sense to group your track suit with your business suit.

If you fall into the latter category, have a separate section in your closet for your gym wear, casual weekend wear and your work clothes. Within these sections, you then should group all the pants, tops, etc. together to again make things as easy as possible for you.

Other options for organizing include color coordination – group all of your black items together, blue, brown and so on. When you are folding your sweaters, make different piles for your heavy sweaters and light-weight sweaters so you can choose based on the weather for the day.

Choose a system that makes sense and will work for you - one that you are going to be able to maintain for the long-term.

How Organizing a Closet can Help you Shop?

People organize their closets to make life easier. They want to be able to open the closet door, see all there is to see and be able to make quick choices about what to wear without having to hunt through a mess. But the process of organizing your closet can help you see the holes in your wardrobe that need to be filled. As you retire, donate, or store your clothing you are going to get a pretty good idea of what articles of clothing you need to buy.

Keep a pad of paper and a pen handy as you are sorting. If you notice that your two best white t-shirts really aren’t your best anymore and have decided to either make them into rags or toss them – write down that you need to purchase two white t-shirts. This will save you some time and a headache the next time you are searching for an item that is no longer in your closet before you remember, “oh yeah, I got rid of that.” This goes the same for the rest of the things you don’t put back in your closet.

When you are done deciding what to keep and what to toss and have made your list put all of your clothing back in the closet and have another look. When you have your entire pant collection grouped together, do you see any holes that could be filled? Maybe you have lots of black dress pants but no casual ones, add that to your list too. When your list is complete you may not be able to go out and buy everything on it, but it will help you when you are out shopping to decide what you need first. To that end, keep your list with you at all times.

Making Room for New Purchases while Staying Organized

You spent an entire weekend organizing your closet and a couple of weeks later it is still organized and you love it. But, you go to the store and purchase some new clothes or a new pair of shoes and you don’t know where you are going to put them in your already full (but organized) closet. Here are some strategies you can use to keep your closet organized even when adding new items.

One way to solve this dilemma is to decide if what you purchased is a duplicate of something you have or a decent replacement. We all have favorite items of clothing that we wear often and these are the ones that need to be replaced first. If your purchase is a new pair of black pants, are your old ones faded? Instead of having two pairs (and admit it, you won’t be wearing the old black pair now that you have the new ones), you should donate the old or throw them out. If your wardrobe is pretty complete in terms of basics, this replacement system will work quite well.

If you are stilling building your dream wardrobe and your purchases are adding to this instead of replacing old or worn items you need a different strategy for finding a home for your new items. If you don’t have any extra hangers, you may have to go and buy some for future wardrobe growth. If you haven’t done so already, you may have to consider adding shelving or drawers in your closet to accommodate everything. Instead of hanging all of your shirts, you can fold them on shelves and this will give you more room to hang pants, skirts, or dresses. Once you make a few adjustments, be sure to leave some empty spaces for the next time you go shopping.

The Next Level in Closet Organization – Shelving

Most closets come equipped with a hanging bar and little else but to organize a closet and keep it that way some shelving is a must have. There are many items that you own that should not be hung up and stuffing them in a dresser drawer isn’t the answer either. By installing shelving inside your closet you are opening up new possibilities to keep it orderly.

You don’t have to stick with the traditional bar in the middle of the closet that is supposed to be one-size fits all. Plan the layout that makes the most sense to you. Maybe you would like to hang your pants at eye level and have all of your tops on shelving underneath or vice versa. Another use for shelves if for your shoes, install a shelf off the floor near the bottom and you can increase the floor space in your closet for more shoes or other storage bins. If you like the idea of having drawers in your closet but don’t have the means to install them a shelf with some basket or bins for sorting will work too.

Shelves are versatile; if you decide to reorganize you can put the shelves to another use. If they use to hold sweaters and it is now the middle of summer you can repurpose them for your summer hats, sandals, or shorts. If you choose, you can install the adjustable shelving that allows you to move the hanging brackets up or down a metal runner with holes.

Shelves come in different materials, you can choose from plastic shelving, metal (solid or wire), or wood. All are fine and as long as they are strong enough and smooth (to prevent any damage to clothing) you can go with the most eye-pleasing or cost effective shelving that can be found at the hardware store.

Organizing your Coat Closet

The family coat closet can be the most chaotic place in the house. It is a small space the entire family stores some of their bulkiest items. The same principles that you would use to organize your bedroom closet apply here too. The golden rule of closet organization is a place for everything and everything in its place. Make sure everyone in the family knows where their stuff belongs and encourage them to take part to keep the coat closet neat and orderly.

A family typically owns a lot of shoes and most coat closets aren’t big enough to accommodate them all. Keep one or two pairs for each family member in the closet that is worn on an almost daily basis. Out of season footwear or pairs that are reserved for special occasions should be stored in the individual bedroom closets of the owners. The same for coats keep the daily or seasonal coats in the coat closet and either rotate the rest to the back or if there is not enough room store them away until the season or weather turns.

On the top shelf is where the hats, mittens, gloves and other accessories are stored. Keep a basket for each member of the family to store their items. If there is room, this is also an ideal place for things like bicycle helmets, knee pads and other safety gear that needs a home.

For younger children who might not be able to reach or manage the hangers consider installing hooks at the back of the closet where they can hang up their own coats. This will foster their independence while teaching them how to take care of their belongings.

Once a season, go through everything in the family coat closet and decide what should be thrown out or what can be donated.

What Should and Shouldn’t be in your Closet?

If you have limited storage space chances are your closets are a precious commodity. But having too many things in one closet, despite the ease of tossing it in, can really make life difficult. The last thing you need while getting dressed for work is an avalanche of wrapping paper and gift bags on top of your head. But what are you to do if space is limited and you don’t want to leave out the Christmas wrap all year long? Keep your chin up, there are alternatives.

Specialize - if you only have a limited number of closets in your home and some of them need to do double-duty don’t do this to your own clothing closet. This is the place where you need to have your clothes, shoes, and related accessories only (okay, you may need to hide the odd gift in there once or twice a year). Depending on the rest of your space, try to have a theme for the rest of your closets, it will make organizing them a lot easier. Most of us don’t have the space or need for an entire closet dedicated to wrapping paper, but what about all paper and paper products? Computer paper, greeting cards, ink for your printer, and anything else that would fit in this category can logically be put together.

Shelving is a great addition to any closet, especially for one that has an odd assortment of storage items. Group like items together on each shelf and add in bins and baskets where appropriate to keep things neat and tidy.

Take a good look at what makes it into your closets. A lot of times, things that are thrown in with the thoughts we might need them later usually aren’t seen or used again. In this case, don’t put them away throw them away.

Closet Organization for Children

Organizing a child’s closet can get a little tricky, you are not just dealing with clothes here – chances are a fair amount of toys are going to have to be dealt with too. You will have to tailor the organizational system you choose to the age of your child and no matter the system or the age you have to be prepared to step in and help out. By the time a child is old enough to put their toys and clothes away they are developing their own sense of independence, let your child help you decide where everything belongs to give them a sense of ownership over their things and the buy-in you will need to get them to want to help keep things neat and tidy.

Labels are the best way to teach your children what to put where. Whether or not your child can read yet, a combination of pictures and words are a great way to label bins, drawers, and shelves inside a closet. If you have a plastic drawer unit in the closet you might label the first drawer with a picture of some dinky cars and the word “CARS” underneath. Hangers can be tricky for younger children, if they are at an age where they can get dressed on their own consider putting in shelves instead of a rod for hanging. This will make things easier for getting dressed and to begin teaching them to put away their own laundry.

To get off to the right start after you put a new system in place for your child’s closet help them each day to put things where they belong to give them an understanding of the system. As time passes, they will get used to the system and it may only require a weekly clean-up from you to make sure everything is staying on track.

Closet Organization for Two

In any couple it is bound to happen, one is the epitome of organization and the other specializes in organized chaos. Chances are there are many areas of your home where the organizer takes charge and makes sure things stay neat and tidy. But what do you do if you have to share a closet with a partner who does not share your love of everything in its place? Don’t despair; you have a couple of options available to you.

Option one is to never allow anyone into your closet except for you. This is a sure fire way to insure nothing gets misplaced or starts to get messed up. But it is not a very practical solution. You would have to pick out and put everything away, unless this appeals to you – option two is probably the way to go.

Option two is to organize the closet in a sensible way that makes finding items and putting them away just as easy as dumping them on the floor (well, maybe not that easy). Make sure everything thing has a home and that your partner knows where that home is. Remember that a system that works for you may not work for someone else; you need to get their buy-in too. If they are fine to leave the planning and organizing to you, investing a bit more time to label shelves and bins with the correct contents may save you some big headaches down the road.

Be prepared to do some damage control once a month, make sure the system is still working and weed out anything that isn’t. Like anything in a relationship, sharing a closet involves a lot of give and take. Just don’t take it too seriously; your love of organization shouldn’t get in the way of your love for your partner.

How to Keep your Closet Organized?

You spent your entire Saturday organizing, donating, and rearranging your closet and now the trick is to keep it that way. If you don’t change the way you put things away all of your hard work can be undone in as little as one week of use. If you were diligent during your organizing you found a home for all of your belongings, in the next couple of weeks you will find out if the system you implemented will work for you.

To break or start a new habit takes time and commitment and most times it isn’t a fun experience. Make yourself take the extra 10 minutes at the beginning to put your shoes back on the shoe rack, hang your belts up on the newly installed hooks, and hang your work pants in the right place. You need to give yourself time to get used to the new system – give it a chance! As the days go by, you will become more and more familiar with the new routine and it will take less and less time to keep it up. By the end of the first month you will have wondered why you didn’t do this long ago.

As you purchase new clothing or other things that need to find a home in your closet take the extra time to find a new home for it right away. You would be amazed how quickly all of your hard work can go to the wayside by having a homeless item introduced. So find a home right away or even better, find something in your closet that you don’t use or love anymore and swap it out with the new purchase.

Enjoy your newly organized closet and take the extra steps to keep it that way, it is worth it.