Soil PreparationTo produce delicious fruits and vegetables in an urban permaculture garden, all starts with the soil preparation. This easy method helps minimize weeding and requires minimal watering.1. Lightly sprinkle the complete grass or soil area that you want to make into an urban garden with fresh compost. This attracts the worms to come to the surface and find all the delicious layers you put on.2. The most important first step in creating your urban permaculture garden, is to cover the grass or soil thoroughly with wet newspaper, at least 5 pages thick, making sure there are no colored ink pages included.3. Then cover the newspaper with plain flat cardboard and water it well. Flattened cardboard boxes are good to use for this.Raised Garden Beds1. Use untreated 8″ x 1″ or 12″ x 1″ timber to make square or rectangular garden beds, no wider than an arm span from each side to the middle. This allows you to work your permaculture garden from all sides without stepping on the growing area. This way, the worms and insects do all the hard work for you, and their habitat is not overly disturbed or compressed when you plant or weed your crops.2. Lay out your raised garden boxes on the prepared area of cardboard, leaving wheelbarrow width walkways all around them. Peg the boxes to the ground.Filling Your Raised Garden Beds1. Cover the wet cardboard inside the raised boxes with a thin layer of coffee grounds. This benefits fruits and vegetables in a similar way to what nitrogen does. Coffee grounds obtained at no cost, from coffee shops can also be used later as a top sprinkling to enhance growth.2. Next add any layer of manure at this stage but not too thick. Horse manure from quality stables is good, as these horses have a very good balanced diet. Alternatively, use sheep pellets or chicken manure. The soil that chickens have turned over in their yards can also be added here.3. Next you can add a thick layer of compost dirt. See the compost section to learn how best to make this, otherwise, buy some from the garden center.4. On top of that, you can add a layer of potting mix if you are planting seeds or want a finer soil to plant your seedlings directly into.5. A layer of organic wood chips, leaf mulch, or year old calf shed cleanings tucked in between plants after you have planted, keeps the top soil darkened to allow the worms to come up around all your plants and stops weed seeds germinating. The worms leave their fresh worm juice right there beside your plants.6. Prior to planting anything in your new garden boxes, give these layers of soil a gentle soak with the best water you can find, and leave them to settle for a week or so, watering daily. This encourages the worms, insects and bug life to take up residence and work their magic in your soil.Beneficial Additions To Your Soil Layers1. If you have access to them, a thin layer of wilted comfrey leaves laid on top of the coffee grounds provides valuable nutrients. We grow two large controlled clumps of this, so a source of compost material lays under our fruit trees. This is a prolific, powerful medicinal plant but needs cutting to wilt in the sun first to stop it taking root and spreading throughout your garden.2. Then to tune into the magnetic field of the earth, you can sprinkle a thin layer of paramagnetic rock dust on the compost. Paramagnetic rock dust can also be added to compost mixes in about 1:10. You may need to search for a supplier near you.3. Liquid chicken, sheep or cow manures, worm juice or diluted seaweed liquid are all very beneficial manures to add to your garden. The dilution needs to be weak to avoid burning the plants. These dilutions and rates of applications are easily found on the web.4. We watered our cabbages twice a week with liquid cow manure (one cow pat to a large bucket of water), when we were dairying in the perfect growing climate of Wairoa and grew giant species of cabbages. The outer leaves reached waist height and the hearts were huge! We felt like we had unlocked a secret from Eden!Pest Control And Ways to Provide For Beneficial Insects And Animals1.When you plant your cabbage, cauliflowers or broccoli, make a bamboo A frame shape and drape fine white mesh over the plants, to save having to spray for white butterfly.2. Keeping ducks on your walkways ensures the snails and annoying bugs are eliminated, but you will need to cut some plastic mesh to make a small fence inside the garden boxes, that the ducks can’t get over, to protect the vegetables in your garden boxes. You may need to clip one wing on your ducks if they fly. Feed the ducks kibbled maize, after they have eaten from the walkways.We have a drake and three ducks and rear the ducklings for meat and have eggs for baking. Peeking and Muscovey are good eating ducks and make a beautiful feature in the garden when they float in the pond. The water they bathe in is excellent to water the gardens with. We give them clean water every day.3. Make a space full of rocks to encourage frogs and geckos to come to live in, as they can deal with bugs and pests also. Frogs love a small pond.Insect Life1. If you really want to be kind to your insect friends, you can make a watered down molasses solution to sprinkle on top of your newly created garden. Do this after your garden’s first watering. This will feed all the worms, bugs and the bee colonies that are going to do the gardening for you, as they love that little bit of sugar content..2. Bees have a memory of where they get good water and the sweetest nectar, so if you cater for their needs it ensures you get good visitation when you need them for pollinating. They have a good memory and will bring their friends back with them. The wonderful tasting fruits you grow will also attract the bees, thus ensuring pollination when you grow fruits all year round.3. Plant many blue and purple plants like lavender and make sure you grow colorful flowers to attract the bees throughout the season. Provide a water bath for both birds and bees for resting and drinking. Planting lavender under the windows of your house helps keep those pesky mosquitoes at bay and brings the bees across. This ensures they find all the plants that need polination as they fly back out of your garden.Water Retention Walkways1. Box up the far sides of all the walkways around your garden beds enabling them to hold 8 to 12 inches deep of either untreated sawdust, calf shed wood chips, or tree and leaf mulch from your local tree removal firm. Avoid pine mulch.2. Another way to get a good walkway filler is to ask to clean out horse boxes at stables. You will receive unlimited access to good untreated woodchips, complete with horse urine.These walkways become large worm breeding areas and the next year are ready to become the compost material for your garden beds. You then just refill your walkways annually.3. The rain water is held in the fibrous wood materials in the walkways and seeps into your garden beds as they need it. When it rains you collect all the run-off across your section in these walkways and this way you are collecting water for your garden for a future drought.When we made our walkways, we spirit leveled them to hold water evenly along their full length. The paper and cardboard being thicker in the walkways and up the sides keeps the water in for as long as possible.4. The outside edges of your planned garden area planted with fruit trees close to the walkways enables them to enjoy the wonderful moisture from your walkways too.5. Lay any tree branches, mulch or grass clippings under your trees and watch the wonderful forest floor develop there. Better still, feed the grass clippings to the chickens first and watch them make beautiful compost soil out of it.6. This forest floor soil is excellent to grow seedlings in, mixed with potting mix. Mushrooms can also grow in this rich moist atmosphere under the trees.Composting1. Soils love compost that have a 1 part nitrogen to a 25 part carbon ratio. Making compost in this ratio, ensures your stack will not sink down to half the size, but stay the size you made it. Just add layers and layers in this ratio, and cover the stack until it is ready. Properly made it will be ready in a couple of months but it is more common to leave it six months to a year.2. Nitrogen equates to the hot things such as manures or road kill and the carbon equates to the dry wood based matter such as dry grass clippings, dry wood chips, paper, cardboard, or dry tree mulch.3. A compost made in this ratio is a source of hot water for a shower. Wrap black polythene pipe around and through your compost, connect it to a hose and shower head and there you can have a shower in the garden before heading home.Leaf Curl and Fungi1. Copper tacks in the trunks of your fruit trees stops leaf curl and flea collars around the base of your apple trees can stop the apple moth that climbs up the tree before it mates with the ones that flies into the tree.2. Fungi send out a filament underground, like an internet connection to every tree and plant in your garden so anything you do anywhere in your garden affects the entire area. Your garden is a living, communicating entity.Harvesting and Replanting1. Only cut the tops of vegetables like cauliflowers and broccoli when you harvest. Leave the roots in the ground for the soil life to break down, as the rotting roots make good water walkways deeper into the ground.2. When replanting, just make a small hole, add a bit of compost dirt, then plant your new plant or seeds without disturbing the soil life too much. The soil stays soft and workable if you keep adding mulch to the top and keep the moisture levels right.3. Your garden will be very lush using no dig, no spray, no weeds, no bugs, urban permaculture garden technology and needing only minimal watering to produce delicious fruits and vegetables. The mulch on the top of the soil slows down the evaporation rate of the available water.Now what if the water you do need to water your garden with is the very best filtration method that man has discovered? This structured water we use, gives us amazing growth, double fruiting and fruit that tastes full of energy.We are sure you will be as amazed as we are with the results.Visit our website below, to be amazed and enlightened.I hope you liked my article with tips for a No Weeds and No Bugs Urban Permaculture Garden.
Payday Loans – Are They a Ripoff?
If you have no access to credit and need a quick loan, you may consider a payday loan. The idea sounds attractive: the lender deposits up to $2,000 into your bank account and the loan is automatically repaid from your next paycheck. You don’t need collateral and there’s no credit check.But before you walk into the payday loan office, do your homework. Here are some crucial facts you need to know.1. What is a payday loan? According to the U.S. government, a payday loan is defined as “a closed-end credit transaction, unsecured by any interest in the consumer’s personal property and excluding any credit card transaction under an open end consumer credit plan, with a term of 91 or fewer days in which the amount financed does not exceed $2,000 with a finance charge exceeding an annual percentage rate of 36%.” In other words: short-term, high-interest.To ensure repayment, the lender will require that you present a personal check for the total amount borrowed plus fees, or that you sign over legal access to your bank account for the total amount due. Your check is post-dated to your next payday. On that day the lender will cash the check or debit your bank account. This gives the lender an automatic repayment mechanism and the legal right to collect.2. Are payday loans legal everywhere? No! They are regulated by individual states. In some states they are illegal.They are also illegal for members of the U.S. military. One of the provisions of the FY 2007 Military Authorization Act makes it against the law for lenders to make payday loans and/or car title loans to military personnel. Lenders are also prohibited from charging more than 36% interest to military borrowers. When calculating the interest rate, additional renewal charges, fees, service charges, or credit insurance premiums must be included.3. What are the interest rates for these types of loans? Very high! Why? Because the lender typically requires only that you have a job and a bank account for the past sixty days. Payday loans are most often made to people who have poor credit and no collateral. These high-risk borrowers pay interest rates that can be as high as 600% APR.What does that mean? Here’s a typical payday loan breakdown:Loan amount: $1,500
Your next payday: 14 days from today
Fee per $100 borrowed: $20
Your effective APR: 521.43%
Total fees you pay: $300
Total debited from your account 14 days from now: $1,800Fourteen days after advancing you the loan for $1,500, the lender will debit $1,800 from your bank account. If for some reason the full amount isn’t there, you must still pay the $300 fee for that 14-day period. You will pay $300 every two weeks until you repay the original $1,500. When you receive your next paycheck 14 days later, you will owe $1,800. That means that if you miss the first repayment deadline, you will end up paying a total of $2,100.4. Are payday loans controversial? Yes! In many states they are considered usurious and are illegal. But attempts to regulate payday loans are receiving mixed responses. Congress is now considering the Payday Loan Reform Act of 2009 (HR 1214 IH). This bill would ostensibly regulate payday loans, but consumer protection groups are opposed. In a recent letter to U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez, the bill’s sponsor, several groups including the National Consumer Law Center assert that H.R. 1214 gives Congressional authorization for single-payment loans of 780 percent APR for one week or 390 percent APR for two weeks. The mandated loan fee limit of fifteen cents per dollar loaned sounds reasonable, but it permits lenders to charge $75 for a typical $500 loan, which is due on the following payday. For the average customer who takes out nine loans per year, H.R. 1214 permits lenders to collect $675 in finance charges for a $500 loan taken out over an eighteen weeks.Imagine paying more in finance charges than the loan amount! Before you consider a payday loan, do the research and ask yourself if it’s really the best choice for you.
21 Benefits of Blogging and 22 Blogging Tips
Combine “web” with “log” and you get “blog.” It’s a funny word, but serious business.This post is about blogging for business – with a purpose. We have a lot to cover, so we’ll knock it out as efficiently as possible with a series of lists.We’ll get right to it.Who should read this post? Non – blogger – You’ve never had a blog and you need to fix that now.
Unfulfilled blogger – You blogged for a bit. Magic never struck.
Beginning blogger – You blog, but don’t really know what you’re doing.
Regular blogger – You’ll pick up tips from a fellow blogger.
Expert blogger – You could steal the good stuff for your blog.
None of the above – You have nothing better to do, but to read about blogging.21 benefits of blogging with purpose. Connect with customers – A blog is a practical and powerful way to share useful, relevant information with customers.
Connect with partners – Blogging allows you to connect and team up with influencers and leaders who can be instrumental in building your business.
Generate traffic – A strategically planned blog, with carefully chosen keywords in play, will show up in search and drive traffic to your landing pages.
Establish authority – Your business blog is the hub of your content marketing efforts where you share your expertise.
Win business – 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers, says HubSpot.
Inspire your social media – If you’re using social media effectively, you’re sharing your blog posts regularly and taking advantage of the magical amplification of social networks.
Increase reach – Your blog will be shared and find new eyeballs daily.
Grow your email database – Your blog should inspire people to opt into your email newsletter list. Also, your email feeds traffic to your blog.
Give your company a voice – A blog is your pulpit, your publication, your journal – the place where you talk about whatever you choose, however you choose.
Humanize your company – That voice needs personality. Great bloggers are genuine. Your personality comes into play, that is, if you aim to make real connections.
Exchange ideas – Blogs obliterate the wall that once stood between a company and its customers. You encourage interaction, comments and feedback. You create a conversation.
Get (and stay) customer focused – By blogging, you’ll learn how to speak in your customers’ terms, perpetually improve this vital skill and grow more in touch with your audience’s wants and needs.
Inspires content and productivity – Blogging is hard work. You need processes. Commitment. Consistency. You’ll need to step up – and you’ll be rewarded for doing so.
Increase focus – A subtle addendum to the point above, blogging consistently forces you to define who you are trying to reach and why.
Generate publicity – As I mentioned, business bloggers establish authority. Stick with it and demonstrate you know your niche and you’ll get asked for interviews frequently.
Invite outsiders in – While business blogger should refrain from being relentlessly promotional, the blog is an appropriate forum for delivering insight into your company, its values, and people.
Get strategic – You’ll get in the habit of closely examining the site’s analytics and gather all kinds of insights about what does and doesn’t appeal to your audience. Your marketing will get more strategic by day.
Learn – We’ll get a bit warm and fuzzy now, but there’s no denying you are going to learn a lot about yourself and the world around you. It comes with being a writer.
Get inspired – The research, the conversation, the experience… it’s inspiring. Trust me on this: a switch gets turned on and it’s impossible to turn off.
Have fun – Perhaps not everyone will agree blogging is fun, but I believe every great blogger gets into it and enjoys the ride.
Make millions – Maybe, maybe not. However, business blogging with purpose works. Every post is a long – term asset. Learn how to blog and you’ll lower your marketing costs and increase sales.Let’s look at how to do it.22 tips for blogging with purpose.I have to give a shout out here to my man, mentor, friend, Marcus Sheridan, a.k.a. The Sales Lion. No one understands and teaches the practice of blogging quite like Marcus. I won’t be replicating his great post, “50 Qualities of the Best Business Blogs in the World” here, but I did draw these ideas from it (and encourage you to check it out). Answer questions – Listen closely to questions prospects and customers ask and answer every one of them in your posts.
Teach, don’t preach – Avoid making your blog a heavy handed attempt to advertise your products. Adopt an educator’s mentality and you’ll win your reader’s trust.
Converse – Ask questions of your readers, encourage feedback, counterpoints and criticism. Respond to comments as promptly as possible in an effort to exchange ideas.
Create a blogging culture – Invite everyone in your company and its constituents to contribute ideas and participate in the blog.
Use images – Take advantage of the appeal of photos, illustrations, charts and infographics to increase your stopping power and make the posts more attractive.
Make it easy on the eyes – Use short paragraphs, line breaks, white space, subheads and lists to make your posts look inviting.
Be transparent – Write with uncompromising integrity and don’t be afraid to address real issues, problems, challenges, and yes, prices. Don’t avoid the tough questions. Tackle them.
Remove internal barriers – There’s no place in blogging for corporate red tape. Get permission in advance to write openly and honestly.
Don’t back down – Some readers (or co – workers) don’t love what you have to say? Say it anyway. It’s not a popularity contest.
Be consistent – The number one reasons blogs fail is they are neglected. Set a schedule and stick to it. Make the time to post often. No excuses.
Nix the fluff – Your posts can be short or long. Just don’t babble your way through them. Serve meat and go easy on the gravy.
Recognize others – Congratulate, write about and recognize customers, employees, partners, industry influencers and even competitors. Being generous will only help. You’ll enjoy reciprocity.
Optimize – Research and use the keyword phrases that will increase your search engine rankings. Install plugins to assist you with SEO.
Write passionately – Make your passion pulse through your prose. Tap into your reader’s emotions.
Tell stories – Learn how to become a master storyteller. Observe how the best bloggers unravel plots and develop characters.
Include customers – Drop the secrecy and anonymity. Cite real customers, real challenges and real solutions.
Invest seriously – Blogging only burns time and money when it’s a low priority. Invest in the tools you need and put the best writers and designers on your blog.
Market and sell – Don’t write ads and press releases disguised as blog posts, but do include a call to action and guide your readers along the path to discovering your solutions.
Stay tuned – Follow your industry daily and stay on top of what your peers are saying.
Encourage sharing – Don’t forget to offer social media buttons to make it easy for readers to share and email your content.
Promote your blog – Promoting a post can (and probably should) take more time than writing it. Write teasers for your content and promote it across social networks and all potential touch points.
Have fun – Never be stiff, formal, or jam useless jargon into your posts. You have the stage. Relax. Be entertaining. Allow yourself to have fun with the writingBusiness blogs are a major challenge.Blogs are the hardest channel for business to keep updated – and to really nail.Passle, makers of a blogging shortcut service of sorts, recently studied 525 businesses and reviewed their performance across blogs, company news pages, Twitter and Facebook. Their study, “The State of Business Blogging 2013,” reported: 75% of companies don’t update their websites in any way.
Only 20% have a blog and over one – third of them are inactive.
1 in 8 companies have an active blog.Ouch. Please understand…Business blogs should/can/will grow your business. 57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer from their blog.
61% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from a blog.
Blogs attract repeat visitors who continue to come back to the website for fresh content.
Blogging allows you to team up with people who already have an audience, which is an instantaneous way to attract readers.The figures above are conservative. Blogging gets more important everyday. Start now.Visit http://feldmancreative.com/