Gardening has been around for so long that knowledge about propagating lush greenery and abundant fruits have been passed down from generation to generation.
Before gardening books, magazines, and blogs were a thing, gardeners would share tips and tricks through word of mouth. A lot of those tips have hung around up to the present.
Old-Fashioned Gardening Hacks
Today, we’ll be talking about some of the old fashioned gardening tips our grandparents swore by and the old fashioned garden tools they used.
Let’s get started with these old fashioned gardening tips & tricks!
1. Pantyhose
In a vintage garden you may have found pantyhose. Pantyhose has many purposes in the garden. Since it is made from soft and stretchable material, you can use strips of this to tie up tomatoes.
You can also use whole pantyhose to store small crops like onions, peppers, and garlic.
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2. Vegetable Oil
If you have birdbaths or rainwater barrels in your old fashioned vegetable garden but don’t want mosquitoes and other insect larvae to breed in them, just put a few drops of vegetable oil on top of the water.
It prevents insects from laying eggs in these water vessels without bothering the birds. This is something they did in old fashioned gardens.
3. Pest Control
While there are a lot of organic pesticides available these days, mechanical pest control still has room in our present-day gardening.
You can get rid of Japanese beetles and hornworms by handpicking them from your plants and dropping them in a bucket of soapy water.
This may seem tedious but it’s one of the most effective old fashioned gardening tricks.
4. Slugs
Another of the old timers gardening tips has to do with controlling slugs. Slugs have a bad habit of damaging your crops and feasting on vegetables and fruits in your garden.
But did you know that they are also attracted to beer? You can easily trap slugs in a container filled with beer. They will crawl into it and drown.
5. Bucket of Sand
Gardening tools will stay with you for a long time if you take care of them. You can keep them clean and rust-free by storing them in a bucket of sand mixed with mineral oil.
This old fashioned garden mix is a life saver for your new or old fashioned gardening tools.
6. Soap Bars
Working in the garden can be a dirty job sometimes and scrubbing dirt and stains from your fingernails can be difficult after a long day of gardening.
To prevent this, scrape your fingernails over a bar of soap before gardening. At the end of the day, our fingers will stay clean and free of stains.
7. Companion Crops
Companion planting has been around since ancient times. The Native Americans would plant corn, beans, and squash in the same area for a more productive garden patch.
Certain plant pairings also attract pollinators and beneficial insects while repelling pests.
Another aspect of companion planting is knowing which old fashioned garden plants not to plant near each other.
This is because some plants create substances that are dangerous to other plants.
8. Cornmeal
Cornmeal isn’t just great for making delicious polenta. It also has merit in the garden. I sometimes get asked how to plant old fashioned garden mix.
I think what they’re asking is how to spread tiny seeds, because our grandparents would add the tiny hard to see and handle seed in equal amounts of cornmeal before sowing, making an old-fashioned garden mix.
This allows you to distribute these seeds more evenly.
9. Seed Saving
If you’re an avid fan of seed saving then this tip is for you. Instead of eyeballing it, watch out for which flowers the birds frequent. Those are the seeds you want to harvest before they eat them.
You can clip these flower heads and store them in a cool and dry place indoors. By the time spring rolls around, they’ll be ready for planting.
Before you know it your old fashioned garden will be full of beautiful pollinators.
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Just because we adapt and change doesn’t mean we should throw out the tried and true methods of old.
Take some time to ask an older gardener or family member about the tricks they use/used when gardening.
Do you have any great tips not mentioned here? Please share them in the comments below – it helps us all to learn even more.
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