Spending an extra day preparing the garden for the next spring when the cold weather is due is always suggestible. A horticulture specialist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences advises gardeners to spend an extra day preparing the garden site for winter. Pete Ferretti, professor of vegetable crops says “Once you’ve made the decision to turn the garden under, it will take less than a day to prepare the site for winter and for next spring,”

When night time temperatures reach 45 degrees Fahrenheit four to five days in a row, or if any frost is predicted the backyard gardeners should harvest their crops and prepare to close the garden to ensure less loss. Most of the garden crops cannot thrive after cold injury.

Crops that should be harvested include beans, cantaloupes, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, pumpkins, tomatoes, squash and watermelons. Some crops, such as endive, escarole and Brussels sprouts can be grown through colder temperatures if row covers (or even cornstalks) are used for protection. This puts you in much better position than before.

According to Ferreti after you have decided to pick everything that can possibly be used ,you should follow the some of the following steps :

DIAGNOSIS

First step is to do the checking. After harvest check plants for diseases. If fruits or plants are showing signs of much damage then the particular plant or fruit must be removed or cut and thrown into garbage.

STOP AND CHOP

The second step will be to cut n chop. Plants with minor or no disease damage should be cut down and chopped up. You can use a sickle, hedge trimmer, lopping shears, to chop if you are careful of stones and large pieces.  This way you are cutting down the chances of the disease to spread further and do much more damage.

TURN SOIL OVER

Once the chopping and cutting is over use spade to turn over the part of earth in your garden so that the organic breakdown of plant tissues begin. Leave the surface rough as it lessens erosion.

PLAN ANNUAL RYEGRASS

For small garden a perfect cover crop is Ryegrass. It comes up in seven days or so, and will be well-established by the time plants go dormant. The roots also absorb phosphorus and attract earthworms and beneficial fungi, bacteria, yeasts, algae and other organisms that make the soil richer. Ryegrass plantation nearly eliminates erosion since the root structure holds the soil together and allows water to soak in. If the soil is left bare, a crust will form, and much of the water will run off.

TEST SOIL

After the garden is prepared for the winter, test the soil for nutrient deficiency. Apply lime as soon as possible if it’s needed.

ADD MANURE AND COMPOST

Gardeners should add manure or compost to the garden site in late October or November. By spring, the components will have broken down and been incorporated into the soil structure.

By spring, Ferretti says, most of the annual Ryegrass will have died, so gardeners can till or dig up the garden and plant new crops .

Get More Details On Windows Restoration

When near the sink you experience air coming in around the windows of your home, it means that escape of warm air is taking place. And when there is escape of warm air, it means heat loss. Loss of heat from the house not only makes you cold, it also puts extra pressure on your heater which in turn increases the bills. Many independent surveys have shown that in a typical house, around 20 percent of the heat is lost to draughts and ventilation.

So the first thing that comes to mind is ‘What exactly is meant by draught proofing?’ To say in a layman’s language, draught proofing is nothing but filling the gaps present in between the window and the window sill and thus reducing the amount of cold air which enters your house.  Next question which arises is that which materials can be used for carrying out this draught proofing process. There are quite a few materials which are actually put into practice for sealing those draughts. The most common materials are:

• Plastic
• Shaped Rubber
• Foams
• Brushes
• Strips
• Sealants.

In fact, there is good news for UK residents. There is a Draught Proofing Association located in Surrey which guides households on the type of materials to be used for draught proofing. Thus, one can guess by now that draught proofing is the best and the most cost effective way of reducing the heating bills. Availability of draught proofing materials is also not a problem as these are easily available in any DIY stores.  Ensure that the products you buy for draught proofing conform to the standard BS 7386 so that you get the maximum durability and performance.

As said earlier, draught proofing helps in reducing the heating bills. A statistic based in UK says that heating bills are reduced by £25 per year if proper draught proofing is carried out. At the same time, the carbon dioxide emission from your heater is reduced by 150 kg per year which is very healthy for the environment around us. Here is a table showing the costs, savings and paybacks of draught proofing.

And if everyone in the UK was to go ahead with draught proofing of their homes, it would generate an annual saving of £160m.

Also, in the UK, grants are made available by the government for those going ahead with draught proofing. For households, amount of grant varies with the type of technology used. For large commercial and public sector organizations, grant up to 40%of the total installation costs (excl. VAT) is provided depending on the application. Small enterprises can apply for up to 50% of the total installation costs (excl. VAT). Here again, your application and other background determines the amount of grant.

In case of further questions regarding draught proofing, call your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre on 0800 512 012. Here you will be entitled to free and impartial advice on saving energy in your home.

If you have started to feel that the room temperature of your house is constantly declining, better check your windows for draughts. Because it is these small gaps which can lead to a heat loss from your house as well as financial loss to your pocket. And when this occurs, it is no brainer to guess that there is immediate requirement of draught proofing.

The problem associated with draughts is that they reduce the room temperature of your house. This basically leads to a greater work rate of your heater as the temperature has reduced. And greater work rate of the heater means higher rate of energy consumption. So all this basically leads to heavy escalation of your heating bills.

So draught proofing not only saves you from those huge heating bills, it also makes your house warmer and more comfortable. A number of materials can be used for the purpose of draught proofing your windows. Let’s have a detailed look at these materials.

1. Flexible sealant cartridge and skeleton gun.

These two materials are mostly used for filling gaps between the window frame and the window sill as well as gaps between skirting and floorboards. This type of sealing is known to last for a couple of years thus having high durability. Although Silicone based products are on the more expensive scale, they are highly resistant to any kind of deterioration.

1. Self-adhesive foam strip.

Foam strip is used for sealing windows as well as doors. It is a thick multipurpose strip which can seal gaps from 2 mm up to 10 mm. Although it is cost effective, it gets damaged quite easily.

1. Self-adhesive rubber strip.

The rubber strip is also used for sealing windows and doors. Available in a variety of colors, this strip is much tougher than a foam one and thus more hard-wearing.

1. Brush strips.

Brush strips are specialized draught proofers. Use of brush strips is generally restricted to surfaces which move against each other like sash windows and patio doors. These strips also go on the back of the bottom of exterior and interior wooden doors to provide a movable seal between the door and floor covering.

1. Screw-on external door kits.

Although most useful for draught proofing an external door, these kits can be put to other uses as well. These kits are also useful for upgrading existing doors. The kits achieve a reduction of up to 10dB with the appropriate usage of jamb seals and head.

1. Compression Threshold Strips.

These strips are fitted to the floor below the external doors thus helping close draughts. Here again reduction of up to 12dB with the appropriate usage of jamb seals and head.

Draught proofing is no skilled job. Actually is a very easy DIY job which requires patience and time. And in case you lack both or either of the two, you can always approach organizations that will assist you in these jobs. But remember, this assistance will cost you in monetary terms but it won’t be much. The National Insulation Association Ltd (http://www.ncia-ltd.org.uk/) provides you with the contact details of the nearest Association member whom you can approach for help, information as well as quotation. For any sort of advice pertaining to different aspects of home insulation and heating, free and correct information is provided your local Energy Efficiency Advice Centre (0800 512 012).

Draught Proofing is slowly but surely becoming a basic need of every household in the UK. More and more houses belonging to the era of 1950s and 60s need draught proofing to be done so that house remains nice and warm. Growth of mould in the house which is a very serious problem can be prevented by draught proofing. Draught Proofing helps in proper ventilation of the room thus preventing the rise in humidity levels or occurrence of condensation. Draughts have been recognized as the major source of energy wastage in the country. Increase in draughts means increase in cold air leaking in. And this put a lot of pressure on the heater which in turn escalates your heating bill. Controlled ventilation preventing condensation as well as trick ventilation is what is actually required.

So let us move to the 10 things to be kept in mind. Firstly, draught strip the windows with DIY brushes or brush strips. If there is a sash window, a specialist must be consulted to fit recessed weather stripping.

Secondly, rooms having boilers or gas fire should not be taken into consideration for draught proofing. Also blocking of ventilators is not a good choice as ventilation is very important to get fresh oxygen for the body.

Thirdly, in order to fill the internal and external gaps around the window frames, it is advisable to use acrylic sealant or decorator’s caulk. But precaution should be taken that the sealant is kept smooth and neat so that rainwater is not trapped by it.

Fourthly, repair the window frames suffering from any sorts of damages. Also check the functioning of the windows to ensure proper ventilation in the room.

Fifthly, windows painted shut should be opened. Also sash cords for sliding sash windows should be immediately replaced.

Sixthly, if you plan on draught proofing of the windows on the upper storey, go for it only if you have hinges which aid in easy and safe removal of the window sashes with absolutely no risk of falling.

Seventhly, In case absence of air vents in a room, it is safe to ask a joiner to fit a trickle vent in the top or side of the window frame. But if this is not plausible, draught strip the sides and the bottom of the opening parts of the window frame.

Eighthly, fit in an exhaust fan in the kitchen which can throw out all the moist air outside the room. The air should find a passage through a wall, window, chimney, or roof.

Ninthly, when in a kitchen, a multispeed extract over the hob is the best choice one can opt for. A bathroom fan with humidistat for auto switch-off is necessary for every bathroom.

And lastly, when you have completed the processes of sealing and draught proofing, consult a heating engineer in order to test the safety of fires and boilers via a flue gas spillage test.

Draughts is a problem faced by almost every household in the UK. When you feel cold air coming in through the joints in the doors and windows, understand that you have a draught problem which can be easily solved by draught proofing. Presence of draughts leads to leakage of warm air outside which increases the pressure on the home heater. Decrease in room temperature makes the heater work harder to restore it back to normal. This in turn lengthens your heating bill to twice in length. Also, draughts have been known to cause common ailments like cold and cough in elders and kids due to the presence of moisture in the air.

Actually speaking, draught proofing is the most inexpensive as well as effective way of getting rid of draughts. Also, the pay back duration of draught proofing is very low usually less than a year. Still nearly 75% of UK is reluctant to opt for draught proofing.

Let us have a look at the causes behind the occurrence of draughts. The most common explanation for occurrence of draughts is gaps. Gaps can be present in various objects like windows doors, etc. It is through these gaps that the high temperature air escapes wile the low temperature air enters. Some of the other structures increasing the draughting effect are high ceilings, stairwells, open fireplaces, vented skylights and recessed down-lights.

Many times, there might be gaps which have occurred in the building. Blowing wind can easily force its way inside a house through these gaps. Also draughts occur when heating devices burn internal air and draw this air through a chimney or flue.

The last explanation for cause of draught formation is ceiling mounted ducts, exhaust fans, vented skylights and wall vents which provide an easy escape for internal air. This internal air eventually gets replaced by the cold air from outside.

Now that we know the causes behind the occurrence of draughts, let us look at ways to determine whether our house is suffering from the problem or draughts or not. The simplest way to determine this is to observe and search for obvious gaps anywhere especially in places like doors and windows under visible lights.

Another way to determine draughts is through the use of olfactory lobes.  When there is strong wind blowing outside, listen for rattles and whistles around the doors and windows. You can check for draughts by feeling for cold air while walking in areas around doors, windows, air outlets, vents, stairways, architraves and skirting boards. Last way to determine draughts is by looking for moving curtains.

Thus, draughts is a problem which can do great damage to you as well as your property. So before anything serious takes place, draught proof your house immediately.