Plant Gardens 101

Before taking up the garden vegetables individually, I shall outline the general practice of cultivation, which applies to all.

The purposes of cultivation are three to get rid of weeds, and to stimulate growth by (1) letting air into the soil and freeing unavailable plant food, and (2) by conserving moisture.

As to weeds, the gardener of any experience need not be told the importance of keeping his crops clean. He has learned from bitter and costly experience the price of letting them get anything resembling a start. He knows that one or two days’ growth, after they are well up, followed perhaps by a day or so of rain, may easily double or treble the work of cleaning a patch of onions or carrots, and that where weeds have attained any size they cannot be taken out of sowed crops without doing a great deal of injury. He also realizes, or should, that every day’s growth means just so much available plant food stolen from under the very roots of his legitimate crops. (more…)

Vegetable gardening has lately become just as popular as going to the grocery store fore produce. Vegetable gardening can produce vegetable that are usually cheaper than store bought, and vegetables from a home vegetable garden definitely taste better by far. Vegetable gardening is no different than growing herbs or flowers and if the proper steps are taken and the plants are give the proper care they will flourish and produce very tasty vegetables.

First you must decide what size of garden you wish to plant and then select a place for it; somewhere that has good drainage, good air flow, and good, deep soil. It also needs to be able to get as much sunlight as possible. Because vegetable gardens have such tasty rewards, many animals, such as dogs, rabbits, deer, and many others will try and get to your veggies. One way to prevent this is to surround your garden with a fence, or put out a trap to catch mice, moles, and other animals. (more…)

If you’re itching to get your green thumb on, but want to do more than grow flowers, you should consider your own vegetable and fruit gardens. You may be thinking your backyard doesn’t have good enough soil to grow great vegetables and fruits. That may be true, but you still don’t have to give up. Instead, create a better yard, through garden planters.

You don’t want to pay a fortune to add layers of right topsoil to your whole yard when you really only need the richer soil in the specific places where the plants are going to be growing. You may not have done the research before, but it could be hundreds to thousands of dollars to have a complete layer of topsoil placed on your yard. So, why not just create smaller rich planting venues with garden planters?

Instead of trying to prepare a whole yard, you can decide where you want your garden to grow and put garden planters in the right formation. Then fill them with potting soil or topsoil that the plants will thrive in, and plant away. (more…)

Growing your own vegetables from seed is very easy. It is great fun to watch the tiny seedlings emerge from the soil mix and of course is a great deal cheaper than buying ready grown plants. It is not as quick though. The reason why it is cheaper is that you are doing all the work yourself.

So what do you grow them in? Well it all depends on what type of plant you are growing. Before we discuss what type of container you need, you also need to think about what type of soil mix you are going to grow them in.

My father used to just take some garden soil, put it in an old dirty plant pot and grow his seeds. It used to work but it was only his experience which allowed him to be able to identify which was the seedling he was after and which was a weed seedling. Why, well the soil he used was full of weed seeds. He also did not clean his pots which is never a good thing. (more…)

Metropolitan areas offer many things to their inhabitants. Jobs are plentiful, eateries and watering holes are in high abundance, and arts and nightlife scenes are often very appealing. Those looking to move from more rural areas to perhaps an apartment or condominium in the city might feel they will be forced to sacrifice many of the attributes the country provides. Space is at a premium in the city. Suburbia and rural living offer more of it, and many people living in more spacious areas enjoy growing their own vegetables and tending personal gardens in their spare time. The fact is that vegetables are able to grow and thrive in smaller areas, and just because your space is limited, it doesn’t mean you and your vegetable garden need to be.

As a result of new research and development involving genetic modifications of standard vegetables and fruits we have all come to expect in a backyard garden, many seed companies offer seeds and starts of miniature or dwarf versions more suited for growing in limited space. Just imagine, growing tomatoes in a bucket on your tiny condominium deck could be so rewarding and the perfect addition to a summer salad. You can grow strawberries in small containers in your bedroom windowsill, strawberry shortcake, anyone? Growing your vegetables in containers has its advantages over a conventional garden because you can move your plantings inside if cooler weather should threaten and give your growing vegetables artificial indoor light in the interim. (more…)

What is the best way of getting your children interested in growing vegetables?

Well in my view you need to give them their own space. Tell them this plot is yours. It doesn’t have to be large, about 2 feet square for younger children or you could even get them started by growing crops or herbs in pots. Older children may prefer something larger. I know that a small high density bed that is only 2 foot by 2 foot doesn’t sound very big, but it will be to a young child. A larger bed may just seem too big to do anything with to them, so start them small. If you have more than one child, give them their own high density bed each or just make a larger bed and divide this up into a section for each child and then divide this into mini plots for each crop. For very young children I would not make the bed more than 2 feet wide as they can reach the middle of this from each side.

What I would do is start them off with their own high density gardening raised bed built from timber that is at least 6 inches deep. This will give a soil depth which is deep enough for most easy to grow crops. You need to fill this with a soil mix and I would recommend buying this in the form of bagged peat or coir, bagged well rotted manure and maybe a bag of sterilized topsoil as well. As you have some manure in there you need to instill in your children good hygiene with hand washing after gardening and before eating. Mix your soil ingredients together and then fill the high density garden bed. If you are using 6 inch timber you will only need 2 cubic foot of soil mix. Once you have done this I would divide the bed into 4 mini plots using a brightly colored plastic string. I have gone for plastic as it does not rot and is safer for little hands than wire. Simply staple this to the timber. To increase interest, get your child involved in building the high density garden bed and even a trip to buy the soil mix and the seeds. (more…)

Planter boxes give you the benefit of raising organic vegetables right outside your door or window. Rising costs of produce have caused some budget-conscious people to reconsider the money they spend on fresh fruits and vegetables. But at what cost to their health? And the price of organic produce is even higher. You can grow your own vegetables, even without much space. Roots, leafy vegetables, and fleshy vegetables can all grow well in planter boxes, if you choose the right varieties and provide the attention they need.

Root vegetables are edible roots of plants. Vegetables which fall in this category include carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, radishes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Root vegetables can work well in planter boxes, as long as the planters are deep enough. Try carrots and radishes. (more…)

For effective gardening of vegetables in your organic gardening, you must first think about fertilization. This is almost always attributable to mulching. But there are other things to consider as well, such as the introduction of fertilizers that are available to you both naturally or commercially. To simply define this, it means to place materials, wether they be inorganic or organic in your garden around your plants.

By doing this you will also provide fertilization, it also helps to protect your soil as well. If you garden receives a lot of heavy rain, or is susceptible to high weed growth causing it to be a weed trap, then mulches will provide some much protection from this and much needed supplementation that will aid the natural growth process of your organic garden vegetables.

Beside this, you will also find it will help to regulate the temperature of your soil. Also the added bonus of gardening this way is the aesthetic look this lends to your garden and the improved ground texture. By spreading the mulch to areas not planted will also help to keep any weeds under control. (more…)

In most parts of the country, gardeners are weeding and tending to their gardens because after all spring is for planting. Not so, in many parts of Arizona. Here, spring time is for harvesting and getting ready for fall planting.

The hot summer months, especially in areas like the East Valley, most vegetables can’t withstand the heat. However, there are a few that will do well with an early to late spring planting, as suggested by Leslie Honaker, master gardener and co-owner of Garden Territory at the Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix. These include squash, radishes, zucchini, eggplant, cucumber, tomatoes, okra, peppers, some beans. Some fruits such as watermelons and cantaloupe can also be planted, and their vines provide shade for other plants. (more…)

Companion planting in your vegetable garden is a great way to increase the size of the crop you will have when it comes time to harvest. The right combination of vegetables planted together improves growth, reduces disease, encourages beneficial insects to thrive in the garden, and discourages pests.

But companion planting vegetables does have it’s drawbacks, as some vegetables are much more fussy than others about who they are planted next to. This simple guide will help you with a few of the more common combinations you should keep in mind when companion planting vegetables.

Asparagus get on well with most vegetables, but their ideal companions are tomato, parsley and basil.

Bush beans like potatoes, cucumber, corn, strawberries and celery, but hate onions. On the other hand, pole beans are a little more selective – they only like corn and radishes, and hate beets as well as onions.

The cabbage family (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale to name a few) like many companions – beet, celery, cucumber, lettuce, onion, potatoes and spinach. But they have a few hates as well – dill, strawberries, pole beans and tomatoes. (more…)

Before taking up the garden vegetables individually, I shall outline the general practice of cultivation, which applies to all.

The purposes of cultivation are three to get rid of weeds, and to stimulate growth by (1) letting air into the soil and freeing unavailable plant food, and (2) by conserving moisture.

As to weeds, the gardener of any experience need not be told the importance of keeping his crops clean. He has learned from bitter and costly experience the price of letting them get anything resembling a start. He knows that one or two days’ growth, after they are well up, followed perhaps by a day or so of rain, may easily double or treble the work of cleaning a patch of onions or carrots, and that where weeds have attained any size they cannot be taken out of sowed crops without doing a great deal of injury. He also realizes, or should, that every day’s growth means just so much available plant food stolen from under the very roots of his legitimate crops. (more…)

Are you fed up with vegetables grown out of season, from who knows where which may look bright and shiny but which taste of absolutely nothing? Are you frightened as to what all those pesticides and other chemicals are doing to your family’s health?

Well the answer is simple; grow your own organic vegetables and fruit. You will need to be prepared to devote quite some time and effort but the end result will be well worth it. Just think of those wholesome, tasty fruits and vegetables which you’ll be able to put on your table at all times of the year.

What is organic gardening and why should you go to all that effort?

It is the growing of produce, flowers, shrubs and so on without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers which, organic gardeners believe, will result in flavorful, healthy and nutritionally beneficial food. This is because the soil is fertilized naturally and insects are kept away using natural materials too so there’s no risk of ingesting or inhaling toxic chemicals. An additional benefit is the fresh air and exercise which you get digging and maintaining your own vegetable plot. (more…)

Many people have the desire to eat healthy food. That is why they will go to specialty stores in order to purchase what they feel is the best in organic vegetables. The only downside to this is that the things you buy from these stores is expensive and some of us don’t have the money to but those things on a weekly basis.

You shouldn’t have to sacrifice good eating because you cannot afford to buy it. Instead why not grow your very own garden full of organic vegetables and herbs? You can do this right in your own backyard and believe it or not many people are doing just this. All you need are the right tools and the patience to learn how to do it properly. It is easy to learn and once you do you will enjoy the fruits (or vegetables in this case) of your labor. (more…)

It’s important that we eat plenty of different fruits and vegetables every day. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Fruits and vegetables provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are important for good health. Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.

You’ve probably heard about the 5 A Day for Better Health program. It provides easy ways to add more fruits and vegetables into your daily eating patterns. It’s vital that we eat a wide variety of colorful orange/yellow, red, green, white, and blue/purple vegetables and fruit every day. By eating vegetables and fruit from each color group, you will benefit from the essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that each color group has to offer alone and in combination. (more…)

I can hear you thinking that you have no idea about growing vegetables. The truth is that you can easily learn enough to be growing useful crops very quickly, and each session spent in your garden teaches you even more. You will learn much that is unique to your own situation, such as local soil conditions, your particular aspect in relation to the sun, and oddities that relate to your local microclimate. You will learn most of this by getting out and giving it a go.

The taste of home grown vegetables is vastly superior to that of the commercially grown produce. Have you heard people complain that tomatoes no longer have any taste? They will have when you grow your own – you will never taste better. The lack of taste with the commercial crop is not all the fault of the growers, as they are under pressure to produce a crop, of uniform size and colour, to the schedule of the wholesale market, and ultimately the supermarket. You set your own schedule.

The freshness of your own crop is a big plus. Vegetables I have bought from the supermarket, and stored in the refrigerator, have started to become inedible after a few days. I have had home grown produce still fresh in the refrigerator after 2 weeks!

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Things were going great in the early stages. I had just recently started growing vegetables in my back yard and things were moving along very well. Certain vegetables were growing somewhat slowly, and I didn’t expect things to be so smooth forever, but I had faith things would turn out well no matter what obstacles I would have to face. It wasn’t long before I faced one of the first setbacks in cultivating a vegetable garden and discovered that I would have to put in garden fencing.

I had grown vegetables in the past but it was a communal garden and it was ages ago so when the rabbits started to ruin my garden, I was totally caught off guard. Luckily, because of my experience, I not only knew the answer was garden fencing but I also knew exactly what kind of garden fencing was required. (more…)

Before taking up the garden vegetables individually, I shall outline the general practice of cultivation, which applies to all.

The purposes of cultivation are three to get rid of weeds, and to stimulate growth by (1) letting air into the soil and freeing unavailable plant food, and (2) by conserving moisture.
As to weeds, the gardener of any experience need not be told the importance of keeping his crops clean. He has learned from bitter and costly experience the price of letting them get anything resembling a start. He knows that one or two days’ growth, after they are well up, followed perhaps by a day or so of rain, may easily double or treble the work of cleaning a patch of onions or carrots, and that where weeds have attained any size they cannot be taken out of sowed crops without doing a great deal of injury. He also realizes, or should, that every day’s growth means just so much available plant food stolen from under the very roots of his legitimate crops. (more…)

As a child, I remember many sunny summer afternoons sitting on the porch shelling more than my fair share of peas and butter beans in the deep dark heart of the old south. There were other vegetables we grew in our summer gardens that had to be picked and stored for winter but the peas and butter beans always seemed to take the most time and attention and are one of the things I sorely miss having left my home in the south for much cooler climes. One thing though, has never gotten away from me and that is the deep and abiding love I have for the smell of freshly plowed soil and the taste of vegetables fresh from the garden.

I point out the fact that my childhood favorite summer garden vegetables only seem to flourish in the south to drive home the fact that you really will need to research the vegetables you plant in your summer garden as they relate to the specific area in which you live. Not all vegetable plants are created equal in their tolerance for temperature or rainfall (or lack thereof), which could greatly impact their suitability for your particular vegetable summer garden depending of course, on where you are located.

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By September my greenhouse is starting to look a bit tired, well not so much the greenhouse, more the plants inside. I often think that the plants I’ve chosen to grow inside the confines of my wonderful glasshouse are almost forced into productivity, a little bit like battery hens, cooped into a small space to lay egg after egg. The difference is that my plants have plenty of space, the very best diet and very little in the way of pest control. And of course I don’t chuck them into the pot as soon as they have an off day.

Every year I look at what’s done well in the greenhouse and what didn’t really work and each year I come to a different conclusion. Last year by accident I grew runner beans in the greenhouse, it was such a success that I did it deliberately this year. Strangely although I got a reasonable crop, it didn’t compare to last year’s. My tomatoes this year have been better, but now they have succumbed to the dreaded tomato blight and that’s the beginning of the end of them. New gardeners are often put off by crop failures and poor results, but it happens to all gardeners regardless of their experience. Just because something hasn’t grown well this year, it isn’t a reflection on things to come. It may be that the weather has had an adverse effect on things, you could have just been unlucky or it may have been a pest or problem that has affected everyone’s crops. Don’t give up. Try again, but try something new too. That’s how we all learn and progress in gardening and it’s a great way of keeping things interesting. (more…)

Growing your own vegetables from seed is very easy. It is great fun to watch the tiny seedlings emerge from the soil mix and of course is a great deal cheaper than buying ready grown plants. It is not as quick though. The reason why it is cheaper is that you are doing all the work yourself.

So what do you grow them in? Well it all depends on what type of plant you are growing. Before we discuss what type of container you need, you also need to think about what type of soil mix you are going to grow them in.

My father used to just take some garden soil, put it in an old dirty plant pot and grow his seeds. It used to work but it was only his experience which allowed him to be able to identify which was the seedling he was after and which was a weed seedling. Why, well the soil he used was full of weed seeds. He also did not clean his pots which is never a good thing. (more…)