Harvesting Summer Vegetables

Knowing when to harvest vegetables is just as important as knowing how to grow them.  Some have a long time over which you can harvest, others must be harvested at just the proper stage of ripening.  Harvest at the wrong time, and your vegetables may not ripen properly if too young, or be tough and bitter if too old. You […]

Growing Carrots

Growing Carrots Carrots are generally bright orange-red in color, and there are a number of different types and shapes. New varieties have been introduced over recent years to remove the woody yellow cores from carrot roots and this explains the terms ‘red cored’ and ‘red cored improved’ attached to some varietal names. About this Plant… Family: -Umbelliferae Genus, species:  -Daucus carota […]

Trendy Seed Varieties – Each Offering a Perfectly Useful Surprise

Summer is one of the most fulfilling seasons for a gardener. Fields, containers and raised boxes are filled with green foliage, bright blooms and sentimental aromas. From tomatoes that are plump with rich juices to freshly cut herbs unlike anything found on grocery store shelves, summer is a gardener’s heaven. With harvesting efforts beginning, it’s time to highlight some of […]

Early Summer tips for the vegetable garden

EARLY SUMMER TIPS FOR THE VEGETABLE GARDEN Mulching, staking, pest and disease control, and succession planting are some of the early season tips for vegetable gardens. Reduce the weeds in walkways in your garden by covering the soil with some type of mulch. Several sheets of moistened newspaper topped with hay or straw are attractive and work very well, especially […]

Vegetable Gardening in Fall

Fall Vegetable Gardening How do I get my garden ready for Fall planting? Before you can plant anything new, you should do a simple soil test to make sure the Ph is still up at above 6.0 If not, add 1 pound of lime per 100 square feet for each .5 below that number. Hydrated lime will work quickly to […]

Organize Your Garden to Start a Vegetable Garden

One of the activities that you have most to gain from is growing your own vegetables, but for first-timers, the complex procedure of planning and organizing the veggie garden can feel like an impossible task. What’s even more stressful is that a single mistake can cost you everything as you won’t have what to harvest, all of your work being […]

The Vegetable Guide – Asparagus

Vegetable Problems Home garden asparagus can be damaged by the asparagus beetle in some areas. If you observe insects feeding on asparagus, contact your local county Extension agent for identification and control recommendations. Diseases Asparagus is troubled by some diseases. If plants have rust-colored spots on the stems or branches, ask your county Extension agent what to use. Harvesting Harvest […]

The Vegetable Guide – Beet

The modern beet as such was not apparently known in ancient times. There is a story that when the Greeks paid homage to Apollo they served him beetroots on a silver platter, but the first recorded specific reference to beets is in the third century in Rome. They were mentioned in 1390 in some old English cooking recipes. Beets are […]

Planning for a Large Vegetable Garden: Tips and Tricks

Many people start their gardening hobby by just growing a few plants here and there, maybe some tomatoes, herbs, and other “easy” plants. More often than not, this small part-time hobby grows into something that becomes an entire lifestyle. Making the transition from a very small garden to one that’s considerably larger requires a lot of planning. Maybe you want […]

The Vegetable Guide – Broccoli

How to grow Broccoli Introduction It is believed that broccoli was known to the Romans at the time of Pliny, but references to this vegetable group it with cauliflower. The first notice of broccoli as such was made in 1724 by an English writer who called it “sprout colliclower or Italian asparagus.” In 1729 another English gardener reported that there […]