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 […]

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners Vegetables are easy to grow and are very rewarding at harvest time. The most important requirements are sunshine and watering. Other requirements are a loosened soil, some fertilizer, and a little bit of weeding. If you have an area in your yard that gets sunshine most of the day (6-8 hours in summer) then you can […]

Kitchen Gardening Tips and Plans By Cindy Martin of The Tasteful Garden Vegetable or herb gardening has become much more popular in the United States in the past 10 years.The focus has been on growing more flavorful, nutritious, and fresher produce than can be found in the local grocery store.Television cooking shows make our mouths water with fresh herbs, garden […]

Growing in Containers Everyone seems to think growing in containers is easier than growing in the ground but it can be even more difficult. In climates with lots of hot summer heat, even large pots can really heat up and the soil can be much warmer than in the ground. Potting soils are designed to drain well but that can […]

Growing Tips – Growing Peppers Peppers are not tomatoes. That seems obvious but for some reason we expect them to grow the same as tomatoes, same planting time, same spacing and same sunlight. Although they are in the garden at the same time they have some very different requirements. Both tomatoes and peppers like warm soil and although tomatoes can […]

Potato Planting & Growing Prepare the soil Use your best method to loosen up the soil 8 to 12 inches deep. Mix in compost or fertilizer if needed. If the soil is dry, water it a few days before planting. It’s best to plant in moist soil, not soaked and wet. Plant the seed Plant no earlier then 2 weeks […]

HOW TO REALLY START A KITCHEN GARDEN First of all, draw a plan (to a scale) of the ground at your disposal. Make allowances for paths, borders, etc. It’s fascinatingly interesting after you get started. Next, take inventory of your likes and dislikes in vegetables. Put down on paper every vegetable you wish to grow. Then go back to your […]

Growing Onions: Long Day Sweet varieties will generally mature a few weeks before the storage varieties. They will store for one to five months, so eat them fresh from the field. These varieties will do well from the mid-west to the Canadian border. Short Day Sweet varieties start the bulbing process when the day-length reaches 10-12 hours. Since they are […]

Growing Garlic and Shallots: WHEN TO PLANT: Garlic survives bitterly cold winters underground (or grows frost-hardy leaves where winters are mild to moderate), grows rapidly when the weather warms in spring, and bulbs in summer. In the North, plant 4-6 weeks before the ground freezes. This gives the plant time to make good root development but not enough time to […]

Asparagus Planting: Asparagus is a perennial vegetable that can thrive in the home garden for 15 years or more when well cared for. Asparagus plants should grow for 1 full year in the garden before they are harvested. Asparagus is most productive on deep, well-drained, sandy loam soil, but it will do well on other soils if it has good […]