Timely harvest of vegetables sown or planted outside early in the growing season, and ones that generally mature rapidly or during cooler temperatures results in the best flavor and longest harvest period. Many of these also make good fall crops, started later in the season. Snap asparagus spears off at ground level when they are six to ten inches tall. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Are you interested in growing your own fresh organic vegetables but worried that it will take up too much of your time? Well, let me tell you that with just 8 hours of effort per year, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest of organic produce right from your own backyard! I have been gardening for over 35 years and have […]
How to replenish your soil for this year’s vegetable crop The vegetable man, want to plant pumpkins in a small garden plow 25 ft wide and 25 ft long. This means he has a 25ft X 25ft=625 sq ft to fertilize. The vegetable man now called the pumpkin man check the chart and from previous experience of natural losses, that […]
Growing Artichokes You may be surprised that if you have at least 100 frost-free days in your area which most of the country does, you can grow them! Most people assume that the artichoke needs to be grown as a perennial and that it will not bear fruit until the second season. Grown from seed, the first will be harvested […]
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 […]
Growing your own fruit and veg for beginners – sound too much like hard work? It’s actually easier than you think. Planting your own food is a great way to eat for less, eat fresh, and pack in your five-a-day. Research suggests 72% of us are interested in growing our own produce, so why do so many of us put […]
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 […]
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 […]