We’ve only had a vegetable garden, that wasn’t just a container garden, for a couple of years now and we are loving it more each year. The garden also seems to get a bit bigger each year as well. Eventually we would like it to use most of the property on the south side of our lot as vegetable garden.

We’ve learned new things about gardening each year, like our first year we learned that the direction your plant your vegetables can make a difference. We planted our first garden north to south which caused rain water to run down the rows and eroded a lot of top soil. So, lesson learned and the following year we planted east to west instead.

We had also planted corn and found that it blocked the sunlight once it reached a certain height so the following year planted it on the east side of the garden so that it would not block the rest of the garden. So now the corn is on the opposite side.

This year I am paying attention to the height of my veggies and will try to plant them so they don’t block anything.

The garden has been under water since the snow has been melting and only accessible to the ducks flying over. However after more than a week of having a swimming pool in the yard the ground has softened enough to allow it to drain.

This morning it almost dried on the surface. Maybe I will be able to make it a couple of feet wider this week end.

Our little garden is only 5″ x 18″ right now but that bigger than when we started. Maybe I can dig it so that it’s 6″ wide and if my son helps maybe even wider.

We still have lots of time to get our garden ready but if I have learned anything over the years I have learned that time flies and then it’s gone. So I like to get things prepared well in advance if at all possible.

Related articles

• Starting A Vegetable Garden Can Really Save Some Money (backyardgardeningtips.com)

Tweet This Post

Image via Wikipedia

Are you looking to plant your very own vegetable garden but you’re not sure how to get started? Planting a healthy vegetable garden provides so many benefits including an abundance of healthy organic food and saving thousands on your grocery bills. I don’t know about you but I still remember the days when a tomato from the supermarket tasted like a tomato, not anymore unfortunately. Let’s look at some vegetable gardening for beginners tips to help get you started today.

Vegetable Gardening For Beginners – Tips

Preparation is the key to growing a beautiful and healthy vegetable garden. Planning is critical for setting up a vegetable garden that you can harvest every daily. Vegetable gardening for beginners does not have to be difficult with the correct planning.

First you must decide on your plot, the area for your garden. The ideal spot is somewhere that receives plenty of morning sun and protection from the elements such as wind. Although you maybe limited with the space you have available don’t be discouraged as you will be shocked at how much you can grow by maximizing the space you have. Ensure there is sufficient drainage for water run off.

Importance Of Soil Quality

One of the most common vegetable gardening for beginners tips you will hear is never underestimate soil quality. Soil is the life line of a garden do not underestimate it’s importance. You must ensure that your soil preparations include checking the soil and preparing it by testing its pH levels. The ideal pH level for your soil is 6.5, if you do not have a test kit you can go to your local garden outlet and let them test it for you.

Don’t stress if your levels are out of whack for the moment, you can purchase garden lime that will improve the pH levels of your soil. In a nutshell your pH levels will determine how much nutrients your vegetables will be able to receive.

Preparing Your Plot

Dig your plot and turn your soil over, ensure you dig into a depth of about 12″ (30cm) and remove any weeds you find by hand. Avoid using weed killers and they can effect your soil structure and levels. Once your pH levels are in healthy range, wait 4-5 weeks before you begin planting.

The vegetables that you grow will dependent on where you live. Speak to your gardening outlet that will buy seedlings from for the most suitable vegetables.

Ask about purchasing some organic fertilizer which will be the life blood of your garden. Organic fertilizers such as animal manure, blood and bones as well as compost are terrific choices for providing essential nutrients and moisture.

Growing Vegetables Year Round

The key to planting a successful garden is to have vegetables that you can harvest year round. By doing this you can rotate different vegetables to help ensure the health of your gardening by limiting pests and diseases. One of the most common vegetable gardening for beginners mistakes is insufficient planning and set up process.

If you set up your garden correctly you will have vegetables that you can harvest every single day. With the right planning your garden should require very maintenance and upkeep as it continues to provide fresh, organic food for you and your family for years to come.

Learn http://www.organicvegetablegardens.info vegetable gardening for beginners tips that will help you produce fresh, organic vegetables year round and save up to $5,000 a year on food.

Learn how to set up a vegetable garden that requires only 8 hours work per year! Discover how to plant a vegetable garden you can harvest ever day regardless of where you live at http://www.organicvegetablegardens.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_T._Gregory

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3984689

Related articles

• How Big Should My Vegetable Garden Be? (athomeorganicfarms.wordpress.com)
• Backyard Gardening for the Beginner to Expert (backyardgardeningtips.com)

Tweet This Post

Image by LollyKnit via Flickr

We first started using containers for vegetable gardening before we had space for a vegetable garden. However, even when we did finally have space we continued vegetable gardening in containers for some veggies like tomatoes and peppers.

I started my first container garden while living in an apartment. Made great use of the balcony. Later, once I was married we rented homes but were never allowed to dig up a garden so containers were used instead.

Today we use containers so we can put them around our property and that way we are able to grow even more, saving us more money on the grocery bills.

Things You Should Know About Container Gardening

We learned a few things that will help you have better results with less trial and error. We did the trial and error for you so you don’t need to.

1. Use Containers That Will Be Large Enough

It’s easy to buy containers or pots for your vegetables that seem like they will be big enough. We found that we made the wrong choices a number of times. Since then we have learned to always buy the next size larger as that always seems to be the case.

I am not talking about containers to start your veggies in. For that you can use regular pots and then just transplant them into the larger containers once they are big enough.

After the first couple of years we had all the containers we would ever need.

2. Containers Need To Drain Well

Yes I have drowned a few innocent little vegetable plants because the containers I used didn’t drain well enough.

I will admit that most of the time it was me causing the drainage problems due to not putting enough stones in the bottom and eventually the holes in the bottom plugged.

3. Add Perilite To Your Potting Soil

Perlite, a siliceous rock is a special volcanic mineral which swells to a dozen times it’s original volume when it is heated to a temperature of approximately 871C, about 1600 F. During the heating process, the mineral particles pop like popcorn and form a granular, whithe snow-like material that is so light in weight it weighs only about 80-128 kg/cubic meter or 5 to 8 pounds per cubic foot.

Now This Is Really Cool

Perlite particles are made up of these tiny pockets of air which make for a lot of pitted surface area that holds water extremely well making it available to your plant’s root system without the need to be continually watering.

4. Plants Need Water

An in-ground vegetable garden can be protected from the heat of the sun and even from evaporation caused by the wind blowing over the ground. One can use different mulches to help moisture from evaporating from teh ground which will save water.

Containers don’t work the same way as they have all their soil above ground in full contact with the wind and sun. They can heat up really fast, cooking the roots and killing the plant. The water can evaporate much faster than most people think.

So between boiling your plant roots and drying them out completely one needs to come up with a solution.

Perilite comes in very handy in containers. Also using a drip irrigation system works well too.

We found that keep our containers on the lawn helped as the breeze blowing across the lawn is considerably cooler than on dirt or perhaps your driveway.

We baked a few veggies on our driveway before we realized the problem.

5. Vegetable Container Gardens Can Be Relocated

This wasn’t the case with my balcony vegetable garden but for our veggie container garden in the places we rented we moved our containers around to take full advantage of the sun. Vegetables love sunlight but our properties had mostly shade. So moving them around made all the difference the amount of produce we had.

Vegetable gardening in containers is fun and relatively easy. We only had to learn the few steps I have shown here. Even at the beginning when we messed up we still had vegetables and felt like we were doing something good and healthy for our family.

Related articles

• Vegetable Gardening in Containers (wayetlighting.wordpress.com)
• Information For Container Gardening (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• 3 Step by Step Gardening Tips – Container Gardening Tomatoes (stepbysteptips.com)

Tweet This Post

We have learned that as you do more gardening and learn more about your hobby you’re going to also learn about all sorts of gardening tools. Gardening tools that, supposedly, will save you hours of time and make your garden even more enjoyable as well as beautiful.

You’re never under any obligation to buy all the tools that you hear about or see online. Start simply with a few tools you need like we did. As time goes on you can buy the fancier equipment if you think you really need it.

Believe it or not you can do pretty much everything you need to do in your garden using only your strength. You can use your hands to do things like moving earth and your plants from location to location. The problem with doing all of your work the hard way is that it strains your body. Using the proper tools can help you save time and keep your body healthy and uninjured. Try using one of these gardening tools to help yourself out a little.

You should always have a garden rake in your tool arsenal. A garden rake is different than the rake you will use to gather leaves and larger objects around your front yard in the fall. A garden rake is sturdier and has shorter and stronger teeth that are made from steel. If you have projects of varying sizes you want an adjustable width garden rake and not a fixed width garden rake. You will save a lot of money if you opt for the rake with the adjustable width because it can be used in just about any gardening project while a fixed width rake cannot. Garden rakes are used to smooth and level out the dirt in your gardens.

Pitchforks are wonderfully useful gardening tools, even for gardeners who have no plans for large gardens. Pitchforks will do the same things that trowels and spades do but they do it bigger. Pitchforks are great earth turners, compost movers and soil aerators. If you have your own compost pile you will need to have a pitchfork because the pitchfork will help you turn your compost over as it decomposes. To keep the compost from losing its value and forming a gross, crusty shell use the pitchfork to turn it often.

Hand trowels are very helpful. Many beginning gardeners use their hands for moving dirt around. The more time you put into your garden, however, the more useful you will find your hand trowel. It can also help protect your hands. Most gardeners use their trowels to speed up the weeding they have to do as well as to shift the earth that surrounds their plants without disturbing the plants themselves. There are lots of different sizes of hand trowels and they can be used with pretty much any plant.

Gardening is thought to be a very relaxing activity. There is something inherently calming about the act of “playing in the dirt” that many people enjoy after a long or stressful day. Often gardeners start this hobby using only their hands. After some time has passed the use of gardening tools doesn’t feel so complicated. After some time you will be surprised to find that using gardening tools is so ingrained that you don’t even need to think about it anymore. The more time you put into your garden the easier it will be to use gardening tools. You might even learn that gardening is really fun!

Now, this website can give you more tips and information on the various gardening issues: Gardening Tips Online

Related articles

• A Few Rather Useful Home Gardening Tools (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Off To The Garden Supply Store For Tools And Shovels (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Garden Power Tools (backyardgardeningtips.com)

Tweet This Post

Beginner vegetable gardening can seem like a daunting task.

Where do you start?

First you need to decide where to plant a vegetable garden. If you have property to grow on, no problem and even if all you have is a deck or a patio, this is not really a problem either.

By far one of the best methods for beginner vegetable gardening is raised bed gardening. Raised beds are above ground level and therefore can be easily adapted to the deck or patio to grow some wonderful vegetable crops.

Choose an area that gets a good amount of sun, but even if you don’t get a lot of sun, don’t worry, as you can still be successful. Mark out where you are going to put your vegetable beds. A square area works better than a long rectangular one. You can make your beds but using 2″ by 12″ boards of the desired length to meet with your garden bed size. Screw them together and you have your bed. Do not use treated wood to make a vegetable garden as the chemicals used to treat the wood will leach into your food.

If you haven’t already, you will need to begin to compost. Composting will produce nutrient rich soil which is essential for your plants. You can get plans online to build a composter bin, purchase a couple of readymade ones and there is even a compact composter you can buy to put under your kitchen sink in an apartment.

Until you produce your own composted soil, your beginner vegetable garden will need to use a good composted soil mix. Steer manure based soils are great as they are not too alkaline and are safe. Try to look for and use organic mixes. Also, before you put your soil in, it is a good idea to cover the bottom of the boxes with straw, hay or even better, alfalfa. This will give your soil good drainage as well as give it a proper base with which to start.

Once you begin to fill your beds, make sure you leave a path where you can get to the vegetables if you walk down the middle of the garden. Try to make the plants no further than 3 feet away from where you can safely walk so you will be able to reach them.

Now you are ready to take an exciting step in beginner vegetable gardening, planting. A good choice is starting with seedlings. Seedlings have a head start in life and will quickly spread their roots and take hold. Plant fairly close together but not so close they will be choking each other out. Also, plant the various vegetables right next to each other. The less room between the plants, the less space for weeds to take hold and grow. This can greatly reduce your work and makes beginner vegetable gardening more enjoyable.

Water your garden well throughout the season and watch as the miracle of growth happens before your eyes.

Nothing is more exciting as when you feel the satisfaction and reward of harvesting food you grew yourself.

If done properly, you can save over $5000 per year on your food bill by growing your own garden. Having a superior guide can help you bypass some of the failures and mistakes you are bound to make along the way if you don’t use one. Our review about the Food4Wealth System introduces you to one such guide. Find out all the secrets used to be fabulously successful as a beginner or even as an experienced gardener.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_E_Davis

Related articles

• The 5 Finest Organic Vegetable Garden Fertilizer Options (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Planning Your First Vegetable Garden (backyardgardeningtips.com)

Tweet This Post

Image via Wikipedia

Potatoes are one of the widely grown vegetables in the whole world. Potatoes do not start as seeds. They are planted from tubers. It is also sensitive to many diseases. It is important to know the right ways how to grow potatoes. You can buy tubers of potatoes from centres for gardening. You should buy tubers that are certified by the government. These tubers are also called seed potatoes.

1. The first step on how to grow potatoes is putting a layer of potatoes in a spot that gets hit by sunlight. It should be warmed for at least seventy degrees Fahrenheit.
2. The second step on how to grow potatoes is waiting for the potatoes’ surface to become green. Then let at least a sprout of a half inch in length grow. The sprouts are important because it lets the plant grow in just a couple of weeks. You should remember that the tubers that have the B size don’t need any cutting. The bigger seed potatoes must be cut however.
3. The third step on how to grow potatoes is storing them for a week before you plant them. Let them dry out first so calluses will not form. It should be stored in a room with seventy degrees Fahrenheit temperature. It should also be well ventilated. You should seal it with a box containing holes. Never store them in a container without air.
4. The fourth step on how to grow potatoes is preparing the seed potatoes for planting. Potatoes can only be planted from the first few days of March until the second week of June. You should plant them in the morning when the temperature is fifty degrees Fahrenheit. You should plant them in the ground with a depth of at least four inches.
   Never plant before March because it may cause rotting to the seeds.
5. The fifth step on how to grow potatoes is putting them in rows that are four feet apart from each other. A wide row will allow for better cultivation. Plant the seed potatoes with the cut facing down. The eyes should be the part facing up.
6. The sixth step is mounding so the water will reach the seed potatoes. If you are expecting frost then you should cover them with straw.

The two essential things you have to do to care for your potato plants are watering and cultivating them. Cultivation includes loosening up the soil, removing the weeds and hilling.
Cultivation helps in breaking the ground which is healthy for the plants. Helping aerate the ground is healthy for the potatoes. It also prevents sunburn for the tubers.

Please click these links if you want to know more about how to grow potatoes or how to grow potatoes in general.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kenny_Leones

Tweet This Post

My spouse and myself came from different backgrounds still the two of us had the desire to have a small garden of our own at some point. Jen grew up in Campbellton, N.B. where they had a compact vegetable garden. I grew up on a farm in Ontario and had a vegetable garden larger than their yard.

Once we got hitched we rented a house, outside Moncton. It came with a lovely view of the river however the owners wouldn’t permit us to touch the property. The 2nd location was an apartment with only one small window which saw any light. Following that was a duplex but we only had a two ft. rectangle where Jennifer placed Petunias.

Without any place to cultivate a home garden we turned to using pots and planted our very first container herb garden in our kitchen. Eventually I transferred the plants outside still in pots for our very first outdoors container garden. I positioned the pots at the side of the house on the driveway was.

Small Home gardens appear to be showing up everywhere right now. I think most have been started in an endeavour to save on expenses.

I began container gardening a long time ago because it has been a desire I’ve had since I was a little guy growing up on a farm in central Ontario.

1. A Windowsill Makes A Great Location For Your Container Garden

An awesome hint initially: Your only requirement is natural light, vegetables find it difficult developing when lacking sunlight.

When I was in my 20’s I stayed and worked in Mississauga, ON. My place was on the 11th floor and appeared to be a rain forest with vines and plant life in every nook, but I didn’t get started growing veggies until eventually a handful of buddies taught me tips on how to cook. That’s when I started our first herb container garden along the windowsill looking over our deck.

Later on We started growing tomato plants and even potatoes in containers, which i moved to the balcony when the weather conditions became warm enough.

Really, I planted potatoes on my balcony where they developed plenty of potatoes. They didn’t grow very large comparable to when I was a kid on the farm even so they without a doubt were delightful when boiled and eaten together with butter.

All that’s needed for the container garden is a container that has excellent drainage, soil, sunshine, water and time to grow.

I would recommend you start with a herb garden since they grow up pretty quickly and can keep on thriving while you cut-off herbs for use in cooking.

The windowsill seemed to be sort of narrow and crowded so my brother made a plant stand that allowed us to have just about three times the number of containers I had on the windowsill.

After we were married we moved into a duplex however we were not permitted to dig in the lawn. As a result we really basically had the driveway to grow the container garden.

2. Make Plans For An Natural Container Garden

Take action for yourself, your loved ones, your friends and for the planet, raised without chemicals only. It is really too convenient to use chemicals on your home gardens and then we pay for it, whether we’re informed of it or not. I can tell you that I’ve suffered my whole life having migraines caused by reactions to chemical compounds in and around me.

Note: Due to the fact we started getting specialized soap to clean veggies we buy I haven’t experienced a single migraine, well except the few times I consumed produce I assumed had been cleaned.

3. Reduce Dried Up Plants Simply By Having Pots Large Enough To Retain Water

I already mentioned my veggie garden pots not holding enough water for the day but thanks to a buddy that spotted our droopy potato plants we already have much better results growing veggies in pots.

Some of my buddies gave 3 good suggestions about using containers for gardening.

Helen’s Container Gardening Tip – The first thing he told me my pots weren’t big enough. Therefore to avoid becoming root bound as well as to overcome insufficient water use containers which are big enough to handle the task.

Betty’s Container Gardening Tip – Put a resorvoir of some sort placed under the planting containers to hold extra water when you’re out.

Down the road we found out ways to drip feed the container garden so they can last a few days without me watering them so often.

Roland’s Container Gardening Tip – Another neighbour said that using the drive would dry them out too fast if we used artificial grass underneath them they probably would not heat up through the day.

That’s another suggestion that did the trick. I touched the turf when you could potentially fry an egg on the drive yet it was still cool to touch.

4. Consider Elevating Your Containers Off Of The Ground

Even raising your containers an inch off the ground permits air flow this way they are not as likely to cook the roots.

5. A Cool Container Garden Design

I will admit I haven’t played with any kind of creative design with our containers. However I have come across some that are pretty nice to see.

6. Start with Cultivating A Herb Container Garden

I started growing herbs to add to meals a number of years back. It was actually quite simple so we have herbs all winter long. We keep a herb container garden during the summer so we can dry extra herbs for winter as well. We enjoy cooking with both fresh or dried herbs.

I’ve seen people put containers into tree stumps after they have cut them down. Some look really good while others just look like a stump with a potted plant sitting on top of it.

Pick up a container gardening book and you will find so many new things that will help you have the best container garden you can have.

Related articles

• Two Tips For Beginner Gardeners (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Tips For Watering Problems When Container Vegetable Gardening (hbb2obm.com)

Tweet This Post

Summer time calls for lighter fare at lunch (and dinner for that matter). It’s often too hot during the middle of the day to do much cooking and to be honest none of us feel like a heavy meal that will just put us to sleep. Instead we snack on fruits and vegetables and have salads and fresh sandwiches with lots of veggies. Not only does it help us (and our home) stay cooler, it’s also a much healthier way to eat.

The perfect ingredient for this lighter summer fare is cucumbers. They are cool, have a mild flavour and on top of it they contain quite a bit of water making them a low calorie treat. Let me show you a few different ways that I incorporate cucumbers into our summer meals.

Cucumber Salads

You are probably familiar with cucumbers in salad. Any good mixed salad usually includes a few slices of this vegetable. But don’t just stop there. Grab a cucumber and a couple of tomatoes. Wash them and cut them into bite sized chunks. Top it with your favourite vinaigrette or light Italian dressing and you have a simple but oh so delicious salad that’s also good for you. Throw in a few olives and some cubed feta cheese, add a slice of whole wheat bread and you have a complete healthy meal.

I also really enjoy a nice bowl of ice cold cucumber vinegar salad during the summer months. I make it first thing in the morning so it has plenty of time to chill before lunch or dinner. It goes really with some simple meat or fish dishes, or even your favourite pasts.

Of course that’s not the only good cucumber salad recipe. If you prefer something a little more traditional, give this sour cream cucumber salad a try. It’s an old family recipe brought over from Germany. It’s very easy and fast to make and goes with just about any main dish.

Sandwiches

For something a little more filling, make sandwiches for lunch. You can create a classic cucumber sandwich by spreading some softened cream cheese on white bread. Add think slices of cucumber. Season with a bit of salt and top with another slice of white bread. Cut of the crust and then cut in four for fancy cucumber tea sandwiches.

While those are fun, you can also make more substantial sandwiches. One of my personal favourite is chiabata bread spread with hummus and then topped with veggies including roasted red peppers, sliced tomatoes and plenty of sliced cucumbers. Filling, healthy and yummy.

Add sliced cucumbers to any of your favourite sandwiches (except maybe PB&J) to make them more filling and healthier.

Snacks and Dips

Cucumbers also make for a nice light snack during the summer. Grab a container of hummus (or make your own by grinding chickpeas with a bit of olive oil and some seasonings), slice up a cucumber and snack away.  Kids also like dipping chunks, slices or long strips of cucumber into ranch dressing.

Last but not least I would like to share my recipe for greek cucumber sauce with you. Serve it with raw or roasted vegetables or your favorite grilled meat or fish. I also like to serve it with some pita chips as an appetizer.

Tweet This Post

Image via Wikipedia

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Crisologo_Ramasasa

Related articles

• Planning Your First Vegetable Garden (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Summer’s Gone And It’s Time To Plan Next Year’s Vegetable Garden (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Getting The Best Vegetable Garden Tips (hbb2obm.com)
• Vegetable Garden Design – The Basics (hbb2obm.com)

Tweet This Post

Ecological gardening appeals to some individuals as it sounds significant. It makes gardening sound exotic, like it’s on some higher level. organic gardening is accomplished by avoiding the use of laboratory-made fertilizers, growth substances, antibiotics, or pesticides.

This means using nature’s tools to grow your plants, fruits, and vegetables. It’s a technique of being more kind to the earth. Using natural insecticides is part of that process and has become increasingly popular. If done properly, it costs less.

You can use nature to your advantage if you understand and take the time to make it work for you. If you learn to grown or produce your own insecticides, you’re also aiding the eco-system by not putting man-made lethal concoctions into the dirt and air. You can help to reduce the negative result on the ozone layer by playing your part to help nature.

Botanical is of plants. Plants are natural. So, botanical insecticides are naturally created from plants and plant parts. One such insecticide is sabadilla. It’s gotten from the seeds of a plant like a lily and utilized in dust or spray form before crop. It poisons insects when it touches them or gets inside their bodies.

Natural insecticides must still be used with caution. They are not without complications or issues. You must learn how to use them properly so that they’re a benefit and not a hindrance. Washing your fruit and vegetables is still endorsed before eating them or using them in cooking if you use natural insecticides

A misconception about insecticides of any kind can be that if you use a stronger concentration and/or more of it, the benefits will come quicker and will last longer. But this is an unhealthy attitude in many cases. If a technique or product isn’t working, make a change only by being aware of the effects. What you want might be a different product or an additional helper to go with it.

Some of the natural insecticides that are well-known are pyrethrum, nicotine, sabadilla, rotenone, and soap. Cornmeal and some hot peppers can also be effective against insect pests.

It’s still best to try and catch any gardening or crop pests in the beginning stages than to load up on insecticide of any kind. The best control can be awareness and early removal.

Related articles

• A Few Important Considerations Relating To Natural Insecticide (stepbysteptips.com)
• Do You Know About Natural Insecticide (hbb2obm.com)
• The Principles of organic gardening (backyardgardeningtips.com)

Tweet This Post