Like all plants, vegetables need a lot of care if they are going to grow and reach their full potential. Vegetables will not produce flowers and will certainly not produce a meaningful harvest especially when they are attacked by pests and infected by diseases. With vegetables, selecting the right compost, seed and position play a…
At the end of every season, it is essential to clean your garden so that plants and animals can continue to thrive in the next season. Removing debris and dead plants needs to be combined with weeding and general maintenance. It is not just for aesthetic value that gardens must be kept clean: debris encourages…
October can be such an uncertain month for gardeners. Though winter can come to stay at any moment we often can get an Indian summer throughout the entire month. If heavy snowfall and cold weather seem likely, rush to complete outdoor work – with emphasis on harvesting and winter protection. After mounding tender roses, cut…
The container gardening calendar for August resembles the July calendar. Be vigilant about your watering schedule as this is the month of greatest heat in the summer. Also continue to deadhead your plants, particularly the annuals to encourage continuous bloom. A schedule of feeding your plants liquid fertilizer every two weeks will keep your plants…
Load the bases with garden grown popcorn, peanuts, and sunflower seeds and bat a grand slam homerun of healthy ballpark snacks for the family dugout. Whether you are off to Little League, heading to a Major League game, or watching the game at home, munch on healthy snacks grown in the family ballpark snacking garden. Instead…
Why onions ‘make you cry’ and how to grow them large, mild, and full of flavor. It’s easy to assume that strong onions is down to the variety grown, but it’s actually how they are grown. What makes the tear ducts spring into action is the amount of sulphur in the onion skins, released usually when they…
Gardeners can use the same compost, organic fertilizers, and natural pest control methods they use in the landscape to grow healthy indoor houseplants. Houseplants clean the air, beautify the home, and give idle organic gardeners something to care for in the winter months. However, caring for indoor plants introduces a new set of challenges for…
Below are 21+ instructions and tips on how to grow veggies and fruits in containers. 1. Growing Banana Trees in Pots Source 2. Growing Cucumbers in Containers Source: wikihow, gardeningchannel 3. How to grow kiwi plant in pots Source 4. Growing carrots in pots Source 5. Growing Cauliflower in pots Source 6. Growing Eggplant in…
Who says you need a big garden to grow your own strawberries? Nah, that’s old news! You can absolutely grow these sweet little red gems even in the tiniest of spaces. Whether you’ve got a small patch of dirt, a balcony, or just a sunny windowsill, strawberries don’t ask for much. They’re like the chill…
In winter, the bare bones of your garden layouts are exposed. But is your vegetable garden layout still pleasing to you? Do you glance out the window longingly? Or do you shy away from the window, as if the whole yard were an endless to-do list? Better understanding the design of the center and the…
Gardeners with small spaces or in urban areas use portable and mini greenhouses to participate and to extend their growing season. Urban gardeners and gardeners with smaller spaces can utilize portable cold frames and greenhouse structures for their container gardens. Even gardeners with lots of space benefit from the versatility of portable grow racks and…
Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the major ingredients in garden fertilizers. Many elements including nutrients are present in soil and needed for plant growth. What does “N P K” have to do with gardening? Healthy, robust lawns, gardens and houseplants depend on a number of factors including soil characteristics, location in the U.S., nutrients present…
Keep an organic vegetable garden using herbs as companion plants. They attract beneficial insects that repel pests from hybridized bedding plants, and supply the kitchen. Herbs do their work effectively in containers, traditional vegetable patches, and raised bed gardens. It’s important to maintain a variety, because different herbs offend different pests, and attract specific beneficial insects….
Gardeners can make high-grade natural compost with ordinary kitchen waste, resulting in a rich soil amendment and lightening the load at landfill sites. Keeping a compost heap not only frees the landfill sites of otherwise useful material, but the compost itself enriches the soil in the garden. It loosens it and offers the plants all…
Apply organic gardening methods in the greenhouse to control pests, and enjoy fresh flowers, herbs, and vegetables all year. If the atmosphere in a well-managed greenhouse provides the perfect environment for plants, many pests and diseases find it just as cozy. Organic gardeners must stay vigilant to keep greenhouse problems under control. Select and Site…
Squirrels are tenacious rodent pests, and it’s reasonable for gardeners to expect control rather than eradication from their efforts. It’s one thing to battle with a squirrel who insists on hogging the garden birdfeeder. It’s another matter when squirrels, not the gardener, enjoy summer’s first tomato from the vegetable patch. Squirrel Facts Like them or…
Greenhouses are great, but if your budget doesn’t permit that just yet, try a hoop house. You can start your spring garden and begin your harvest early. Gardens are increasingly popular as families try to stretch budgets. Extending the growing season, even if just by a couple of weeks, can mean more delicious salads and…
A welcome delicacy from the spring garden, hardy perennial asparagus grows easily from seed. How To Grow Asparagus Native to the Mediterranean and eaten by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, succulent asparagus spears are ready for harvest when most other plants in the vegetable garden are just getting started. Saving Seeds From Your Own Plants…
If you’ve ever admired a pumpkin that looked like Cinderella’s coach or a giant tomato that resembled a softball, learn how you can grow giant produce without chemicals. Giant vegetables are not the delicacies of the garden. Mammoth zucchinis are pithy, colossal tomatoes are watery, and 1200 pound pumpkins are hardly fit for carving a…
Organic gardeners who think celery is difficult to grow in the natural vegetable garden can grow healthy plants by following a few rules. When choosing seeds and plants for the organic vegetable garden, many gardeners overlook the possibility of growing celery. After all, celery is cheap at the grocery store, and the flavor difference between…
You can’t eat green manures, but if you know which crops to grow, where, when and how to cultivate them you will improve your soil for the benefit of future edible crops. Crops of green manures can be cultivated throughout the growing season from early spring onwards on any piece of empty ground, but most…
