Archive for the ‘vegetable gardening’ Category

Breathe. Relax. Be nice.

When I walk I notice:

* Trees are cool. Literally. The temperature drops noticeably between treeless areas downtown, even areas shaded by buildings, and the leafy East side. That’s like nearly free air conditioning.

* Plants like water. Believe it or not, a lot of people neglect to water, and plants die. Plants are particularly vulnerable early in the season. Sometimes the weather report promises rain, and doesn’t deliver, so check on them, Stick your fingers down into the soil if you need to.

* Overwatering is bad though. A mature tree is fine with about an inch of rain or watering a week. Even a vegetable garden in peak season requires only about 2 inches a week. A slightly dry plant will bounce back, but a waterlogged one will probably die. Don’t water the sidewalk, deck or other hardscaping, or create runoff.

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Vegetable gardening can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life. Eating your own fresh vegetables picked straight off the plant or fresh from the ground with the real taste still intact beats store brought produce every time.

I grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and gardening on the slopes of One Tree Hill, an extinct volcano, with perfect dark volcanic soil, it was merely a matter of chucking some seeds onto the ground, raking it over with soil and coming back and harvesting the bounty. With very regular rainfall there was little need to irrigate, abit of pest control to keep down the snails and abit of weeding was about it.

What a shock to come to the Gold Coast, Queensland and attempt to create a vegetable garden here. The soil is poor and solid clay with a rock not far below with little or no top soil.

Clay is one of the most difficult mediums to grow plants in. The particular mix is so fine that oxygen and water have a hard time getting to the roots of any plant. Hard as concrete in the dry and waterlogged in the rainy season. Without special preparation you will be lucky to even get weeds to grow.

As you can see in the picture above success can be achieved but work is required.

To prepare the garden a maddock was used to break up the clay into smaller pieces. It is actually better to do this when the clay is dry, rather than waterlogged. Its just heavier when wet and sticks to the maddock. This is time consuming back breaking work. But take a small patch at a time and come back after a rest. Take several days to complete the vegetable patch, gardening is to help build the muscles, not destroy them. Whilst doing this task many times rock was hit, however most rock on the Gold Coast shatters when hit and breaks into smaller pieces. While many of these were removed pieces smaller than half the size of your fist were left in on the advice of garden manuals. Why? It is said that small rocks help drainage and add minerals to the soil over time. So long as the don’t make up more than 5%-10% of the soil, leave them in. Eventually a base of the patch was layed out.

To further soften and break up the clay store brought clay breakers were added. Easily available at your gardening or hardware store they are added to water and sprayed on the garden though they work best over a period of time.

Next Gypsum was added. This comes in large bags and is easy to spread out by hand, mix in with the clay and it too will further help ‘relax’ the clay.

Some would say, why not just buy a bunch of topsoil and dump it down. Well for a couple of reasons, firstly I have yet to find a good provider of topsoil in Queensland. Most just provide sand with a minimum of organic material mixed in – just enough to darken the sand. The sand is actually poor draining because it is much too fine. Some argue that you can help clay soil by adding sand. But unless the sand is a fine to small gravel I believe you are wasting your time. Sand that is too fine, acts just like a clay soil, it repells short spells of rain or irrigation or becomes waterlogged during a tropical downpoor or solid irrigation. The second reaason why I don’t just buy the topsoil is because if the topsoil is not mixed in and bound to the subsoil it will just wash away.

To really bring the clay soil up to grade you need to add bio matter. Quality top soil is made of plant and animal materials decomposed or in the state of decomposing. Compost made of of shredded leaves, wood, grass clippings and vegetable/food rubbish is good. But the best material I had available for this garden was straw and chicken waste. With a pen of twenty chickens plenty of nitrogen rich matter was produced. Every three months the coup was cleaned out, the straw smelling strongly of ammonia. However once put on the garden the smell quickly went and the straw and its ‘added’ contents quickly broke down into the soil. I can reccommend nothing better to add to the soil. If you must add something else to quickly create a topsoil and can’t wait for compost or have no chickens then I recommend products such as worm castings or 6 in one products (includes blood and bone, fish compost, etc), they come in 20kg plus bags and range in price between $5 and $15. Several of these, or if your budget handles it 10-20 of these really help to condition the soil.

Now the garden is ready for sowing. In the garden pictured above sweet corn, snow peas, peas, beans, garlic, tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes, beatroot, lettuce, cabbage and much more were grown in such abundance it meet our needs. A small vege patch with good soil, well planned can add to massively to your diet.

Unfortunately this garden no longer exists as we moved on from my parents lifestyle block. But as testament to the quality of the soil and the work put into it this small area needed mowing twice as much as the rest of the lawn with quality, healthy, green grass growing quicker with more water in the soil than the rest of the lawn. Showing the truth in Queensland and hard clay soils that if the effort is put in the results will live on for years and decades. Poor soil in Australia is just an excuse for laziness. Yes with have drought conditions at times. But if we prepare the soil well we need less water. If we work with our environment, keeping back water in the times of plenty and molding the environment correctly wonderful results can be achieved.

Poor soil should not hold you back, it merely presents a challenge.

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Successful vegetable gardening involves far more than just popping a few seeds into the ground and waiting for a tomato to appear. I’ll briefly cover the basics of vegetable garden design, but you might also want to get some gardening books.

Planning your garden is one of the most important parts of vegetable gardening, and it’s quite simple. Whether it’s a vegetable garden, a flowerbed, indoor houseplants, or some combination, successful gardening requires planning, patience, and a little detective work. Whatever you do, do not choose garden soil, no matter how rich it might be, for indoor vegetable gardening! No matter what gardening zone your garden is located in there are catalogues with myriad variety of vegetables. Use these vegetable gardening tips to prepare your garden and keep your home full of fresh vegetables. Preparing your garden soil for planting is the most physically demanding part of vegetable gardening and may also be the most important part.

The patios and balconies of apartment buildings and condominiums often have good exposure for container vegetable gardening. Container gardening makes it possible to position the vegetables in areas where they can receive the best possible growing conditions. Container gardening can provide you with fresh vegetables as well as recreation and exercise. Although vegetable production will be limited by the number and the size of the containers, this form of gardening can be rewarding. Soilless mixes such as a peat-lite mix are generally too light for container vegetable gardening, since they usually will not support plant roots sufficiently. MEDIA A fairly lightweight potting mix is needed for container vegetable gardening. Soil Conditions The right type of soil for the right type of plant is key to successful vegetable gardening. Clay and sandy soils must be modified for successful vegetable gardening. Proper fertilization is another important key to successful vegetable gardening.

Buy seeds, seed starting kits and gardening supplies for vegetable gardens. If you are new to gardening, starting vegetables from seed may be too huge an undertaking, instead purchase plants. Practice crop rotation in your vegetable gardening by planting tomatoes and other vegetables in a different spot every year. Mulches can be used effectively in all types of gardening situations from vegetable gardens to flower gardens and even around trees and shrubs. I know an eyebrow or two might be raised at the suggestion of indoor vegetable gardening, but it can be done, within limits.

Added to the pleasure of gardening will be satisfaction derived from relishing vegetables freshly picked from your very own plot. Learning is a process, vegetable gardening needs time. As in so many other pursuits, so it is in the art of vegetable gardening: practice does make perfect.

For More articles and resourse’s visit my website at
vegetable Gardening Tips

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Container vegetable gardening is so simple even your kids will love it. Vegetable gardening in versatile garden planters is easy and enjoyable for everyone.

It’s your perfect answer!

In only weeks you could be enjoying the first quality harvests from your container vegetable garden. Stop buying expensive and bland produce at the grocery store (think tomatoes). You can grow your own natural and tasty food.

Your family will be delighted with fresh salad greens everyday. Imagine ripe tomatoes, colorful vegetables, and fragrant herbs, sweet, red strawberries and even a cheerful flower bouquet for your kitchen table is always just out your door.

You’ll be delighted with the quality garden planters, unique flowerpots and windowboxes that are available. Your container vegetable garden can be bountiful and a joy to look at.

So, why is container vegetable gardening the hottest new gardening trend? Let me show you…

* Growing vegetables, plants, herbs, and flowers in containers, offers all the benefits of a “traditional” garden but without all the exhausting outdoor work (weeding and more weeding).

* A big plus is how easy it is have an organic container vegetable garden. Organic gardening is healthy for you, your family, and your plants and is good for the environment.

* Container vegetable gardening is ideal for balconies, terraces, patios, porches, decks and other small spaces.

* It is easy to choose stylish containers for your plants that complement your outdoor furniture, decor and landscape design. Some garden planters even have attached trellises to instantly create your own private courtyard.

* It’s a great choice for everyone. Even if you have a large yard available, you will enjoy the ease of container gardening throughout the seasons.

* The innovative new features of gardening products and accessories like self-watering planters are a great solution for gardeners with busy lifestyles.

* Container vegetable gardening is the perfect choice for the lazy gardener (my hand is up!). It’s less work, so there is a lot more time to spend outdoors in the hammock; with a cold glass of lemonade watching your plants grow.

* Everything is so simple to manage and requires only a few tools to start. Best of all, your garden is only steps away.

The Simple Solution!

Are you ready? OK, put on your gardening gloves and let’s get started. In no time at all you will have a productive vegetable garden grown entirely in your beautiful outdoor garden planters.

It really true — even if you’re a beginner, you can create your own beautiful and abundant vegetable garden that is grown entirely in containers.

Donna Hill is the owner of http://www.ContainerVeggieGarden.com, a site for beginners. Check out our free step-by-step container veggie gardening guide at http://www.containerveggiegarden.com/container-gardening-guide.html and get started on your container veggie garden today!

There is no reason why you can?t grow any vegetable you want in a container and this is the best time of year for dreaming. For example, my container is going to have an entire salad in it , complete with lettuce, basil and tomato.

The first thing I?m going to have to do is find suitable containers. I know I can grow a tomato in a green garbage bag holding six shovels of soil but unless I want to water it twice a day, I need a container that will hold at least twice that. I want a big container for my garden (twenty-four inches across is ideal) and clay will be a little too heavy to move around. Half whiskey barrels are ideal although a bit on the heavy side. I?m going to ensure there are at least three holes in the bottom for good drainage because vegetables really do not like to have wet feet.

If I had a wooden deck, I would put several bits of wood under the pot to keep it off the deck and prevent staining.

I am also going to fill my pots from top to bottom with an artificial soil mix like Pro-Mix.? Remember you do not have to put anything in the bottom of the pot (like old clay pot shards or stones) to ?help? the drainage. These supposed helpful bits only reduce the water movement according to modern soil science research.

The artificial soil will not compact like real garden soil (never, ever use real garden soil in containers as it turns to concrete after a month or so of watering).

When I feed my vegetable gardening container with liquid fish emulsion and compost tea on a weekly basis, it will produce salads all summer long.

Doug Green is an award winning garden author and his newsletter can be found at http://www.beginner-gardening.com and more information on container gardening at http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/container-gardening.html.

Due to their fears of early winter frosts, a lot of gardeners do not think about fall gardening. If you?re one of them maybe a few tips can make you change your mind. You should, because fall gardening produces some first-rate vegetables long after spring planted plants are finished. Autumn garden vegetables are can be sweeter and milder than those grown in summer and present a different taste to the same old veggies.

What are the best plants to grow during the fall, of course, depends on space available, your climate zone, and what you like to eat, just like spring planting. Even heat-loving crops, like tomatoes, sweet potatoes and peppers, will produce until frosts hit, which can be fairly late in the year in southern zones.

Then there are other plants that will give up as early as the end of summer, such as cucumbers, snap-beans and summer squash. Still, they can be harvested up until the first frosts also if planted mid-summer. Hardy vegetables ? potatoes, carrots and other root and tubers will keep growing until the temperature is as low as 20 degrees, but those that aren?t as strong can only grow through light frosts.

When planning for fall gardening, look on seed packages for the words ?early season?, or seeds sporting the least days to maturity. Choosing the vegetables with the shortest growing season helps ensure they can be fully grown and harvested prior to the appearance of frost. You may want to shopping for fall gardening seeds in spring or early summer when the stores are still completely stocked. Seeds stored in a cool and dry location will keep until time to plant.

Speaking of time to plant, you need to know when the first hard frost will usually hit your area in order to know exactly when the best time to plant for fall gardening is. I recommend looking this up in a Farmer?s Almanac. They are rarely wrong and will give you specific dates. You also need to know just how long your plants are going to take to mature. Then you will be able to match up the plants with the right growing times to your area.

Prepping your soil for fall gardening starts with getting rid of any leftover spring-summer crops and debris. These leftovers may spread bacteria and disease to your new plants if left in your garden. Increase the nutrients in the soil by spreading a couple inches of compost or mulch over the garden area. If summer plants were fertilized heavily it may not need much, however, if any. Turn over the soil?s top layer, moisten it, and let set for 12-24 hours. Congratulations, you?re ready to start planting.

Many gardeners shun fall gardening in order not to deal with frosts, but if robust, hardy vegetables are planted properly they can survive a few frosts and provide some wonderful tasting fresh food.

Carlo Morelli writes for http://www.OnlineTips.org, where you can find tips on installing fiberglass insulation, how to replace an entry door and many other home and garden projects.