Archive for the ‘Vegetable Gardening’ Category
Before taking up the garden vegetables individually, I shall outline the general practice of cultivation, which applies to all.
The purposes of cultivation are three to get rid of weeds, and to stimulate growth by (1) letting air into the soil and freeing unavailable plant food, and (2) by conserving moisture.
As to weeds, the gardener of any experience need not be told the importance of keeping his crops clean. He has learned from bitter and costly experience the price of letting them get anything resembling a start. He knows that one or two days’ growth, after they are well up, followed perhaps by a day or so of rain, may easily double or treble the work of cleaning a patch of onions or carrots, and that where weeds have attained any size they cannot be taken out of sowed crops without doing a great deal of injury. He also realizes, or should, that every day’s growth means just so much available plant food stolen from under the very roots of his legitimate crops.
Instead of letting the weeds get away with any plant food, he should be furnishing more, for clean and frequent cultivation will not only break the soil up mechanically, but let in air, moisture and heat all essential in effecting those chemical changes necessary to convert non- available into available plant food. Long before the science in the case was discovered, the soil cultivators had learned by observation the necessity of keeping the soil nicely loosened about their growing crops. Even the lanky and untutored aborigine saw to it that his squaw not only put a bad fish under the hill of maize but plied her shell hoe over it. Plants need to breathe. Their roots need air. You might as well expect to find the rosy glow of happiness on the wan cheeks of a cotton-mill child slave as to expect to see the luxuriant dark green of healthy plant life in a suffocated garden.
Important as the question of air is, that of water ranks beside it. You may not see at first what the matter of frequent cultivation has to do with water. But let us stop a moment and look into it. Take a strip of blotting paper, dip one end in water, and watch the moisture run up hill, soak up through the blotter. The scientists have labeled that “capillary attraction” the water crawls up little invisible tubes formed by the texture of the blotter. Now take a similar piece, cut it across, hold the two cut edges firmly together, and try it again. The moisture refuses to cross the line: the connection has been severed.
In the same way the water stored in the soil after a rain begins at once to escape again into the atmosphere. That on the surface evaporates first, and that which has soaked in begins to soak in through the soil to the surface. It is leaving your garden, through the millions of soil tubes, just as surely as if you had a two-inch pipe and a gasoline engine, pumping it into the gutter night and day! Save your garden by stopping the waste. It is the easiest thing in the world to do cut the pipe in two. By frequent cultivation of the surface soil not more than one or two inches deep for most small vegetables the soil tubes are kept broken, and a mulch of dust is maintained. Try to get over every part of your garden, especially where it is not shaded, once in every ten days or two weeks. Does that seem like too much work? You can push your wheel hoe through, and thus keep the dust mulch as a constant protection, as fast as you can walk. If you wait for the weeds, you will nearly have to crawl through, doing more or less harm by disturbing your growing plants, losing all the plant food (and they will take the cream) which they have consumed, and actually putting in more hours of infinitely more disagreeable work. If the beginner at gardening has not been convinced by the facts given, there is only one thing left to convince him experience.
Having given so much space to the reason for constant care in this matter, the question of methods naturally follows. Get a wheel hoe. The simplest sorts will not only save you an infinite amount of time and work, but do the work better, very much better than it can be done by hand. You can grow good vegetables, especially if your garden is a very small one, without one of these labor-savers, but I can assure you that you will never regret the small investment necessary to procure it.
With a wheel hoe, the work of preserving the soil mulch becomes very simple. If one has not a wheel hoe, for small areas very rapid work can be done with the scuffle hoe.
The matter of keeping weeds cleaned out of the rows and between the plants in the rows is not so quickly accomplished. Where hand-work is necessary, let it be done at once. Here are a few practical suggestions that will reduce this work to a minimum, (1) Get at this work while the ground is soft; as soon as the soil begins to dry out after a rain is the best time. Under such conditions the weeds will pull out by the roots, without breaking off. (2) Immediately before weeding, go over the rows with a wheel hoe, cutting shallow, but just as close as possible, leaving a narrow, plainly visible strip which must be hand- weeded. The best tool for this purpose is the double wheel hoe with disc attachment, or hoes for large plants. (3) See to it that not only the weeds are pulled but that every inch of soil surface is broken up. It is fully as important that the weeds just sprouting be destroyed, as that the larger ones be pulled up. One stroke of the weeder or the fingers will destroy a hundred weed seedlings in less time than one weed can be pulled out after it gets a good start. (4) Use one of the small hand-weeders until you become skilled with it. Not only may more work be done but the fingers will be saved unnecessary wear.
The skilful use of the wheel hoe can be acquired through practice only. The first thing to learn is that it is necessary to watch the wheels only: the blades, disc or rakes will take care of themselves.
The operation of “hilling” consists in drawing up the soil about the stems of growing plants, usually at the time of second or third hoeing. It used to be the practice to hill everything that could be hilled “up to the eyebrows,” but it has gradually been discarded for what is termed “level culture”; and you will readily see the reason, from what has been said about the escape of moisture from the surface of the soil; for of course the two upper sides of the hill, which may be represented by an equilateral triangle with one side horizontal, give more exposed surface than the level surface represented by the base. In wet soils or seasons hilling may be advisable, but very seldom otherwise. It has the additional disadvantage of making it difficult to maintain the soil mulch which is so desirable.
Rotation of crops.
——————
There is another thing to be considered in making each vegetable do its best, and that is crop rotation, or the following of any vegetable with a different sort at the next planting.
With some vegetables, such as cabbage, this is almost imperative, and practically all are helped by it. Even onions, which are popularly supposed to be the proving exception to the rule, are healthier, and do as well after some other crop, provided the soil is as finely pulverized and rich as a previous crop of onions would leave it.
Here are the fundamental rules of crop rotation:
(1) Crops of the same vegetable, or vegetables of the same family (such as turnips and cabbage) should not follow each other.
(2) Vegetables that feed near the surface, like corn, should follow deep-rooting crops.
(3) Vines or leaf crops should follow root crops.
(4) Quick-growing crops should follow those occupying the land all season.
These are the principles which should determine the rotations to be followed in individual cases. The proper way to attend to this matter is when making the planting plan. You will then have time to do it properly, and will need to give it no further thought for a year.
With the above suggestions in mind, and put to use , it will not be difficult to give the crops those special attentions which are needed to make them do their very best.
Did you ever wish to have the type of garden which would produce delicious vegetables, fruits, and flowers throughout the whole year? Did you even know that was possible? Well it is – if you do hydroponic gardening! And you can create a hydroponic garden in your own home.
The secret to successful and productive hydroponic vegetable gardening year round is in finding the right well-balanced nutrient solution. The nutrient solution that you use to circulate around the roots of your plants will create for you a happy and healthy vegetable plant or it will kill it. The proper nutrient levels must be found and maintained. Here is a quick checklist of items that should be checked and maintained to create an environment conducive to a healthy thriving plant.
The pH level of the plant determines the type of nutrient solution they need. The plants that thrive on acid need a pH level below 7 while other plants will need a pH level above that.
Also, to maintain optimal absorption of the nutrient solution, it is necessary to make sure proper air circulation is occurring at the roots of the plant. A waterlogged plant will certainly not thrive!
Pre-mixed nutrient solutions can be found from a variety of sources and can even be made by the home gardener. But if you are a beginner at hydroponic gardening you may want to opt for the pre-mixed nutrient solutions.
The basic ingredients for any hydroponic solution contains a proper mix of potassium phosphate, potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate and magnesium sulfate. These must be fully dissolved in the mixture before being circulated through the vegetable plants’ root systems.
Micro-nutrients such as boric acid, manganese chloride, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate and iron sulfate are often used in the nutrient solution as well.
The nutrient solution can be used for a maximum of two weeks when plants are small. Once plants have matured the nutrient solution should be replaced every week.
Many hydroponic plants are grown in a greenhouse. The correct mixture of carbon dioxide in the air is necessary in order for these plants to thrive. This can be done a number of ways that includes: – burning hydrocarbon fuels – dry ice – decomposition of organic matter – compressed bottled carbon dioxide
Maintaining a proper temperature is also very important for their survival. The ideal temperature for your plants is normally between 40 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The ideal temperature for a particular plant growing will vary however.
In addition, if it is too humid it may not be healthy for your plant. A very dry climate is not good for most plants either.
The amount of light your plants receive can cause your plant to thrive or it can doom your plant. Too much light will dry out your plants while too little light will be ineffective. Different plants will respond differently to light and many hydroponic gardeners will have to experiment with different light to attain the ideal environment for the plants’ growth.
Some plants may be affected by air pollution while others are not. If this is an issue, you may want to grow plant species that are not bothered by air pollution,
In summary, plants are affected by the following elements: pH balance, light, air, water, temperature, and pollution. If you take all of these things into consideration in your particular hydroponic vegetable garden your plants will be sure to thrive.
For people that don’t have a lot of land, like apartment dwellers, there is a way that you can still have a garden. The solution is container gardening. Everyone would like to have a little color in their homes and this is the way to achieve it.
Container gardening is more than just adding color and fresh oxygen to your rooms; it is convenient, portable and not very expensive. Use different size containers to add interest, just make sure they are roomy enough for the plants roots to grow. Container gardening is versatile. You can grow small plants in dish like containers or have a huge container for a tree by your entrance. Before you start planting you must come up with a plan. You need to do research on the plants you want to use in your container garden. To be successful you need to know the watering, light, and soil requirements of each plant. You must also consider the amount of room you have for your plants.
Another benefit of container gardening is that you can group the containers together with plants that have diverse needs. Like the moist loving herbs next to a cactus plant. In an outside in-ground garden this would be disastrous.
When starting your container garden, proportion is the key to your success. You wouldn’t want to put a small plant in a large container. Although is could live nicely there it would look sad and forlorn. The container must have plenty of room for the roots, with proper PH soil, very good drainage so the plants won’t get “wet feet”, air circulation and plenty of light. Differentiate between plants that need strong, direct light and those that prefer indirect light. If a plant that needs strong direct light does not get it, the plant will wither and die. On the flip side, if a plant does not like strong direct light and you situate it in that way its foliage will burn.
The backbone of your container garden is the soil that you use for planting. It is never a good idea to bring soil in from the yard. If it is clay it will be to dense in a container and if it is sandy it will drain much too quickly. For your small and medium containers, purchase potting soil from your nursery center. For very large containers you may consider mixing your own soil mix. Talk this over with your nursery center or investigate it on-line and make sure it is a mix each particular plant will thrive with in.
Watering a container garden is a little trickier than your gardens outside. If you tend to be a little neglectful in the watering department many plants can survive this. What plants cannot survive is over-watering. If you keep the plants too wet their roots will rot. If you are a novice at container gardening, invest in an inexpensive device called a water meter. It is a tool that measures moisture in the soil and is very useful for beginners.
Be diligent about checking for pests. Try not to use pesticides that can be harmful to pets and small children. If you find an infected container plant, isolate it immediately and treat it right away. Do not put it back into the grouping until you are sure it is pest free. Here is a very good natural recipe to keep pests at bay:
In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.
Container Gardening is fun and can be as easy or complicated as you choose. Just be sure that you know the needs of your individual plants and then you will have years of enjoyment.
Happy Gardening!
Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.
This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.
Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at Gardening Landscaping Tips
The definition of organic gardening is a garden that does not use pesticides to kill pests. This method can be used in either vegetable or flower gardens. In vegetable gardens organic is the safest for you since you will be consuming what you have grown. But, if you utilize it in flower gardening also, it is safest for the environment.
Raising an organic garden has many sound reasons to encourage gardeners to go this route. As mentioned above all of your vegetables will be pesticide free, which means no poison on the food you are growing. While in flower gardening, many people plant flowers that will attract butterflies or bees which you won’t attract if you use pesticides. You especially want to remain pesticide free if you have small children or pets because chemicals could be harmful for them.
Your organic garden will be anything but simple gardening. Every garden takes effort and research and your organic garden is no exception. As with all gardens you must start with a plan. Research the plants you wish to grow. Find out what their needs are when it comes to light, fertilizer, PH in the soil and drainage. Be diligent in picking a spot that is well suited to your plants. If you are planting an herb garden select a site that is close to your kitchen door for easy harvesting. Find out if there are companion plants and if there are, consider using them.
When planting an organic garden you will need some really good compost. You can make your compost out of soil and organic matter. Organic matter includes leaves, manure, vegetable refuse, coffee grinds and eggshells. You can include peels from fruits and vegetables. (Potato skins, apple skins, orange rinds, etc.) Start your compost early, find a place to put your compost and work it frequently. By working it I mean turn it with a shovel so the organic material will break down. When you are ready to start planting work your compost into the garden beds before you plant.
Your garden location is very important. You need to pick a spot that gets lots of light and drains well. If it is a very windy spot you will have to figure out some way of sheltering. Don’t pick a low spot on your property since that might flood during heavy rains. You really want to put the garden in a place that has easy access for you and for watering with your hose.
Mentioned above were companion plants. Companion plants are plants that repel unwanted pests. If you plant roses, plant some garlic. It is said that garlic will repel rose’s nemesis, aphids. Cucumber beetles will not be a worry if you plant oregano. Marigolds will also repel many pests. For a good natural pesticide follow this recipe:
In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.
If you come up with a good plan you can have flowers and vegetables mixed together. Make sure that you know your zone and the conditions that apply in your area. Flower and vegetable gardens will be very different in Alaska than in Florida.
Your organic garden will take some work, but it will not be in vain when you can sit back and enjoy your beautiful blooms or make some culinary delights from the vegetables and herbs you have grown.
Happy Gardening!
Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.
This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.
Every wonder what the difference is between a flower garden, a vegetable garden, and a botanical garden? We see the word everywhere, on hair care products and creations of that nature, but what does it really mean? A flower garden is quite obviously a garden that one plants a variety of flowers in and a vegetable garden is quite obviously a garden the vegetables are cultivated. A botanical garden is a garden that is more or less planted and documented and cultivated for scientific purposes. That definition seems a little broad, so let’s look a little further.
A garden that is used in a display to educate is a botanical garden. That means whether it contains herbs, vegetables, flowers, or even weeds, if it is on display to teach something about nature, flora, fauna, or cultivation, then it is considered a botanical garden.
A garden that is planted to provide research materials on plants, their growing patterns, their possible uses, or their natural habitat is also considered a botanical garden. Originally, botanical gardens were created for university studies and educating the future botanists of the world. Over time, however botanical gardens were created by companies to learn more about the natural ingredients that were sought in the products they were creating, museums to encourage public awareness and education, individual botanists to discover how to introduce new plants into the market place, either for gardening or for health purposes, and every day gardeners for the purposes of creating new plants, or learning how grow plants that are foreign to the region.
Botanical gardens have been set up to all over the world in an effort to alleviate distressed plant populations or even to attempt to bring back extinct plant species. Botanical gardens play a much larger role in our society than we realize. Botanical gardens are essential in the creation of medicines, herbal supplements and even lotions.
A botanical garden can also consist of plants that are used in products such as hair care products, or anything else that uses plant extracts. These botanical gardens are sufficiently large, and typically the extracts are not taken directly from the botanical garden, but the botanist for the company can learn how to get more plant per planting and cultivate more extract from one single botanical garden. There has been a recent increase in botanical gardens and botanical increase as society slowly returns toward natural solutions.
With concrete jungles making their presence felt, people are now looking out for homes that have a small garden attached to it just so they have that little bit of greenery to soothe tired eyes. Apartment blocks plan their buildings so that there is space for landscaping and gardening. For these gardens, one needs people to care for and maintain them. Gardeners, as professionals, are a minority breed, but at the same time it is the oldest profession around today.
So how would one define a gardener? You can say that he is a person involved with the planting and subsequent maintenance of the plants. This person can belong to any race and any profession. They can be hobby gardeners in small residential homes where one would find a tiny vegetable patch along with flowering plants or they could be part of an orchard involved in the production of fruit and vegetables and maintaining greenery for commercial use.
One would be surprised to know that even this profession has a long and old history. The 18th century saw many gardeners who pioneered this profession and went on to acquire critical acclaim for their contribution to this field. They built their idea around the theory of no dig.
This profession can also be categorized. There are the maintenance gardeners who look after small gardens and there are head gardeners for large estates. Then there are landscape gardeners who specialize in landscapes.
Lets start with a head gardener who also goes by the name Curator. These are people who have a medium to large staff under their command and they work mainly in botanical gardens, very big private home gardens, public parks, museums, garden islands, theme gardens etc. This then broadens the job description to include activities related to the construction industry, landscaping and designing companies etc and involves an ability to communicate effectively so the end product is perfect. They need to be clued up on rockery, fernery, lawns, climates that will affect the flora and fauna etc.
Next we have landscape gardeners who are people qualified in conservation and restoration of the land. They also deal with places like golf courses where landscaping is required, keeping the natural habitat in mind. UK has a special landscape institute where people are trained to excel in this field and they earn an undergraduate degree for the same.
Now we have a new breed called celebrity gardeners. Percy Thrower from Britain tops the list today. These are people who have gained popularity through their knowledge of gardening that has been showcased on television thereby bringing the world of plant lovers into an elite circle.
You can be all thumbs when it comes to gardening or you can be green fingers but in reality all you need is a keen sense of color and truckloads of enthusiasm. Whether you are dealing with miniature gardens or bonsai ones – you are the creator and nature is there to assist you. Take on the profession of a gardener – its rewarding and fulfilling.