For the gardener with a life!

We're all busy, no one has time to do anything anymore let alone research. Not only that, everything is processed and expensive and it's hard to find the important quick facts you need in one place for getting started with your very own garden in a cleaner greener way. So this is for you, the gardener with a life!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Starting Seeds Indoors, when and how?


The reason for starting seeds indoors is to harvest your crop sooner rather than later. For most plants if you waited until after your last freeze date to plant seeds directly into your garden then you could you’ll be waiting most of your season to enjoy those treats. Take advantage of your sun and harvest as much as you can by starting seeds indoors.







But when is the right time to start indoors?

Most seed packets will tell you so READ YOUR SEED PACKET…but, start too soon and you’re plants will be ready for the outdoors before all danger of frost has past and you’ll have to keep transplanting to larger containers.


First you must know your last freeze date  and second you must know if you’re plant can tolerate frost when it’s ready to be planted outdoors or if all danger of frost must have past in order for your seedling to survive.





Examples of Seeds to start indoors:

Tomatoes can be started indoors 5-7 weeks prior to last frost date
Green beans can be started indoors 3-5 weeks prior to last frost date
Pumpkins can be started indoors 3-4 weeks prior to last frost date

Broccoli can be started indoors 6-8 weeks prior to plant date (this is a cool weather crop and can be planted outdoors in my area as early as March so if I wanted to start indoors then I would start indoors late January)

Corn can be started 3-4 weeks indoors before it has to be planted into the ground but it has to be planted 2-3 weeks AFTER last freeze date to ensure survival







You’ll need some supplies in order to start seeds indoors:

Potting Soil














they make seed starter potting mix specifically for this purpose but you really have to soak this stuff, sometimes overnight to get it wet enough for your seeds. Lots of mixes use peat which I’ve read isn’t the best and you should make your own mix but this is the gardener with a life after all!





Containers  

you’ll need small containers that can hold water & soil  






                    get different sizes if
                     you want to start earlier










Pellets
pellets are nice because they easily expand, everything is contained in a small area, and very easy to water but again. I’ve read that peat isn’t the best source but it’s easy and for a gardening beginner I like them…just remember to remove the netting before planting!






















Get Creative

Make your own!

these can be planted directly into your garden shell and all


who doesn’t like to recycle with this easy peel package?

Rolled up newspaper,
this guys a genius!

i just thought this looked neat







Friday, February 24, 2012

Improving your SOIL in a beginner garden

Another very important consideration before you begin is the condition of your soil.
If you're ripping up your grass, notice if you have grubs or worms.
Earthworms are great and vital to any healthy garden so if you see them you know you've picked a great spot.



Grubs suck...the life out of your plant that is. If you see them, consider some heavy fertilizing through composting or natural pesticides if you notice dying brown spots on your grass from where the grubs were.

I'll talk more about beneficial/harmful pests later in the growing season, you don't need to worry so much about them right now.

Clear your soil of weeds and other debris, such as rocks, sticks, etc., and rake the surface smooth. Work the soil with a tiller or other appropriate garden tool. 

Carrots won't grow straight with rocks in your dirt


Make sure your soil has good drainage, to wet and nothing will grow!
Organic matter within the soil is vital for healthy vegetable gardens. If your soil does not contain sufficient amounts of organic material, then you will have to work some into it using compost. Compost helps improve texture, fertility, and drainage of the soil and must be worked in at least 2 weeks prior to planting. Learn more about composting here.

After the soil in your desired location has been properly worked, you are ready to begin planting your vegetable garden.

Type of garden: yes, you can live in an apartment and have a garden too!


First off let me say that SIZE doesn’t matter! Some people think they can’t have gardens because they live in an apartment or don’t have a big backyard. Not true, as long as you have sun and the recommended room for root growth listed on the back of your seed package then anything is possible!

Now that you've figured out your location you need to know how much you want to grow and what type of garden will ft your needs:
  
·         Containers
·         Raised beds
·         In the ground

If you’ve got the sun then all that’s left is room for roots to grow and luckily you don’t have to dig into the ground to get that. Many flower pots provide more than enough room for many types of vegetable/fruit plants to strive.

Container gardening (or apartment living!):
Container gardening in flower pots is your friend, they allow you to grow what you want because they come in all different sizes (garage sales are great for finding lots of flower pots and not breaking the bank) and you can move them around to better fit their sun/shade needs

 




















I'm not ready to commit to tearing up my yard just yet:
Container gardening in flower pots or wooden boxes is right for you. No tearing up your yard and if you decide you don’t like it, all your grass is still there when you remove your pots and boxes


















I'm ready, let’s tear this b***** up!:
You've decided you're in this for the long run and you have the luxury of your own yard, so straight into the ground or raised beds is the option for you. I tore up my grass because I knew the perfect spot and that I would always want this. But even then trying to break up 2 feet of workable soil is a pain in the rear so I only broke up about of foot of soil and went the raised bed route of building up bricks and bought the rest of my garden dirt, mulch, and organic compost













this is my raised bed garden!!



Start small if you’re not sure- nothing is worse than feeling overwhelmed and you blame gardening as to much of a chore instead of your need to overcompensate! Just kidding, I love you!


Soil is also determining factor with garden location. To wet and nothing will grow so don’t choose a place that floods or stays puddle-y hours after a rain.





Location

A garden must have at least 8 hours of full sun in order to thrive but that doesn’t mean every plant needs 8 hours of direct sunlight. READ YOUR SEED PACKET!!

Corn will always need full sun no matter what but tomatoes can get sun burnt when starting to harvest if they aren’t growing under their shady leaves- it happened that my tomato leaves weren't as full due to a late transplanting mishap and most fruit stayed green on top...now I know to grow them near my zucchini because those leaves get huge and can help protect the fruit from sun damage


here is a garden in full sun but notice how the plants to
right can help shade plants to the left as the sun rotates


As important sun is, some of your plants may also require some shade. Lettuce is horrible in the heat so I grew them in a 4hr sun/4hr shade location and every morning I had some fresh crisp delicious lettuce to pick- wait a few more hours to pick it in the afternoon and it’s wilted and bitter.


starts the morning off in full shade








plants to the right that need full sun get it right
away and have it for the longest throughout the day














Shade can come from a wooden fence, side of your house, or just other bigger plants where their leaves can do all the afternoon shading (like zucchini, dang those leaves get huge!)
fence shade


house shade

had to throw in a quick pic of huge zucchini leaves,
whatever is behind that will surely be protected!



Soil will also play an important roll!!

Composting containers, what works for you?

There’s one to fit every gardeners needs.

Buckets:
find a bucket with a lid for daily scrapes and throwing them straight into your garden or collect scrapes every couple of days to throw into your bigger compost bin later. Keep these on the kitchen counter (if they're cute enough!) and you plan on dumping scrapes daily or keep it under the kitchen sink if you’re dumping scrapes bi-weekly.

 



Mesh cages:
Really good for aeration but difficult to mix. And it was harder to get the compost  out when it was ready to use because ready to use compost normally sits at the bottom of your bin! And I found it took longer to heat up, maybe I wasn’t using enough greens but I found a closed container to work the best

 














Closed containers:
They’re helpful because they have lids to keep birds or other animals at bay. I also found mine heating up faster and retaining moisture better then my cage. Very easy for me to turn the compost because it wasn’t spilling out everywhere and they have extremely convenient doors at the bottom that you can open to remove the composted material as needed.


 


Rotating Closed containers:
These are the most expensive but by far the easiest to use. You throw everything in, close the lid, and turn the crank to mix it up. Then every few days head out there to turn the crank and add some water and crank it up again. No pitchforks, no tillers, no sweat!

 












Side note: I enjoy the extra arm workout I get
from turning my compost so I did not opt for this container





I like to recycle or I'm cheap and I don’t want to buy one:
Get creative and find leftover items you can use around your house or just dig a hole in your backyard!



Don't forget to water your Pile- think damp sponge!!