Veggie Garden Info

Great trellis idea...

Original post from Gardening in Central Florida, March 30, 2008

  Cattle panel and t-posts. Brilliant.

See this post HERE.

The Midas 'Verde' Touch

Original post from Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas, April 30, 2008

Kris of Blithewold fame asks the question, "Do you have 'the touch'?" - the green-thumb touch, that is. Are you able to deftly transplant a seedling with an accurate amount of force and pressure that firms its position in the soil and aids its eventual growth? Or, do they end up becoming snail-bait? It's an intriguing question and one that I've not considered much - mainly because I've presumed that there is no other way. My 'touch' after all, is my touch. How can one change that?I remember in my cooking apprentice years we would hear stories about great pastry chefs who were able to make sweet pastes in the middle of summer and still result in a perfect tart. These pastries were incredibly hard to work with once the heat escalated but somehow these epicurean geniuses were able to achieve what no other could. As their stories were told they would always be qualified with the line "they had such cold hands". Regardless of how warm it was their hands were able to withstand the soaring temps and still massage a paste with a deftness one could only admire.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

raised bed design and construction

Original post from Skippy's Vegetable Garden, March 26, 2008

 

While I wait for more sprouts and planting, I'm posting some information on my raised beds.

 My husband made the beds about 10 years ago from boards of 2x6 pressure treated lumber. They measure 3.8 ft by 9 ft. I have five adjacent beds. Between each is a pathway that ranges from 15 to 17 inches wide, but you might want to make them wide enough for your rake (I use an adjustable rake).

To make the beds, my husband just laid the wood on the surface of ground. He made stakes (about 2x2x12) that were pounded into 3 of the 4 corners of each bed. The frame is screwed into these stakes. The stakes hold the beds in place.

 After making the frames, we filled them with about 3 or 4 inches of a mixture of peat, composted manure and topsoil.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

First flowers

Original post from Fluffius Muppetus, April 19, 2008

Even though the weather is cold and overcast, the largest Gartenperle tomato plant (on the windowsill upstairs) has started to flower.The largest of the Whippersnapper plants isn’t far behind. I don’t think I’d ever realised before how hairy tomato plants are!

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Flippin' Freezin!

Original post from Down on the Allotment, April 19, 2008

Look what's happened this week! One of my beautiful crimson flowered broad beans has started to flower. Again many thanks go to Celia at purple podded peas who swapped some seeds in the post. I am looking forward to keeping this beautiful heritage variety alive by saving seed. I read on a blog somewhere that the 18th April was a good day to plant seeds of the curcurbit (cucumber/squash) family. Something to do with a new moon according to bio-dynamic gardeners. Sorry chaps, I'll give it a try - but highly sceptial.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Sowing Parsnips

Original post from My Tiny Plot, April 18, 2008

 

Honestly, I haven’t had that much success with Parsnips in the past. I have either sown them too early (no germination) or too late (very small Parsnips). Or slugs have eaten them, or they have just plain failed. This year I’m trying again and hoping that now my garden is literally on my doorstep that I can tend them sufficiently well to produce something edible. I’ve read several tips on how to grow them successfully. The first is to use fresh seed. Apparently, Parsnip seed is notoriously flaky when it comes to germination and if the seed isn’t fresh then you run the risk of very patchy growth after weeks of waiting. So, I bought some seed of the Tender & True variety and cracked it open.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Seedlings don’t wait around!

Original post from Tiny Farm Blog, April 18, 2008

 

The weather’s been warm, sunny, essentially FANTASTIC for the last couple of days, and the forecast for the next few looks just as good. Indoors, many of the earliest seedling starts are putting on growth spurts, quite suddenly crowding each other and grabbing for the light, like these Gypsy sweet peppers. That means hundreds of seedlings have to be potted up, hardened off a bit, and headed out to the greenhouse, NOW—it’s not good to constrain their growth in small cells, and once they’re in bigger quarters, there isn’t room for them all under the lights. It’s no coincidence that, just as you’re driven to seed a dozen crops into the field RIGHT AWAY, the transplants are ALSO blowing up and demanding immediate attention—it’s the miracle of the garden plan working.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Super Easy Herb Container Garden: Mints!

Original post from Life In Sugar Hollow, April 18, 2008

                                                                                  Chocolate mint iced tea. Steph's Meadow Tea. Mojitos. Mint juleps. All are within reach if you have a somewhat sunny spot and a container to host a mint plant or two. Mints will even come up year-after-year within a planter. With little to-do. And, when all is said and done, you'll be happier that you kept them in the container garden - as they can be very invasive within the regular garden patch. I grow Kentucky Colonel mint (perfect for all cocktails), chocolate mint and apple mint.

Read the rest of this post HERE.