Veggie Garden Info

Think Small with Micro Garden Kits

Guest Post by Holly McCarthy from College Reviews.

With spring still weeks away for most of us, you may be searching for a way to get a gardening fix without attempting weather freezing temperatures and frozen ground.  Or, you might be someone who has no room or time for an outdoor garden.  Well, we have talked about gardening indoors (in small spaces) before but things seem to be getting even smaller with the availability of micro-gardening kits.  The kits make it easy to grow a delightfully diverse selection of sprouts and greens indoors, anytime of year.

The micro-gardening sets, which cost about $30, provide everything you need to grow greens in your kitchen or anywhere else in your house.  They come with plant trays, absorbent pads, potting soil and seed packets.  What's easier than that?  There has been a significant growth in the micro-kit market in the past few years as demand for naturally-grown, organic foods has increased.

Two years ago, The Cook's Garden, an online garden retailer based in Europe, started selling the micro kits.  Since then, they have increased in popularity and become the number-two seller for the company.

It's not just a niche anymore and offers a viable alternative to more complicated indoor setups.  Everyone is getting in on healthier eating and the economy has warranted that people get creative in how they go about doing it.  The 2009 kit collection at Cook's Garden includes: beets, cress, kohlrabi, cutting celery, peas and spinach.  That's quite a selection for a micro garden!

The kits are fun and easy to use.  You just spread the seeds on the provided surface and keep them moist.  And harvesting is about as easy as it gets.  All you need are a pair of scissors.  And, if you are someone with physical limitations for whom gardening is not possible, micro kits are a fabulous alternative.  You can have healthy, fresh vegetables all year long without the backbreaking work required for maintaining an outdoor garden.

If you have ever wanted to give an indoor garden a try, the micro kits might be just the thing for you.  They offer a low commitment level and are virtually foolproof, making them appealing to a sizable audience.

By-line:

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of college reviews. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com

the gardener is on vacation...

Original post from Skippy’s Vegetable Garden.

I'm visiting my parents in southern Florida. Talk about perfect weather!! I'm just going to post a bunch of photos.



This is my Florida breakfast. A grapefruit from the backyard and bread made with frozen zucchini and summer squash from my garden. Yummy.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Growing Arugula

Original post from The Compost Bin.

My 4 year old daughter, who at this point is a lot more interested in gardening than my 6 year old son, came to me during breakfast with big news the other day. "Your Rogoogula is growing."

And since then, I've been calling it Rogoogula too. I like the name better than regular old Arugula. Even Rocket Arugula (the seed variety) doesn't have that same ring to it like Rogoogula does.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Spring Project No. 1 - The Grape Arbor

Original post from Our Little Acre

I'm sitting here grinning, and it's such a simple thing that's making me do it. The outdoor thermometer reads 54° F. This makes me happy, not only because 54° is particularly warm, but because it means the weather is starting to actually act spring-like, even if it officially doesn't arrive for a few weeks yet.

This begins an up and down cycle of temperatures which, along with increasing hours of daylight, helps to signal the gardens that it's time to wake up from their long winter's nap. It makes me more energetic, too. My calendar is beginning to actually have things on it. Today I had lunch with a friend, and tomorrow Mom and I are going to attend the Ft. Wayne Home & Garden Show.

Warmer temperatures also bring to mind those projects that need to be done and first on the list here at Our Little Acre will be to finish the grape arbor.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

More Space for More Crops

Original post from Gardeners’ Tips

Gardening will help in the war against economic recession. These tips give you some ideas how to increase the area you cultivate and the number of crops you can grow even if your garden space is restricted.

More Growing Area for a Small Garden

Special Crops

• Mushrooms can be grown in a cupboard or garage, bean sprouts can be forced in a jam jars in similar conditions and mustard and cress can be grown in an old flannel.
• Old dustbins with holes in the bottom or any deep container can be used for Leeks, Parsnips or Potatoes and stood on a path or hard-standing.
• Use hanging baskets to grow extra crops like tumbler tomatoes.
• Window boxes can be brought into service for herbs and salad crops.

Read the rest of this post HERE.

Queen of the Vegetable Garden: The Tomato

Original post from May Dreams Gardens.

The tomato is the Queen of the Vegetable Garden!

When I plan out my vegetable garden, I always choose my tomato varieties first, decide which raised beds to plant them in, and then plan out the rest of the garden, working around the tomatoes.

When I choose tomato varieties, I look at the pictures and the descriptions and try to pick a nice mix of red, pink, yellow, slicing, cooking, cherry, old favorites, new varieties, and whatever else just looks good to me. This requires a certain amount of concentration and self-restraint, because in the dead of winter, every tomato variety looks good.

But I never ask myself when I’m looking at all the tomato varieties, “will this tomato variety do well in my garden”. It never occurred to me growing up or even later in life that there might be tomato varieties that wouldn’t grow well in my Zone 5 garden.

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The Biggest Kitchen Table - Preserving/Canning

Original post from down to earth

The concept of the world's biggest kitchen table was hatched in January when we discussed chickens; now we go on to preserving/canning in a water bath. The idea is that I write my post here, and if you have a blog, you write a post about preserving/canning the way you do it. When you write your post, leave a comment, with a link to your post and we'll all move around, reading all the kitchen table posts. If you want to use the biggest kitchen table badge (above) please do so. When you visit someone's blog who is part of the kitchen table discussion, please be kind enough to leave a comment. If you're a learner, and want to ask a question, do so in the comments section, and anyone with experience can answer. Hopefully, each question will have a few answers. I don't have time to transfer the links like I did last time. Please leave your link in comments, and we'll all find you from there.

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Seeds and Seedlings

Original post from Scarecrow’s Garden

Planted on the 22 Feb I already have
tiny Turnip, Swede (in the wicking bed)

and Onion seeds (in the shadehouse) germinating.

Read the rest of this post HERE.