Organic gardening: How to grow an organic vegetable garden

www.howdini.com Organic gardening: How to grow an organic vegetable garden What does it mean to grow vegetables organically? Scott Meyer, editor of Organic Gardening magazine shows how to plant and nurture an organic vegetable garden. Keywords: organic gardening organic garden organic vegetable gardening organic gardening tips

How To Establish Urban Garden For For Fun and Profit

HOW TO ESTABLISH URBAN GARDEN FOR FUN AND PROFIT

Urban gardening is ideal in the city or town where your space for planting is limited. If you’re employed in the city and you’ve no time to go to the province to do your farming activities, then urban gardening is best for you.

Benefits you can get from urban gardening:

It could be therapeutic. Tending your plants early in the morning or after office hours relieves you from stress in the workplace and in the home. It could be enjoyable. When you see your plants with attractive flowers and vigorous growth, your imagination wanders like you’re in heaven with a happiness and satisfaction you can’t explain. Generate additional income. You can sell your extra plants to others if you think they are surplus for your personal needs. The city is a ready market because there are plenty of people and there’s the purchasing power. Reduce waste accumulation. You can recycle used materials such as; tin cans and plastics, sachets, tin foils for potting, Styrofoam for seed boxes, biodegradable products for composting, and others.

Strategies in Urban Gardening

Select the right crops to grow, depending on the purpose or purposes of going into urban gardening. Identify a particular target market if you’re into commercial production. Develop your own passion or specialization and concentrate on that line. You can rent or borrow vacant lot. You can use your roof top if you have any. You can create plant boxes along your fence and walkways. You can grow plants in pots and other containers.

What kind of plants are ideal for urban gardening

You can grow all kinds of plants from fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals.

Fruits. You can grow fruits if not in the ground, you can plant them in containers, e. g. citrus, guava, lemon, balimbing, etc. Vegetables. Many varieties can be grown both in the ground and in containers. Ornamentals. There are many types of ornamentals you can grow, depending on your target market, capital required, and your inclination in urban gardening.

Requirements you need to know in urban gardening

Before you enter into urban gardening, strictly observe the following requirements in order to be successful:

Water. Water is the most important item for any kind of plant. Without it, your gardening activities will be amiss. You have to consider the cost and continuous availability of water. Soil media. If you intend to grow your plants in containers, soil or potting media are important. You should have available supply of it all the time. Source of pots and containers. Try to know where to get the cheaper source and continuous supply for pots germinating trays of different hole sizes, and containers. Tools and implements. All of these should be at hand for your gardening activities, such as shovel, hoe, pick mattock, spade, trowel, sprayer, tractor (with accessories for bigger areas), and others. Manpower. Provide yourself with available workers to help you in the garden. Though you can do it yourself, but at least there is one you can trust to tend your plants when you’re out for some other business. Materials and seeds. See to it that you have available of these materials and seeds in your nursery such as; seeds and other planting materials. Get your planting materials from reputable source or certified seed suppliers.

Improving unsuitable soil

When your place is stony or adobe and you think there is no more hope for the plant o grow, don’t panic, there is still remedy to improve it. The strategies to undertake are:

Look for plants that will grow in rocks or adobe stones (rock gardening). There are plants that grow vigorously on rock such; balete tree, some cactus species, etc). Arrange them in such a way that they will not compete with space and sunlight. Add garden soil or organic material such as manure, compost, and others. You can make holes on the rock just enough to hold the soil media in place for specific plants. For larger plants you can make bigger holes so that more soil media may be placed to sustain the growing period of the plants. Look for possible sources.

How to earn profits from your urban garden

There are so many ways you can promote your urban garden to make it known to the public and earn you a profit.

The following tips can enhance your promotional strategies:

Attend garden shows or trade fairs. You can bring and display your exotic plants in the garden shows or trade fairs so the customers will see them. Display your gardens’ name, location, proximity to the market, and plants grown. Publish in all media outlets. Submit pictures of your garden and plants in magazines, TV, Internet, and newspapers to have a wider dissemination to the reading public. By word-of-mouth. Often times you invite some visitors for some special occasions like; birthdays, get together, Christmas parties, or any occasions you may establish. Show to your guests your beautiful urban garden plants. You may give them as a token out of your plants and tell them your plants are for sale if they have some friends interested to buy plants from you at discounted price. Send brochures of your urban garden to gardening sites. Invite site owners to help you promote your urban garden plants for a percentage fee say 50-60% for the gross sale of your plants. This methods is called affiliates, resellers or partners wherein both of you earns an income. A win-win strategy. Accept consultancy or speaker ship. As an expert you can accept consultancy in symposia to those interested in urban gardening. While at this event you can insert your garden in your talks. You can tell your audience about your urban garden, what plants are grown and they are for sale. You may also bring with you your sample plants to the events and sale or give them to your audience.

In urban gardening you can enjoy the work in your garden, feel the freshness of the surroundings because of the smell of sweet flowers, the vigorous growth of your plants, and at the same time it can provide you with additional income.

Enjoy urban gardening and let your expertise flourish for the benefit of others while giving you fresh vegetables and fresh flowers. Above all gives you an income out of your plants.

Come on, stretch out your aching back and body and let the soil and plants in your garden provide the solution to relieve your pain and at the same time earn you an additional income.

What about that, are you serious in urban gardening?

Then, come on let’s go, roll out your sleeves.

Cris Ramasasa, Freelance writer, writes about home gardening and Internet marketing tips. You can get a copy of his latest ebook “How to get started in Flower Gardening” and “Vegetable Gardening Made Easy” and also get lots of tips, Free articles, and bonuses at: www.crisramasasa.com

Survival Gardening 11, nuclear war, emergency preparedness

Video # 11 in our Survival Gardening series go over soils and soil improvement techniques. Video #11 will follow shortly. Unless you are keeping a herd of large animals like cows, it’s going to be very hard to keep grow food long term using just what’s “on” the farm or homestead. For a handful of raised beds, half dozen rabbits and similar number of chickens MAY provide enough fertilizer to keep your soil in good shape. But for a serious amount of ground, ie, enough to truly keep a family of …

Earth Day Special: DIY Gardening, Threadbanger

To celebrate Earth Day, we are going to visit a cool DIY backyard, learn how to compost, and show you how to create your own indoor garden. With a special Earth Day Karaoke session and a simple quick tip, this week’s episode is our greenest one yet. Links in this Episode: American Horticulture Society - www.ahs.org Bio Gems - www.savebiogems.org Trees For The Future - www.treesftf.org Hi Tree! - www.etsy.com National Gardening Association - www.garden.org Pollyanna Cowgirl - www.etsy.com …

How to keep stray cats out of my garden?

There are a lot of stray cats in my area. I am going to be creating a garden for the first time and I am certain that at least one of the many stray cats in the neighborhood will enjoy making my garden a toilet.

How do I keep them out? Is a Remington the only answer?

Vegetable Garden - Take Care Of Them Like Children

I’ve been gardening vegetables for quite a while now, and I’ve learned some lessons the hard way. Vegetable gardening offers some great rewards - the pride and satisfaction of cultivating beautiful edible plants and the savings on the weekly grocery bill! Here are some tips that should help you plan and grow healthy fresh vegetables in your vegetable garden.

The Versatile Legume

There are two basic types of beans - bush beans and pole beans. Bush beans do not need support, and pole beans are climbers. In my garden, I normally grow bush beans because they require less work. Call me lazy. Call me well-fed.

But I’ve found that pole beans are best in my vegetable garden are nice because they can climb along old fences or up the stalks of taller plants like sunflowers. I’ve also used pole beans to beautify my vegetable garden. I’ve planted these tall bean plants at the end of each row of the vegetable garden, making arches from tree limbs bound to make arches from row to row. The pole beans grow along the branches, making an attractive frame for the vegetable garden.

Beans are a warm-season crop and are easy to grow. They like rich, warm, sandy soil. They need full sun and well-drained soil. Also, I’ve found that they grow better when I rotate them with other vegetables every other growing season.

For the best tasting beans, I wait until all danger of frost has passed and dig the vegetable garden deep. Normally, I work the garden several weeks before I plant the beans because birds will eat the insect eggs and larvae that might damage my plants later. Then I work some lime into the soil to give the beans a healthy start.

I plant my bush beans from one to 1-1/2 inches in the surface and about eighteen inches apart. My pole beans need more space with rows three feet apart for best results. Bush limas need more space than most dwarf bean plants - as much as pole beans. Remember to plant the beans edgewise with the eye pointed down.

Generous spacing allows for easy cultivation with a hoe through the growing season. And if my bean plants get to high, I just pinch off the ends of the growing plants. This encourages outward, rather than upward, growth.

Bush beans include dwarf, snap or string, wax, limas, and what is called brittle beans. Pole beans include pole limas, wax, and scarlet runner. The scarlet runner is a wonderful decorative addition to my vegetable garden. Its flowers are deep red and look great against my old fence. Scarlet runners are nice additions to flower gardens and anywhere you want a vine. The nicest thing about the scarlet runner is that you get both beauty and food.

You Can’t Beat Beets!

Beets are root vegetables that grow on flowering plants. They’re easy to grow, and you can eat almost all of the plant. The top leafy part (a good source of Vitamin A) can be used fresh in salads, and the roots (good source of Vitamin C) can be cooked. Believe it or not, the leafy green part is more nutritious than the root!

While beets tolerate heat, they do best in a cooler climate. They’re good for a long growing season, and you can stagger planting to assure a continuous supply of fresh beets throughout the rest of the year.

Beets need organic soil to grow well. My beets do best in rich, sandy loam. I learned the hard way that fresh manure is fatal for beets. A particle of manure next to a beet root can doom a young plant. To avoid this, I dig a foot-deep trench, spread a very thin layer of manure at the bottom of the trench, and cover the manure with well-crumbled top soil. That way, you get the fertilizer benefits of the manure while also protecting your young beet plants.

When planting, I space rows about one foot apart to leave enough room for cultivation of my vegetable garden. Beet “seeds” are really clusters of small seeds in a dried fruit. They won’t grow well if they’re transplanted, and they need to be handled more carefully than many other vegetables. I plant the seeds about one-half inch deep in the rows. I’ve also found that I have to thin my beet sprouts to keep them healthy. Beets have very shallow roots, so I have to weed the vegetable garden often so that they don’t have to compete with weeds for important nutrients.

The Diverse Cabbage Family

The Crucifer family - cabbages - include many vegetable plants: cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, and kohlrabi (a combined cabbage-turnip).

The high-classed cauliflower needs rich soil and doesn’t tolerate frost. I’ve learned to give my cauliflower plenty of manure water for extra richness. Like with young cabbage, the outer leaves should be well- bent to get a healthy white head. I’ve found it best to plant and easier to grow the dwarf varieties.

Kale is not so picky. Though it needs rich soil like cauliflower, it can tolerate frost. Because kale matures slowly, it needs to be planted in early spring. But you can also plant it in early fall to get an early crop the following year.

The popular brussel sprout is a good substitute for the larger common cabbage plant. I enjoy growing brussel sprouts in my vegetable garden because their stalk stands tall. Almost like an umbrella, the top is a closed head of leaves. But this is not the part we eat. The umbrella crown shades the delicious small cabbages (sprouts) that grow along the stalk.

Like most Crucifer plants, brussel sprouts need rich soil and lots of water. I plant the seeds in May and then transplant the young plants in late July. My vegetable garden rows for brussel sprouts are 1-1/2 inches apart, and I put the plants about a foot apart in the garden rows.

Kohlrabi bridges the gap between cabbage and turnips. Sometimes called the turnip-root cabbage, its stem expands into a turnip-like vegetable. The true turnip swell is underground, but the kohlrabi’s edible part is above ground. Kohlrabi is easy to grow, but I have to encourage the plants to grow fast. Growing too slowly, the swell gets too woody for good eating.

I like to plant the seeds inside in early spring and then transplant them to my vegetable garden as the weather and soil get warmer. I form my vegetable garden rows two feet apart, and put the young plants about a foot apart when I transplant them to the outdoors. Kohlrabi seeds go a long way - an ounce of seed will produce a hundred-foot row of plants. A great early crop, I prepare and serve my kohlrabi like I do with turnips.

One of my favorite cabbage plants is the Savoy. It’s one of the best varieties for cooking, especially for slaw and salads, and it’s best for growing in poor soils. I plant seeds early in the year (February) under cover and then transplant the young plants to my vegetable garden in the spring (March or April). The closer together I plant the young savoy, the smaller their heads. So I try to provide for at least one foot of space in all directions around each young plant.

What’s Up, Doc, with Carrots?

Carrot is a hardy cool-weather plant that creates a thick root in its first growing season. There are two general types of carrot plant: long roots and short roots. For healthy long-root types, I have to work the soil down to at least eighteen inches. The short carrots do well in eight inches of sandy soil. Like beets, carrots don’t tolerate manure very well.

I’ve also found that I must thin carrots frequently. As the seedlings sprout, they are too close together and compete for nutrients and sunlight. I thin a little, wait a while, and then thin again. I love growing carrots because I can harvest the young tiny carrots for my table. I can also wait and have big Bugs Bunny type carrots for my kids.

Cucumbers - the Fresh Pickle

Cucumbers are really fruit, but they can be grouped with gourds among vegetables. I’ve heard the cucumber originated in India. It’s a creeping vine that roots and grows in spiraling strands or climbs trellises or other supports. Its large leaves shade the fruits.

I get the best plants when I use light, sandy, organic soil. And I’ve also found it’s best to plant them on a slope where drainage is easiest. In hot-houses, they can hang from the ceiling where they become beautiful hanging vines. I’ve seen some brave vegetable gardeners keep a hive of bees in their hot-houses to help with cross-fertilization of their cucumber plants.

I’ve found that it’s best to plant the seeds indoors, covered with one inch of rich soil. In an area of about 30 square inches, I plant six seeds with the germinating end down. When all frosts are past, I plant each set of six plants, together with the original planting soil, in the open vegetable garden. Later, I plant them in hand-made hills with four feet of space on all sides.

Let Us Have Lettuce

Lettuce is one of the earliest human vegetable crops, growing wild before it was cultivated by man. I can tuck it into spaces throughout my vegetable garden. It’s a very decorative plant, with a compact head and lovely big green leaves.

As the lettuce plants age, they go to seed. I pull them up, as I have no interest in going into the seed business. But I do want fresh tender lettuce throughout the season. The only way I have achieved this is by planting in early spring and then planting again every ten days or so throughout the summer.

There are many varieties of lettuce with different planting and growing requirements. I prefer leaf, cos, and butterhead lettuce because I can plant them anytime in the early spring. I’ve found that my lettuce doesn’t do well in the heat, so I stop planting about a month before the hottest part of the summer. But I’ve planted lettuce plants in the shade of other plants in my vegetable garden and planted late in the summer to get good fresh lettuce into the fall.

I plant lettuce seeds shallow - from a quarter to half an inch deep - in rows about a foot apart. Then I thin the seedlings so that plants have six to eight inches between them. The nice thing is that I can serve the seedlings I’ve thinned in my early spring salads. Nothing goes to waste.

More than Veges in My Vegetable Garden - Melons

Though they originated in Asia and parts of Africa, melons pleased the taste of ancient Romans. They’re a summer fruit, often grown in hot-houses. They need a lot of space, a lot of heat, and a lot of sun. They also need 3-4 months of growing time, fertile soil, and lots of water.

I prepare 2-3 foot mounds spaced 4-6 feet apart for my melon plants. The mound soil should be compost-rich. Sprinkling sand or lime on and around the mounds helps prevent insect damage to the young plants.

As they grow, the vines get to heavy to stand on their own, so I provide something like tennis netting for the vines to follow. I plant eight seeds in a mound, setting them about two inches apart, and planting them about an inch deep. Watermelon plants need more space - up to ten feet between each mound.

When the plants reach about four inches in height, I reduce the number to two per mound, always picking the sturdiest plants. I cut the close to or below the surface rather than pulling plants up as this is likely to damage the roots of the remaining plants.

One word of advice - be very careful in watering your melons. They’re vulnerable to fungal diseases, and overhead watering may be dangerous for them. I’ve found that drip-irrigation, a slow trickle at the base of the plant, keeps my melons growing healthy throughout the growing season.

The Joys of Vegetable Gardening

I love my vegetable garden. It gives me many hours of peace and serenity as I work with the soil and gently grow beautiful plants. My vegetable garden repays my family with many fresh, healthy meals and good nutrition.

It’s taken a lot of experimentation and some failures to have a productive vegetable garden, but it’s been worth every minute of work. The joy of handling soil and seed, tending to precious young plants, and harvesting beautiful mature plants is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.

Gardening Tips : How to Grow Strawberries Indoors

Grow strawberries indoors by starting a plant that has a root and greenery, crowding the container with roots, providing a sunny window and watering the plant frequently. Never let the soil of a strawberry plant dry out completely, and consider more advice from a sustainable gardener in this free video on gardening.

A Garden Trellis Design Improves The Appearance Of Your Yard

A garden trellis design will create a beautiful environment around a home. A garden trellis design is the creation of expert gardeners who expect the spaces around a home to add wonderful atmosphere. These expert gardeners believe in planning a garden for maximum effect. They do nothing in the garden that is haphazard.

There are several great designs including the garden trellis design that are carefully created with just the right plants, structures and pavements. Each of these designs is meant to create a unity with all of the elements that go into a garden space.

A garden trellis design uses beautiful trellises as the focal point of a garden space. A trellis is a wooden structure that is used to create a unique garden. These structures vary in size and design. Some trellises are flat pieces of wood that are form a platform for the plants in a garden.

Other trellis can have round shapes on the top for another unique visual in a garden. These structures are available ready made in the local home improvement stores, and there are kits or plans available so the gardener can build one.

A Garden Trellis Design Will Receive Compliments Galore

A garden trellis design adds different heights to a garden. The plants and flowers in a garden trellis design are on different levels for a wonderful image. The dedicated gardener in charge of a piece of land for a garden will decide on a design for the entire space before buying a single seed or plant.

The gardener will try to create a unity between the main structure or home and the entire garden. The gardener will decide on a ground cover that will be acceptable for the climate and budget. The ground cover in a garden trellis design will be the first level of the garden.

A garden trellis design will have a second level above the ground cover which will be in planters or planted in the ground. This second level will tower above the ground cover. These plants can be chosen from the wide variety available, but a conscientious gardener will find plants that grow well in the local climate.

The trellises will add at least a third level to a garden. Trellises do not have to be the same size so even another level could be added with trellises of different heights. The trellises can be used to hold flowers but a trellis without plants will also be a great addition to many gardens.

Vegetable Fruit Gardening : How to Grow Cucumbers

Cucumbers are often grown in raised beds or mounds with freshly tilled soil. Plant cucumber seeds 2 inches deep withhelp from an organic farmer in this free video on gourd gardening. Expert: Jarrett Man Contact: stonesoupfarm.googlepages.com Bio: Jarrett Man created and runs Stone Soup Farm, an organic vegetable and fruit operation in Belchertown, Mass. Filmmaker: EquilibrioFilms Jenn

Guerrilla gardening on Richard and Judy

A TV report about guerrilla gardening in Southwark, London broadcast on Richard and Judy (Channel 4) on 26 January 2006

Home Garden

Tips for your house and garden