This blog is dedicated to teaching people how to grow a vegetable garden. I create all my own material. My blog and videos provide information as if you have never had a garden. My goal is to teach and answer questions, so you can have an outstanding vegetable garden! Gardening is a global event... join the the fun and dig around!
Welcome to my new blog... My First Vegetable Garden. It is dedicated to new gardeners and I plan to blog about and video the entire 2014 gardening season.
I will cover and teach you about every aspect of home gardening that you can think of! Please follow my blog as it will take you from starting your own seeds to harvesting 2 pound heirloom tomatoes and more! Learn how to grow the vegetables on your right...
Search my TWO blogs by entering key garden words...
Starting Mixes, Seed Cells and Seed Starting Set Up
14 Cool Weather Vegetables You Can Grow & A Cup Growing Method for Greens: Spring is Coming!
There are a lot of vegetables that prefer cool weather. That is, nights in the upper 40's and 50's and days in the 60's and 70's. Cool weather vegetables often can take a frost or a freeze. Their leaf structures are different in that ice crystals don't burst the structure of their cells. Many times cool weather vegetables can be planted in the spring and fall. In this case I am growing them in a greenhouse well past the time they would do well in my earth beds.
Picked from the Video: A Greenhouse Salad - Pilarchik
Some cool weather vegetables are; spinach, lettuce, onions, endive, arugula, beets, peas, kale, cabbages, garlic and lots of herbs. Cilantro is a great cool weather herb.
I grow a lot of my greens in cups or small recycled containers. The cups in the video sit on a tray I bought on sale and I fill that tray with water and nutrients. Lettuces are mostly water. As long a you keep them watered and fed they can do nicely in container systems like this. Just cut the leaves off and the roots will grow new leaves for you as a second harvest.
for Hardback Books ($1.20), Repurposed Containers ($1.90) and Watering Cans ($1.90): Save Money!
I will be doing a regular series on saving money by going garden shopping at thrift stores. Not only can you save a lot of money, your money is going to a good cause. Check out your local thrift stores a couple times a month and you will have extra money for other life expenses.
Garden books can be found easily at thrift stores. You typically can find hardback garden books for about $2.00 or less. My local store sells the for $1.20. Paperbacks are well under $1.00. The great thing about gardening is the information doesn't really change. If you are just learning about gardening, thrift store books are the way to go. And you will get beautiful books. Check out my video for ideas of what you will find.
There is always room in the garden for containers. Thrift stores have isle of containers that can be repurposed for planting vegetables. I find a lot of containers I can use for about $2.00. I also look for things I can use in the greenhouse or under my indoor grow-lights. I found over 40 containers for $10.00. I also look for tools. I found a watering can for $1.90. Check out the video to see what you can find. I also show you how to repurpose containers with good old spray paint that bonds to plastic.
Complete Steps for Building A Solar Thermal Soda/Beer Can Heater for A Greenhouse
I am very excited about this video. It took about a week or so to make and it was seven parts I edited together. The entire video is 20 minutes long (longer than my typical videos) but it demonstrates every step needed to build your own 'Solar Thermal Soda/Beer Can Heater for A Greenhouse'. It was a lot of fun to make. Here is what it teaches in a nutshell. And remember you can swap out parts and pieces. This is teaching guide.
Solar Thermal Soda/Beer Can Heater - MFG 2013
Solar Can Heater Concept:
All the parts and costs
How to drill, seal and stack the cans
How to build the box out of Poly Board/Styrofoam
Hot to paint and arrange the cans
How to seal the glass
Another video will show it's use and output
It will teach everything you need to know to build one yourself. I only use 20 cans in stacks of 4 as it is a small scale design. My goal is to add some heat to a small greenhouse. Some designs use 200-300 cans with stacks of 25. People use solar heaters, of that size, on the sides of their houses to supplement standard heating methods. This is a great solar concept that works and can be adapted to meet your garden needs.
I will be using the individual videos to highlight specific steps on creating a solar heater. Some people don't like 20 minute videos or just need to know how to drill, seal and stack the aluminum cans. This video shows you just that step for creating the aluminum can columns. It is part of the 20 minute larger video.
Thrift Store Shopping for Your Vegetable Garden: Repurposing!
Thrift stores are great places to find things for all aspects of gardening. You can save a lot of money. I will be doing a regular blog and video series on finding discount garden items and repurposing items. The main things you can find at thrift stores on a fairly regularly basis are books, tools and planting containers.
Hardback gardening books have become a personal addiction. You can find these gems for about $2 in most thrift stores. I have found many books that date through 30 years. The best thing about gardening is the advice that was true then is true now. In your larger thrift store you can find hand tools and watering cans for a few dollars. I think one of the best things you can find are containers that can be repurposed for starting seedlings, growing herbs or even large tomato plants. It is worth checking out your local thrift stores!
Collecting seeds is easy and you can save money. The 'Cayenne' pepper is ready for seed collecting when it turns red and the flesh of the pepper is soft to the touch. You can squeeze it and feel the seeds. Green cayennes have a hard flesh. Let them mature and turn red as will the seeds. All you have to do is take the seeds out and let them dry for about a week on a plate. Store them in a cool dark place and you will have plenty of seeds for next year.
Cayenne peppers are best dried when red. They are actually sweeter. The video shows you the entire drying process. The key to drying this pepper is not to dry it above about 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Any hotter and the oil evaporates out. That is heat and flavor. You also run the risk of burning the pepper which gives your crushed red pepper a bitter taste. Try it... and you will have pepper flakes for winter!
Basic Care for Radishes - Fertilizing, Planting and Tending: And Picking!
Radishes are fast growing vegetables that mature between 25 and 40 days. They can be seeded in early spring and they prefer cool weather. Because they mature quickly, you can get several plantings in during the spring. And because they love cool weather, you can plant them again in the fall, in many areas. Radishes tend to flower and don't really form tasty roots during warm weather.
There are many varieties of radishes. Some are round, some are oblong and some have long roots that resemble a carrot's shape. Spacing varies for the seeds but in general it is best to plant radishes in rows of very loose soil, about an inch apart. You can thin them as directed depending on the variety you plant. Baby radish greens are great in salads when you thin them!
Radishes are grown for the radish not the green leaves. That is important because you don't want to over add nitrogen in the soil. You will get more leaf at the expensive of a nice fat radish. When preparing your radish bed, it is best to use a fertilizer the supplies phosphorous which helps with root growth. Potassium can also be added. I find less nitrogen is better for radishes and root crops. Often you don't need to add any fertilizer just for radishes. Just let them use what is there.
Radishes grow quickly. You don't want to put down 200 radishes seeds at once or you will have a lot radishes to eat the week they mature. Succession planting is a good method for radishes. Just plant a few rows to start and two weeks later plant a few more rows. If you have the right temperatures and things stay cool, you can plant more in another two weeks. You can do this up until it becomes to warm for them. This method lets you harvest radishes over a longer period of time instead of getting them all in one week.
If a radish packet states the variety matures in 25 days that is 25 days after germination not after the seed is planted. Based on weather conditions, they tend to germinate between 5-10 days. Once you see them come up, make sure you maintain even watering on them. Radishes will split if the watering is uneven. You can still eat them but they look a bit strange. Thin out plants that are to close together as you see the radish forming. You can eat them early!
How to Collect Cilantro, Leek and Dill Seeds: Save Money!
Collecting seeds from many garden plants is quite easy. Its just a matter of letting them go through their life cycle in the garden.
Cilantro, leek and dill form pretty large flower/seed heads with good size seeds. All you have to do is let the herb or vegetable plants fully flower and naturally dry out in the garden. You can clip the dried flower heads, which at this point have formed seeds, and just shake them or gently roll the dried flower inside a brown bag. This is a great way to collect seeds and save money!
You will get more than enough leek seeds for next year by letting just one plant fully flower and dry out in the garden. Leeks produce one flower cluster that is packed with seeds.
Cilantro and dill plants produce and abundance of flowers that will form medium sized seeds if left to mature and dry in their planting beds. The flowers from these herbs also attract a lot of beneficial insects to gardens. I grow them for culinary use and plant them throughout the garden for the flowers and seeds. They will grow just about anywhere.
Harvesting & Growing Cilantro in 5 Gallon Containers: Over Plant It!
Cilantro is a great tasting herb that makes any salsa dish. It can be grown all season long and it is tolerant to frost. It grows best in cooler weather but it will still produce during the higher heat of summer. Just tuck a few plant or seeds in a shadier part of your garden. When the frost comes it stops growing but it will be there for an early spring harvest once the weather begins to warm. The leaves actually get darker with some red and purple coloration during their winter hibernation.
I grow herbs in my earth beds and containers. The above video highlights my container method for growing cilantro. Essentially, I over seed the heck out of the container, give it regularly drinks of a higher nitrogen liquid fertilizer which is about every 2 weeks. I've been going more organic lately for my fertilizers and have been using fish emulsion or a beet molasses fermentation for nitrogen.
The key to harvesting it is to cut the leaves off and leave the the roots in the soil. It should continue to grow leaves for a second harvest. Eventually cilantro will want to flower and seed. You can save the seed for replanting or culinary use. When you start harvesting cilantro leaves from the first planting, plant some more seeds in a new container and keep your supply coming all season long.
Below is another video of the same container of cilantro. I also planted a couple of pea seeds in there. You can train the peas up a trellis and let them occupy the high ground so to speak. The cilantro will do great occupying the low ground. Now you have two crops coming from one 5 gallon container.
Blood meal is an organic product. I am not a 100% organic gardener but lean toward it heavily. I believe in using the right product, in the right way and at the right time. The three rights are meant to prevent getting overly frustrated and losing vegetables plants. Gardening is meant to be fun and enjoyable. There are great man-made or synthetic products and there are bad organic products and vice-versa. I recommend learning about them all. Organic when you can but not to the point of crop loss and frustration.
Blood meal is derived from animal blood. While the product is organic and when processed correctly consider to be 100% certified organic, it still may not meet your standards. After all, if you are a vegetarian or believe animals should not be used for food, this may not be the product for you. Other questions might be based on how the animals are raised and fed. Is the feed organically grown or does it come from food grown with synthetic fertilizer. My point is to not lose sight of the fact you are gardening to enjoy yourself.
Organic products have really come down in price and are now much more easily found. A good benefit of blood meal is that it does not leave behind elements like salt that can be a by product of certain synthetic fertilizers when creating the nitrogen component. Blood meal adds significant nitrogen to your garden which will help your plants with green growth.
It also nourishes microbes and bacteria in your garden soil. Even if over used, it won't burn out plant roots. It also has the characteristic of deterring rabbits and squirrels from your garden. The reason I am leaning more heavily toward organic fertilizers is because they promote the life structure of your garden soil. Synthetic fertilizers while they do help the plants, often kill out beneficial bacteria and micro organisms.
The video explains the basic use of blood meal in your garden. I didn't choose this product solely based on it being organic. I took into account all of the above. I think it also a great alternative to synthetic fertilizers when planting in containers. The risk of salt build up is much higher in containers. Remember finding the right product, at the right time and using it the right way is the key to successful gardening.
Organic Fertilizer: is it Plant, Animal or Mineral? Organic fertilizers can come from plants, animals or minerals. Organic generally means that the fertilizer or pesticide is not a synthetic or chemical creation. It does not mean it is non-toxic or 100% green in its creation. What it does mean is it is processed in some minimal way from a natural source. Your 100% pure organic fertilizer may come from plants, animals, minerals or a combination of two or more these categories.
Some Plant Based Organic Fertilizers
(Animal and mineral OF's will be discussed in future blog entries)
You have plant based fertilizers that, as a class, generally have lower amounts of the macro-nutrients (N)itrogen, (P)hosphorus and (K) potassium or NPK. Plant based fertilizers are often 'fast acting' as in the nutrients are quickly made available to your garden vegetable plants. Plant based fertilizer can have micro-nutrients and added benefits for soil microbes and bacteria. They not only feed your vegetable plants but they feed your soils. They help your garden in two ways. There are many different kinds of plant based organic fertilizers. But you do have to ask the question....Were synthetic chemicals used to grow the plants that are harvested to be sold as organic? Or how where the plants raised? Here are some plant based products.
Alfalfa Meal: comes from the alfalfa plant. It is typically pressed into a pellet forms. It averages about 2% of nitrogen and 2% phosphorus. Alfalfa is known to have a growth hormone called triacontanol that helps develop your soil and stimulate plant growth. It can be used to quick start you compost piles and to make your compost teas.
Compost: does not have much to offer in the way of higher levels of NPK macro-nutrients but it does contain consistent low levels of NPK and micro-nutrients. These nutrients are released slowly over time. The biggest benefit of compost is that your are adding in high amounts of decomposed plant matter into your soil. You are feeding your soil and creating a great environment for microbes. Active happy microbes and healthy soil structures help make nutrients in your garden readily available to your vegetable plants. Just having nutrients in your garden soil is not enough. The plants need to be able to access them with their root systems. Compost creates living soil.
Corn Gluten Meal: is interesting because it is also a seed inhibitor. It is recommended for use on growing plants or you have to wait 2-4 months before planting seeds. Just because something is organic, doesn't mean it is ready to go and use without understanding how it impacts your garden. It brings about 10% nitrogen to your garden soil. It is also used as seed weed inhibitor on growing lawns. Cottonseed Meal: is interesting because cotton crops tend to have pesticides sprayed on them. Keep in mind that the product may be organic but the way it is raised may not be. If you use cottonseed meal it is important to know the source. It is also used for adding nitrogen to your garden
Kelp Liquid: it is essentially seaweed and the benefit of this product is not NPK. It is the addition of micro-nutrients, vitamins and growth hormones. It is often used as a foliar spray to help the vigor of your plants. Synthetic and organic products have uses in our gardens. It is important to understand the products you use and question where they come from, as well as, understand their risks and benefits. Most importantly using the right product, in the right way and at the right time will prevent frustration and excessive garden plant loss.
Planting Mesclun Leaf Lettuces in a Basic Scatter Plot Method: A Cool Weather Crop!
Lettuces and greens, in general, love cooler weather. When it gets hot, lettuces often bolt to flowering and turn bitter. Greens can often be grown in the spring and fall. They are a two season cool weather crop.
If you want full lettuce heads or mature plants then it is important to following the spacing instructions for the varieties you are growing. If you want baby lettuces or mid-size leaves like in a mesclun mix then a scatter plot method of planting will work really well. The video shows you how to do this.
Lettuces are 90% water so you really have to prepare the soil with compost or other organic matter that will retain moisture. You are growing leaves, so the key fertilizer is nitrogen. It is up to you on what kind of fertilizer you use. The video shows you how to use a basic 10-10-10 synthetic fertilizer. I have videos on organic fertilizers. I do use both but lean more heavily toward organic as time goes on.
With a scatter plot, the seeds are closer together so your lettuces won't grow to full size. The best way to harvest them is cut the leaves when small to mid-size and leave the roots in the ground. More leaves will grow back! This is also called cut and come again gardening.
Peat moss is not compost. If you can make your own compost or have access to it within your budget then I would use compost over peat moss. However, it is not always available. Or often you run out of your own stuff. Peat moss is a good option. It does come dry so you want to moisten it before you use it. The video will explain the process.
Peat moss is a great source of organic matter. I does not add nutrients to your soil but it does add organic matter for creating better soil. There is no nitrogen, phosphorous or potassium in it. I use peat moss to soften/loosen my clay soil. Peat moss really retains water and that will help maintain the structure of your soil and help your plants out. When growing root crops like radishes or carrots, you want a loose soil so the roots form uniformly.
Introducing 5 Great Container Peppers Ready for Harvest:
Very Productive!
Peppers do very well in containers. As a whole,peppers also seem to be a bit more productive with a little neglect around fertilizing. You don't want to over do nitrogen feedings with container peppers or you will end up with a great green leaved lush looking plant but at the cost of pepper production. You actually end up with fewer peppers.
It is important to feed your peppers regularly with any liquid fertilizers at around 2 week intervals. Miracle Gro tends to have a 24 mark for nitrogen. That is just too high in my opinion. I would use it at half strength. You really want a nitrogen component of about 10 or less. Many of your organic liquid fertilizers fit the lower nitrogen proportions. You will have to do some label reading.
The video shows you the successful growth of 5 pepper that I grew in 2 1/2 gallon containers. They would love a 5 gallon container but can be grown quite successfully in smaller containers. The key is to make sure they never dry out. I use a simple plastic saucer as a water reserve.
The 'Poblano' pepper can have a very mild heat to it. Much lower than a 'Jalapeno' pepper. It is outstanding when grilled or broiled. The pepper takes on a wonderful sweet and smokey taste that is found in many Mexican dishes. It also makes a great pepper for stuffing.
The 'Orange Habanero' pepper will produce well over 50 peppers. It is known of course for the heat it brings to the table. It is a very prolific pepper plant.
The 'Pasilla Bajio' pepper is mild hot pepper with a natural smokey taste. It is typically dried and even powdered and used in many sauces. It is used to make a lot of traditional mole sauces.
The 'Cubanelle' pepper is a sweet pepper and a great alternative to the 'Bell' pepper. It is smaller and has thinner walls. It is light green in color to start and will turn fully red when ripe. Letting it turn red does add a degree of sweetness to it.
The "Green Bell' pepper is the standard sweet pepper that is grown in the US. It can be successfully grown in containers.
It is important to know what ailments can show up in your vegetable garden. If you have a lot of humidity in your area, very often mildews show up on your plants. While mildews can affect most vegetable plants, it is often the squash, zucchini, cucumber, pumpkin and large leaf plants that most easily get the mildews.
Powdery mildew is very common in my garden zone, Maryland Zone 7. I get it every year and have learned to spray preventatively and regularly to either beat it or slow it down. It starts out as little white dots on the underside and topside of leaves. You have to make sure you spray the tops and bottoms of leaves to effectively control it.
If left to progress the entire surfaces of the leaves will look like they are covered in a fine white powder and that is how it gets its name of 'Powdery Mildew.' The leaves will brown out and die off quickly if not treated. This video will show you how to identify powdery mildew in your garden.
Using Garden sprayers and How to Spray Tomato Leaves:
Get the Undersides!
Vegetable garden sprayers are a must in your garden. It is best to spend money on a mid range sprayer, which for gallon sprayers, have a cost of $15 to $20. They will last longer than the lower end sprayers. In my experience they tend to clog up less and have less seal problems for creating tank pressure.
Depending on the size of your garden you can get 1 or 2 gallon tanks. You also want to purchase 2 tanks. One tank will be used for nontoxic sprays. The other tank would be used for more toxic sprays. Even organic products can be toxic, like copper based fungicides. And remember to never spray in full sun. It is best to spray in the morning so the spray has time to dry before the sun's intensity increases.
The key to spraying is spraying at regularly intervals. That may be once a week or every two weeks. It is really important that you spray the underside of the vegetable leaves. The underside of leaves, especially tomatoes, often have insects and diseases on the under surface. You always want a thorough leaf soaking of the top and bottom sides of the leaves.
I would also recommend you TEST SPRAY and new product on a few leaves and wait 48 hours to see if it damages any vegetables leaves. You don't want to do what I have done and that is make a spray, spray your plants and come back to find you damaged them.
Poblano peppers have a heat to them somewhere below a jalapeno. It really isn't that spicy but it has an amazing sweetness that is enhanced when grilled or broiled. This video shows you how to easily broil Poblano peppers. You can't beat their smokey sweet taste when broiled or grilled.
Poblano peppers have a fairly thick skin that you can eat but it is hard to digest for a lot of people. Broiling them will add flavor and blister the skin so it can be easily removed. It also softens the skin so whatever is left behind, can be more easily digested. I broil Poblanos in 3 minute increments 8-12 inches below the broiling coil. You want to set a timer for 3 minutes. You don't want to burn the peppers or smoke the oil by accidentally letting them over cook.
Poblanos Broiled for 3 Minutes - My First Vegetable Garden
After you check on them at 3 minutes, broil the same side for another 3 minutes. They will get a really nice char to them that adds the smokey flavor. Turn them over and broil the other side for 3 more minutes and your are done. Just remove them and let them sit for about 10 minutes and remove the skin.
Poblanos Broiled for 6 Minutes - My First Vegetable Garden
The video will show you how to cut the Poblano peppers and prepare them for broiling. It will also show you all the stages in the process, how to peel the skin and the basic seasoning I use. Enjoy! This video comes from my other YouTube Channel: The Rusted Garden.
Identifying Tomato 'Sunscald', Fruit Cracking & Fungi: Inspect Your Plants!
It is important to recognize the problems that can occur in your vegetable garden. This video will show you what tomato 'sunscald' looks like, explain why tomatoes can crack and show you examples of potential fungi your tomato plants can get on their leaves.
I have mention that is really important to inspect your vegetable garden several times a week. Your eyes are the best defense in protecting your plants from the damage of pests and diseases. You can't always prevent something from happening to you tomato plants but you can often decrease the total potential damage.
Before you can help your tomatoes and vegetables, you have to learn what can happen to them. Tomato 'suncald' or 'sunscalding' happens a lot when tomato leaves are pruned away and the sun beats down on the tomato. The tomato actually gets burned and the color bleaches out. Cracked fruit can come from watering issues and different tomato varieties are can be more or less susceptible to cracking. Leaf spotting can be a sign of fungus and the only way to learn about what to look for is to see examples. This video will show you examples of these three potential problems.
A Detailed Planting of Fall Garlic Using Organic Fertilizers: You Can Eat the Greens!
Garlic is an extremely easy plant to grow. I just use store bought garlic cloves but there are 100's of varieties you can choose from if you like garden catalogs. I am in Maryland Zone 7 and the time for planting garlic here is October or November. Garlic typically gets planted in the fall to bring you a June harvest.
The goal with a fall planting of garlic is to get the roots of a single clove established. That clove will turn into a full bulb of garlic come spring. A few inches of green growth is okay. Garlic stops growing when temperatures drop below 40 degrees. It will sit and wait for the 40 plus degree weather to come early spring. This is the time, from fall to spring, you need for a single clove to turn into a full bulb of garlic for harvesting. That is, in Zone 7, about October into later June.
You want the garlic clove to be planted to a depth it will not freeze. In Maryland, that is about 3 to 4 inches deep. As you go up north add an inch of depth. As you go down south subtract and inch of depth.
Spacing for garlic should be 4 - 6 inches. This will allow for full bulb formation. A single clove will get you 6-12 cloves in a new bulb. I fertilize with bone meal and blood meal. The video will show you the details. I use bone meal for root development and I use blood meal for nitrogen and to help break down the wood mulch I use in my garden.
Garlic is really easy to grow. I hope you give it a try. Now is the time to plant.
How to Dry Cayenne Peppers for Crushed Red Pepper:
And Collect the Seeds!
Peppers are great garden vegetables. They grow great in the ground and really make for great container plants. Cayenne peppers, when red, have a sweetness to them along with heat, that is perfect for making crushed red pepper for your Italian dishes. Cayenne peppers do great with a little neglect. I used the word great 4 times (well 5) because cayenne peppers will produce (a lot) and when they do... you will have to dry them!
Peppers have an odd habit of wanting to produce during stressful times and sometimes with a little planned neglect they tend to produce more peppers. Peppers are one garden vegetable you don't want to over fertilizer or give excessive amounts of nitrogen. You'll end up with many green leaves but fewer peppers.
If you are going to collect cayenne pepper seeds, make sure you harvest seeds from fully red pods that are a little soft to the the touch. That will be a pepper that is full of mature seeds. Just let them dry on a plate for about 7 days and store them for next year.
When drying cayenne peppers (or any garden vegetable) you want to make sure you don't 'cook' them. The drying process will take 6 -12 hours depending on weather conditions, your oven, and the amount of peppers you are drying. You want to dry them with a Fahrenheit temperature no higher than 170 degrees or so.
The oils will evaporate at higher temperatures and you don't want that to happen. Evaporation of oils is lost flavor. They can also 'cook' so to speak and the sweetness is lostand replaced with some burned flavor. You can dry them at lower temperatures if you wish. It will take longer and I have not really noticed a difference in flavor. This is a great way to use up all you cayenne peppers and have a winter supply of crushed red pepper. Enjoy!
A Hand Blender is a Great Tool for Garden Vegetable Purees: All These Tomatoes!
There are many rewards that come along with vegetable gardening. One of them of course is getting to eat freshly picked vegetables. Tomatoes are favorites of many gardeners and the plants will produce even if you don't quite do things perfectly. My point... tomato plants were built to grow and even if you make a few mistakes you will still get tons of tomatoes.
Believe it or not you can get tomatoed out. I found the best way to process tomatoes is to make a simple sauce like puree with a hand blender. It is fast, easy and a great way to process your vegetables for the winter. Just freeze and store the puree. The video will fully demonstrate and explain the process. It is a time saver. No need to spend hours making sauce. You can use the puree as a sauce as is or you can thaw it out in the future and render it down later into a full tomato sauce.
I make all kinds of tomato based purees. You can add in garlic and onions, hopefully from your garden. Have an eggplant or squash? Boil it down and puree them with your tomatoes. The hand blender is easy to clean up, easy to use and just a great tool for your kitchen and... vegetable garden!
Identifying the Tomato Hornworm & Inspecting Your Garden for Pests and Diseases
Every vegetable garden will have it's troubles. Each zone is different when it comes to pests and diseases. The best way to learn about the pests and diseases associated with the area in which you live is to just start a garden. The natural pests and beneficial insects will show up with time. The diseases that are suited for your area's growing temperatures will show up eventually. The best defense to maintaining the health of your vegetable garden is a good offense. The offense... checking the garden 2 or 3 times weekly.
It is important to get out in the garden several times during the week. As you water, feed, pick and tend the garden... look for clues. Check all the vegetables leaves. You will eventually find leaf damage that might signal the 'Tomato Hornworm' or 'Cabbage Loopers' have hatched and are maturing nicely by eating your vegetable plants. You may see spots on leaves that could be an early sign of 'Leaf Spot' or 'Early Blight.'
The 'Tomato Hornworm' is a common pest in many gardens. The eggs are laid by moths. These pests can sheer down a tomato plant in days. But don't rest thinking to yourself..."I don't grow tomatoes.' The video will show you what the 'Tomato Horworm' looks like. And they are on my pepper plants!
How to Plant Container Peas for the Fall & Spring Garden: A Two Season Crop!
Peas are cool weather vegetables which mean they like to grow in the early spring and fall. They do best when nights are in the 50's and days just edge into the 70's. If it gets too hot... they stop producing and will die out.. They can take a light frost and do just fine but will die out when the regular heavy frosts set in .
Peas are one of the best if not best container vegetables to grow. They are easy to grow, need minimal care and even fix their own nitrogen. That is sort of a fancy way to say they fertilize themselves for the most part. I did a 4 part video series on growing fall peas. Everything is explained and you could of course apply this to growing spring container peas.
The 1st of 4 videos talks about the different types of peas, how many you can plant in a container and the general planting depth of a pea seed. It also talks about using the right size container and how to set it up. I use a 5 gallon container which can support anywhere from 4-8 plants. This video will get you started growing peas.
The 2nd of 4 videos talks about trellising your peas and it will give you some basic design ideas. Peas can grow up to 8 feet tall. They have hollow fragile stems that will break easily if not supported. A trellis can be made from tree branches or any material really.
The 3rd of 4 videos talks about tending and feeding your container pea plants. Peas have a root system that fix their own nitrogen from the soil and air. They don't typically have issue with getting nitrogen but vegetables also need potassium, phosphorous and other micro-nutrients. This video presents you with a basic water soluble feeding routing to help you get the most out of your container peas. There are many ways to feed your peas and vegetables. This is just one approach.
The final video shows you how to harvest your peas. I show off the mature plants that started as seeds in the first video and now they have grown up into mature plants. Remember peas have hollow stems and picking them can sometimes break stems. You don't want to accidentally break of the growing tip. Peas will produce for many weeks.
Here is a basic picking technique and my mature pea plants. I hope you give peas a try. You never tasted peas until you have eaten a freshly grown and picked pea pod. The sweetness is amazing. Once picked, pea sugars start turning to starches, even after a few days of travel to your local grocery store... they lose flavor and sweetness. Enjoy!
How to Make a Cheap Tomato Garden Container from a Cardboard Box: About $1
Cheap but effective. The key to container gardening is making sure you match container size with plants size. Remember everything starts out as a little seed. Tomato seedlings are only a few inches high. Tomato transplants are about 8 inches tall. They look lovely and can fit in a small container when just starting out but... they will grow to be 5,6,7 and even 8 feet tall. You have to match the container to the size of a mature vegetable plant. Imagine how big the plant will be and then look at the container you are holding!
Tomatoes are a great examples of a vegetable garden plant that does very well in containers but only if you give them the container size they need to fully mature. If the garden container is too small the nutrients and water will be used up to quickly to support the growth of vegetable plant. A mature tomato plant can remove the moisture out of container soil in a few hours on hot days when the container is too small. If your container soil dries out, your plant is harmed and you start a chain reaction of problems that will plaque your plants. In the case of tomatoes you will see fruit cracking, stunted growth and probably blossom end-rot disease.
This video shows you how to recycle cardboard boxes and make a tomato container that will be the right size for growing mature tomato plants. In the general box size shown in the video, you could grow:
1 Indeterminate Varitiety Tomato Plant
2 Determinate Variety Tomato Plants
2 Pepper Plants
1 or 2 Eggplants
1 Standard Cucumber Plant
2 Dwarf Variety Cucumber Plants
8-10 Pea Plants
4-6 Bean Plants
And a whole lot more.
You want a container size that can hold enough soil to let a mature root system develop so the vegetable plant can grow to nearly full size. You want the container to be large enough so the growing medium you are using can hold enough water to last at least 24 hours on high heat days between watering. You never want your container soil to dry out. Not even once. You also need a container that will hold nutrients. Container plants use up nutrients quickly. You have to water them regularly with water soluble fertilizer to meet the needs of your container vegetables.
Understanding Your Gardening Zone or Hardiness Zone: Vegetable Garden Planning!
The United States and the rest of the world are divided up in many ways. The gardening zone or hardiness zone is on way. This is just two ways of saying the same thing which is what is the average annual low temperature of the area in which you live.
This is important because it helps you decide what perennial plants (plants that come back every year) you can grow in your area based on whether or not they can survive the cold of your winters. It may be perennial flowers, perennial vegetables (like asparagus) or fruit trees or vines.
Each plant can only survive a specific amount of cold or (typically) freeze through the winter season. For instance I can grow apple trees but not orange trees. Grapes and asparagus will come back every year in my garden. I have a kiwi vine that comes back every year (but it has not fruited). Understanding your zone will make your garden more successful. Fig trees are another garden plant that are zone specific.
I am in Maryland Garden/Hardiness Zone 7. My video explains the zones in more detail and it talks about cool and warm season crops. Your hardiness zone will let you know what will survive the annual low temperatures of you area and give you an idea on how to time the planting of many garden vegetables.
Each zone also has its routine of spring, summer, fall and winter. This is something you see and experience. Most vegetables can be planted during your warm times because they are annual plants. You plant them, they grow and you harvest vegetables. When the cold comes, they die and you start again come spring.
When you are buying plants that come back year after year (perennials), plant tags often tell you which hardiness zone they are best suited, for best growth. You can look up your hardiness zone here if you want: USDA Hardiness Zone Finder.
