Best of all, mulch can be made – for free! – in your own garden. Any thicker and it will quickly turn into a sour, vinegary smelling sludge. They will help suppress weeds and contribute to a well-structured soil once they've rotted down.
Raised Beds for a Sloping Vegetable Garden Building a terraced vegetable garden is basically making raised beds on a slope, and it's important to start at the bottom and work your way up.
It gets better: The cut corn stalks made handy weights for securing the edges of the cover. Fall-sown legumes like winter peas boost soil nitrogen when allowed to grow until they begin to bloom in spring 3.
Tomatoes, for example, need a minimum temperature of 10°C (50°F) to fully develop. This is easy to do if you are gardening in a drier climate or under cover, but in wetter conditions one option is to sever some of the roots to slow the flow of water...
If the plant is not on this list, ask the garden center staff or email the. Below is a list of examples that I've compiled for each group. Have you ever planted a perennial and been disappointed when it disappeared from your garden a year or two after...
Photo by Rosser1954 Sunken, dead and often oozing areas of bark will become apparent from spring and early summer, and shoots may die back. Make pruning cuts to an upward-facing bud to prevent branches from drooping too much when heavy with fruit Some...
A spiral ristra not only looks prettier, it improves airflow around the fruits, which will help them to dry out quicker. To speed drying, and ensure a thorough job, start by splitting the just-picked chili peppers in two lengthways.
Set it to come on very early in the morning, before things heat up. Water along marked-out drills. You can speed things along by adding a splosh of water to the top of the pot before it's left to soak.
Just imagine serving up your own tender new potatoes with the festive meal – what a treat! Second Crop Potatoes Potatoes planted in summer are called second-crop potatoes. Position the seed potatoes 30cm (12in) apart along the bottom of trenches spaced...
Early summer offers us a tempting taste of what's to come in the fruit garden. Finally, continue thinning until the fruits are evenly spaced, leaving only the biggest and healthiest.
They will attack plants growing outdoors as well as in the greenhouse. Each adult lays hundreds of eggs which hatch out into larvae with an insatiable appetite for whatever plant they're sat on.
Keep Watering for Best Fruit Quality All vegetables need water, but fruit and pod-producing vegetables are particularly thirsty. Pickings from fruiting and pod-producing vegetables such as beans and tomatoes are coming thick and fast right now, but as...
Not only can it be used to create protective tunnels for the likes of brassicas (for instance to exclude cabbage white butterflies ), it can be turned into a vertical ‘fence' at least 60cm (2ft) high and placed around crops to help foil low-fliers such...
Summer cabbages are the first to be sown, in mid spring, followed by autumn and winter types later on in spring. Cabbages can be started in pots under cover for an earlier start Their roots prefer firm soil, so prepare seedbeds by treading on the ground...
Easy DIY Drinks Cooler On hot summer days don't forget to quench your thirst with all manner of smoothies, cordials and lemonades made from garden-grown fruits and herbs. Place your beers, wine or sodas inside, then lay a soaked towel over the top.
Asian radishes grow slower than little salad radishes, so they are best planted about eight weeks before your first frost date. Popular varieties include ‘Red Meat', ‘Mantanghong', ‘Misato Rose' and ‘Stargazer'.
You can make chutney from just about anything you have a glut of: beetroot, apples, beans, or the last of the season's tomatoes, for example. Chop the produce up into small cubes about 1cm (0.5in) square.
Rutabaga growth slows as the days become short, and the oldest leaves often shrivel and may be cut away. Then store them in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or packed in damp sand or sawdust in a cold basement.
But how can you take your vegetable growing one step further? If they are black then you are good to go. Fava beans can cross-pollinate with other varieties, so only save seeds from these beans if you are growing just one variety.
Because the bean embryo is attached just under the hilum, it is best to nick the seed opposite this point to avoid causing damage.After nicking, it is a good idea to soak the seeds for a few hours or overnight.
Why is this and are the seeds still okay to use? After removing all the debris from the seeds, check them for moisture damage.Moisture can typically cause damage in the following ways:– If the seeds are mature enough, moisture may soften their coats...
Any seeds that are allowed to mature and sprout the next season are often called volunteers. Seeds fall or get scattered by animals, birds and wind. Using edging around the garden can also help, but sprouts may still pop up in unwanted areas.
These can be bought in the store, but if you want to stay away from chemicals or simply save some money, there are plenty of organic ways of making your own rooting hormone at home, often from materials you probably already have.One of the main ingredients...
These containers will allow you to reduce the use of plastic and/or clay materials in your garden.Plantable containers can be used for starting plants. There are many different types available, so it is important to consider your climate, soil, and gardening...
Depending on the type of fungal disease, seedlings may take on a twisted or water-soaked appearance, sometimes withor dark colored threads on the surface of the soil. However, you can alsoconsisting of 1 tablespoon peroxide in 1 quart of water.freestar.queue.push(function()...
A less familiar way to clone your favorite plants is propagation by layering. Any bushes or shrubs with flexible stems such as:Woody plants that lose their leaves along the stem, like
Most flowers are wind or insect pollinated, but some vegetables are not.Stopping Cross Pollination in Self-Pollinating PlantsSelf-pollinated plants mean that the flowers on the plants are designed to pollinate themselves.
