When To Plant Alfalfa

Cabbage family plants can safely be overwintered under cover in buckets Damp sawdust or sand are good packing materials for biennial root crops including beets, carrots, parsnips and turnips because they keep the vegetables from drying out.

Don't let the weeds get you down: persistence pays off and once you've gained control hoiking out the occasional weed can be seen as a pleasure, not a chore. Use a sharp hoe to skim the surface and dislodge or slice the seedlings.

It has a beneficial effect on soil life, which results in better plants, so is a very desirable addition to the vegetable garden and to potting mixes . Wood-derived Mulches Wood products such as sawdust, wood chips, bark chips and pine needles (pine straw)...

In hugelkultur, logs or other wood are buried beneath a hilled garden which slowly benefits from the wood's decomposition. There are no rules on the materials you choose provided they don't leach nasty chemicals into the soil, as can happen with treated...

By the time planting day comes, the soil will be as crumbly as chocolate cake. It's time to renovate neglected beds and get late crops planted, lavish summer compost on everything, and step into soil-improvement season by sowing weed-choking green manure...

I'm very keen to hear how you speed ripening along at the end of the season. Some plants produce many tens of fruits over the growing season, so keeping on top of fruit removal may prove to be a daily task.

If you see signs of silver leaf, cut well beyond the area where the dark stain shows in the centre of the wood to make sure that no trace of the fungus remains. Make pruning cuts to an upward-facing bud to prevent branches from drooping too much when...

They're incredibly easy to make and they can look just stunning. Cotton thread comes a close second. A spiral ristra not only looks prettier, it improves airflow around the fruits, which will help them to dry out quicker.

If you can offer any further tips or advice, please go ahead and share them in the comments section below. Again, take care to water well before laying it. You can use taller crops to shade shorter ones, but in scorching weather drastic action may be...

At this stage cut the foliage off and put it on the compost heap. Whether or not you choose to leave potatoes in the ground depends on how cold early winter is in your part of the world.

Now remove the smallest fruits and any that are awkwardly positioned. Apples and other trees are already full of young fruits, which will grow on to give a delicious crop towards the end of the growing season.

The real clincher for quibble-free identification is their habit of swarming away when approached or disturbed. Organic insecticidal soap. Repeat over several days to begin to bring an infestation under some semblance of control.

Remove covers during the day to enable pollination, then replace it in the evening to provide a little warmth and protection against lower temperatures. It will also avoid the annoyance of fruits splitting, which happens when they have dried out too much...

Or, if you keep chickens let them search and destroy for you! Healthy soil helps to make your plants strong enough to resist insect attacks, so add organic matter regularly – annually at the very least, and preferably more often.

Summer cabbages crop from summer into early autumn, while fall cabbages and winter varieties cover the remainder of the year. Unless your soil is naturally alkaline, sprinkle garden lime onto the soil either after you've dug it over, or rake it in at...

Make the most of late summer's abundance by seeking out imaginative recipes to turn any gluts into delicious drinks. Avid gardeners are busy gardeners. Permanently positioned garden seating looks fantastic when it's visually anchored.

To prolong storage life, it's also important to trim off the leaves as the radishes are harvested. The popularity of purple daikons is growing fast, so don't be surprised to see ‘Sweet Baby' and other purple daikon radishes at local farmers markets...

The cooking process then needs to be stopped in its tracks by plunging the blanched vegetables into ice-cold water (I use a clean bucket of water stuffed with fistfuls of ice). For example, peas and zucchini sliced into 1cm (0.5in)-thick rounds need just...

The roots will push up as they gain size, and garden-grown rutabagas tend to be more top-shaped than round. The most stalwart members of the turnip tribe, rutabagas are a rustic cross between wild turnip and cultivated cabbage that came about in Scandinavia,...

The seed heads are definitely ready once they have dried out and can be flaked off into a bag for cleaning and sorting. You'll be able to see and feel the beans swelling within their pods.

This technique is also known as scarification.Which seeds need to be nicked? 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...

You may see white, gray or black fuzz or powdery growth on the seeds.Discard moldy seeds immediately. If the seeds inside are mature, these critters may not have caused any damage.

Using edging around the garden can also help, but sprouts may still pop up in unwanted areas. What is reseeding? Seeds fall or get scattered by animals, birds and wind. These plants don't sow themselves in well behaved rows but in unruly abundance, and...

You can make your ownCut a few new shoots from a willow and slice them into 1 inch (3 cm) pieces.Steep the willow pieces in water for a few days to create a willow tea.Dip your cuttings in the tea directly before planting them, and their survival rate...

When selecting a plantable pot, it is important to consider how much time your plants need to start vs. Plantable pots can also help stabilize substrate temperature, which reduces the chance to root injury especially in the southeastern region of the...

Many gardeners prefer to water from the bottom, which keeps the surface of the soil drier. Seedlings in plastic trays tend to be more resistant.Don't plant too thickly. To discourage fungus and speed drying, you can cover the seeds with a very thin layer...

Roots will form along the part of the stem that's underground.freestar.queue.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-300x250-ATF-1"); });– Tip layering works by pushing the very tip or point of a stem underground and holding it in place with...