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Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Get a jumpstart on your garden
Start some seedlings
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Get a head start on your outdoor planting by starting vegetable and
flower seedlings in a bright windowsill. Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels
sprouts and collards all grow quickly and easily. Onions and leeks also
enjoy a jump start before heading outdoors.
For seedlings destined for the outdoors, use
"plug trays," which have 50-100 small cells designed to make
transplanting easy. Place 1-3 seeds in each "plug" at a depth equal to 3
times the diameter of the seed. Cover with a light layer of soil mix or
use vermiculite (a mineral that helps soil conserve moisture).
Once seedlings have 6-8 leaves (which takes
about 6-8 weeks), they're ready for planting outdoors. But wait to
transplant seedlings until nighttime temperatures are consistently above
50 degrees. Your local nursery can help you figure out when that'll be
for your area, then work backward to decide when to start growing
seedlings.
Information in this post taken from Jackman, Lilian. "FILL YOUR WINDOWS WITH Spring." Vegetarian Times 329 (2005): 56-60. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.
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Sunday, May 13, 2012
10 tips for a victorious vegetable garden
Few things make more sense than planting your own vegetable garden. Cheap, high quality vegetables spring up just a few feet from your door, and gardening is a healthy and educational experience for the whole family.
The trouble is vegetable gardens take time and effort to maintain, and not all of us have the time. But the financial impact, as well as the fun factor, ensures you'll be well-compensated for the time spent with your hands in the dirt. Take these 10 tips from Whispering Hills and the University of Illinois Extension and start building your own backyard farm stand.
#1 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
It's a cliche for a reason. Just as location is important in everything else you do, a successful vegetable garden starts with the right plot. Make sure your veggies aren't close to trees or shrubs that will compete for resources, and make sure the garden fits in with your landscape design. Do we have to tell you that vegetables need a ton of sunlight? If possible, plant your garden close to a water source as well.
#2 MAP IT
Make a list of the vegetables you want to plant and look up growing tips for each kind. The University of Illinois' horticulture extension has a handy chart to help you with this. Sketch out which vegetables will go where before you just go buying all kinds of plants at the store.
#3 MAKE YOUR BED
This is the most important part of a vegetable garden. Proper soil for a garden is soft, loose, nutrient-rich and well-drained. Northern Illinois soil does not naturally have those properties. It is hard and full of clay, so be sure to mix in an adequate amount of topsoil and a nutrient-rich amendment (like mushroom compost, Bumper Crop, or material from your own home compost pile) to prime your bed before planting.
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