Aug 15
How often should I do the watering?
posted by: admin in Watering on 08 15th, 2009 | | No Comments »

All I think about lately is watering. I don’t think it’s too strong to say it’s taken over my life. I’m just grateful I haven’t been out of town. At least not last week. When I was in Ashland for four days the week before, I was so worried. But it all worked out, which is a testament to deep watering (yes, I’m harping on that. I’m not perfect — though I like to think so. I don’t always do what’s best for my plants.

Your garden is unique, which means that everyone’s garden has its own watering needs.

Your garden is used or lost in the following ways: Begins as soon as water is exposed to the atmosphere. Extremely high evaporation results when fine jets of water are sprayed into the air on a hot, dry,windy day. Fine jets produce mist-size droplets that have a vast surface area in relation to their volume. The wind, heat, sun and dry air combine to evaporate much of the water before it lands on the garden. Evaporation then continues from all moist surfaces of the garden until they dry. Water losses from evaporation can be reduced by using a coarse, low-pressure spray and by watering during cool, quiet evenings or early mornings. Begins when the plant produces its first green leaves. Water is lost from the leaves during the process of obtaining carbon dioxide from the air. This loss helps to keep the leaves cool.

Gardening is common sense, but less common is knowledge of the proper way to water. If you do it right, you can maximize the benefit to your. How to water an organic garden. Choosing to have an organic garden is a step in the right direction towards better health by avoiding chemicals and using natural products and techniques.

Gardening is actually not as difficult as you might think. With a little attention to timing, and some careful watering, you can have a healthy garden that doesn’t put a strain on the water supply. Consider investing in a few of these inexpensive gadgets from your local garden center to help you in your efforts. Hose extension wand. Hose extension wands are a lifesaver in the garden. They allow you to apply water directly to the soil and roots, rather than wasting it (and damaging your plants) by spraying in the air or on the foliage. They also save both your back and planting beds by letting you water without having to bend over or step in your beds. They apply water very effectively, which means you won’t need to use as much.

Your garden is in containers, water can easily be wasted. Here are tips on watering methods that will help you have the happiest plants while wasting little water. Knowing when to water. The specific requirements and preferences for watering will vary on your plants but in general, the. Is to water just enough so that the soil is moist to the touch on the surface, and wait to water again until the soil is dry to the touch on the surface, but still a bit moist an inch or so under the surface. This way you’ll avoid over or under-watering your garden.

Diy tricks for watering.
Depending on your local microclimate, the site of your garden, and your soil composition, among other things, these tips will help every gardener save thousands of gallons of water. That our nation’s lawn use up to 238 gallons of water per person, per day. While that does include non-residential spaces, like community parks and the like, it still averages out to a whopping 1000 gallons. For a family of four, so, while that humongous number might not be wasted on your back yard, the simple fact is, no lawn means much less water. Happily, there are several things you can do to make your yard pretty while scrapping the lawn.

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Aug 15
What should I grow?
posted by: admin in Gardening on 08 15th, 2009 | | No Comments »

[ad#HTML]Vegetable gardening is to have fresh picked vegetables all summer, you’ll want to favor vegetables that begin ripening early and keep producing. There are many to choose from, including tomatoes, peppers, radishes, lettuce, beans and broccoli. On the other hand, if your intention is to grow as much food for your family as you can, you’re going to want to consider vegetables that keep for months and vegetable varieties that tend to mature in large batches. Hard shell winter squashes will keep for months, while zucchini needs to be eaten before it’s large enough to need its own garden. Indeterminate beefsteak tomatoes form and ripen in spurts, while determinate paste tomatoes set and ripen all their fruits in a brief period of time, perfect for preserving a large batch.

Take all these points into consideration, draw up your list of vegetables and then cut it in half. For example, it’s not unheard of to get 40+ tomatoes from one large plant. Now you’re ready to add up how much space all these plants will take and. If this is your first vegetable garden, start with a size you can handle, even if it means a few less plants or varieties of vegetables.

Vegetable gardening is a popular hobby for a number of reasons. Some people garden for exercise and some for the enjoyment of harvesting flavorful produce that can be eaten fresh from the garden or preserved for use during winter. Others garden so they can grow a wider variety of vegetables than are available at their local grocery store.

Finally, in recent years many people are growing vegetables to save money on their grocery bill. Regardless of motive, gardening can be as simple or as complex a project as you make it. However, careful planning can make gardening easier, more productive, and more enjoyable. In planning your garden, it is important to consider a few basics. This is an important consideration because a small, weed-free garden will produce more than a larger, poorly maintained garden. Consider how many family members will really help with the garden, or will you handle the hoe alone. Plants such as watermelon, pumpkin and winter squash take up large quantities of garden space. In small gardens the use of compact vegetable cultivars will conserve space and enable gardeners to still plant a greater variety of vegetables. Some vegetables can even be grown in containers, allowing placement near the kitchen door and providing growing room for those without enough space for a vegetable garden.

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Aug 15
How do I prepare the ground?
posted by: admin in Gardening on 08 15th, 2009 | | No Comments »

Vegetable gardening is that the soil will tend to act like a large container more than an in-ground garden. This means that compaction can become a serious issue (use drip irrigation to lessen this problem) as well as soil quality.

The higher soil temperatures in raised beds (those sides give the sun a place to shine and heat up) will give you an earlier crop but that heat will also tend to increase the rate of organic matter decomposition.

Your compost and organic matter will not last as long in your raised bed vegetable garden as they will in a traditional garden. It is a good idea to work peat moss and compost into that soil every year. For reasons that are beyond the scope of a simple article like this, plants in containers tend to grow better when the soil is more acidic than they prefer in traditional ground systems. (in other words, the petunia in a hanging basket grows better if the soil is more acidic. In the ground, the same petunia doesn’t like that acidity. As i said, it has to do with soil chemistry, heat and a bunch of other variables). You’ll have to plan on feeding your plants a booster shot of nitrogen at least monthly in raised bed vegetable gardening. The extra water you’re applying to keep the soil moist is driving the nitrogen down and out of the bed.

Vegetable gardening is a little bit different than growing flowers, and there are a couple of things that you will need to do differently as a gardener. Here are some of the ways that vegetable gardening is different from growing flowers:.

Vegetable gardening is not as difficult as many beginning gardeners believe it is. It is true there is a bit more work and increased attention levels to the details of an organic garden than a regular garden. However, with the proper guidance you will soon discover it’s not anywhere near as difficult as you thought it was. Assuming you know little to nothing about organic vegetable gardening lets make certain you understand what it is. Quite simply it means you are going to plant your garden without using synthetic fertilizers, for making the vegetable plants grow and chemical pesticides to control the bugs. To really maximize your garden, regardless if its going to be flowers, herbs, veggies or a mixture of several plants it’s best to have a detailed plan. The best time to formulate your plan is in the fall, right after the fall growing season ends. The reason for this is you will have time to prepare the ground before the spring planting season begins. Perhaps the most critical thing you must do before anything else is to select the optimum location for your organic garden or for that matter any garden. Your plants will do extremely well if they can receive about six hours of sunlight per day. In almost all cases positioning of your planting area in the southeast part of your ground will give more than adequate amounts of sunshine. Also make sure your ground has easy access to water and the ground has good drainage, to allow water run off and aeration of the ground.

It’s actually easy to begin growing vegetables, fruits and herbs using organic methods. These three tips will get you started to a beautiful organic vegetable. Compost is often called black gold by gardeners, and for good reason; it’s a rich organic source of nitrogen, phosphorous and potash, the three major building blocks of soil, as well as many trace elements. To make your own compost, simply find a spot in your garden away from the house or use an old trash can. Begin adding kitchen scraps from fruits or vegetables, such as carrot peels, potato skins, browned lettuce leaves, and apple cores. Add some soil from the garden to encourage beneficial bacteria to begin breaking down the plant matter. Add leaves in the fall or grass clippings in the spring and sprinkle with water or allow the rain to soak the compost pile to further encourage bacteria to break down the materials. When you see crumbly black soil under the refuse, that’s compost.
Vegetable gardening is a rewarding experience for young and old. A green thumb is not required to have a good garden that produces quality vegetables.

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