Garden Supplies News » veggies

Growing In Shade, Weeds And Guerilla Gardening

hughe — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:45:17 +0000

Conventional wisdom tells us that shade is the last thing that vegetables need, but Mark Hoffman from Kempton, Illinois disagrees. He will tell you from personal experience that some shade can have unexpected benefits. For instance potatoes which are grown partly in shade are more resistant to leaf hoppers. While crops grown in shade will have lower yields, you can still expect a reasonable harvest. So if your neighbour has a large tree which shades your backyard, you don’t necessarily have to give up all hope of growing your own veggies. Read more..

“It’s difficult to stay motivated in the garden through the heat of summer. It’s tempting to slack off but the weeds are not taking a break” so writes Rob Proctor for 9News. Get out there and attack your weeds before they bloom and set seed which will give you even more of a headache is his advice. Read more..

On a similar theme Joe Lamp’l writing in the Seattle Times tells of his “aha” moment when he discovered that chasing round with sprays and pesticides to rescue plants that were in the wrong situation was a fruitless task.

On the other hand “Proactive gardening is simply doing the important things to ensure the health of your garden before you see a problem. It’s providing the best growing environment, like sunlight, great soil and putting the right plant in the right place. It’s spacing your plants appropriately for air circulation and sunlight, it’s watering properly and using plenty of mulch. Then it’s taking the time to stay in touch with your garden. The whole key to proactive gardening is to know your garden so you can catch changes early to prevent possible problems later that require more drastic action”. Read more..

Guerrilla Gardening used to be thought of as a somewhat disreputable occupation where people crept around at night surreptitiously planting seeds or small plants in unkempt and unused scraps of city landscape. But now the practice is almost mainstream. “Guerrilla gardening hits Houston: Rambos on a green mission seed bomb the city” describes how Sherry Eichberger, owner of One Green Street, went on a girl’s night out with seed bombs and catapults. More interested in how far they could shoot their missiles than where they would eventually land, this was clearly more of a PR stunt than an undercover activity. Read more..

And finally some(mostly useless) garden gadgets for summer:

Growing Vegetables On A Balcony Or In A Jar

hughe — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:41:23 +0000

“No Excuses, Just Vegetables” is the title of an article by Mike Lieberman in which he shows how, with a little ingenuity, even apartment dwellers can grow their own veggies. “It’s worth the time and effort if you grow even one herb or vegetable. It will make a difference” he says. Of course he really means that you should cram your balcony with as many containers as you can and plant vertically as well. What I found particularly interesting in his piece was his use of self-watering containers. As he says you can buy these or make them yourself. There is a link in the article to another page where he gives full instructions on how to make these containers. Read more..

If you don’t fancy the idea of having lots of containers on your balcony, then sprouts or micro-greens might be the answer for you. All you need is a jar or a small seed tray and a windowsill. This article taken from the Nashua Telegraph claims that “Leafy greens picked at the “sprout” stage, or let go to the “microgreen” stage hold more nutrition than their adult counterparts, and they need no cooking–an energy and time saver!” If you think this sounds all too good to be true, then take a look at the comment at the bottom of the original article in the Nashua Telegraph. Read more..

For a complete no grow solution you could follow Sam Thayer and try “Foraging The Weeds For Wild, Healthy Greens”. Delicacies such as shepherd’s purse, sow thistle and wild carrot can be found for free. But you need to know what you are doing since some wild plants such as poison hemlock are dangerous and can kill. Read more..

Window Farms And A Clip-On Apartment Garden

hughe — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:51:06 +0000

No yard space to grow your veggies? No problem, just build your own Vertical Hydroponic Window Farm. Now anyone can grow crops. All you need is a window and the hydroponic kit. If you follow the link in the article to the WindowFarms Project website you will see that the latest version can grow 16 plants provided your window is large enough. It is possible to modify the system to double the plant capacity to 32. And the more plants you grow the more efficient in terms of the amount of nutritional calories per fossil fuel calorie the system becomes. And if you’re not quite sure what that means, you will just have to read the article on their site. Read more..

If you’re feeling slightly more ambitious and want to increase the growing space in your apartment a group of New Zealand students have come up with a novel solution. Their clip-on garden in a box Plant Room is designed to be bolted on to the front of your apartment. This extra space will provide room for a vegetable garden, clothes line, rainwater collection and solar hot water production. The basic idea is to, “combine sustainability with cheaper energy and a desire to improve the landscape from inside, and out.” Read more..

Coming back down to earth Annie Spiegelman, the author of,“Talking Dirt: The Dirt Diva’s Down to Earth Guide to Organic Gardening”, has seven tips to save you money in your garden. Compost, compost, mulch and succulents are just four of her tips. All good solid advice from a Master Gardener. Read more..

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Spring Clean the Roses and Scrap the Lawn

hughe — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:15:33 +0000

“Staring at enticing photos of roses in magazines, books, and catalogs during winter makes it easy to conjure up images of warm days, fragrant blooms, and lush green foliage. But one look outside quickly snaps you back to reality: The garden’s a mess” is how Lynn Hunt introduces her piece on Spring Cleaning in the Rose Garden. Here you will find lots of practical advice, in particular the importance of removing all diseased leaves and her suggestions on feeding your plants. Read more..

If you live in a part of the country with an arid climate and want an alternative to the usual advice that you should just grow native plants, Susan Reimer has a suggestion. Give up your lawn and grow succulents instead. Although they like water and they look more lush and lovely when they get it, they will survive through dry weather. Grow them in containers and you will be able to move them around during the season. You will also be able to store them indoors during the winter. Read more..

It’s that time of year again when we should be starting on the veggies. And there’s no shortage of advice on how to set about it. Lee Reich has “10 steps to a successful first vegetable garden” with basic advice for beginners. If you prefer video Bob Webster has his “Vegetable Gardening 2010 Edition” which is a recording of his seminar. Take your pick.

Pruning Roses, Sprouts And Nightmare Weeds

Lawns, Veggies and Gadgets

hughe — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:39:27 +0000

Combine the current enthusiasum for growing your own veggies with the concerns about the use of pesticides and you will see how Tressa Eaton can make such a persuasive case for turning your lawn into an edible garden. “When we put pesticides onto our lawns they run off into sewers, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Consequently, we end up drinking pesticides in our water, breathing them in our air…” and “more water is used on household lawns every year in the US than on corn or wheat crops”. So dig up your lawn and plant potatoes and cabbages instead. And don’t miss the comments below the article including details of some natural pesticide recipes using ingredients from your own garden. Read more..

If you are not too keen on seeing vegetables in front of your house, then why not grow them on the roof? For restaurant owners Mike and Helen Cameron the desire to use produce grown locally in their business was a major concern. A rooftop garden above their restaurant means that their food miles can be measured in feet. Read more..

Like fishing lures which are more often designed to catch the fisherman rather than his quarry, some garden gadgets turn out not to be such a good idea as they first seemed. I’ve found these two selections containing products of varying usefulness. The first list includes the Easy Bloom plant sensor. Plug it into the ground for 24 hours, then plug it into your computer and you will be given plant recommendations. The portable composter sounds interesting, if a little pricey, but Prepara Power Plant Mini seems to be an unecessarily complicated way of growing a few seedlings. Read more..

The second group comes from Shiny Shiny which just about sums up this collection. From fairy lights to a laser fountain by way of Darth Vader speakers and ending with a hot tub, what more could you want in your backyard? Read more..

And finally the July issue of my monthly newsletter Garden Ramblings is now online.