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..

Pruning Roses, Sprouts And Nightmare Weeds

hughe — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 16:15:48 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

If you want some indoor gardening activities while waiting for spring and a window farm does not appeal, why not grow some sprouts? Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that you either love or hate, but they are not what I am talking about. “How to grow sprouts” is the title of an article I found in the Christian Science Monitor which is all about sprouting seeds. In their case mung beans which are ready to eat anywhere from three to five days after sowing. Read more..

Pruning roses is one of those tasks that often worries novice gardeners, so it’s useful to have a reminder of the correct way to tackle it. Dr. Michael Ishak is a retired physician and an accomplished rose consultant with the South Coast Rose Society. Although his advice is aimed at California residents who have to take a couple of extra steps to induce a resting period, the general principles apply wherever you live. I was pleased to be reminded that climbing roses should have their stems trained horizontally to encourage the plant to produce shoots and flowers at each bud rather than just at the tip. Read more..

Whenever I see a title like “Getting rid of nightmare weeds” I hope that I will discover the simple solution to removing the bindweed and couch grass from my garden. Needless to say there is no magic bullet, in fact one lady mentioned in the article took 20 years to eradicate horsetail from her yard. That is an extreme case but bindweed, it seems, does need three years to kill off all the roots. And then it might just creep back from next door unless you install “a weed barrier of at least three feet (one metre) deep (deeper if possible)”. In my case I just learn to live with them. Did I mention that this comes from the Delta Optimist? Read more..

Finally I could not resist including a link to this garden gadget despite the fact that it has nothing to do with gardening or tulips, but just vaguely looks like one. Read the article then watch the video.

Tulip Corkscrew

Garden Supplies News » sprouts

Growing Vegetables On A Balcony Or In A Jar

Pruning Roses, Sprouts And Nightmare Weeds