Today, I harvested a single pea pod for my wife and son to try. Just a little taste of what is to come in the next few weeks. There was one pod that was beautifully green, long, and plump. They ate it right when I gave it to them with great eagerness. Then, I was asked by my wife why the ones we bought at the store tasted so much different. She said the ones I grew were much sweeter.
Now keep in mind what I am going to tell you goes for most item bought in the produce section that can be grown at home. Nearly everything in the fresh produce section is sold to the consumer by weight. This is the reason most items are overgrown when they are sold to stores for consumer purchase.
You have no choice when the produce you buy in the store is harvested for sale. You do have the choice when it is growing in your garden at home. At home, you can harvest the produce a little earlier in the plants life cycle. They have way more flavor when they are not "overgrown" for weight purposes.
Another very noticeable one is carrots. Carrots from the produce section at the store are often close, if not more, than a foot long and they tend to be very firm in the center. I harvest at home when they are about 6-8 inches long. They are very tender and have a certain sweetness that I do not taste from the store.
This is just something to keep in mind later in the season when it is time to harvest the veggies. Do you want a larger vegetable or a much better tasting vegetable? Size is not the most important thing here. So, let your crop mature, but be sure to harvest it while it is fairly young. When the time gets closer, I will go over each crop seperately regarding harvesting. This is just a guidline to keep in mind for the future.
Remember, Mother Earth smile when when you garden!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Proof Compost Mulch & Tea Work
I am always writing about how important I think compost is in the garden without actually showing in works. Sure, all my plants are growing great, but is it really from the compost items I use? I did a little experiment to give myself, and you, proof that it does work.
As you can see in the picture, I have 2 rows of sweet corn with compost mulch around them and the rest have nothing but soil around them. All of the plants get the same amount of sun and water. I did everything the same with them all, other then using the compost mulch and compost tea on the 2 left rows only.
The results are clear as day. Those 2 rows have almost doubled the rest of the plants. Actually, they have more than doubled because the next two rows to the right are a little bigger than the last 5 rows. I think they were able to reach some of the nutrients from the compost products from being fairly close. Anyway, it works wonders as you can see in the picture above.
I have now compost mulched around the rest of the sweet corn and will give them the compost tea once a week along with the rest of the garden. We will see if the final ears of corn are any larger on the first 2 rows or if the others can catch up to those. So, there it is, the results are clear, compost works wonders in the garden.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Compost Mulching How-To
The picture above is how my corn was beginning to look. It is actually somewhat difficult to see the corn among all those weeds. The look of this makes me sick, all those weeds trying to take over the area of my sweet corn. I am going to show you how I take care of this using the organic mulch I wrote about making. You can see near the mottom left where I started to pull out the weeds. I pull out as many weeds as I can before laying the mulch. Missing a few of the little ones isn't too big of a deal as the mulch will takes care of them.
In this picture you can see I got it cleared out from weeds pretty good. There might be a few little ones hanging in there yet, but all in all it is pretty clear. So, now that there is bare soil it needs to be protected from the sun so that no weeds will grow there again. Also, the little ones that were missed need to be cut off from the sun so they die off. All we need to do is cover the soil with a nice layer of the organic mulch made at home.
I like to lay a nice thick layer (3"-4") since it was basically free anyway. The more the better in my mind as it is going to prevent weeds from growing and also feed the plants for quite some time. The mulch will also slow the evaporation of water from the soil. You will notice that the soil will stay wetter longer after laying the mulch. You can use this method around any plants to prevent weeds and feed the plants. Just be sure that the good plants leaves are above the layer of mulch. You do not want to stop the sun from reaching your good plants.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Making Organic Mulch
Are you tired of weeding and feeding you plants all the time? I sure get sick of pulling weeds all the time. They grow so fast and make the garden look terrible. Not to mention ruining the fertility of the soil for the plants you want to grow big and strong. Here is a way to make your own organic mulch which will provide a weed barrier, plant food, and help preserve water.
All you need to make a nice mulch is grass clippings. Your going to cut your grass anyway, so throw a bagger on the mower and your half way to making mulch for the garden. Put the clippings in to some type of composting container like a barrel or a garbage can. Preferably one with a lid on it. Put the bin full of clippings in the sun for a few days, turning or stirring it one or two times a day. Depending on how much sun it gets, it should only take a few days, maybe a week, to be ready.
Once you can clearly see the clippings have changes in color and also smell like a farm, it can be used. You are basically partially composting the grass clippings and then using them for mulch.
When your ready, check out my post on how to lay the mulch. I have pictures to show how I prepare the soil for mulching and how much better it looks when it is done.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
All you need to make a nice mulch is grass clippings. Your going to cut your grass anyway, so throw a bagger on the mower and your half way to making mulch for the garden. Put the clippings in to some type of composting container like a barrel or a garbage can. Preferably one with a lid on it. Put the bin full of clippings in the sun for a few days, turning or stirring it one or two times a day. Depending on how much sun it gets, it should only take a few days, maybe a week, to be ready.
Once you can clearly see the clippings have changes in color and also smell like a farm, it can be used. You are basically partially composting the grass clippings and then using them for mulch.
When your ready, check out my post on how to lay the mulch. I have pictures to show how I prepare the soil for mulching and how much better it looks when it is done.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Volunteer Plants
I was recently asked what the term "volunteer tomato" means. This simply means you have a tomato plant that is growing somewhere you did not plant it. Don't get all stressed out and think something is wrong because this is normal to happen. It can occur for several reasons, but you may never know for sure what caused yours.
First, we have to understand that tomatos have been grown domestically and wildly for thousands of years. This length of time has made the tomato plants very hearty and adaptable. Ones growing without anyone caring for them may not produce very good tomatos unless the climate is right, but they will grow none the less.
So, if you have a volunteer plant growing somewhere, it just means a seed got to that location at one point. Typically, it is a seed from the previous year. It may have ended up their after an animal ate one they got away with, or maybe a seed dropped during planting, or maybe even a tomato that was dropped during harvesting. There are a million ways it could have gotten their.
I have already found a volunteer tomato plant sprouting in the gravel of our driveway. If they are hearty enough to grow in a gravel driveway, do not be suprised to see one pop up in your lawn or other location in the yard. Really this can happen with any plant, but not all plants are as willing to grow just anywhere.
So don't think you are doing something wrong when plants happen to pop up somewhere you did not plant them. It happens sometimes. You can take care of the volunteer or just pluck it out. Maybe you would like to leave it alone and let it go naturally for comparison to the ones you are going to take care of. The choice is up to you.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
First, we have to understand that tomatos have been grown domestically and wildly for thousands of years. This length of time has made the tomato plants very hearty and adaptable. Ones growing without anyone caring for them may not produce very good tomatos unless the climate is right, but they will grow none the less.
So, if you have a volunteer plant growing somewhere, it just means a seed got to that location at one point. Typically, it is a seed from the previous year. It may have ended up their after an animal ate one they got away with, or maybe a seed dropped during planting, or maybe even a tomato that was dropped during harvesting. There are a million ways it could have gotten their.
I have already found a volunteer tomato plant sprouting in the gravel of our driveway. If they are hearty enough to grow in a gravel driveway, do not be suprised to see one pop up in your lawn or other location in the yard. Really this can happen with any plant, but not all plants are as willing to grow just anywhere.
So don't think you are doing something wrong when plants happen to pop up somewhere you did not plant them. It happens sometimes. You can take care of the volunteer or just pluck it out. Maybe you would like to leave it alone and let it go naturally for comparison to the ones you are going to take care of. The choice is up to you.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Free Food or Not?
Last night I received an email from a disgruntle person in Maine, USA. I had posted an ad title "Free Food" to attract traffic to this blog. The person went out of their way and childishly emailed me this message:
"It ain't FREE FOOD if you have to grow it. There is
a lot of work that goes into farming.
Do not attempt to grow a brain."
According to Webster Dictionary one definition of free is "not costing or charging anything". So lets figure out if my gardening is free according to this universal definition. Whether or not I am growing a garden I have to eat just like everyone does. Many of the foods I come across have seeds in them as I am sure most people eat something with seeds at one point or another. If not, healthy eating is obviously not a concern. If there is something I want to grow, I will save the seeds from that item whenever I eat it.
I use strictly rainwater to water my garden. I do not know about anyone else but I don't pay for it to rain. Maybe my bill has just gotten lost all these years. So, anyway, my water is free. The ground I use is part of the property I pay for to have a place to live. The dirt is free by definition since I am not paying for dirt.
My fertilizer is made from compost, water, and other naturally growing items. Therefore, all my plant food is free also. So that is everything needed, other than labor, to grow food. So far, I would say it is free. I do all the labor and don't charge myself for it, so labor is free too. Wow, I am at a whopping cost of $0.00 so far. Oh, wait that's all there is so I guess the food I will get from the garden is FREE! Sorry to disappoint you "Michael" but my food harvested from my garden is indeed absolutely free.
As far as the work, yes it is a lot of work to be a farmer, but I am a gardener which is much less labor intensive. I am not saying it won't take any work to grow a garden, but whether you grow it or buy it you have to work for it. Unless someone is just giving you money for nothing, which makes you a mooch anyway and you aren't going to care whether it takes work or not.
A little bit of work, which is also free, in the garden pays for itself ten-fold or more even if you have to pay for seeds or a little water. Check out my page "Why Garden?" for an example of how much money you can save and other benefits of gardening.
I hope this guy realized what he said is foolish and my garden is proof. As for the growing a brain comment, I have a college degree so apparently I grew that just fine too. Don't be foolish like this guy and go out and start growing your FREE food!
If you need idea, help, or want to argue more about whether it is free food or not, feel free to comment below or shoot me an email through my profile. Good luck and happy gardening!
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
I hope this guy realized what he said is foolish and my garden is proof. As for the growing a brain comment, I have a college degree so apparently I grew that just fine too. Don't be foolish like this guy and go out and start growing your FREE food!
If you need idea, help, or want to argue more about whether it is free food or not, feel free to comment below or shoot me an email through my profile. Good luck and happy gardening!
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
How and Why to Use Mulch
I have visited several friends gardens lately and noticed the same thing with them all. There is one thing I do that I noticed most others don't. I like to mulch around my plants as soon as they are tall enough to allow a nice layer of mulch below the foliage. Mulching is a bit of work but also has many benefits like weed control, fertilizing protection, and water conservation.
The first benefit of mulching is plant protection. Do you ever notice when it rains or you are watering that the ground splashes up onto the plants? With some plants this is not a big deal, but with other plants it can harm them greatly. The ground splashing up onto the foliage can cause damage if it sits there too long. The layer of mulch will prevent the dirt from splashing up.
While preventing the splashes, the mulch will absorb much of the excess moisture and release it slowly. There is nothing growing in the mulch mix so it will not use the water, gravity will slowly pull it out and down to the plant roots. This also provides a layer of shade to prevent the water in the soil from evaporating. You will need less water once the mulch is down compared to a garden with no mulch.
I recommend using organic mulch made at home from grass and leaf clippings. I'll have another article later today on how to make the mulch.
To apply mulch, simply put a nice layer down around the base of the plants. I like to make it 2-3 inches thick if the plants allow. Remember to keep the good plants foliage above the layer of mulch to receive the sunlight while cutting off the weeds below to cut them off from the sunlight.
As the mulch decomposes, it will provide a nice balanced diet for the plants. It finishes it's composting cycle while protecting your plants.Food, protection, and weed control all wrapped into one. Mulch does take some work now, but saves so much more later on.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
The first benefit of mulching is plant protection. Do you ever notice when it rains or you are watering that the ground splashes up onto the plants? With some plants this is not a big deal, but with other plants it can harm them greatly. The ground splashing up onto the foliage can cause damage if it sits there too long. The layer of mulch will prevent the dirt from splashing up.
While preventing the splashes, the mulch will absorb much of the excess moisture and release it slowly. There is nothing growing in the mulch mix so it will not use the water, gravity will slowly pull it out and down to the plant roots. This also provides a layer of shade to prevent the water in the soil from evaporating. You will need less water once the mulch is down compared to a garden with no mulch.
I recommend using organic mulch made at home from grass and leaf clippings. I'll have another article later today on how to make the mulch.
To apply mulch, simply put a nice layer down around the base of the plants. I like to make it 2-3 inches thick if the plants allow. Remember to keep the good plants foliage above the layer of mulch to receive the sunlight while cutting off the weeds below to cut them off from the sunlight.
As the mulch decomposes, it will provide a nice balanced diet for the plants. It finishes it's composting cycle while protecting your plants.Food, protection, and weed control all wrapped into one. Mulch does take some work now, but saves so much more later on.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Keep Beet Greens
Many people do not realize when they trim their beets and throw out the greens they are wasting more good food. The leaves are a great additive to a salad. It is more of a bitter taste so don't make your salad with only beet leaves.
Beet leave have a nice red veiny look to them that adds a nice colorful cheer to any salad. Don't let my comment about being bitter let me scare you away from using them. They do not over power the taste of the salad when used in moderation. There is no sense in getting rid of good food from the garden. Beet leaves are full of goodies for your body.
To use them, simply cut the stem off and soak the greens in some ice water for about 5 minutes or so. Pat them dry with a paper towel and put them into your salad. All that is left is enjoying more of your harvest than ever before.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Beet leave have a nice red veiny look to them that adds a nice colorful cheer to any salad. Don't let my comment about being bitter let me scare you away from using them. They do not over power the taste of the salad when used in moderation. There is no sense in getting rid of good food from the garden. Beet leaves are full of goodies for your body.
To use them, simply cut the stem off and soak the greens in some ice water for about 5 minutes or so. Pat them dry with a paper towel and put them into your salad. All that is left is enjoying more of your harvest than ever before.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Thinning Beets & Carrots
You may not want to consider it, but it is important to remove some of the plants you have starting to grow. When I first started to garden, I refused to thin because I felt like I was wasting some of the seedlings that began to grow. Now, after a few years, I realize it is very important to get some of them out of the way for the good ones to grow bigger.
In order for the plants to grow more freely, you have to give them the space they need. Plants will not grow as well if there is another plant right on top of it. You have to remove some of them to give the others room to grow. You can try to transplant them, but I typically just throw them into the compost bin.
When I plant, I typically put 2-3 seeds per spot just in case some do not grow. When they all do grow, the thinning process must be completed. In each spot, find the best looking one and leave it alone. Take the other couple out of that area. This way you get to pick the best of the crop to finish growing. Less plants with more room will produce more than more plants with less room.
Timing usually is not too critical, but you do not want to wait too long as the roots underground may start to intertwine and then when you try to pull one you wind up pulling the ones you wanted to keep. So, thin them out before they get too large, but also wait until they are well set into their growth pattern. Give the plants the room they need and the bounty will follow.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
My Garden has Shingles
Don't get scared, these shingles are serving a good purpose. I found a new way to use some of the extra crap taking up room in my garage. I had a pile of unused shingles in my garage that don't match the roof on my house. What am I going to do with them now?
I plant my plants on top of mounded rows, click here to read why. Pulling the weeds on top of the mounds doesn't take all that long, so it is not so bad to do. Now, what about the walking path between the rows? I do not want to spend hours pulling weeds from a walking path, but it also looks terrible with tons of weeds growing in the garden. I'm going to choke them out.
As you can see in the video, I simply laid shingles along the path right over the top of the weeds. Weeds are just like any other plant and needs the sunlight to grow. The shingles will totally cut them off, and they make a nice walking surface. I just overlapped them a little bit to make sure the weeds are covered well. I don't see a need to nail them together or anything. This way they should still be good for next year, granted they can take the walking on. I'm not a roofer so I'm just guessing.
Other options would be to use a dark colored plastic tarp or sheeting, or lay some untreated wood down. Wood will most likely rot through the season, but if it is something you have laying around with no other use, why not? The idea is to cut the sunlight from the weeds, thus "choking them out". I hope you can use this to figure out a way to control your weeds in unused areas of the garden.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Rain Barrels Illegal?
I was recently asked by a reader if collection of rainwater was against the law in certain areas. I was shocked to find out that it actually is unlawful to collect rainwater in a couple of states. Utah, Colorado, and Washington all have laws in place prohibiting the collection of rainwater according to NaturalNews.com http://www.naturalnews.com/029286_rainwater_collection_water.html.
This is just ridiculous to me. Our planet is in need of people willing to do more to protect the natural resources that are left and being over consumed. I can not believe that the government would ban people from collecting the rainwater that falls onto their houses. Do government officials really think this is a bad thing?
It has to be about the money. What other explanation can there be for these preposterous laws? The people that care enough about the planet to try and conserve water and their carbon footprint on this planet are costing the government money. They use less water from the treatment plant, therefore the city or county operating the plant makes a little less money. This is a perfect example of why our planet is in such a predicament with natural resources.
I believe in water conservation and think it should be a responsibility of all citizens, not a right or a privilege. I can not think of one good reason that collecting rain water should be banned. According to the same article stated above from NaturalNews.com, the local governments have been working to change the laws to fit today's needs. Many are letting small scale collection units be setup like one at a person's home. Large scale projects, however, are still prohibited.
There is a news story that can be found here on YouTube.com regarding a setup that sparked the attention to the legality of rainwater collection. This guy just wanted to save water by using rainwater to wash cars. What is wrong with that? It's good they worked with the guy on it afterward, but I think it is wrong that he has to buy water rights for the rain falling on his building. He paid for the building and the property it is on which is rights enough by my standards.
Thank God it is not illegal in my state. You can check you area here: http://www.harvesth2o.com/statues_regulations.shtml. Some states have no regulations, some just limit the amount to a few thousand gallons, and other actuall offer incentives to collect rainwater. Incentives are a great way to get people wanting to conserve water. All states should be offering incentives or at least letting people conserve if they want to. I only intend to increase my capacities and urge you to do the same, laws depending I guess.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
This is just ridiculous to me. Our planet is in need of people willing to do more to protect the natural resources that are left and being over consumed. I can not believe that the government would ban people from collecting the rainwater that falls onto their houses. Do government officials really think this is a bad thing?
It has to be about the money. What other explanation can there be for these preposterous laws? The people that care enough about the planet to try and conserve water and their carbon footprint on this planet are costing the government money. They use less water from the treatment plant, therefore the city or county operating the plant makes a little less money. This is a perfect example of why our planet is in such a predicament with natural resources.
I believe in water conservation and think it should be a responsibility of all citizens, not a right or a privilege. I can not think of one good reason that collecting rain water should be banned. According to the same article stated above from NaturalNews.com, the local governments have been working to change the laws to fit today's needs. Many are letting small scale collection units be setup like one at a person's home. Large scale projects, however, are still prohibited.
There is a news story that can be found here on YouTube.com regarding a setup that sparked the attention to the legality of rainwater collection. This guy just wanted to save water by using rainwater to wash cars. What is wrong with that? It's good they worked with the guy on it afterward, but I think it is wrong that he has to buy water rights for the rain falling on his building. He paid for the building and the property it is on which is rights enough by my standards.
Thank God it is not illegal in my state. You can check you area here: http://www.harvesth2o.com/statues_regulations.shtml. Some states have no regulations, some just limit the amount to a few thousand gallons, and other actuall offer incentives to collect rainwater. Incentives are a great way to get people wanting to conserve water. All states should be offering incentives or at least letting people conserve if they want to. I only intend to increase my capacities and urge you to do the same, laws depending I guess.
Remember, Mother Earth smiles when you garden!
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