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With organic gardening, especially at the outset, comes a few new challenges for transitioning growers. Pesticides and other chemicals have, for several decades, become the go-to solution for all things in the garden, and now that many of us are clearing our heads from that fog, we are left to rediscover methods for dealing with everyday garden problems.

When herbicides have been the trick for combating weeds, how do we do it without the chemicals? Where aphids once elicited a poison spray (on our food no less), how do we now stop them from eating our crops? When voles are feasting, how do we protect our food without resorting to awful compound killers? This is our food after all, so we have cause to protect it! If we have to do so without chemicals (which seems a form of protection in its own right), what are we to do?

The permaculture way is to find somewhat natural solutions (we kind of stage them) to such problems. Bill Mollison is famously quoted as claiming there isn’t slug problem but rather a duck shortage. In other words, we can control slugs with ducks and get more production from the system on the whole. With permaculture techniques, solutions to problems have multiple functions in the garden. Not only will pest insects be thwarted, but pollinators will be invited. Not only will weeds be suppressed, but the soil life will be enlivened. Stacking solutions is how permaculture gardens, much more organically than typical organic gardens, handle weeds and pests, as well as fertility, soil structuring, and so on.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Real Food Does Not Come From Supermarkets: 6 Steps From Bare Ground to Homegrown Cauliflowers

July 3, 2018

REAL FOOD DOES NOT COME FROM SUPERMARKETS: 6 STEPS FROM BARE GROUND TO HOMEGROWN CAULIFLOWERS

I imagine that when our grandchildren and great grandchildren read in history books about the supermarkets we relied upon for food, they’ll wonder what we were thinking.

My goal is to get to where our family can live without the supermarket entirely. There are many things we have yet to learn, but we’re well on our way.

We already raise all of our own meat and eggs, and most of our dairy foods. Some fruit trees are in, although not producing yet.

The number one food growing focus for us right now is learning to grow more of our own vegies. In this article I share the steps we recently took to get from bare ground to our first ever homegrown cauliflower.

By the end of the article you’ll appreciate that if we can do it, anyone can.

Step 1: Marking it out and setting up the framework

In early March, Alain and I finished clearing the space for our new covered vegie garden and erected our new vegie net, to see how it fitted.

Once we were sure we had it all in the right place, we took the netting off again to work on the beds.

12th March – Posts in, marquee frame in place, vegie net lying in foreground.

The 6 large white outside posts consist of a steel picket driven into the ground, with a piece of white pipe placed over them. The frame in the middle is an old marquee frame that we got second hand.

The area is approximately 6m by 5m.

Step 2: Digging trenches for the mounded garden beds

For this garden we wanted to raise the beds (our climate can be very wet), but we didn’t have materials to create the sides of raised beds, and we didn’t want to spend money on such materials.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Vegetable Consumption Increases When Children Learn To Garden

June 17, 2018

Vegetable Consumption Increases When Children Learn To Garden

Most of us know by now that increasing our consumption of fruits and vegetables and limiting processed foods will lead us down a path of nutritional sustenance and health for years to come. Now studies are even suggesting that simply teaching a school-aged child about the importance of gardening and growing your own food can cause them to make the choice to eat more vegetables.

Any parent knows that children are often reluctant to eat their vegetables, especially considering the processed yet flavorful foods they are surrounded with anymore. But teaching them to grow food in a garden can help change this trend. They can’t grow a Cheeto!

In a study conducted by Parmer et al., second graders who participated in school gardening as part of a nutrition education class increased their selection and consumption of vegetables at school, compared to second graders who did not participate in gardening. In addition, students who gardened demonstrated a higher preference for the fruits and vegetables that they had sampled. This suggests that children want to actually try the foods they grow themselves leading them to make healthier choices even at a young age.

But that isn’t the only study that looked at the effects a vegetable garden can have on our children. In another study, which was conducted by Ratcliffe et al., middle schoolers with garden-based nutritional education demonstrated a higher preference for vegetables than the students who were not exposed to garden-based nutritional education. Students who gardened were also more willing to taste vegetables and increased the variety of vegetables they ate at school. Since most Middle schoolers have more freedom when it comes to making food choices than elementary school students, they often tend to eat fewer vegetables as they approach their adolescent years.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Everything You Need to Know To Grow a Big Crop of Cucumbers

May 8, 2018

Everything You Need to Know To Grow a Big Crop of Cucumbers

Nothing beats the summer heat like a fresh cucumber from the garden. These sun-loving vegetables are great for first-time gardeners and easy to grow.

Pickling cucumbers, like Boston Picklers are prolific when they get going and are perfect for canning, but slicing cucumbers are best for salads. Did you know that cucumbers have electrolytes and are high in potassium? So they’re a wonderfully refreshing snack to help you beat the Summer heat!

Here are some cucumber growing facts:

For one person, plant two to three plants in the garden.
On average, one cucumber plant produces two to three pounds of fresh cucumbers.
For square foot gardeners, all you need are two plants per square foot.
Did you know you can grow cucumbers inside for year-round cucumbers? Planting in a greenhouse or area of the home where cross-pollination cannot take place is best.

Growing Tips for Lots of Cucumbers

There are two methods you can use to grow cucumbers:

Starting cucumbers indoors

Cucumbers can be started indoors in peat pots or small flats and transplanted in a few weeks to the garden. The best time to start seeds is three to four weeks before the last frost. Plant 1 seed per pot in moist soil and place in a sunny window. Seeds should emerge within a few days. Give cucumbers plenty of sun and lots moisture until 3-4 true leaves grow. Begin hardening off cucumber plants by setting them outside for a few hours each day until they are used to extended hours of sunlight.

When young plants are ready to be moved to the garden, wait to plant in the ground until soil temperatures reach 70 degrees F and take extra care to protect young cucumbers from frost.

Directly sow seeds in the garden

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

10 Gardening Tips for Growing Market-Worthy Tomatoes

March 17, 2018

10 Gardening Tips for Growing Market-Worthy Tomatoes

There is nothing like seeing clumps of repining super-sized tomatoes on the vine – That’s the sign of a happy, growing garden. But tomatoes can be problematic and prone to certain issues. Blossom end rot, nutritional deficiencies, blight, and invasive hornworms are just a few of the problems a gardener may have when growing tomatoes. Many of these issues can be corrected early on by giving the tomato the right growing conditions.

10 Gardening Tips for Growing the Juiciest Tomatoes

Some of the most popular types of tomato varieties planted are the beefsteak tomato, Celebrity, Early Girl, and the Cherry Tomatoes. The tomato plant can grow up to 6 feet tall and requires trellising or support. Tomatoes typically take about 85 days to harvest. And to get those big, delicious red orbs to grow, it requires a lot of nutrients.

Choose a fertilizer that has a balanced ratio of the three major elements, such as 10-10-10, or where the middle number (phosphorus) is larger than the first number (nitrogen), such as 2-3-1. Tomatoes are heavy feeders and usually do need fertilizer unless your soil is very rich.

Use some o these gardening tips to ensure your tomato harvest is the best one yet!

1. Choose the right varieties.

There are many types of tomato varieties to choose from. One that I always recommend is the heirloom varieties. These seeds have been around for generations and were bred for flavor, adaptability and growing performance. As well, many of these seeds are open-pollinated and the seeds can be saved for the next harvest. This ensures you have plenty of tomatoes to eat fresh, preserve or make delicious sauces with.

2. Location, location, location!

Tomatoes love bright locations where they receive 10 hours or more of sunlight. Full morning sun is always the best location, but tomatoes will do well with some afternoon sun too. As well, ensure that you have properly spaced your plants.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Dirt Cheap: The Best Frugal Gardening Ideas on the Internet

March 6, 2018

Dirt Cheap: The Best Frugal Gardening Ideas on the Internet

With the price of healthful groceries going no place but up, lots of thrifty folks are starting a garden to save money on their bills this year. But what about the money to start a garden? It can be a very expensive undertaking, especially if you’ve never gardened before in your particular location.

I’ve been researching ways to start my own garden as inexpensively as possible and thought, “HEY!!! I know some other folks who would absolutely love frugal gardening ideas!” So…here they are.

Step One: What Kind of Garden Are You Going to Grow?

Of course, the very first thing to decide is what type of garden will work best for your situation. This will depend a lot on your soil, your climate, your skill set, and what you have easy and inexpensive access to. Following are some articles and books that will help you make your decision.

Pallet Gardens: Simple, Easy, Free

Straw Bale Gardens Complete

How to Build a Recycled Greenhouse

Create an Instant Garden with Sheet Mulching

Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!

DIY Metal Raised Beds

DIY Super Easy Raised Garden Bed for Under $30

How to Build a Raised Garden Bed for $12

For those who aren’t build-y: Big Bag Fabric Raised Beds (I have used these with great success for veggies with shallow roots and as a bonus, you can use them on concrete if you’re gardening on a patio.)

Using Pallets to Make Free Raised Garden Beds

Square Foot Gardening: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space

15 Fruits and Veggies You Can Grow in a Bucket Garden

PVC Drip Irrigation System for Your Garden

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

A Step-By-Step Guide for Starting Seeds Indoors

February 11, 2018

A Step-By-Step Guide for Starting Seeds Indoors

While the weather outside is still on the chilly side, many are making use of their time indoors and get a headstart on the upcoming gardening season by starting seeds indoors. Doing so results in earlier and longer harvests. This economic gardening method doesn’t require special equipment – just some moist soil, comfortable temperatures, and some TLC!

Seeds need perfect growing conditions to grow healthy: water – allows the seed to swell up and the embryo to start growing, oxygen – so that energy can be released for germination, and warmth – germination improves as temperature rises.

Starting longer growing varieties like herbs, broccoli, cauliflower, and onions can greatly benefit from indoor growing methods. This gives the gardener a headstart and helps to control the growing environment.

A Step-By-Step Guide for Starting Seeds Indoors

Home gardeners can start vegetable and flower seedlings indoors between 4 to12 weeks before the last average spring frost in their area, which means it’s time to get started! Above all, start with good seeds. At Ready Gardens, we prefer time-tested heirloom varieties. These plants have been shown to have outstanding flavor and good harvests. Heck, if these seeds were good enough for my grandparents, they’re good enough for me. As well, you want to ensure that your seed starting mix has nutrients to feed young plants when they start growing their true leaves. Adding perlite and vermiculite can do wonders for emerging seedlings.

Fill a flat or other container with moist, sterile germination mix. Add enough mix to fill the container within an inch of the rim. Gently pat the soil down for even distribution.
Plant seeds according to their growing instructions. Some seeds can be planted in rows or scattered onto the soil’s surface. Typically, seeds need to be planted at 1/2 inch below the soil surface and covered with soil.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How To Grow Vegetables Year-Round in Container Gardens

January 27, 2018

How To Grow Vegetables Year-Round in Container Gardens

For many of us, our jobs dictate that we live near a city and, as a result, our yards are smaller and may not provide adequate space for a large garden. As well, those that are renting homes may also be limited to what they can do with a yard. For a short time, I lived in the sprawling outskirts of Houston, TX where my yard was not very big. I had to get creative in terms of where to grow my plants. I started dabbling in container gardening and got pretty good at it.

I utilized my lack of space with a patio garden where I had herbs, vegetables, and berries growing. As well, I had pots of fruit trees started and vertical gardening systems hanging so I could make use of as much space and lighting as possible.

When we don’t have the option of moving out into the sprawling countryside to live off of the land, we have to make use of what we have. Urban and suburbanites can garden in their small spaces using some of the most popular vertical gardening and small space gardening techniques:

Vertical gardening systems
Window boxes
Grow bags
Ceramic containers
Pallets
Hanging planters

Container Plants Prefer Lots of Drainage

Ensure that your pots and containers have adequate drainage holes at the bottom. Plants do not like to sit in soggy soil and will quickly develop root rot, as a result. Plant shallow-rooted plants such as small herbs, green leafy vegetables, strawberries, and green onions which can be grown close to one another and will help plant roots stay shaded from the hot sun. This is a principle of xeriscaping and will also help to cut down on watering.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

In a Stateless World, Can You Grow Veggies In Your Front Yard?

December 14, 2017

In a Stateless World, Can You Grow Veggies In Your Front Yard?

The Miami Herald reports that a local couple is going all the way to the state supreme court to fight a local ordinance banning front-yard vegetable gardens:

Hermine Ricketts and her husband Tom Carroll may grow fruit trees and flowers in the front yard of their Miami Shores house…

Vegetables, however, are not allowed.

Ricketts and Carroll thought they were gardeners when they grew tomatoes, beets, scallions, spinach, kale and multiple varieties of Asian cabbage. But according to a village ordinance that restricts edible plants to backyards only, they were actually criminals.

“That’s what government does – interferes in people’s lives,” Ricketts said. “We had that garden for 17 years. We ate fresh meals every day from that garden. Since the village stepped its big foot in it, they have ruined our garden and my health.”

These sorts of stories pop up several times a year. They are often discussed at free-market oriented and libertarian sites to illustrate just the myriad of ways that the state interferes in our daily lives. Many times, they intervene to prohibit totally innocuous activities like growing a front-yard garden.

What articles like these often fail to point out of course, is that these laws didn’t appear out of nowhere. They are often passed because some voters demanded the city council or the county commission pass laws prohibiting front-yard gardens, or backyard chicken coops, or other non-violent activities deemed by some to be a nuisance to the neighborhood. These laws then persist over time because the majority of voters either agree with the laws, or don’t feel strongly enough about the matter to demand a change.

In Miami Shores, the law against front-yard gardens was likely passed because at least a few people felt that front yard gardens were not so innocuous after all.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Winter is Coming

November 7, 2017

Winter is Coming

Fall has finally arrived. It’s November, well past the time of year when we normally see freezing temperatures. This year was unusually warm, a phrase that is beginning to lose its meaning since most years now are usually warm. The leaves on the trees are finally turning color. The nights are going to be freezing this week. I look over the garden and see a few peppers I missed and remind myself to pick them before nightfall. I collected masses of dill that reseeded itself from spring plantings. I’ve learned that if I freeze the dill in tomato sauce I canned this summer the flavor in soup is the same as if it’s been picked fresh. Good to know these things if you like the taste of fresh dill in winter soup. I look over the garden and see bunches of herbs I need to pick before the frost or they will be lost to the freeze. I worry about wasting them, and then I smile, remembering that the plants will give me another crop next year. I’m still getting used to this experience of bounty from the perennials in the garden. I’m still conditioned to think of food and herbs as things I purchase from the store, not wanting to waste money by allowing them to go bad. Store bought food is so easily wasted. Gardens are more generous!

Most of my life I’ve been a person who worried about waste; don’t waste electricity, don’t waste your food, “There are starving children in China”. I wonder what was in the news in the 60’s when my mother used this phrase to make us feel guilty for not eating all the food on our plates. Were there stories of people starving in China? What happened, I wonder, to all the starving children?

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Manure: An Overview of This Shi…ning Addition to the Garden

October 20, 2017

MANURE: AN OVERVIEW OF THIS SHI…NING ADDITION TO THE GARDEN

Organic gardens really benefit from manure, and that is no mystery. However, it’s important to be aware of what kind of manure is at your disposal because they are not all equally desirable. Some manures, dare we say, are choice garden additions, while others take a lot of coaxing, a slow and patient cook, from composting gurus. Chicken manure is vastly different from cow manure, which is largely different dog manure.

Understanding some of the subtleties of manure, even in the most basic of ways, can make a huge difference to how, when, and for what you are using a particular pile. For those of us who aren’t connoisseurs of manures, it’s important to get a grasp of which ones we’d most like to get our hands on (or in) and which ones aren’t necessarily best suited for growing our food but could be useful elsewhere. So, with no further puns, let us dive head first into the wonderful world of animal excrement.

MANURE IS MAGNIFICENT

Firstly, it seems useful to know why it is that manure is such a valuable commodity. In the garden, it does two things very well: amends the soil and fertilizes the plants. Dry, well-rotted manure is great for retaining water and very useful in sandy soils, whereas the same thing goes along way in lightening up dense clay soils. In either case, fast-draining or compacted soils, manure helps reduce runoff and nutrient leaching. As far as fertilizing, manure carries a good punch of nitrogen (The type of manure changes the levels) and other nutrients, both of which release it slowly (Again, the speed changes via type) to the plants. It’s also full of microbes, which up the amount of soil life, thus fertility, in the garden.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

A Primer on Creating Soil

October 12, 2017

A PRIMER ON CREATING SOIL

Good agriculture depends on good soil. The problem over the past 10,000 years of our human attempt to live off the land (and especially during the last sixty years or so), is that crops take nutrients from the soil, and without proper husbandry, soil fertility will deplete. The “pseudo-solution” offered by the Green Revolution has been to import petroleum-based fertilizers to make up for our lack of stewardship of the soil´s fertility, though the negative effects and rampant unsustainability of that approach are well known.

Every agrarian culture around the world has developed their own systems for trying to maintain the balance between our human need for food and the soil´s need to be replenished. From “night soil” being applied to rice fields in China, to leaving large patches of land fallow to naturally recuperate, to actively incorporating animal manures, agrarian people have known that their livelihoods depend on the continued fertility of the land.

What follows are a few simple suggestions on how all of us can participate in the ongoing work of creating the fertile soil upon which all of our lives depend.

THE COMPOST PILE

The compost pile is a necessary part of every homestead and every garden. It is by far the easiest way to recycle kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaf litter, and even your dog´s poop into rich, fertile soil that will add fertility and fecundity to every garden bed. Making compost is simply the process of providing the necessary conditions so that the millions of microscopic organisms can feast on your leftovers. Like lasagna gardening, it is basically the process of stacking up in layers a variety of different organic materials to allow them to decompose.

While there is no “recipe” for making compost, here are some general guidelines:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How Do You Use Urine?

October 12, 2017

HOW DO YOU USE URINE?

Composting toilets are a great thing. They take what has become a problem in modern systems—human excrement—and make it into something useful: rich compost. Despite simple and effective ways of making composting toilets, humanure does still bring about some controversy with those who are worried about pathogens. Confident composters won’t hesitate to put a well-rotted humanure compost in vegetable gardens, whereas less trusting composters opt for applying it to fruit trees. The important thing about either type of composter, however, is that we start making the most of cycling the waste rather than contaminating our water sources.

With all of that said, urine is a completely different excretion, one that really doesn’t need to set off the same alarm bells. Most basic composting toilets are anti-urine, concerned about the high moisture levels, though some argue this needn’t be the case, that the moisture is actually good for the thunderbox. Nevertheless, the idea remains that urine is something else we should be thinking about. Unlike solid waste, urine applied to gardens doesn’t come with the risk of pathogens; rather, it is just, some would say, pure gold. In fact, it can be used in many different ways for boosting production.

MAKE WEE FOR THE GARDEN?

Urine Bucket (Courtesy of SuSanA Secretariat)

Urine is very high in nitrogen, so much so that it should be diluted a minimum ratio of 1:10 with water before being used on plants. The wee of one person is said to be rich enough to fertilize a tenth of an acre of vegetable garden for the year. Once diluted the micturition mixture, or tinkle tincture if you like, should be applied within twenty-four hours of the urine being expelled. Older urine can become a bacterial issue, and a smelly one at that.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Best Perennial Vegetables

October 1, 2017

THE BEST PERENNIAL VEGETABLES

One of the tasks that I most dislike about the farming life is preparing the raised beds each time I want to plant out a crop of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, or onion. While I do enjoy eating a fresh tomato from my garden, the tedious, repetitive tasks of preparing the garden bed, weeding, and then planting out a winter cover crop does take up more time than I would like. Pasturing chickens over the beds in the fall time once the crops have stopped producing, does save some human labor, but with our orchards, pastures, and forests to take care of, I often find myself without adequate time to dedicate to beds of annual vegetables.

AN EXPERIMENT WITH ASPARAGUS

About three years ago, I purchased a bag of about 5,000 Mary Washington Asparagus Seeds. The seedlings germinated well in our cold, wet, mountain climate, and my family and I decided to dedicate about half of our on contour garden terraces (about ¼ of an acre) to the Asparagus crop. After a day or two of weeding and preparing the soil, we planted out the crop, mulched them heavily, and then eventually forgot about the Asparagus for several months as other farm jobs took over our attention.

About six months later, and two days of heavy weeding, we found the asparagus crop to be thriving despite our neglect. While we weren´t able to harvest the crop for the next two years, the Asparagus grew to cover the entire three terraces, essentially shading out most of the weeds. During the spring of the third year, we were gifted with bountiful amounts of asparagus that not only would be harvested this year, but for decades to come.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Cold Frames, How and Why

September 29, 2017

COLD FRAMES, HOW AND WHY

Before moving to the temperate climate, I’d assumed that winter was pretty much a wash for growing a decent crop. I knew soils were good and summers abundant, all of which led to lots of food storage for getting through winter. I even looked forward to the squashes and pumpkins, and I couldn’t wait for the berries and hard fruits. That all seemed doable, even exciting in a way, but the thought of shutting the garden production down still felt scary.

I always assumed some winter crops were there to be had in a glasshouse. I imagined growing enough greens for salads, but I also knew that a giant glasshouse is a bit too costly for a low-income homesteading couple, even without trying to heat it. Emma and I, as with every hopeful designer, daydreamed of a small attached glasshouse to help with passively heating our house, but there is only so much that can grow in one of those.

Cold frames were something I knew about, and even before investigating them further, they seemed a decent solution to this problem. Now, I ‘m really keen. Not only are they a way of growing a full bevy of crops in the winter (there is a lot to be grown, even in freezing weather), but also they can pretty quickly be pieced together with scrap and salvaged materials. In other words, they are effective and inexpensive, as well as easy to sustainably source.

THE BASIC BUILD

Cold frames are so simple in design: Essentially, it’s four sides of a bottomless box with a window on top. They aren’t necessarily restricted by any size specifications, so they can more or less be designed to fit whatever windows or storm doors someone happens to find. The sides can be made from many different materials, including stones, bricks, cob, straw bales, logs, or scrap wood.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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