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Original source of this post: www.howweflourish.com There is a great blog we recently came across, howweflourish.com.  She recently wrote about why and how everyone should be growing and eating broccoli sprouts.  The results are overwhelmingly positive. DID YOU KNOW?  Broccoli sprouts are 10x – 100x higher in some cancer fighting compounds than the actual...

Fall and winter gardens are possible, even when growing in containers. Stick with these cool-weather crops and planting suggestions for success. Don’t wait.  Now is the perfect time to order your seeds online and start planting! Believe it or not, September – October are great times to start these seeds listed below …. First, we’re going to break it down by container size. ...

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How to Read Your Plant’s Yellow LeavesEven the most talented and educated gardeners will have to deal with yellowing leaves at some point or another. And that statement rings truer for those who maintain urban gardens and indoor plants since potted plants have a hard time getting the necessary nutrients they need for sustenance.That’s why Safer Brand put together...

5 Quick Growing Vegetables

Gardening isn’t usually a process that should be rushed. It takes time to prepare a spot that you’ll be planting in, and patience usually pays off when you’re growing your own food. There are a few crops, however, that always mature fairly quick.  If you’re short on time during your growing season or just want to get your toes wet as a first time gardener, we’ve put together a list of a few crops that are quick to grow and will have you harvesting your own homegrown veggies in no time at all.

 

1. Lettuce

shutterstock_107233463_1024x1024Learn how to grow your own organic Lettuce >

Lettuce – (Harvest in about 30 days) Lettuce is a wonderful crop to grow, and matures fairly quickly. Sow new lettuce seeds every 30 days for a continuous harvest that will provide you with fresh leafy greens year-round.  Lettuce prefers cooler temps, somewhere around 50-60 degrees but will also thrive during the summer if grown in the cool shade.  Have a sunny window? It grows wonderful indoors as well.  Short on space? Lettuce loves being grown in containers and usually doesn’t mind being crowded when planted so you can sow your seeds fairly close together as long as you’re not sowing varieties that produce a round head.

 

2. Radish

shutterstock_45890116_1024x1024Learn how to grow your own organic Radish >

Radishes – (Harvest in about 20-25 days) Want a fast growing crop that packs a ton of flavor?  Radishes take up very little gardening space, grow very quickly, and can come in over 200 varieties with a wide array of colors, shapes, sizes and flavors.   They grow well in containers, and prefer full sun however some varieties can be grown in partial shade.  In cooler climates they can be planted in both the spring and fall. In warmer climates they should be grown over winter.

 

3. Spinach

700xshutterstock_200666138_1024x1024Learn how to grow your own organic  Spinach >

Spinach – (Harvest in about 30-45 days) Baby spinach leaves can be harvested about a month after planting. The smaller leaves are loaded with flavor, regardless of the variety you choose.  Harvest the larger leaves at the base and allow the plant to continue growing and you’ll be able to harvest from a plant for quite a few weeks before it goes to seed.  It grows a lot like lettuce, so try and grow it in cooler temps. or in the shade during the summer.   Also grows well in containers and doesn’t require a lot of space in the garden.

 

4. Bush Beans

700xshutterstock_95261911_1024x1024Learn how to grow your own organic Beans >

Bush Beans– (Harvest in about 50 days) Beans love warmer temps. and seeds can be sown every two weeks during the summer to ensure a continuous harvest.  Bush beans usually produce most of their beans within a 2 week period.

 

5.  Peas

700xshutterstock_194277455_1024x1024Learn how to grow your own organic Peas >

Peas- (Harvest in about 60 days)  Peas are a wonderful cool season crop that take up virtually no space since they grow vertically on a trellis.   They do best when directly sowed. The simplest way to prolong harvest is to plant early, mid season, and late varieties at one time rather than sowing every 2 weeks.

14 Urban Gardening TipsWhether it’s using leftover coffee grounds from your morning brew, drying herbs on the backseat of your car or using soap under your fingernails before digging into the soil… Paul James, a Master Gardener shares his top 14 gardening tips that will save you time, energy and money in the garden. This post was originally shared on HGTV.com.

Here, the latest tips and tricks from Paul James, host of Gardening by the Yard:

1. To remove the salt deposits that form on clay pots, combine equal parts white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle. Apply the mixture to the pot and scrub with a plastic brush. Let the pot dry before you plant anything in it.

2. To prevent accumulating dirt under your fingernails while you work in the garden, draw your fingernails across a bar of soap and you’ll effectively seal the undersides of your nails so dirt can’t collect beneath them. Then, after you’ve finished in the garden, use a nailbrush to remove the soap and your nails will be sparkling clean.

3. To prevent the line on your string trimmer from jamming or breaking, treat with a spray vegetable oil before installing it in the trimmer.

4. Turn a long-handled tool into a measuring stick! Lay a long-handled garden tool on the ground, and next to it place a tape measure. Using a permanent marker, write inch and foot marks on the handle. When you need to space plants a certain distance apart (from just an inch to several feet) you’ll already have a measuring device in your hand.

5. To have garden twine handy when you need it, just stick a ball of twine in a small clay pot, pull the end of the twine through the drainage hole, and set the pot upside down in the garden. Do that, and you’ll never go looking for twine again.

6. Little clay pots make great cloches for protecting young plants from sudden, overnight frosts and freezes.

7. To turn a clay pot into a hose guide, just stab a roughly one-foot length of steel reinforcing bar into the ground at the corner of a bed and slip two clay pots over it: one facing down, the other facing up. The guides will prevent damage to your plants as you drag the hose along the bed.

8. To create perfectly natural markers, write the names of plants (using a permanent marker) on the flat faces of stones of various sizes and place them at or near the base of your plants.

9. Got aphids? You can control them with a strong blast of water from the hose or with insecticidal soap. But here’s another suggestion, one that’s a lot more fun; get some tape! Wrap a wide strip of tape around your hand, sticky side out, and pat the leaves of plants infested with aphids. Concentrate on the undersides of leaves, because that’s where the little buggers like to hide.

10. The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don’t pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you’ll be amazed at how the plants respond to the “vegetable soup.”

11. Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias and even blueberries. A light sprinkling of about one-quarter of an inch applied once a month will keep the pH of the soil on the acidic side.

12. Use chamomile tea to control damping-off fungus, which often attacks young seedlings quite suddenly. Just add a spot of tea to the soil around the base of seedlings once a week or use it as a foliar spray.

13. If you need an instant table for tea service, look no farther than your collection of clay pots and saucers. Just flip a good-sized pot over, and top it off with a large saucer. And when you’ve had your share of tea, fill the saucer with water, and your “table” is now a birdbath.

14. The quickest way in the world to dry herbs: just lay a sheet of newspaper on the seat of your car, arrange the herbs in a single layer, then roll up the windows and close the doors. Your herbs will be quickly dried to perfection. What’s more, your car will smell great.
View the original post here: http://www.hgtv.com/design/outdoor-design/landscaping-and-hardscaping/14-simple-gardening-tips-and-tricks

Julie from homereadyhome.com just published a great article highlighting important Container Gardening Tips (for Beginners).  Click here to view the original post: http://homereadyhome.com/5-container-gardening-tips-for-beginners/ Here’s a quick preview of what she has has to say about container gardening: 1. Don’t “grow” overboard.   “Container gardening requires a time commitment. You’ll need to be more hands-on (ie. watering and fertilizing) with plants in pots than plants in the ground. Your container garden will...

Posted on Feb 22 2015 - 7:40pm by UOG
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Bet you didn’t know you could grow all these different plants in containers!  Give it a try.  You might just be surprised!   ...

Source: NaturallyLoriel.com Naturally Loriel recently published a blog post on a very important topic:  How to Source Non-GMO Seeds. She says, “You begin to learn which food companies deserve your support and try to find a local farmer’s market in your area. You realize it’s so important to meet and shake the hands of the farmer that produces your food. Unfortunately though, you’re not...

StarTribune article and images from December 17 by Kim Palmer Season-extending structures are helping some Minnesota gardeners defy winter. Even in late November, Dawn Pape’s newest garden was a welcome sight for winter-weary eyes. In her Shoreview yard, under a blanket of snow, is a polycarbonate-topped, 2- by 8-foot box — or “cold frame.” Brush aside the show, lift the lid, and inside was...

Growing your own food is exciting, not only because you get to see things grow from nothing into ready-to-eat fruits and veggies, but you also don’t have to worry about the pesticides they might contain, and you definitely cut down on the miles they—and you—have to travel. If you’re up to the challenge—and it really isn’t much of one—growing your own food can be so rewarding. And so...

Posted on Oct 10 2014 - 6:02am by UOG
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From AvantGardens “Compost is a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land. Home composting reduces the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides and encourages a higher yield in crops. Consisting of nutrient-rich brown and green material, compost creation is low-maintenance and can be done on both small and large scales.” Creating...

The strangest posts wind up causing some controversy. It doesn’t make sense to me. When I wrote about why having an emergency seed bank is important, I didn’t quite get the reaction that I’d expect. I received emails, Facebook comments and Tweets saying that I couldn’t be more wrong about storing the seeds and that freezing them was a horrible idea. I’ll admit that I have...

Here is a simple trick to make you the boss of the picnic. Create a refreshing watermelon smoothie with essentially no mess in 2 minutes. ...

Take a peek at an Urban Garden growing food in containers, right in downtown Fort Lauderdale! John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com/ goes on a field trip to downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida to share with you a urban farm who grows food in 100% containers. In this episode, you will learn about Fort Lauderdale Vegetables who grow food in the city and teach about decentralized farming. You will...

This post and its images are from this website: http://theyarden.com (link to the article). Troughs, also known as stock tanks, make a great and attractive alternative to wooden raised beds. They’re easy to use (no building required!) and cost-wise not a bad investment as they will last forever and keep burrowing animals out. If you pick one 36″ or higher, they’ll also keep bunnies out, too Look...

Spring is here… getting lots of messages about starting your first container garden. You are excited and nervous. And for good reason. You’ve lots to do in the next couple months! Why your garden will fail The 3 reasons your garden will fail this year. 1. You want to grow a farmers market in your small space. You want to grow tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers,...

What can I grow? That’s the most common question that I get asked. First, you’ll have to decide on the location of your urban garden. Then you’ll have to determine how much sunlight your garden space gets. There are four main categories of sunlight: Full sun. 6+ hours of direct sunlight. Partial sun. 4-5 hours of direct sunlight. Partial shade. 2-4 hours of direct sunlight. Shade Less than 1 hour of direct sunlight. Since we are living in urban environments, we have other structures that we are dealing...

It’s December that means it’s time to start breaking out the “2011” lists. Here are five things that I learned about gardening in 2011. Getting a Better Yield in Your Container Garden One way to achieve this is through succession planting. That is when you space out your plantings, so as you are harvesting one crop another is growing right...

Just because you have a balcony garden or are gardening in a small space, doesn’t mean that birds won’t be picking at your food. What I’ve started to do is use a scarecrow to keep the birds away from the seedlings and sprouts in my containers. No clue why birds are scared of scarecrows, but it works. My guess is that they think it’s a person. All...