Growing Strawberries By Mr. Strawberry Introduction to the Growing Strawberries Page Do you want to begin growing strawberries? We are passionate about everything related to strawberries here. To help you navigate to the information that is most helpful for your present situation, use this handy-dandy table of contents to go directly to the information you need. How the Growing Strawberries Page Works This main Growing Strawberries page serves as a hub for everything related to growing strawberry plants. So, while the basics of growing strawberries will be contained on this page, there will be regularly updated links to more pages on this site at the bottom that go into more detail about different methods and aspects of growing strawberry plants and how to grow strawberries using different methods. Why Should You Consider Growing Strawberries? Strawberries are the most popular small fruit grown in home gardens for good reason. One of the biggest benefits of growing strawberries is their perennial nature.
How to Find Free Compost Ingredients 1Ask your local coffee shop if they throw out used coffee grinds. Coffee grinds are an excellent acidic amendment to soil, so use ash or lime to balance the pH. Ad 2Inquire with local lumberyards and home improvement stores for free sawdust. Be sure to use sawdust only from untreated wood. 3Collect newspapers. Separate the newspaper from the glossy inserts, and shred the paper to make it compost more quickly. 4Contact local dairies, feedlots, or cattle operations for composted cow manure. The ideal manure has been composting for at least 2 years. 5Call a local food processing plant to inquire if they have any left over organic material.6Visit your local zoo and ask about retrieving compost from the exhibit animals. Sea and lake vegetation is remarkably nutrient rich and makes a great addition to your compost, but it is also unsustainable as the tidelands and shores need those nutrients for their own ecosystems.
Adding Flowers To The Vegetable Garden Are you on a mission to grow your own food? Become sustainable, or at least, less dependent on your grocer? I understand that desire and realize many people want to utilize every square inch of their garden for growing vegetables, but there are several good reasons for adding flowering plants, mixing them right in with your veggies.Flowers Attract PollinatorsIt's amazing how many of our vegetables actually require an insect to pollinate them: broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, collards, cucumbers, eggplants, kale, melons, okra, onions, peas, peppers, pumpkins, radishes, squash, and tomatoes! And while all of these don't necessarily need pollinating for you to enjoy them, those that produce fruits definitely benefit from happy pollinators.For example, did you know that tomatoes (which have been considered wind pollinated by many) actually produce more fruit when visited by a bumblebee? And then there is the squash family.
A Pile of Comments About Compost | Articles | Woodworker's Journal eZine Talkin' Trash...Heaps After you read the Q&A in last issue's eZine, we discovered that many of you are interested in talking trash...heaps, that is, when it comes to compost piles. Several readers shared further information about the process of making compost, including one who has taught university level composting. - Editor "I compost all my wood waste. It doesn't compost fast, but with the right mixture of grass or other green waste and adequate amounts of water, it will make a dandy product. How do I know? "So, how is composting done? "Second, make sure the mixture is wet enough. "Third, make sure the pile or bin is large enough to retain heat. "Expect this process to require a year or maybe two to really get good usable compost. "All this said, recognize that compost happens. "Caution, don't use treated wood. Other readers also had piles of things to say about making compost with wood. - Editor "Tim is correct about sawdust being carbon. Kickback Followup: the Splitter?
Growing Tomatoes, How to Grow Tomatoes, Planting Tomatoes Back in the 80’s when I started growing tomatoes organically, the only way to get good tomatoes was to grow your own. Now you can get good tomatoes in season at farmers markets and high-end supermarkets, but they still don’t come close to tomatoes you can grow in your back yard, if you know how to grow tomatoes. The first time you tuck into a sun-warmed, vine-ripened tomato, you’ll be hooked. Tomatoes need a long growing season, 6-12 hours of sun a day, and summer heat to set and ripen fruit. Tomatoes perform better when you can mimic the conditions they evolved under. Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) evolved in the Orinoco basin. Grow tomatoes in the sunniest, warmest part of your garden. Tomato Cold Tolerance/Season Tomatoes are summer vegetables that die at the first touch of frost. In temperate gardens in the northern and southern hemispheres, seeds are started indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost date for the area, and planted outside after all danger of frost has passed. Fertilizing
Composting: A timetable Everyone knows that composting your fruit and vegetable scraps and other biological material is much better than sending those scraps to the city dump, where they would turn into methane gas. But one thing people usually don't consider when starting a compost pile is how long it will take to turn into ripe compost. Here is a simple guide to give you an idea of how long it will take, using different composting methods. Hot Turn: 20 Days Hot turn piles are the most labor intensive and have more demanding basic requirements, but they produce finished compost much faster than other methods. Slow No Turn: 3-12 Months The easiest way to compost is to set up a pile in your yard where you dump your food scraps, leaves, lawn and yard clippings and simply let them naturally decompose. Worm Bin: 1-3 Months With worm bin composting, the more well-established the worms are in numbers the quicker they are able to process food scraps. Black Soldier Fly: 3 Weeks This article was reprinted with permission.
Tips for Growing the Best Winter Storage Vegetable – Winter Squash! This week our family is eating the last of the stored winter squash, the longest ‘keeper’ of the 36 we harvested last summer from our backyard garden. Since last October’s harvest, we’ve been able to enjoy one squash per week for almost nine months! Winter squash are fairly large, and there is usually enough ‘meat’ from the squash to use in three or four meals, so more than half of our meals have included squash in one form or another. The produce manager at a nearby supermarket told me that winter squash is not that popular, and he thinks this is because people don’t know what to do with squash. The health benefits of winter squash are as rewarding as its rich taste. The health benefits of winter squash are as rewarding as its rich taste As if this weren’t enough, winter squash may have anti-inflammatory effects because of its high antioxidant content. Here are our tips for growing your own winter bounty of Buttercup squash. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Jan’s Hearty Winter Squash and Peanut Soup
Preventing Flies from Hoarding Your Compost Bin Composting is an environmentally friendly and cost effective way to reuse yard and garden scraps. Unfortunately, a hot compost pile can also quickly become breeding grounds for thousands of flies, especially if you are composting manure. Proper compost pile management will help keep fly populations under control. TIP: Our expert gardening advisor, Susan Patterson adds, "Plant basil around your compost pile to repel flies." Put a Lid on It Keeping a lid on your compost pile with deter flies. Add Brown Fruit flies are typically a sign that there is not enough brown material in the bin. Bury Food Scraps Exposed food scraps will attract flies. Boil Peeling Scraps Before taking out fruit or vegetable peelings boil them. Contain Scraps If fruit and vegetable scraps are gathered in a bucket before being emptied into the bin, cover the bucket. Use Diatomaceous Earth Food-grade diatomaceous earth is a natural sedimentary rock that crumbles easily. Scald Flies
Eggplant: Planting, Growing and Harvesting Eggplant Botanical name: Solanum melongena Plant type: Vegetable USDA Hardiness Zones: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Sun exposure: Full Sun Soil type: Sandy Soil pH: Slightly Acidic to Neutral Eggplants are short-lived perennial vegetables, but are usually cultivated as annuals. Planting Start plants indoors 2 months before the soil warms up or buy nursery transplants just before planting. Care Stake plants over 24 inches tall. Pests Harvest/Storage Harvest 16 to 24 weeks after sowing when the skin of the fruit is shiny and unwrinkled. Recommended Varieties 'Black Beauty' 'Easter Egg' 'Little Fingers' Recipes Wit & Wisdom At one time, women in the Orient used a black dye to stain their teeth a gun metal gray.
An Impartial Guide | Best Male Grooming | Anti-Aging Face Creams An Introduction on The Worlds Best Compost: A Fair Overview This guide of The World's Best Compost is brought to you by FaceLube, your best source for Best Face Moisturizer for Men and the Best Male Grooming kits. While you are here, don't forget to see FaceLube's amazing broad spectrum anti-aging sunscreen and happy customer compliments on Amazon. Video Summary: Learn to compost with worms. An Introduction on The Worlds Best Compost: A Fair Overview Would you prefer to discover a way to feed your plants in a natural way that might make them the tastiest food you have ever had? The thing that makes soil healthy is extensive amounts of microbial action, which in your own garden can be achieved with the use of colloidal humus compost. An Introduction on The Worlds Best Compost: A FairOverview Some of what you will learn in this book is how to always get consistent results by developing a soil that feeds itself.
Bell Peppers: Planting, Growing and Harvesting Bell Pepper Plants Botanical name: Capsicum annuum Plant type: Vegetable USDA Hardiness Zones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Sun exposure: Full Sun Soil type: Loamy Soil pH: Neutral Peppers are a tender, warm-season crop. Planting Start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before last spring frost date. Care Soil should be well-drained, but maintain adequate moisture either with mulch or plastic covering. Pests Harvest/Storage Harvest as soon as peppers reach desired size. Recommended Varieties Look for varieties that ripen to their full color quickly; fully mature peppers are the most nutritious—and tastier, too! Green to Red: ‘Lady Bell’, 'Gypsy,' ‘Bell Boy,’ 'Lipstick' Yellow: 'Golden California Wonder' Recipes Wit & Wisdom The popular green and red bell peppers that we see in supermarkets are actually the same thing; the red peppers have just been allowed to mature on the plant longer, changing color and also gaining a higher content of Vitamin C.
Make Your Own Alchemy / Prepping, Planting and Harvesting Does “black gold” make you think of “Texas Tea,” or that three-letter-word, oil? If you’re a gardener, they don’t. For us, black gold can only mean one thing: compost. A good compost pile is your soil’s dearest friend. You may think compost building is complicated, but it doesn’t need to be. Although bagged compost is sold at most garden centers, it’s easy and almost free to make your own. In a new pile, layer brown matter: shredded fallen leaves, old foliage without disease, and brown grasses (if they haven’t been sprayed with chemicals like herbicides or pesticides). Garden bins make keeping the pile in one place easy. I think a three-bin system works best. If you live in a very dry climate like mine normally is, water the pile every week in the summer to keep it moist. When you add green matter, top it with a layer of shredded leaves or dirt. Don’t add dairy or meat products. Creating your own compost is another way you can recycle and keep organic matter out of landfills.