5 Secrets to a ‘No-work’ Garden It took over 20 years of gardening to realize that I didn’t have to work so hard to achieve a fruitful harvest. As the limitless energy of my youth gradually gave way to the physical realities of mid-life, the slow accretion of experience eventually led to an awareness that less work can result in greater crop yields. Inspired in part by Masanobu Fukuoka’s book, One Straw Revolution, my family experimented with gardening methods which could increase yields with less effort. Fukuoka spent over three decades perfecting his so-called “do-nothing” technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort. Here are the strategies we used which enabled us to greatly increase our garden yield, while requiring less time and less work. 1. With ‘no-till’ gardening, weeding is largely eliminated. 2. Gardeners are always on the lookout for free sources of clean organic mulch to add to their garden.
List of companion plants Dill is one of the few plants to grow with Fennel This is a list of companion plants. Many more are in the list of beneficial weeds. Vegetables[edit] Fruit[edit] Herbs[edit] Flowers[edit] Other[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit] Further reading[edit] Cunningham, Sally Jean.
Keyhole Gardens Keyhole Gardens First made popular in Africa, keyhole gardens are catching on in Texas and other hot, dry places. Keyhole gardens hold moisture and nutrients due to an active compost pile placed in the center of a round bed. Although most helpful in hot and dry locations a keyhole garden will improve growing conditions in just about any climate. From a bird's eye view the garden is shaped as a keyhole. Keyhole Garden in Central Texas, Deb Tolman uses keyhole gardens as the main source of her own food supply, and is working on ways to keep them producing throughout multiple seasons and conditions. Keyhole garden in Lesotho by Send a Cow, who first popularized keyhole gardens in Africa. Keyhole garden. Keyhole garden by Send a Cow. A keyhole garden in Ethiopia. Keyhole garden in Uganda by Send a Cow. Keyhole garden scheme. When it rains or when you water your compost, the nutrients will seep into the surrounding bed. Step by step photos of a keyhole garden build. libertygarden.us How to:
Growing Celery Indoors: Never Buy Celery Again | 17 Apart: Growing Celery Indoors: Never Buy Celery Again Remember when we tested and shared how to grow onions indefinitely last week? Well, at the same time, we've been testing out another little indoor gardening project first gleaned from Pinterest that we're excited to share the successes of today — regrowing celery from it's base. We've figured out how to literally re-grow organic celery from the base of the bunch we bought from the store a couple weeks ago. I swear, we must have been living under a rock all these years or just not be that resourceful when it comes to food, but we're having more fun learning all these new little tips and tricks as we dive deeper into trying to grow more of our own food. This project is almost as simple as the onion growing project — simply chop the celery stalks from the base of the celery you bought from the store and use as you normally would. In our case, we had a particular homemade bean dip that needed sampling! Update 2: Here's how we are looking at almost 3-4 weeks of growth: Discover More:
Growing Carrots In Plant Containers Makes For Easy Cultivation I love growing carrots... at least NOW I do! Disfigured, maggoty, muddy, stunted carrots - does that ring a bell with your experience. That was certainly my experience a lot of the time whilst growing carrots. Container Gardening Ideas Video - Planting Carrots in Containers Pots, troughs, growing bags etc. are one of the answers to growing vegetables in your garden if you haven't got the room for a large vegetable plot - like I haven't. 263K+Save So now, growing carrots is a real pleasure, and that is because I do use plant containers. The advantages of growing carrots in containers are: No poor soil problems if using shop bought compost.No weeding and digging concerns.And no soil pest problems. What you do need to keep in mind though is a little more attention will need to be given to watering and feeding. What kind of plant containers are best for growing carrots?... I use several different kinds such as large-ish clay pots, plastic square and rectangular plant containers. Home Page
ph-acid-alkaline-food-chart Testing your ph is done with what is called a pH strip. The proper strip to purchase for testing both saliva and urine is one that is a "NARROW " or "SHORT" range pH strip. This means that the calibration on the strip goes from about 4 to 9. A Strip that has a calibration from say 1 to 14 is considered to be a "WIDE" or "LONG" range strip. This type of pH strip is used primarily for testing water from aquariums to pools. Do not use these types of strips for testing saliva or urine as the reading will not be accurate. An acidic pH can occur from, an acid forming diet, emotional stress, toxic overload, and/or immune reactions or any process that deprives the cells of oxygen and other nutrients. The reason acidosis is more common in our society is mostly due to the typical American diet, which is far too high in acid producing animal products like meat, eggs and dairy, and far too low in alkaline producing foods like fresh vegetables. Remember, the key here is BALANCE.
Sites-Gardeners-Site Basil is one of the most versatile herbs you can grow. Freshly picked leaves can be added to salads, sandwiches and sauces, and can be made into pesto or dried for use in the winter. Basil has a lower germination rate than many seeds, averaging just 60%. Fortunately, most seed packets contain many more seeds than you’ll need. To get a jump on the basil season, you can start your basil seeds indoors, 3 to 4 weeks before planting time. Basil prefers growing in a lightly moist, slightly acidic, well-drained soil that contains lots of organic matter (like compost!). The standard culinary basil, typically used for pesto and Italian cooking, is called ‘Genovese’. To get the highest yield of tender and flavorful basil leaves, pinch back the tip of each branch, starting in early summer when the plants are just 6 inches tall.
Potatoes What are we doing in the garden right now? A whole lot of stuff, but let's consider the humble potato. We only grow fingerling types for Manresa. They are tastier and more useful for the chef. We can start harvesting them earlier than standard-type potatoes as well. I buy my seed potatoes from Ronniger's in Colorado. When the potatoes arrive, I cut up the larger ones (I know they tell you not to, but hear me out here). All the tubers get put in a single layer in seedling trays (open at the bottom for air flow). I like to grow potatoes in 15 gallon pots. First, we disinfect our stash of used pots with a mixture of one part bleach to 10 parts water. We then place only 4 inches of potting soil into the bottom of each pot. Once the soil is in the pots, we simply push five tubers into each one, about two inches under. The pots are then placed in our large unheated hoophouse and watered well. These gorgeous Purple Peruvians were photographed freshly pulled last spring here at the farm.
Home / RHS Gardening DIY: Newspaper Pots for Seed Starting/Cuttings Onions Onions need a sunny, sheltered site in well-drained soil. Avoid planting on freshly-manured ground as this can lead to rotting. Onions are best suited for growing in the open ground, but you could grow a short row or two in large, deep containers or raised beds. They are not suitable for growbags. Plant onion sets 10cm (4in) apart in rows 30cm (12in) apart from mid-March to mid-April. If growing from seed, sow 13mm (1/2in) deep in rows 20cm (8in) apart from late February through to early April. Birds can be a problem lifting the sets, so carefully remove the loose skin at the top of the set before planting. Water if the weather is dry and give an occasional feed with a general liquid fertiliser. Mulching the soil will help conserve soil moisture and keep down weeds. Remove any flower spikes as soon as they are seen. Onions can be harvested when the foliage turns yellow and starts to topple over. Leave for two to three weeks and then carefully lift with a garden fork. Salad onions