Start Seedlings Indoors

You can start vegetable seedlings indoors with proper lighting and temperature.  Use an inexpensive  fluorescent light fixture and mount it where it can be close to your seedlings.  I mounted two lights under a cabinet then laid out trays on top of an unused sink and counter top.  Since I am using my cold basement I wrapped an old white shower curtain around the cabinets and placed a warming lamp inside.  In just a week or so most of the seeds have sprouted,cauliflower, lettuces,onions, broccoli, cilantro, and parsley.  I have planted these cool weather vegies for now.  Around the end of March I will start tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and melons.

Square Foot Gardening 101

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Square Foot Gardening 101

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Now's the Time to Plant Fall Vegetables

You can extend your growing season! August is the month to plant the cool weather vegetables for a harvest in October. They include lettuces, spinach, cabbage,peas,chard, broccoli, and cauliflower. Add and mix a trowel full of compost to each 12" square to increase nutrients for your new seeds. For several days keep planted seeds damp with a shower or mist hose sprayer.

Feed Your Garden Naturally With Compost

When your vegetables don't seem to be growing much they probably need a little compost. Compost is your plants food. It contains the nutrients for robust growth. Compost should consist of many different ingredients. They don't have to cost anything and are right in your backyard or kitchen. You can start with a bucket under your kitchen sink, on the back porch, or a pile in your yard. I have found that expensive compost containers really don't work as well as a simple pile. There are 4 M's that apply to composting: Mix, Mash, Moisten and Move. Mix the ingredients around, Mash or chop them into small pieces, Keep your pile moist and move or turn it often. The more you turn it the sooner you will have ready compost. Start your pile with DRY grass clippings, leaves, dirt, add some commercial compost; from the kitchen, lettuce cuttings, banana peels, any type of vegetable waste. Your compost is ready to use when it has broken down to a dark mixture that doesn't have anything recognizable in it. Place some compost around the base of your plant, no need for digging it in. When you water it the nutrients will sink in to your plants roots and it will perk right up.

Harvesting Spring Vegetables

We have been harvesting Spring vegies now for about a month. The cool weather plants such as spinach, peas,several lettuce varieties like romaine, bibb, red leaf; chard, green onions and strawberries are all available in our gardens. When harvesting lettuces and spinach, use scissors to cut the outer leaves and leave the head to continue producing. On warmer days give these vegetables extra water and shade if possible. Some may grow a shoot from the top of the plant, this means it is ending its growing cycle or going to seed. By cutting the shoot off you may be able to extend the harvest.

Planting Vegetable Starts

Buying or seeding your own vegetable starts can give you a head start on your garden. Gently turn your plant case upside down and squeeze from the bottom, ready to catch your plant as it comes out. With a pair of scissors, cut off a 1/4" of the bottom of the soil where the roots are bound. This will free the roots to spread and develop in your garden soil. Have a can of water nearby and put your start in it to soak. While it soaks, make a hole in your garden soil deep enough for your start. Fill the hole with water then place your start in it. Fill in the soil around it and make a depression with your fingers like a saucer around the base of the plant. This will catch and keep water for your plant.