Recipes

Gardening Containers – Grow Vegetables At Home, Economically!

Not everybody is blessed with a house and garden plot or lives in the country with access to farming land, so the option for a garden leave alone a kitchen garden, is a fairly remote one. But, if you put on your thinking cap, you can have a fresh and economical option of growing your own veggies in the privacy of your home – by using cost-effective gardening containers for growing vegetables from seeds and seedlings bought from the local nursery or even ordered from a mail-order or online catalogue.

For those that live in flats and hostels, the need to grow their own vegetables may be limited due to space constraints, but the readily available gardening containers in many different sizes and materials make having a kitchen garden less of a dream and more of a possibility for people with the smallest budget. There are also a variety of indoor gardening plants and vegetables you can bring for your home cooking needs, which only require a few hours of sunlight that they can have access to while hung in the balcony or even in your window-sill planter box. These include herbs, peppers, bush beans, salad greens, bush and cherry tomatoes and baby carrots.

Of course, depending on the vegetable variety you do purchase and the size they grow to, you will need to purchase a planter pot that is ready for holding the full-sized plant, so choose with care. For example, tomatoes are grown one per pot while a big size pot can hold 3-4 pepper plants besides basil herb around it in small quantity. This is typical of 5 gallon pots.

Other containers you can use for your gardening needs include tubs, buckets and barrels cut in half (distillery ones) ranging from 5 to 15 liters. However, you need to keep in mind that if you are also intending to plant herbs in addition to the vegetables in the pots, you need to ascertain that the ones you buy are at least 10 inches in diameter so spring onions, for example, planted in the pot, also hold space for rosemary or thyme.

You need to also invest in a drainage tray (even plastic ones will do) that will allow for proper leaching from time to time so the pots get enough water, sunlight and there is a measure for extra water to leak out too. Do remember to line the bottom of the pot with some pieces of rocks or broken crockery besides a few layers of newspaper before putting in potting soil to prevent the fine soil from seeping out from the drainage holes.

Use well-rotted compost, adequate potting soil till an inch or two below the rim, water plants regularly and also give plant food twice as often as outdoor plants would need as dehydration occurs more rapidly for indoor plants.

Garden Fencing Solutions For Growing Vegetables

Things were going great in the early stages. I had just recently started growing vegetables in my back yard and things were moving along very well. Certain vegetables were growing somewhat slowly, and I didn’t expect things to be so smooth forever, but I had faith things would turn out well no matter what obstacles I would have to face. It wasn’t long before I faced one of the first setbacks in cultivating a vegetable garden and discovered that I would have to put in garden fencing.

I had grown vegetables in the past but it was a communal garden and it was ages ago so when the rabbits started to ruin my garden, I was totally caught off guard. Luckily, because of my experience, I not only knew the answer was garden fencing but I also knew exactly what kind of garden fencing was required.

Straightaway I went and purchased the wire garden fencing and had it put in as soon as possible. It’s not necessarily a job you need to hire someone for as anyone with basic construction skills should be able to handle it. Personally my construction skills could use some work but luckily I had the help of my husband. The first thing we did was we checked the border of the garden to determine what length of garden fencing we needed. I decided to include a somewhat larger area than the actual vegetable garden because I knew I would be adding more vegetables when things were under control. Now what we used was wire garden fencing with a green vinyl coating. It wasn’t panels but a rolled up sheet of fencing that was unraveled around metal posts. We had each post installed on the border of the garden and then had the wire fencing affixed around the garden.

One thing you may want to be sure of is that there are no spaces within the garden fencing. Shortly after having the fence put in, I went into the yard to discover a rabbit trapped inside of the garden. The rabbit must’ve gotten in through a gap but couldn’t find its way out! What we did was check the fencing and make sure all gaps were gotten rid of and we also made sure that the fencing was firm against the ground so that no rabbit would be able to sneak under the garden fencing either.

The wire garden fencing turned out great and not only did it keep animals from ruining my garden, but some vegetables ended up developing better with the fence as support. Wire garden fencing is very functional and practical but after we had it for a while I found some time to have it replaced. In the end I put in a much more visually appealing one that still protects my vegetables. Not all garden fencing can be used for keeping rabbits away from your vegetables but there is garden fencing available that can do the job of protecting vegetable gardens and is also much nicer looking than simple wire garden fencing.

How to Grow Vegetables

I can hear you thinking that you have no idea about growing vegetables. The truth is that you can easily learn enough to be growing useful crops very quickly, and each session spent in your garden teaches you even more. You will learn much that is unique to your own situation, such as local soil conditions, your particular aspect in relation to the sun, and oddities that relate to your local microclimate. You will learn most of this by getting out and giving it a go.

The taste of home grown vegetables is vastly superior to that of the commercially grown produce. Have you heard people complain that tomatoes no longer have any taste? They will have when you grow your own – you will never taste better. The lack of taste with the commercial crop is not all the fault of the growers, as they are under pressure to produce a crop, of uniform size and colour, to the schedule of the wholesale market, and ultimately the supermarket. You set your own schedule.

The freshness of your own crop is a big plus. Vegetables I have bought from the supermarket, and stored in the refrigerator, have started to become inedible after a few days. I have had home grown produce still fresh in the refrigerator after 2 weeks!

Typically, your home garden will produce a generous yield, and can readily help pay for the cost of growing them. You can effectively end up having free vegetables. Summer, especially, is usually a time of abundance, even glut, as family and friends leave your place with perhaps more produce than they had expected to see. A tip – when giving away fresh produce, try to limit your generosity – it is better to give a small amount to many rather than to give to the few more than they can actually use.

One of the turn-offs to trying something you have not done before is the intimidating flood of information (and misinformation) you will receive. If you are browsing one of the major bookstores, you may find hundreds of books on the topic – which do you buy? To begin with, look for the simple, basic information. Do not bother with those full of jargon – you will learn the technical terms as you go.

You will hear folklore from the family, such as “Uncle Henry always put … (you name it) … on his … (name it again)”. Folklore is part of our heritage, but there is no guarantee of its usefulness. You will hear from the office genius, who has done nothing, but still knows all the answers – nod wisely, and then ignore him.

Plants evolved millions of years before humans, and they actually want to grow. It has been said that in many cases plants grow despite what we do to help them. If you provide the basics, and these are reasonable nutrition and regular watering, Mother Nature does the rest – let her work for you.

Growing Vegetables In Your Garden

Now wouldn’t it be more fulfilling to eat vegetables that come from your very own garden? It feels great knowing that your very own hands have helped grow the vegetables that are in your salad or dish. We have to bear in mind though that growing vegetables is not easy and can sometimes be downright frustrating. But with a lot of patience and hard work you’ll soon be tasting the fruits of your hard labor.

In growing vegetables it is important that the seeds have been properly planted. You have to ensure that the soil is moist and rich in nutrients to help your seeds grow. The seeds must not be planted in loosely packed soil so as to prevent having air spaces that would tend to dry or shrivel the tiny roots once it starts to grow. It is vital that the soil touches the seed to enable it to take root immediately when it starts to germinate.

It is a must for you to know the different needs of the different types and kinds of vegetable that you may be growing. Each vegetable requires different spaces for it to grow and different depths for it to be planted on. Knowing information like these is important so that your vegetables get the right amount of care and tending. Some plants would require having much more water than others so you should try to separate them. When you plant vegetables, you can’t expect all of the seeds to develop so heavy seeding is quite alright. To help your vegetables grow beautifully, fertilize the land or better yet sprinkle some food for your plants.

Now, that you have started to grow your vegetables you need to undertake measures to make sure that your vegetable garden lasts long. Water them regularly and consistently check that they are in good shape to make certain that they will continue to produce and bear fruit. If you encounter any problems, take the necessary action or preventive measures. One of the things that you should avoid doing is to leave your vegetables to over ripen. Harvest them so that your plants will continue to produce. When plants go to seed they stop producing.

If you see any signs of weeds, weed them out. Weeds are one of the pests that could choke your plants since these weeds compete with them for water and nutrients in the soil. Vegetable plants have a life span so consider planting in intervals so that you have new ones to replace the early ones that may have reached their end in producing.

Growing Vegetables Indoors

Summer is ending and our gardens are wilting.  The season of fresh vegetables just goes by too fast.  It is time to grind up those stalks and cover the garden with hay for composting.  But does this really mean that we are done eating fresh vegetables until next June?  Not really!  You can grow vegetables indoors using these tips.

There are two ways to start your indoor vegetable garden.  One, you can transfer your existing plants from outdoor to indoor pots.  Two, you can sprout seeds and plant them.  Some plants, like tomato plants, normally need to be staked.  But, if you hang a planter for your tomatoes, you don’t necessarily have to stake them.  The stalks can simply hang down like vines.

Choose large pots that drain really well.  Place rocks in the bottom of each container, then potting soil or top soil mixed with plenty of compost.  If your summer garden did well outside, you can use the soil from there to fill your pots.  Although, sometimes this soil is depleted of nutrients and should be replenished with compost.

All of your indoor vegetables need to have plenty of sunlight and heat.  If possible, put them near a heater vent.  They must get as much sunlight as possible, so all plants need to be near a window.  You might even consider placing planters in buckets attached to an accordion divider so that all of them have equal sun.  You can even move the whole apparatus from one window in the morning to another full sun window in the afternoon.  Putting your accordion divider on casters will make the move easier on your back.  The vertical garden also eliminates the need to bend over to tend to and harvest vegetables.

Another back saving tip is to roll your vertical garden outside to water.  If it’s not too cold, you can roll it out onto the deck or patio and spray it down with the water hose.  Use an automatic hose reel to help your back even more.

As the days get shorter, you will have to use a UV lamp to give your vegetables enough light to grow.  If you notice your plants doing poorly, increase the amount of heat and/or sun that they are getting every day.  Make sure that you are not overwatering, and that you are pruning off any dead or dying sections that may be stealing nutrients from your healthy vegetables.

Having an indoor vegetable garden can be a challenge and can take up a lot of space.  But, if you tend to it carefully, you could be rewarded with fresh vegetables year round.