Raised Beds

When we first started gardening we started by planted all our vegetables and herbs in rows...It was very hard keeping up with weeds and we nearly gave up until we found out about square foot gardening or raised beds. We grow everything in raised beds all our vegetables, herbs and our fruit. Here are a few reasons why.....

We usually had big puddles in our beds after it rained our drainage has improved.

Soil warms up faster and dries out more quickly....this means we can plant earlier in the spring.

We don't walk up to our plants so we don't disturb the soil.

Our beds are smaller so we can reach the weeds easier....when we pull weeds it is easier to clean a whole bed in a matter of minutes instead of hours.

We can build our beds in the fall and have them ready for spring...remember we add lots of compost to all our beds in the fall.

We can plant our plants closer together so this leaves little room for weeds to grow.

Okay what are the disadvantages of raised beds?

Our garden beds dry out in the heat of the summer. (which means extra watering) (you could add extra mulch or even a soaker hose during this time.)

The paths down the middle get rather weedy.... we just mow between our beds and I kind of like the look. I have friends that pile up leaves or use straw to get rid of the weeds. I myself do not like this look so I would rather mow between the paths.

I wanted to remind you.... we don't use treated lumber for our raised beds so they do need to be replaced after a few years. I know lots of people that use cinder blocks which work great but they are a little expensive for me.

Happy Gardening...

Lynn

Lettuce for all Seasons.....and a recipe

We love that we can pick lettuce almost all season long...until it gets real hot. There are so many different kinds of lettuce and they all like different temperatures so you can almost grow it all season.

We grow a lot of Romaine lettuce because of its crunchy texture. We can grow this lettuce in the summer months. Our favorites are Apollo and Jericho.

We also like loose leaf lettuce...you just pick its outer leaves and it will keep on growing. We have had lettuce grow for months and months. I like that we can grow this in the summer months our favorite is Red Oakleaf and Salad Bowl.

My ultimate favorite lettuce is Butterhead or Buttercrunch (Yum!) It is soft green with red heads and has a buttery flavor you can grow this in early spring and summer. Cool season Capitane warm season Esmeralda.

What about Iceburg? We have tried to grow this....I think we get to warm in the spring time. We just can't get it to grow.

We plant lettuce all around our garden...we have lettuce in our potato beds around our onions ect... When it starts getting bitter we pull it up....making room for are other plants to grow. This works really well in the early season.

Here is one of my favorite Salad Dressings:

Creamy Herb

1/2 cup fat free mayonnaise

2 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon soymilk or fat free milk

4 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper


In a small whisk together and then chill....wonderful over fresh crisped lettuce.



Happy Gardening...

Lynn

Recommended Seed Spacing

When you plant your seeds do you ever think about how far apart you need to space them? I know that not every seed will germinate but if they did I want them to be spaced far enough apart. It saves me time not having to thin them out. This is my recommended seed spacing I hope it helps you....out in your garden.

Radishes 1 inch apart

Onions 2 inches apart

Parsnips 2 inches apart (I thin to 4 inches apart)

Carrots 3 inches apart

Kohlrabi 3 inches apart

Beets 4 inches apart

Leeks 4 inches apart

Swiss Card 5 inches apart

Leaf Lettuce 6 inches apart ( I usually have to thin this)

Broccoli 15 inches apart

Cabbage 15 inches apart

Collards 15 inches apart

There are many vegetables I left off here because most of the time I start my seeds indoors like tomatoes. I think it is a lot cheaper to start your plants by seed and planting at seed out it good rich dirt does produce a hardy plant that will give you vegetables. Remember to buy extra seeds at your garden center for fall planting!

Happy Gardening...

Lynn

Heavy and Light feeders? What is Crop Rotation???

Last year we had to get rid of a few of our garden beds to make room for a greenhouse. That means after the beds were built we then added lots of compost to get the soil ready in those new beds. We also rotate our beds every year to prevent pest and to keep diseases down. Some plants like very rich soil and others do not.


We have 12 garden beds.... In the spring when we built our new beds we added the soil that we got from the beds and we then added at least 2 inches of compost to those beds. At the end of the season we add compost to all our beds to let the soil get rained on and snowed on until spring. The older beds have had this done many seasons so the soil is so rich...and some plants like rich soil (heavy feeders) and others like leaner soil not as fertile (light feeders).



Heavy feeders like (rich soil) : beans, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, kale , celery, corn, asparagus, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, artichoke, lettuce, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes.



Light Feeder like (leaner soil) : beets, radishes, turnips, carrots, parsley, sweet potatoes, potatoes.



You can improve your soil by adding heavy feeder's like spinach in the spring you then can plant beans right in their place in the summer. The soil will become richer because you had the spinach there in the spring..like wise if you have a light feeder such as peas in the spring replace them with another light feeder such as carrots in the summer.



Now...the next year you should rotate those beds... you should plant your spinach in the pea bed and so on... This is how I rotate my beds I never plant the same plants in the same beds each year and that includes plant families such as broccoli and cabbage they are in the same plant family...this means they get the same pests and diseases.



If you get nervous and can't decide what to plant and when...I suggest you plant beans. I believe beans plants are the best thing for any type of soil....it adds nitrogen to the soil and this will help any plant you plant afterward.

A few suggestions:

The first year I plant tomatoes and the next year green beans

The first year I plant parsley and the next year carrots

The first year sunflowers and the next year green beans

The first year green beans the next year sweet potatoes

I hope this helps you understand crop rotation...I would love to hear how you rotate your garden beds.

Happy Gardening....

Lynn

Why Do You Plant Your Tomatoes So Deep?

We have had many people walking through our garden lately and I believe the biggest question asked is "why do you plant your tomatoes so deep."

Tomatoes have this great advantage over many other plants because their stems can grow roots when they're in contact with the soil. When you plant deep you are giving your plant a stronger root system and a strong stem. When we do this we always remove a few lower leaves( if you don't do this the leaves will wilt under the soil or they will rot and cause disease problems) then place the plant deep into the soil just up to the leaves.

We have bought many tomato plants at garden supply stores and they look so leggy...we try to dig a deep enough hole but there are times when we have had to plant the tomato plant sideways...to do this dig a shallow ditch sideways and lay your tomato plant on the ground with it's head just sticking out of the soil we then scoop up the soil around the stem and the leaves. the plant will look like a small tomato plant but within a few weeks your plant will grow into a big strong tomato plant. I can almost guarantee you will get more tomatoes then ever before!

We have done this ever year... and we actually look for those sad leggy plants at the store now mainy because we can get them pretty cheap.

How do you plant your tomatoes?

Happy Gardening..

Lynn

Cucumbers

We love eating cucumbers in our family and we make the best bread and butter pickles around if I say so myself. There are a few common problems you can have growing cucumbers and I thought I would address how to fix those problems in this post.

Cucumbers:

First of all cucumbers need to be planted where they can get full sun...they like well drained soil. We always add a good amount of compost and then make a raised hill and place our cucumber plant in the middle of this hill. We make the hill so that when it rains the water runs off the hill... cucumbers plants do not like to sit in water!

We feed our cucumbers with compost tea about a month later.

Problems we have had...

Fruit sometimes taste bitter? This is because they did not get enough water while they were forming..we water more often when we see blooms appear.


White coating on leaves? This is powdery mildew...I spray with baking soda recipe every 7-10 days. I try to avoid watering the leaves and evening watering....I only water the soil!

Yellow or Brown spots: Downy mildew this usually means we have had a lot of wet weather. I pull up the plants as soon as possible to prevent the disease from spreading to other plants. ( I *Do Not* compost these plants!

Wilted or shriveled up leaves: I usually find squash bugs on my plants. I pull these up as soon as possible and I again Do Not compost these plants. I have heard that you can use spun row covers to prevent this problem. We now use crop rotation and it has helped us with this problem.

Plants wilt quickly: Cucumber Beetles is usually the problem here...again you can use a spun row cover. Make sure you are not over watering if you do not see any pests.

Baking soda Recipe

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 quart of water

I mix into a spray bottle and spray on my plants for 7-10 days I have found this really does help with powdery mildew.

Happy Gardening..

Lynn

Help your Plants Get Their Food

I bet you knew all plants need food to survive...but what are we feeding are plants? If you just till up your soil and plant you might be feeding them a bunch of clay. If you add organic matter you will be feeding them great nutrients for your plants roots to absorb and grow. The most important minerals are nitrogen, potash, potassium and phosphorus. What happens when your plants get these and how can you help your plant get them?



Nitrogen: This encourages leafy growth. Your plants can get this from rain and snow. You can help by giving you plants animal manures (remember not cat or dog droppings)



Potash: This helps build your plants tissues, and root development and helps with disease resistance. You can help by adding animal manures and compost.



Potassium: Helps your plant grow and make fruit. You can help by adding wood ashes.



Phosphorus: Promotes development of a good strong root system. It also helps to get your plant to grow more quickly. You can help by adding bone meal, and rock phosphate.

I am a big believer in organic matter... so start a compost pile today!

Happy Gardening....

Lynn