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
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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
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
Monday, June 8, 2009
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
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
Sunday, June 7, 2009
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
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
Friday, June 5, 2009
What is Wrong with My Tomatoes??
We have planted all of our tomatoes and we are now waiting for them to grow and give us some great tomatoes to eat, and salsa to make. I now can see that our tomatoes are having a few problems not just aphids. I thought I would write about a few problems you can have with your tomatoes and ways you can take care of those problems.
1. Reddish Purple Leaves: This is a phosphorus deficiency....this happens when your soil is under 6.0 test your soil. I use fish emulsion for a short time to correct this problem.
2. Yellow Leaves: This is a nitrogen deficiency. I spray my plants with fish emulsion and if they have not been planted I try to plant them as soon as possible.
3. Slow Growth: This is potassium deficiency. I have found that if I add a good amount of compost to the soil in the fall this helps this problem a lot. Right now you can always add a little compost tea.
4. Black End Rot: This happens when you water infrequently when fruit is developing. Once you see the black spot you can not fix it....you can cut that spot off and eat the remaining fruit that is what I do why waste? You can fix this problem with regular watering and mulching well.
5. Holes in Leaves: This is probably the tomato horn worm. You can fix this by picking and removing pest.....but if you see that they have white eggs on it's back leave it there this is a good thing these eggs will produce parastic wasps and they will help kill any remaining horn worms that you find on your tomatoes leaves.
6. Little holes in your fruit: Birds...keep a bird bath near your garden. Birds peck at fruit in the hot days of summer to get a little moisture.
Happy Gardening...
Lynn
1. Reddish Purple Leaves: This is a phosphorus deficiency....this happens when your soil is under 6.0 test your soil. I use fish emulsion for a short time to correct this problem.
2. Yellow Leaves: This is a nitrogen deficiency. I spray my plants with fish emulsion and if they have not been planted I try to plant them as soon as possible.
3. Slow Growth: This is potassium deficiency. I have found that if I add a good amount of compost to the soil in the fall this helps this problem a lot. Right now you can always add a little compost tea.
4. Black End Rot: This happens when you water infrequently when fruit is developing. Once you see the black spot you can not fix it....you can cut that spot off and eat the remaining fruit that is what I do why waste? You can fix this problem with regular watering and mulching well.
5. Holes in Leaves: This is probably the tomato horn worm. You can fix this by picking and removing pest.....but if you see that they have white eggs on it's back leave it there this is a good thing these eggs will produce parastic wasps and they will help kill any remaining horn worms that you find on your tomatoes leaves.
6. Little holes in your fruit: Birds...keep a bird bath near your garden. Birds peck at fruit in the hot days of summer to get a little moisture.
Happy Gardening...
Lynn
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Strawberries
In just a few days we will get to begin picking our two rows of strawberries. We will need to plant a another row this year because our first row will be three years old and then they will not produce as many strawberries. It is good to rotate the beds every 2-3 year's or at least add new berries to your patch. We grow our strawberries in "hills" We cut all runners when they form not allowing them to jump over to make a new plant. This keeps our strawberries tidy and we get larger strawberries this way.
Where to plant Strawberries: We have our strawberries in two long raised beds but you can plant strawberries about anywhere.
1. They like a sunny location
2. Southern exposure is best
3. A place were there is good air circulation
4. They need good drainage (watch out for tree roots)
5 Good soil pH 5-6 We top dress with compost every year.
We will make our new raised beds this fall so when spring comes we will add our new plants... we can either "catch" some runners or dig up small plants to add to our new bed. We always plant so the crown is at surface level...planting to deep can cause the crown to rot. We have never used straw because I have always thought that it would attract slugs..because of it retaining moisture...but as I have written before we are having trouble with slugs never the less. I am now thinking straw might be a good idea. We are still using egg shells but that is not keeping them a way from my delicious strawberries.
Happy Gardening...
Lynn
Where to plant Strawberries: We have our strawberries in two long raised beds but you can plant strawberries about anywhere.
1. They like a sunny location
2. Southern exposure is best
3. A place were there is good air circulation
4. They need good drainage (watch out for tree roots)
5 Good soil pH 5-6 We top dress with compost every year.
We will make our new raised beds this fall so when spring comes we will add our new plants... we can either "catch" some runners or dig up small plants to add to our new bed. We always plant so the crown is at surface level...planting to deep can cause the crown to rot. We have never used straw because I have always thought that it would attract slugs..because of it retaining moisture...but as I have written before we are having trouble with slugs never the less. I am now thinking straw might be a good idea. We are still using egg shells but that is not keeping them a way from my delicious strawberries.
Happy Gardening...
Lynn
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Corn tips and tricks..
We have been putting our corn in a few rows at a time so we can have corn all season. I know that many people think corn is one of the easiest vegetables to grow but I disagree. We have the hardest time growing corn but I do have a few tips that I have tried and they have worked about every season.
We have many hungry raccoons in our area and I have learned that if we plant beans with corn it does help keep them away a bit. I have seen many people plant squash or pumpkins letting them ramble along the cornstalks and cover the soil. I know this might work but it is too messy for me.
Corn does not like compost.... well atleast seeds and seedlings. Do not add compost to the top of the soil after planting I have found that compost will rot your corn seeds and little seedlings. I always wait until my corn plant is about a foot high then I will give them a top dressing of compost or a good dose of compost tea.
The most common pest that I have is the European corn borer larvae and corn ear worms. To prevent this problem you really need to start in the fall...you need to make sure you clean up all corn debris and turn over the soil each season. To keep the ear worms from eating your corn now you can add a drop of mineral oil to each silk just before the corn begins to form.
Another problem I have had is having many ears of corn without having many kernels in each cob. I plant my corn 10 inches apart in rows 30 inches apart. When I walk through my corn now I shake the stalks insuring good pollination...I really believe this has helped some.
Crows: They like to eat the early seedlings..if I see crows pulling up new seedlings I just add a row of gutter guard. This is 5 inches wide mine is wire but you can buy it in plastic. I just place this over my seedlings cover the sides with a good amount of soil and when the plants are just about bending I then remove it...I then know that roots of the corn are settled and will be harder to pull up.
Happy Gardening..
Lynn
We have many hungry raccoons in our area and I have learned that if we plant beans with corn it does help keep them away a bit. I have seen many people plant squash or pumpkins letting them ramble along the cornstalks and cover the soil. I know this might work but it is too messy for me.
Corn does not like compost.... well atleast seeds and seedlings. Do not add compost to the top of the soil after planting I have found that compost will rot your corn seeds and little seedlings. I always wait until my corn plant is about a foot high then I will give them a top dressing of compost or a good dose of compost tea.
The most common pest that I have is the European corn borer larvae and corn ear worms. To prevent this problem you really need to start in the fall...you need to make sure you clean up all corn debris and turn over the soil each season. To keep the ear worms from eating your corn now you can add a drop of mineral oil to each silk just before the corn begins to form.
Another problem I have had is having many ears of corn without having many kernels in each cob. I plant my corn 10 inches apart in rows 30 inches apart. When I walk through my corn now I shake the stalks insuring good pollination...I really believe this has helped some.
Crows: They like to eat the early seedlings..if I see crows pulling up new seedlings I just add a row of gutter guard. This is 5 inches wide mine is wire but you can buy it in plastic. I just place this over my seedlings cover the sides with a good amount of soil and when the plants are just about bending I then remove it...I then know that roots of the corn are settled and will be harder to pull up.
Happy Gardening..
Lynn
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