Essential Tips For A Successful Container Garden

 

The smallest area of land, or even a patio or porch, can be perfectly adequate for you to grow your own vegetables. The use of containers to plant your crops is the ideal alternative for the person who has little or no garden in which to grow fruit or vegetables.

You are virtually unlimited in the choices of container to use for your container garden. For instance, you can use gallon cans, tubs, wooden barrels, drums, planter boxes, hanging baskets or even old shoes. The list is virtually endless.

Here are some essential tips for you to grow a successful container garden:

• A good choice of container should have plenty of room for the soil and roots, and provide bottom drainage. Ensuring that your container has lots of holes at the base guarantees that the plant will never stand in wet soil. Stand the container on blocks or bricks to aid drainage.



• Your plants will have a greater chance of survival if you choose a bigger container. This will need watering less frequently as the more soil there is, the more moisture it will retain.



• It is important to note here that a container garden will require watering once a day, but make sure that you have put plenty of holes at the base of the container. Poor drainage will slowly kill your plants from lack of oxygen. Be careful not to wet the leaves too much as this encourages plant disease.



• To ensure that over-watering doesn't occur, put your finger into the soil about half an inch. If the soil feels dry, water your plants. Apply enough water to run through the drainage holes at the bottom of the container. This assures that the soil is thoroughly and evenly wet, and that excess salt is washed from the soil.



• You should never use black containers for your container garden because this traps the heat from the sun, especially in places that have a hot climate. Instead, use light-colored containers to lessen heat absorption and deter uneven root growth.



• Wooden containers are liable to rot. Don't use wood that is treated with creosote, or some other chemical compound, as the vapors will likely damage the plants.



• Clay and Terra Cotta pots are porous and dry out rapidly, so plants and vegetables in these types of containers will require watering more often.



• Plastic containers will most probably degenerate in sunlight over time, but in the short- to medium-term they should be fine.



• Your container garden should receive at least five hours of direct sunlight a day. Root vegetables, such as Turnips, carrots and potatoes, will need more sun, whereas leafy vegetables, such as lettuce, spinach and broccoli, can survive on less. Fruit vegetables, such as apples and tomatoes, need the most sun out of all the vegetables, or fruit, that you can grow.

Container gardening is an excellent way to grow vegetables if you find yourself with a very limited, and limiting, plot of land.

Following these tips should help you start and maintain a healthy and fairly trouble-free container garden for you to grow healthy vegetables, and save a little money on your grocery bills at the same time.

Compost Tumblers Are Essential For Organic GardensBy Richard Taylor

 

If you're growing an organic garden, you will undoubtedly fully comprehend how crucial the part of selfmade compost takes on if you are to receive the best results from your work.

For that reason, owning your own compost tumbler can offer many great benefits. Compost tumblers can make the process of composting a lot easier. Tumblers are suitable for home use and for recycling kitchen scraps on a day-to-day basis to help keep them out of the kitchen, the trash and also the garbage disposal.

If you have until now used a compost pile or bin that you made your self, you'll find that a compost tumbler is significantly nicer looking. This could be a advantage for yourself at the same time as for your neighbours. In addition, bins and tumblers are resistant to pests. This could be a significant problem with traditional compost heaps and bins. With the tumbler you will not need to be concerned about any wild creatures or even dogs from the neighborhood getting directly into your compost.

It is also simple to keep your compost oxygenated with the compost tumbler, which is important. You won't have to worry about turning over the compost using a pitchfork or some other type of turning tool. All you've to do is turn over the tumbler and your compost will come to be correctly blended.

In addition, the compost tumbler remains closed. This is imperative to creating proper compost, particularly during warm weather. When it is hot, the closed design of the compost tumbler will ensure that the compost remains damp and does not become dried out. Furthermore, during wet weather the compost will not become soggy. Also, there will not be any smells escaping from the compost tumbler, which can sometimes be a problem with large compost piles.

Getting a compost tumbler can also make it much more enjoyable for the whole household to start composting. Even the kids will get a kick out of going out and giving the tumbler a turn. Rather than seeming like challenging work, the entire family will feel as though they are completing something worthwhile without getting to go through lots of smelly, tough work.

Finally, compost tumblers make it faster and easier to compost. There is no dealing with huge piles of compost that must be regularly turned. With a compost tumbler, you can enjoy all of the benefits of composting without all of the hard work. Whether you live on acreage or you live in a suburban neighborhood, you can enjoy the advantages of composting with a compost tumbler.

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How To Start A Vegetable Garden By Kathryn Steed

 

Vegetable gardens are a fresh, colorful and environmentally- friendly way to eat your veggies! By following these simple steps, you will be able to eat your way through a wide variety of vegetables this summer.

We are all aware of the importance of eating our vegetables but what about the benefits of eating fresh vegetables? Planting your own is a healthy and cost-effective way to ensure you are eating your vegetables. Also, it is rewarding to create something from scratch--watch it grow and change until its ready to be harvested and eaten. What better feeling than knowing exactly where your food comes from? Any gardener
will tout the superior freshness and flavor of homegrown veggies over store-bought. If you've never gardened before or attempted and failed, you can access all the information you need to turn your thumb green right here.

Note: Wait until after the last frost to begin your garden, otherwise all your hard work will be wiped out in one night.

Step 1. Pick out a small plot of land (not much bigger than 8 X 10) that gets full sunlight as much of the day as possible. Start off with a small plot because this is a learning experience; however, once you get the hang of it, let your inner-green thumb out and go crazy. Remember that the bigger the garden, the more work it takes to maintain it.

Step 2. It is important to have fertile, well-drained soil to work with. If the soil sticks together and does not readily crumble under slight pressure by the thumb and finger, it is too wet for plowing or working and is unsuitable for young plants. When the soil is ready, it's time to break up and turn it and then add organic matter or fertilizer. If you visit the garden center at a local hardware store, you can purchase an inexpensive hoe to work the soil as well as fertilizer.

Step 3. Choose your favorite vegetables. Because your garden is on the smaller side, you will have some limitations on what you can successfully grow. The season in which you are starting the garden is also an important factor to consider. For the cool season (spring and fall), you can plant beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes and spinach. For the warm season (summer), try planting vegetables like beans, corn, peppers, squash, and tomatoes.

Step 4. You can purchase seed packets (the cheaper option; usually less than $2 a packet) or you can purchase seedlings sold at nurseries. It's best to purchase seeds and seedlings just after the new year because the selection is freshest. If you choose, you can start some plants indoors during the winter and then transplant them in the spring or summer.

Step 5. Sow seed or seedlings into the soil according to the directions on the packet. Pay close attention to the amount of space required between seeds or seedlings. The back of the seed packet will provide you with spacing guidelines.

Step 6. Watch them grow! Each vegetable will have different criteria for when they are ready to be harvested. Enjoy your hard work by finding new recipes that allow the vegetables you've grown to shine.

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Kathryn Steed is a writer and editor for Recipe4Living.com, an ever-growing recipe sharing website. For more articles like this, or for a large collection of recipes, visit the site as http://www.Recipe4Living.com.

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