Gardening, Vegetables, Seeding, Tomatoes, you name it, the how-to is here.
Welcome to hands-on gardening. Here we share tips for low-cost vegetable gardening; information we have learned with our 30 years of experience using drip tape, plastic mulch, hoop houses and greenhouse seed propagation using organic practices.
Our garden grew from a small backyard kitchen garden to over six acres of vegetable cultivation. On these six acres of intensive garden, we provide enough produce to supply seven farmers markets. We have learned how to use drip irrigation for water conservation. We use plastic mulch to control weeds, maintain soil moisture and raise soil temperature. We also have learned how to use row-hoops to extend our season, control pests and protect our crops from frost.
Like the greatest agriculturist of our country, George Washington Carver, we have discovered the benefits of simple innovation, recycling and using organic methods.
So let’s mix some dirt. When you are preparing dirt that fills a pot or tray it will need to be fluffy. If it is too solid, the little roots will struggle for survival. Outside in the garden or yard, the dirt is alive with worms and other organisms that keep the soil light and airy, but when you have a potted plant, you will need to manually aerate the soil. We do this by adding Perlite and Peat moss.
It has been two weeks since we started the peppers on the heat blanket tables. We seeded them 5 rows to a tray and seeds about ½″ apart then covered with a small amount of dirt. Usually all the little seeds come up in this nice warm environment. They are now ready to transplant.
So I waited two days and now the roots are way too compacted. It won’t hurt them too much but they do droop for a few hours after transplanting. Get your tools around and you are ready to start. I need a: transplanting fork, mixed dirt, four-unit pony packs, a tray to set them in, tags to label, and a sharpie pen. Are you ready? Ok, let’s get started.
It’s cold, cold, cold and hard to even think about the coming summer-growing months in the garden and yet in the mail, here they come the vegetable SEED CATALOGS. Today we began our planning for the coming garden season. Gathered around the stove, bringing out the lists, charts and data from last year, we ask, “does anyone remember when we planted the first tomatoes…did they all live…no, that was when we had the cold Spring and had to replant…someone look at the planting charts”…and so we do remember and begin to fill in the planning calendar for the coming season.
A photo of our garden