Growing radishes is fun and the easiest vegetable to grow. A great healthy vegetable eaten raw – radishes are in the same family as cabbages and mustard greens. They are high in vitamin C, used for detoxing, low in calories, and helps in digestion, among …
Watering The Garden How much water your garden needs will depend on the type of soil, whether you have raised beds or not, if the garden is mulched, and the type of vegetables planted. These factors influence the how much water you need to keep …
Growing spinach, a delicious and nutritious vegetable. Spinach is very flavorful and nutrient-rich leafy green vegetable. Spinach has high antioxidant content and anti-cancer properties that and promotes better health. In addition, it is an excellent source of protein, iron and other vitamins and minerals.
Temperature for Growing Spinach Spinach thrives in cool weather and can be planted at the same as radishes, lettuce, peas and many Asian greens. Direct-seed spinach when the temperature reaches 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
Timing for Growing Spinach Direct seeding of spinach in late summer for a fall crop that will perform better and continue growing into winter. However, a late fall planting requires diligence for keeping. The soil has to be kept moist (especially on hot days) until the seeds germinate. Once germination occurs and while still young it needs to be mulched. Mulching will help ensure the plant remains healthy, as the weather turns cooler.
Timing for Growing Spinach in Warmer Regions
In warmer regions if planting occurs later in the fall, the harvest will be in November and/or December. In much warmer areas, growing occurs throughout the winter months. Planting in the spring has a shorter season and the plants can bolt or go to seed once the temperature gets warm. Bolting can also occur, as the days get longer.
Different Varieties for Spring or Fall
Overall, the success of the crop’s harvest is heavily contingent on the plant type. Use a slow bolting variety, in the spring. However, varieties that are quick to bolt do well, in the fall. It is recommended that different plant varieties be tested to determine what works best in your local region. Most varieties resist some frost.
Harvesting Tips
Harvesting the outer leaves works great! In the spring, a continuous harvest is possible; that is, until the temperature rises. Then, harvest the whole plant. Plant fully developed within 40 to 50 days. To create a more delicate and flavorful leaf, harvest plants before they are fully developed. They will continue to send new shoots from the center of the plant. See video on How to plant spinach
To read about other cool weather vegetables see my blog on How to grow beets.
Get my paperback copy: ‘Garden the Organic Way’ and become an expert gardener. Garden the Organic Way is a comprehensive guide to organic gardening, designed for all skill levels. The book provides methods for growing delicious, pesticide-free vegetables using sustainable practices. https://gardentheorganicway.etsy.com
How to grow potatoes and get a huge harvest! – originally from the Andes Mountains, potatoes have traveled the globe and are a huge hit everywhere. There are thousands of varieties. By growing your own, you have the opportunity to try some of the diverse …
Do We Just Throw Away Scraps of Vegetables in the Winter? Composting in the winter is a golden opportunity to make back gold. When it’s cold outside and whether you live in a small apartment or a large home with lots of land, sometimes we …
Fall Production is awesome! Cool weather Crops – most of us feel like, when it comes to gardening, everything ends when the summer ends. In reality, we must look at the coming fall as a spring but better. In the fall certain cool weather crops do so much better and they are easier to grow.
Factors that Contribute to a Better Harvest
Cooler weather allows the plants to thrive with less stress. In the spring the weather gets hotter daily and you need varieties that withstand the coming heat.
The plants have a sweeter flavor as the cool weather sweetens the sugars they produce.
There are less pests around, as many of the insects have finished their life cycles or are winding down and the numbers are reduced.
There are less weeds.
Everything grows a little slower; therefore, you can take your time maintaining the area with less pressure.
We can rotate our crops in the garden or follow where the summer crops are dying back. This will allow us to plan for next year and get our garden ready to go for the coming year.
You will need less water, especially if you mulch with straw to keep soil cool.
Extend the season with season extenders, like protective cloth or row covers. If nothing else old bed sheets or light blankets, which can be placed overnight if you get a sudden drop of temperature.
Before planting add some organic matter to the soil, like compost. Even partially decomposed compost or partially decomposed manure will do wonders to the garden. Work the manure or partially decomposed compost into the planting bed and cover it with soil. Then wait two weeks before planting your fall crop. See video on Fall into Abundance of Vegetables: Increase Microbes
When do you start your cool weather crops?
Depends on where you live. First, look up when the first frost date normally occurs in your region.
Then, secondly, count backwards around 60 to 70 days from that first frost, which is the average harvest for many crops.
To be specific, check the number of days to maturity for those cool weather vegetables. This will show what can be planted. As the weather cools down, plant growth slows down too.
Get my paperback copy: ‘Garden the Organic Way’ and become an expert gardener. Garden the Organic Way is a comprehensive guide to organic gardening, designed for all skill levels. The book provides methods for growing delicious, pesticide-free vegetables using sustainable practices. https://gardentheorganicway.etsy.com
On SALE now! great price on my soil courseuntil February 7, 2024. Learn about soil microbes, creating black gold and restoring the soil into a fertile ground. Just some of the topics covered: Soil, The Key to Organic Gardening
Growing Soybeans – This vegetable is high in protein and can be used as a substitute for any meat. It’s nutritious, delicious, and easy to eat. Many soybeans grown today commercially are GMO. Therefore, growing your own is a must, using non GMO varieties. Most people …
Fertilizing with Compost Tea is one of the best ways to get nutrients to your plants. It a safe way to feed your garden all year long. Apply compost tea every two to three weeks. When growing vegetables that are considered heavy feeders, apply it …
Turning your compost pile every three or four weeks is very important. Because it adds oxygen to the process and assist the bacteria in breaking down the organic matter. Turning your compost will provide oxygen to the bacteria and allow it to reproduce. If the compost begins to smell funny or rancid it means that it has gone anaerobic. Anaerobic compost promotes pathogenic bacteria and kills off beneficial aerobic bacteria. By turning the compost often you are accelerating the process of decomposition by keeping the good bacteria active and alive.
Get my paperback copy: ‘Garden the Organic Way’ and become an expert gardener. Garden the Organic Way is a comprehensive guide to organic gardening, designed for all skill levels. The book provides methods for growing delicious, pesticide-free vegetables using sustainable practices. https://gardentheorganicway.etsy.com
If too much heat builds up above the 104° – 122° F or 40° – 50°C range some of the good bacteria will die off. If the temperature gets to low then the process of decomposition slows down. It is a good idea to make sure the pile reaches a high temperature and maintains the temperature for five days in order to kill pathogens, weed seeds and other critters or larva.
The more bacteria you have breaking down the organic material the more heat is generated and the quicker the interior of the pile will breakdown. By turning it you move the material on the outer sides closer to the middle and at the same time have the opportunity to add water to keep the moisture levels high. Too little moisture reduces bacterial activity but too much (over 65%), makes it go anaerobic. In addition is causes the nutrients to wash away.
On SALE now! great price on my soil course until February 7, 2024. Learn about soil microbes, creating black gold and restoring the soil into a fertile ground. Just some of the topics covered. Soil, The Key to Organic Gardening
Materials to Use and Avoid
When using kitchen scraps they need to be free from oil, sauce or anything containing animal products. These ingredients attract rodents and will slow down the composting process. Helpful tip: if the pile is decomposing too slowly, you can add more green material to create heat and speed the process along.
Description of those materials needed to make compost. Easy to follow list of materials that are need. Additional list of what materials should not be used. Proper video links and additional materials to learn the process
How to make compost or black gold! One of the easiest ways to restore your soil and fertilize your plants is by adding compost. Old time gardeners considered consider compost “black gold” because it is filled with the microorganisms and nutrients needed to grow a …
rThere are many ways to grow food and different cultures around the world practice various methods. Using raised garden beds, is a popular way to grow in many parts of the world. Especially in some mountainous areas still is the way to grow food. Here in the US we see raised garden beds as a way to grow food for the home garden or for those who are physical challenged.
Benefits of a Raised Garden Bed System
I see the raised bed as an efficient system.
Requires fewer resources
Gives more yields
Preserves the soil structure
Makes the maintenance an easy way to garden – or, if on a large scale,- to do some real farming.
A raised system allows us to start fresh with new soil.
If you have a soil that is very rocky or has been infected with a lot of chemicals, you can replace the soil.
A highly organic mixture can be brought in and supplemented with any amount of organic material. This organic material then becomes food for worms and for reestablishing the soil flora, which makes our soil alive and full of nutrients.
We are not adding organic matter to a large area, which can be quite extensive, just the area of the raised beds.
Aeration and Root Development
By not walking on the raised garden bed, we allow the soil to have minimum compaction. The only compaction would be from rain storms. Use mulch to minimize compaction. The mulch receives the first impact of the rains.
Once a bed is established, and proper organic matter added, the aeration in the soil increases. In turn this will result in the root system being able to penetrate deeper into the soil. By having a greater root system, you end up with a better plant. A healthier plant has greater absorption of water and nutrients. Good root development is one of the greatest benefits of raised beds.
The raised should not be less than 4 feet and ideally around 5 feet. This allows ample reach from both sides for planting, weeding and harvesting. If we make a raised bed too narrow then it will dry out too quickly in the summer. Also it may not give us the proper width for planting enough vegetables within the bed. As for the height of the bed, it can be as high as you can get it without any support. The wider the bed, the greater the height before the soil begins to fall along the sides.
The worm population increases with the addition of organic matter. The worms will not stay confined to the raised bed. The worms will begin to move into the lower parts of the soil and loosen up those compacted areas. This will result in the soil being richer and deeper for growing.
More Advantages
Having raised garden beds has other advantages:
The soil warms up faster in the spring than soil that is at ground level.
Cover the bed with straw mulch in the late fall, in order to plant earlier in spring.
In the fall prepare the beds that will be used in early spring. The garden bed will then be ready once the grounds thaws and gets warm enough to work with.
Remove straw mulch from prepared bed in the spring and plant.
By having the raised bed warm up faster, you have earlier germination and are able to transplant seedlings earlier in the season.
It’s easier to control watering in the raised garden beds. You only water the beds not the paths.
You can run trickle irrigation or other system of irrigation just on the beds. This allows maximum saving of water. Those vegetables that need more water can be grown together.
Other Benefits of Raised Garden Beds
Another benefit of a raised bed is that it lends itself for plants to grow in greater proximity to each other. Instructions on planting are based on using rows. When you grow this way, you walk between rows, and compact the soil. In many cases, its assumed machinery is being used to grow the food. Growing food the traditional way reduces air and water available to the plant due to compaction. You then need to plant the crops further apart.
Once you change to a raise garden bed the air and water is available along with the organic matter, then you can plant closer. I have planted closer for each vegetable than what the instructions call for on any seed packet. Not only do I still get a greater yield but also all of them had delicious flavor.
Get your paperback copy: ‘Garden the Organic Way’ and become an expert gardener. Garden the Organic Way is a comprehensive guide to organic gardening, designed for all skill levels. The book provides methods for growing delicious, pesticide-free vegetables using sustainable practices. https://gardentheorganicway.etsy.com You can also purchase ‘Garden the Organic Way’ as an eBookhttp://Amazon- Garden the Organic Way
I treat every vegetable individually and study how big each type of vegetable will get in terms of height and width. Then plant accordingly. By planting a bit closer I find that the plant leaves touch each other as they grow. The ground in the bed stays shaded from the leaves of the plants. I then have minimal mulching to help maintain the moisture in the bed. This added benefit allows me to save on watering.
Watch Out for Insects
The drawback of having the plants closer together are that insects can hide easily. The leaves need to be inspected thoroughly for insects. Therefore, a lot more care has to be exercised.
Once your raised garden bed is finished you will need to fill it with good soil or a compost mixture. If the soil you have is poor quality read the blog on restoring the soil.