Posts Tagged ‘Vegetables’

Companion Planting Vegetables For Increased Crops

November 29th, 2009

Companion planting in your vegetable garden is a great way to increase the size of the crop you will have when it comes time to harvest. The right combination of vegetables planted together improves growth, reduces disease, encourages beneficial insects to thrive in the garden, and discourages pests.
But companion planting vegetables does have it’s drawbacks, as some vegetables are much more fussy than others about who they are planted next to. This simple guide will help you with a few of the more common combinations you should keep in mind when companion planting vegetables.
Asparagus get on well with most vegetables, but their ideal companions are tomato, parsley and basil.
Bush beans like potatoes, cucumber, corn, strawberries and celery, but hate onions. On the other hand, pole beans are a little more selective – they only like corn and radishes, and hate beets as well as onions.
The cabbage family (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale to name a few) like many companions – beet, celery, cucumber, lettuce, onion, potatoes and spinach. But they have a few hates as well – dill, strawberries, pole beans and tomatoes.
Carrots get on well with a wide variety of vegetables – peas, lettuce, rosemary, onions, sage and tomatoes. Just keep them away from dill.
Celery is also a very accepting vegetable, liking onions, the cabbage family, tomatoes and bush beans. Like asparagus, they don’t hate any vegetables.
Keep your corn away from tomatoes, but to keep it happy plant it near potatoes, beans, peas, pumpkins, cucumber and squash.
Cucumber doesn’t like being near aromatic herbs or potatoes, but plant it near beans, corn or peas and it will be happy.
Lettuce is an accepting plant, not hating any vegetables but appreciating being planted next to carrots, strawberries and cucumbers.
Onions generally like being planted next to beets, carrots, lettuce and the cabbage family, but keep them away from beans and peas if you want good results.
Peas like being planted next to carrots, turnips, cucumbers, corn and beans, but be sure to not plant them near onions or potatoes.
Speaking of potatoes, you should plant them near beans, corn and members of the cabbage family for best results, and make sure they are away from pumpkins, squash, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Finally the humble tomato – one of the more popular summer vegetables for the gardener to grow. For the best results plant them near onions, asparagus, carrots, parsley or cucumbers, but keep them well away from potatoes or members of the cabbage family.
This isn’t a fully comprehensive list – obviously there are many more types of vegetables available for you to plant in your vegetable garden, and this article could easily double or triple in size if we tried to include everything. But this list of the more common vegetables should be a good start in helping you plan the layout of your vegetable garden for the next year.
So give companion planting in your vegetable garden a try. You’ll find you’ll have happier, healthier plants in your vegetable garden, which in turn will give you tastier vegetables to feed you and your family.

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A Guide to Building and Planting Vegetable Gardens

November 25th, 2009

The structure of your vegetable garden does not have to be entirely functional but it should also look and feel good. Building some decorative arches and some tomato cages not only makes your garden look good but also helps it produce more crops. After all, there is more to planting vegetable gardens than just cultivating a spot of land.Function Over FormThe most well known form garden structures are those that are built to sustain plants and give them the room to climb, hold up the weight of its fruits and other plants as well. Building cages and poles lets you have a vertical garden which boosts your produce per square foot since you’ll have more space to plant in the ground.Vegetables like cucumbers, peas, peppers and eggplants need lots of garden support. Carrying these vegetables above ground not only will produce better crop it also protects it from insects found in the soil. Plus, the fruits will be less likely to rot if planted this way. Building other support structures like stakes and cages will help in making your plants grow stronger and taller.Choose Your StructureIf you plan to shop for things for your garden online or in a garden store, you’ll notice how many choices there are when it comes to garden structures. A great online garden resource is a company called Garden Supply Company. Not only do they have a mail-order catalogue, they make trellises for plants like cucumbers that serve as a shade to neighboring plants, tomato cages, spiral supports, bean towers, maypoles and others.Garden structures may vary especially in terms of form and function because they not only are very supportive of plants it also makes your garden look good. The best kind of garden is not only beautiful, but also enhances the health of the vegetables planted there. Form over FunctionThere are so many options when it comes to building your vegetable garden especially if you’re purpose is purely aesthetic. You can build ornaments like arches, trellises or archways to beautify your garden. You can even build walls or doorways to surround your garden for a more visual appeal. For gardens like these, you can decorate them with plants aside from vegetables. You can plant beautiful flowers to cover your trellis but choose flowers that are sun friendly and attract helpful insects. An example is trumpet flowers, which are not only beautiful but they attract bees for your vegetable garden. Since you also want to attract helpful creatures, you can build a bird bath or a bird house in your garden. If you’re particularly into organic gardening, the birds can certainly help eliminate pestsAs long as you keep your garden attractive to birds and other helpful insects, they will spend a lot of time in your garden and repay you by eating away harmful pests.Supporting Your PlantsBuilding plant supports are essential garden structures which is why it’s necessary to use them in the proper way to maximize results. This does not mean building stakes or cages in the ground and leave the plant to grow on its own.There are other materials like plant ties, jute cords or twines which you can use to tie up your plant to the cages or poles but don’t tie them too tight.Another great support when it comes to planting vegetables gardens are stakes. Make sure to drive them properly into the ground and space them a little further from your main plant to avoid hitting its roots.

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How to Grow Your Homemade Tomatoes

November 20th, 2009

HOW TO GROW YOUR HOMEMADE TOMATOES

Growing tomatoes is fun and a lucrative home  gardening business. Besides being nutritious, it could provide you with a real fresh fruits coming directly from your garden.

You can produce them the way you want it. Producing tomatoes can be done without using chemicals because you’re the one controlling their growth processes.

If you’ll plant tomatoes with other vegetables, the occurrence of pests and diseases attack could be totally minimized or even none at all. Companion cropping or multiple cropping can control pests and diseases attack since they’re protected by the other plants.

Steps in growing tomatoes…

1)   Provide a seed box or germinating tray for sowing seeds. Sow the seeds 12 mm or .5 inch deep in the seed  trays or germinating tray. Slightly cover the seeds with thin soil to cover them.

2)   Cover the seed trays or germinating trays with newspaper or polyethylene plastic. Germination will take about 7-10 days from sowing.

3)   After  the seeds have germinated, remove the cover. Gradually expose the growing seedlings to the morning sunlight to harden them

4)   Prepare a separate seed trays or germinating trays the same manner as when sowing seedlings. Fill with the growing medium and level at least 12 mm or .5 inch below the rim.

5)   Use a dibber to form holes about 36 mm or .5 inch apart, the outer ones  12 mm or .5 inch from the sides.

6)   As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick or transfer them to the individual holes in the prepared seedling or germinating trays. This is to provide the seedlings a wider space to avoid over-crowding while in the seedling or germinating trays.

7)   Now set the individual seedlings to a growing bags or pots.

8)   Support the plants with sticks tied with wires or strings to hold in place.

9)   Feed the growing plants every ten days from planting up to the time when the first truss (bunch fruit) in formed.

10) Remove or prune all shoots growing in the angles of the leaves-snap them sideways. Also, gradually remove or prune the lower leaves to induce ripening of the fruits.

11) Harvest your fresh tomatoes when they’re ripe. You can give or sell your surplus harvest to your neighbors. And they’ll thanks for your generosity.

See, it’s very easy to grow your own chemically free tomatoes for your family’s needs.

Why not try planting your own homemade tomatoes. You’re sure you’ll enjoy it.

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Cris Ramasasa, Freelance writer, writes about home gardening and      Internet  marketing tips. You can get a copy of his latest ebook “How to get started in  Flower Gardening” and “Vegetable Gardening Made Easy”, also get lots of tips, Free articles, and bonuses  at: www.crisramasasa.com

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