Thinking About the other person

Plant an Extra Row: My next door neighbor is single, on disability, and has two teen-aged children, so when I plant my garden this summer I will plant tomatoes and beans for her on the fence between our yards. I can tend to them from my side and she can pick them from her side. Submitted by Patty  I got this in the mail today and i think we all should live by this example you go Patty.

Raised Bed Gardening

How to Plant a Raised Tomato Bed

A good Soilless mix

Basic Soilless Potting Mix


4-6 parts Sphagnum Peat Moss

1 part Perlite

1 part Vermiculite



Basic Mix with Compost

2 parts Compost

2-4 parts Sphagnum Peat Moss

1 part Perlite

1 part Vermiculite



Basic Mix with the Addition of Nutrients

Add ½ cup each per every 8 gallons of mix:

½ cup Bone Meal(Phosphorous)

½ cup Dolomitic Limestone (Raises soil pH and provides calcium and magnesium)

½ cup Blood Meal or Soybean Meal or Dried Kelp Powder (Nitrogen)



If you want seedlings that not only grow, but absolutely thrive, this easy mix is for you. The problem with most pre-mixed bags of seed starting medium is that they are peat based (not the best option if you're concerned about the environment) and contain little, if any, nutrition for your growing seedlings. Traditional wisdom says to transplant your seedlings as soon as their first true leaves appear, but who wants to keep messing with seedlings, transplanting more than you have to? Forget it. This soil-less mix contains everything you need to not only get your seedlings off on a good start, but also to keep them growing strong and sturdy.



Basic Seed Starting Mix



3 parts** peat or coir (coir is preferable if you can get it)

3 parts vermicompost (your own or purchased from a garden center or other supplier)

1 part perlite

1/2 part greensand

Mix the first three ingredients together, then sprinkle the greensand into the mix and combine. This ensures that the greensand is evenly distributed throughout the mix.



What Makes This Mix So Great?



Let's break it down by ingredient:



Peat or coir provides the base for the mix and gives the seedlings something fine yet sturdy -- perfect for encouraging strong root growth. It also retains moisture well, as long as you don't let it dry out. (It can be a real pain to re-hydrate peat and coir once you've let them dry out.)



Vermicompost provides excellent nutrition for your growing seedlings, which they'll need once they have their first true set of leaves. The seed has everything it needs to germinate and send up a stem and cotyledons, but after that point, it will require outside nutrition to keep the seedling growing strong.



Perlite keeps the mix from getting too dense, and provides aeration to the mix.



Greensand is an excellent source of potash, which is essential for overall plant health and strong growth.



**Note: one "part" can be anything you want: a cup, a bucket, a shovelful, whatever. The point is to keep the proportions fairly close to the recipe.

Here I go Dreaming Again!!!

Every year spring comes and I get so excited to get outside and plant my garden. I can just taste those fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and all the other wonderful produce that I will grow this summer.


I stop at all the seed displays and see if there is anything new that I want to try and grow this year and take pleasure in my anticipation to dig in the dirt.

I watch the weather and am careful not to plant to soon, I don't want my plants caught in a late spring freeze of course. Then the time comes when I just can't stand it any longer I head to the nursery to buy my plants. I of course get way too many of everything and then I patiently haul them outside every morning to get some sun and then bring them in each night until the big day arrives.

I get my garden area all rototilled and ready and invest in some plant food to help my little darlings along after I get them planted. I've got my stakes and string ready to make neat little rows of carrots and radishes. I've got my wire cages ready to place over my tomatoes plants and am just itching to get started.

Finally the day has arrived and I can plant my garden. I start out the morning with enthusiasm and get everything planted just so. It is a little more crowded than I would like because I seem to always try to fit too many plants and seeds into the area, but I tell myself it will all be worth it.

All through June and July I lovingly cultivate my plants, weeding and watering with a vengeance. August comes and we are thoroughly enjoying all our fresh vegetables. But by then it is getting a little hot out and weeding isn't quite as fun anymore. Toward the middle of August I have vegetables coming out my ears and it is time to can and freeze all this freshness for winter.

I start out with salsa and then move on to tomatoes and pickles. Then of course I need to get those strawberrys in the freezer. And I don't want the corn to get too mature before I get it into the freezer. After a week or two my kitchen is a wreck and I am tired of spending the last of my summer days inside. If I never see another tomato or ear of corn I will be extremely happy. Between getting ready for the new school year and freezing and canning all my great produce I am thoroughly exhausted. Plus it seems like with this heat watering my garden, let alone the lawn is a never ending chore.

But of course we don't want anything to go to waste so I head down to get more canning supplies and keep at it. When it is all said and done I have way too much for my family to use so of course I give it away. You don't want those vegetables to go to waste you know.

By this time I look out and my peaches and apples seem just right for picking and the process starts over with them. While I am working on my fruit of course the garden is still producing and even though I quit canning and freezing from there I can't let it go to waste so I make sure every morning and night I pick what is ripe and give it away to those that will surely appreciate it. Because by this time the thought of eating anything out of the garden is not very appealing, neither is cooking in my kitchen that has become a canning disaster area.

Then the next big day that I can't seem to wait for, the big freeze. Finally my gardening job has ended. All I have to do now is get everything in the compost pile, re-rototill, and fertilize.

As I look at my kitchen and see all the fruits, vegetables, pickles, and jellies ready for winter I am proud, but really really tired. I vow next year I will not take on so much. Last year I went ahead and planned my garden in October and made specific counts of just how much I was going to plant. I made counts of just how much I had frozen and canned to see just how much we would use in the coming year. I made little footnotes of my thoughts on the subject as well.

Well spring is approaching, well kind of there is still snow on the ground, and I got out my garden plan and looked at all the produce my family still hasn't eaten and thought about how much of it I had given away this winter already and thought maybe I should follow this new garden plan as I started to unfold all my notes. I vaguely remember thinking Pace salsa is almost as good as my own, and who really can tell if the canned tomatoes came from the garden or not after they have been cooked.

I don't know if I will be able to stick to this streamlined plan when my green thumb starts itching to grow things but I keep telling myself if we run out of salsa, jelly, corn, or tomatoes it won't be the end of the world. They are readily available at the grocery store and in the long run may cost less than me putting them up myself. I was totally convinced in October, kind of convinced now, but I am wondering come May if I will be able to stick to it.

I have a feeling when the grass starts turning green, and the tulips show their colors all my best laid plans for a more relaxing late summer are going to go by the wayside. Oh well, I guess their could be worse addictions. I wonder is there such a thing as a 12 step program for those addicted to gardening in excess?

Plan the lay out of your garden

One thing that is vitally important in vegetable gardening is the garden arrangement. There is no single plan that will work for every garden due to varying conditions. One popular way to arrange a vegetable garden is to plant vegetables needing only limited space together, such as radishes, lettuce, beets, and spinach, and those that require more room together, such as corn, pumpkins, and potatoes. Try and plant tall growing plants towards the back of the garden and shorter ones in the front so that their sunlight does not get blocked.




When you are finally ready to begin planting your vegetable garden, make sure and plant at the right time of year. If you are dying to get an early start, you may want begin your garden inside in a hotbed and then transplant when the weather permits. After you are finished planting, make sure your vegetables receive the appropriate amount of water, which depends on the type of plant. Most plants will need the equivalent to about an inch of water per week.



Weeds must be controlled in vegetable gardening because they will take up water, light, and nutrients meant for the vegetables and they often bring disease and insects to the garden. You can get rid of weeds by cultivation or mulching. To protect against disease and insects you can buy seeds that are disease resistant or use controlled chemicals.



Vegetable gardening is many people’s favorite form of gardening because you can actually taste the fruits of your labor. Vegetable gardening is not that expensive to start and the taste of home grown veggies definitely beat out that of supermarket vegetables. Your vegetable gardening days will be full of produce if you take the proper precautions when planting and continue maintenance of your garden.

planing your garden

Before planting, the soil must be properly prepared. Good soil for vegetable gardening is achieved by cultivation and the application of organic materials. The soil must be tilled (plowed) to control weeds and mix mulch into the soil. If you have a small garden, spading could be a better bet than plowing. Mulching is also a vital part of soil preparation. Organic matter added to the soil releases nitrogen, minerals, and other nutrients plants need to thrive. The most popular and best type of mulch you can use is compost. While the kind and amount of fertilizer used depends on the soil and types of plants, there are some plants that have specific needs; leafy plants, like cabbage, spinach, and lettuce usually grow better with more nitrogen, while root crops like potatoes, beets, turnips, and carrots require more potash. Tomatoes and beans use less fertilizer, while plants like onions, celery, and potatoes need a larger amount.

Vegetable Gardening

Vegetable gardening has lately become just as popular as going to the grocery store fore produce. Vegetable gardening can produce vegetable that are usually cheaper than store bought, and vegetables from a home vegetable garden definitely taste better by far. Vegetable gardening is no different than growing herbs or flowers and if the proper steps are taken and the plants are give the proper care they will flourish and produce very tasty vegetables.




First you must decide what size of garden you wish to plant and then select a place for it; somewhere that has good drainage, good air flow, and good, deep soil. It also needs to be able to get as much sunlight as possible. Because vegetable gardens have such tasty rewards, many animals, such as dogs, rabbits, deer, and many others will try and get to your veggies. One way to prevent this is to surround your garden with a fence, or put out a trap to catch mice, moles, and other animals.