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Gardening for Beginners

Spin Bin compost tumbler

June 29, 2010 by Vegetable7 1 Comment

Spin Bin compost tumbler

If you’ve been a vegetable gardener for very long, you’ve probably discovered the importance of compost for gardening. Compost improves any type of soil, whether it is clay or sandy. The rich organic materials from compost help increase soil fertility, and also give the soil a more sponge-like consistency that soaks up water, and releases it as plants need it.

What’s not to like about composting, right?

The Spin Bin is a compost tumbler that was introduced for the 2010 season.

Tumblers have both advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

Materials are off the ground and sealed away, keeping pests and rodents out.
Easy to keep your materials aerated and mixed — a key to successful composting
Don’t need tools for mixing.
Can be faster at composting, when used correctly.

Disadvantages:

Tumblers sometimes have a smaller capacity than regular compost bins, or piles.
Tumblers don’t always generate as much heat when composting, if the user isn’t skilled.

So although you’ll often see ads for “compost in 14 days!” with various tumblers, it’s unlikely that a regular person will get results like that. Typical results will be several months.

With that being said, I still like the convenience of using a tumbler — especially the pest proof part. I live in an urban area where rats and squirrels are both a reality, and I had trouble with them getting into my regular compost bin. There’s nothing creepier than running into a rat!

And FYI, the best way to avoid rodents if you are composting in a pile or unsealed bin is to make sure any kitchen scraps are buried way down in the pile. If you just throw them on top, it’s like sending a written invitation to every pest in the neighborhood for free dinner.

Filed Under: Gardening for Beginners Tagged With: compost, organic vegetable gardening, soil

Seed Starting: 5 Tips for Beginner Gardeners

March 10, 2010 by Vegetable7 1 Comment

Seed starting: 5 tips for beginner success

Gardening can be the most satisfying hobby in the world, resulting in beauty, food, and a keen sense of satisfaction. Plug a seed in some dirt and nature performs a miracle. In the beginning, a gardener can feel overwhelmed by the complexities of gardening manuals, so it’s best to start simply and learn by trial and error.

A few simple tips for starting seeds indoors will boost the beginning gardener’s success rate and confidence.

1. Use a Seed Starting Mix.

Gardening on a budget might lead you to take some short cuts. So you fill your saved yogurt and margarine plastic containers and fill them with dirt you dug up from the back yard. Cost: $0.00 so far! The spendthrift in you is standing up and cheering.

Don’t get too excited yet, because while this experiment in frugality could work, you would be better off springing for a bag of artificial seed starting mix. Let’s explore what will happen if you go the “thrifty” route:

* The soil you dug up is denser than a bag of potting soil, making it more difficult for the seed to get the oxygen it needs. You could mix in some peat or sand to lighten it up, but…

* The soil has other seeds in it from past seasons, dormant and ready for the right conditions, which you are about to provide. As a beginner, how will you know that your seedling is really an eggplant and not a poke-berry? Even a seed packet’s identifying picture can be remarkably similar to weeds.

* Insect eggs that hatch and eat tender vegetation, fungi, and other soil-borne problems will only cause trouble.

A seed-starting mix is recommended for starting seeds indoors. Avoid potting soils with fertilizers – these are meant for older plants and may do more harm than good for your purposes. A seed starting mix has a small amount of fertilizer, enough to get you started.

2. Pass on old seeds.

Seeds lose their viability as they age; the older they become, the less viable (likely to sprout) they are. In general, you want fresh seeds, preferably from last summer, but no older than four years. For best results, buy seeds from a company who offers a guarantee.

Before you plant anything, test seed viability: Place at least ten of one kind on a slightly damp paper towel. Fold it over and seal in a Ziploc bag. Put the bag in a warm place away from direct sunlight, then check it every day to watch for germination and lightly spritz if it becomes too dry. Some types of seeds take longer to sprout than others, but once the first seeds of a batch sprout, others should follow within days. What you want is a good ratio of germination – at least 7 should sprout of the 10.

Don’t expect too much from saved seeds of produce you bought from the grocery store. Most produce sold in supermarkets are hybrid varieties whose seeds are infertile or will not reproduce the exact same fruit. If you save seeds from any “heirloom” produce, however, you can expect to grow the exact same specimen in your garden.

seed sprouting

3. Don’t overwater.

Before you plant the seeds in the seed starting mix, moisten the mix with water to reach the right amount of moisture: damp, but not too soggy. That way you can plant the seeds exactly as the instructions say without disturbing them later with watering. Seeds need to be in contact with moisture in order to germinate, but too much water will kill your efforts.

To maintain the right level of moisture, cover the pots after planting with a sheet of clear plastic. The covering should not be sealed tight. You have many choices for containers – saved Styrofoam and yogurt cups work equally well as a seedling flat from the store, so long as you poke holes in the bottoms of the cups to give adequate drainage. You can even save fast-food salad containers with the clear plastic covering, but drill plenty of holes in the top and bottom, otherwise the seedlings will cook and drown.

Watering is only necessary when the soil is visibly dry and the seedlings are about to wilt. Some gardeners like to keep peat seedling pots in a tray for watering from the bottom up. They put the water in the tray, wait for the peat pots to soak up enough water so the top soil is moistened, then they drain the extra.

4. Avoid leggy situations.

Once the seedling puts its head above the earth, light is as important as warmth. The ideal temperature depends on what you are growing, but all plants need adequate light to grow. The new sprouts will grow quickly toward the light, and if it’s not bright enough, the stems will elongate in an unhealthy way. That leggy situation is best avoided by providing light. You could get by with placing plants near a south-facing window.

Other options are to build an outdoor cold frame, or rig up a shop-style fluorescent light fixture over the plants, positioned inches above the leaves of the plants. These last options aren’t easy, but will result in healthier seedlings.

For that reason, it’s best to strategize planting times so that the seedlings are just about adequate for transferring outdoors when the temperatures will support them. Starting seeds too early will require you to “pot up” – or transfer seedlings to larger pots to accommodate root systems and allow for growth. If your seedlings become leggier than they should, you can pot-up, planting the seedling to bury most of the stem as well. Or, start a second batch.

5. Don’t shock the seedlings.

“Hardening off” is the process of acclimating the seedlings to their new turf outdoors without shocking the young plants, which can either cause a setback, cessation of growth, or death. When the temperatures outside are mild enough for the plant you are growing, begin the transfer by putting the seedlings outside for increasing amounts of daylight hours, then bring them back inside at night. Seedlings begun indoors are accustomed to a sheltered environment, so to begin with they need just a few hours of outdoor conditions, protected from wind and direct sunlight.

Over the next few weeks, increase their exposure to direct sunlight, wind, and rain as you gradually decrease watering. If you’re using a cold frame, simply open the frame for increasing periods of time. This stage of gardening can be time-intensive, requiring attention to temperatures day and night to prevent frozen plants when the temperatures dip, but will ensure a better transition and a healthier start for your plants. When the plants have spent an entire day and night outdoors, they are ready to plant in prepared garden beds.

Of course, you don’t have to start your seeds indoors. You can wait until the weather is warmer, or purchase seedlings from a nursery. Still, this aspect of gardening gives you much more versatility in what you can grow and when it will bear fruit. If you’re new to gardening, don’t let the science scare you away. This is one hobby that allows a lot of flexibility and room for error. With these few tips, you can proceed with confidence, dig your hands in the dirt, and experience the miracles of nature.

5 seed starting tips for beginners

Filed Under: Gardening for Beginners Tagged With: planting seeds, seedling, seedlings, starting seed, starting seeds

How to thin seedling plants

May 2, 2009 by Vegetable7 Leave a Comment

Seedlings can be very susceptible to slugs, so you’ll want to be careful to get rid of any slugs that might otherwise devour your garden. The video recommends a safe, organic slug killer. But if you can’t find that locally, you can also use a flat tray filled with beer, which attracts the slugs inside and then drowns them.

Once your seedling plants start growing, you’ll need to go through and thin them out so that they have at least a couple of inches on each side of the seedling. It seems mean to pull up the other plants, but if you don’t, you’ll end up with plants that are so crowded that they will die out and not succeed.

You’ll also see early weeds at the beginning of the season with your garden. Pull them out by hand, or chop through the roots with a hoe or other weeding tool so that they don’t immediately grow back.

Filed Under: Gardening for Beginners Tagged With: seedlings, slugs, weeds

Vegetable Gardening: What You Need to Get Started

April 30, 2009 by Vegetable7 Leave a Comment

Stan DeFreitas, Mr. Greenthumb, explains some of the items that you might need to get started with your first vegetable garden.

Stan says that you might want to start out with a few garden tools, and a good watering can.

Improving the soil is one of the most important things that you can do if you want to have a successful garden. Mr. Greenthumb recommends adding compost, peat, and perlite (or vermiculite!) to make the soil nice and loose and fertile. You can substitute coco husks, also called coir, for peat moss.

A raised bed garden is a good way to build up your own high quality soil on top of the native soil.

Starter plants are often easier to work with than seeds for beginning gardeners. But seeds are very cheap!

Filed Under: Gardening for Beginners Tagged With: garden tools, raised bed gardening, soil, watering

How to Plan and Start Your Vegetable Garden

April 28, 2009 by Vegetable7 Leave a Comment

This terrific Dummies.com video takes you through all the steps you need to plan and plant your a vegetable garden.

You’ll need to find a sunny space, with at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. And you also want a spot that drains and isn’t always soggy. Soggy spots can cause plant diseases and can make your roots rot.

You want soil that isn’t too sandy, or isn’t too clay like. Good quality soil will crumble in your hand. Adding compost is a great way to improve any kind of soil, whether it has too much sand, or clay.

Plant your rows from north to south, so that they get the most sun during the day. Put taller plants against fences or at the north end, so that they don’t shade the smaller plants.

Start your garden small and expand gradually, so that you don’t get overwhelmed and quit.

At your local nursery, they will be familiar with the type of soil in your area, if you don’t know what kind you have.

You can start plants from seeds, or from starter plants. Follow the instructions on the seed packets or the plant label for the time of year to plant for your gardening zone.

Filed Under: Gardening for Beginners Tagged With: compost, garden plan, soil

Testing your soil, a key to vegetable gardening success

April 26, 2009 by Vegetable7 Leave a Comment

P Allen Smith explains that winter is often a good time to test your soil, since not too much goes on in the garden during the cold weather.

Healthy soil is the key to any kind of successful gardening, so it’s good test yours and make sure it’s healthy and balanced. You’ll learn if the soil is acidic or alkaline, and the NPK levels.

You can take samples of your soil and send it to your local county extension agent to get it tested, but they are often busiest in the spring. So doing it in the winter gives you time to correct any issues, and also beats the crowd.

You can also purchase electronic soil testers that can measure your soil to check the pH, the NPK levels, and even measure how much sunlight you’re getting in a certain spot.

Filed Under: Gardening for Beginners Tagged With: NPK, pH levels, soil

Where to locate your vegetable garden

April 24, 2009 by Vegetable7 Leave a Comment

This great video explains how to pick the best spot for your vegetable garden.

You’ll need to find a spot that gets at least a full 8 hours of sun per day for a successful vegetable garden. Without enough sun, your vegetables just won’t do well.

Doug also points out that the slope is another thing to think about. It’s best to have a flat area, because it’s difficult to keep a steep slope watered well.

You’ll want to study your yard to find the sunniest spot. If you don’t have time to hang around and take note, try using something like the Sun Stick, a special device that measures how much sunlight a particular area gets over the course of a day.

Filed Under: Gardening for Beginners Tagged With: location, slope, sunlight

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