Garden Planning
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How to Grow a Winter Vegetable Garden
Many vegetables can be grown in winter and harvested in winter or early spring. Some vegetables take most of a year to mature; they are planted in spring and harvested in winter. Other vegetables can be sown in midsummer or early autumn for autumn and winter harvest. Vegetables for winter harvest include leeks, salad leaves, […] More
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Vegetable Garden Growing Season
Planting vegetables in the right season will greatly enhance your harvest. Most vegetables belong to one of two seasonal groups: cool-season crops and warm-season crops. The planting date for each vegetable depends upon the temperature and the weather that the vegetable can best tolerate. Cool-season vegetables grow best in early spring or in late summer […] More
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How to Prepare a Vegetable Garden Planting Bed
A garden planting bed is home to your vegetables, herbs, and flowers. You want a planting bed in which plants will thrive and you want a planting bed that is easy to make and easy to maintain. Making a new garden planting bed should be a one-time investment in sweat equity. Once a new bed […] More
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Know Your Warm-Season Crops
Success in growing many vegetable crops is driven by warm temperatures. Not surprisingly, warm-season vegetables grow best in warm weather. Here are the key temperatures you need to keep in mind to successfully grow warm-season vegetables: Tender and very tender vegetables Warm-season crops can be classified as tender and very tender. Tender vegetables can take […] More
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How to Start an Herb Garden
Herbs are both beautiful and useful. They require a small amount of effort for a great reward. An herb garden is easy to start; you can grow herbs in their own stand-alone bed, include them in existing flower and vegetable beds, or grow them in decorative pots. Herbs are highly adaptable they will grow in […] More
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Vegetable Garden Soil Guide
The soil in your garden was created over thousands of years through the disintegration and decomposition of rock and organic matter. Temperature and rainfall, the life and death of plants, animals and bacteria, and fungi, and the rocks that were there, to begin with: all contributed to the soil you find in your garden today. […] More
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Planning the Home Fruit Garden
Planning the home fruit garden requires a bit more future-thinking than the vegetable garden. Most vegetables are annuals or biennials and spend just one or two seasons in the garden. Most fruits are trees or shrubs and live for 10 to 50 years or more. The first consideration in planning an edible garden—either fruit or […] More
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Vegetable Garden Plant Hardiness
Hardiness or cold-hardiness is a term used to denote a plant’s ability to withstand cold temperatures. Cold-hardiness commonly specifies the minimum temperature to which a plant can be exposed and still be able to resume growing. At the end of the growing season, tender and very tender vegetables must be protected from cold or they […] More
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Intensive Planting in the Vegetable Garden
Intensive vegetable gardening is the name given to a way of using garden space and soil nutrients to produce high yields of flavorful crops. The intensive planting method of vegetable gardening is perhaps the most efficient and effective of all growing methods. It is both resource-conserving and sustainable. The origins of this method can be […] More
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Hardy, Half-Hardy, and Tender Vegetable Crops
Hardy is a term used to describe a plant’s ability to survive in a specific climate zone—even through the cold of winter. Commonly gardeners use the term “hardy” to describe a plant that can survive a freeze, frost, or cold snap. Half-hardy is a term used to describe plants that can survive only limited or […] More
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Summer Crops Planting Guides
Late spring and early summer is the time to set out heat-loving crops–tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, zucchini, squashes, cucumbers, okra, and melons. Plant these crops where they will get plenty of sunshine for rapid growth and timely harvests. Work plenty of aged compost or commercial organic planting mix into the beds, mounds, and hills ahead […] More
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Vegetable Garden Calendar and Map
Keep a vegetable garden calendar and map. Use the calendar to record when you start seeds when you plant in the garden, and when you expect to harvest each crop. Use the garden map to record where you plant each crop or plan to plant later in the season. Keeping track of the garden in […] More