July Vegetable Garden Tips
July in the Northern Hemisphere is the month to begin enjoying the fruits of your labor in the vegetable garden. Warm-weather crops will begin ripening this month. Getting crops in at the peak of ripeness is important if you want to enjoy the most tasty and most tender harvest.
Look back at your planting records–when you planted each crop and the days to maturity for each variety. Gauge your harvest plans accordingly; cool or rainy weather during the growing time may put crops back by a week or two, but generally plan to get your each crop out of the garden on the day it is scheduled to reach maturity. Continue reading >>>
Mulch to Keep the Garden Cool
Mulch reduces evaporation from the soil surface, moderates soil temperature, and insulates roots from summer heat (and winter cold). Mulch suppresses weeds, reduces soil compaction, prevents erosion, and adds organic matter to the soil. Mulch is any material that protects the soil surface and allows air and water through. Organic mulches–mulches derived from plant materials–not only protect the soil but add nutrients over time while enriching overall soil composition.Continue reading>>>
Watering Vegetable in Hot and Dry Weather
Vegetables need water to grow quickly, tender, and tasty. Keep the soil evenly moist throughout the growing season—that means not to wet and not too dry. If the soil dries out, vegetables can become bitter tasting and woody. If the soil is too wet, vegetable roots can become starved for oxygen and plants can die. Water vegetables often enough to keep the soil around roots moist, but not soaking wet. Continue reading>>>
Hoop Tunnels to Shade Tender Vegetables
A hoop tunnel can create instant shade to protect leafy greens and other cool-season vegetables from intense summer sun. Cover half hoops made of PVC pipe, stiff wire, or construction- or chicken-wire with shadecloth or light horticultural cloth to keep leafy crops from sun-burning. For tall crops such as tomatoes simply drape muslin, cheesecloth, or light row cover material over plants for temporary shade. Continue reading>>>
Staying Ahead of Weeds in the Vegetable Garden
Integrated weed management (IWM) is the holistic approach to weed growth and suppression in the garden. IWM recognizes that the complete eradication of all weeds from the garden now and for all time is not only impossible but probably not desirable. Weeds are plants growing any place in the garden where you don’t want them to be; weeds are pest plants. Annual and biennial weeds are generally shallow rooted and can be slowed if not allowed to flower and set seed. Perennial weeds are deep or long rooted and can be especially difficult to be rid of. Continue reading>>>
Tomato Hornworm Control
Tomato hornworms eat large, ragged holes in tomato leaves, easily consuming whole leaves. Hornworms also eat stems and green fruit, and if they arrive early enough in the season seedlings and young plants. Tomato hornworms feed not only on tomatoes but also peppers, eggplants, and potatoes—any member of the nightshade family. The best way to control tomato hornworms is to handpick them from tomato-family plants and crush them. Parasitic wasps released in the garden can also control hornworms. Continue reading>>>
Succession Planting: How to be an Expert
Succession planting means growing different crops in the same space one right after the other in the same season, or planting the same crop in different parts of the garden in succession at different times. For example: A row of carrots is planted in early spring: after the carrots are harvested in early summer, the vacated row is re-planted with snap beans for harvest in early fall. The two crops are grown on the same ground. Or: A garden space is divided into three sections: a first sowing of radishes is planted in the first section; in 10 days, the second section is planted with radishes; in another 10 days the third section is planted with radishes. Continue reading>>>
How to Make Dill Pickles
You can turn cucumbers into pickles in about 40 minutes. It’s not difficult. For the best pickles, choose cucumbers that are free of blemishes and undamaged. Cucumbers prime for pickling are harvested not more than 24 hours in advance. If you hold off pickling for more than a day, your pickles will become hollow in the center during processing. Just ripe cucumbers are best. Continue reading >>>
How to Make Blackberry Ice Cream
The best ice cream is simply frozen custard. Egg yolks and cream make a very smooth, rich ice cream. You can make ice cream without egg yolks and cream but then it wouldn’t be a sin it would be frozen milk. Here’s a tip: make just enough custardy ice cream to serve fresh—not to freeze for future serving (though you can). You will find that the tastiest ice cream has just come out of the ice cream maker (either hand crank or electric will work equally well) and not sat in a freezer at 0°F–like store bought ice cream. Continue reading>>>
Canning Peaches for Beginners
Canning peaches is simple. You will need just ripe peaches that are not soft or mushy, and you will need about 45 minutes of preparation time and about 25 minutes of processing time. Peaches are easily prepared for canning in a hot-water bath canner. You will need about 17½ pounds of peaches for each canner load of 7 quarts. That’s about 2½ pounds per quart. You will need 11 pounds of peaches for each canner load of 9 pints. Three medium to large peaches equal a pound. Continue reading>>>
Old-Time Garden Wisdom
“No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden.” ~Hugh Johnson
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