Vegetable Gardening - 2011 Year in Review

Here is our Vegetable Gardening Year in Review video. Happy New Year! Here’s to a successful 2012 Vegetable Gardening season.

7 Ways Vegetable Gardeners Can Beat the Winter Blues

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This is the time of year when those of us in the Northern hemisphere become envious of those in the southern part of the world. They are in full vegetable gardening mode, growing great tasting fruits, vegetables and herbs, from seeds and potted plants. But rest assure, even though old man winter is biting us in the a, er um, I mean rear, there is still plenty of things we vegetable gardeners can do to get us to where we start planting our indoor seeds. Here are seven that I have chosen as some of my favorites.

Organize Your Vegetable Seeds
As the owner of the Seeds of the Month Club, this one is a no-brainer for me. I have to keep our company’s seeds well organized all year round. But for many of our Seeds Club customers, and those that have purchased seeds through catalogues and online, now is a great time to organize those seeds. I find what works best for me, is to organize the seeds by variety first, i.e. tomatoes with tomatoes, cucumbers with cucumbers, etc., then organize them by date. Members of our vegetable gardening page on Facebook, take it a step further and organize by companion planting, rotations and so much more.

Learn
The weather outside might be frightful but the delightful comforts of your home is a perfect setting to research and read up on vegetable gardening topics that can enhance your skills. Want to learn more about composting? Pick up a good book on the topic and learn as much as you can. A favorite of mine that I read, is Chris McLaughlin’s book The Complete Idiot`s Guide to Composting. Chris’ book keeps composting simple yet introduces you to variety of composting styles and techniques.

Maybe you are already a compost expert and want to learn more about specific vegetable gardening techniques, tips and tricks. There are books for that as well. A search on Amazon.com will yield you plenty to choose from.

Plan the Garden
My garden plans will change more than the weather before I finalize it and start actually planting, but now would be a great time to at least put down on paper a list of vegetables you would like to grow from seed this year. A garden plan is a great way to organize your space and thoughts. As a side note I always recommend adding at least one new item to the garden that has not been tried before. I believe it keeps vegetable gardening, fun, exciting and challenging. Hopefully it will for you as well.

Soil Sample
As as long as you can still dig up your soil, now would be a perfect time to take a soil sample. Sure, it may fluctuate based on certain weather conditions but you will have a basic idea of what is in your soil, what it needs and so on. A low cost soil test kit can be found online for anywhere from $3.00 (US) up through $21.00 (US). However, if you are lucky enough to have a co-op in your area, for a small fee, you can take them some of your soil and they will run the tests for you.

Gardening Mentor
Whether you are talking to a neighbor about getting them to start a vegetable garden or you need some helpful advice yourself, the winter is a perfect time to talk about vegetable gardening. If you are a vegetable gardening enthusiast like me be sure to strike up a conversation about it with a friend or loved one who may not have a garden at all and convince them it is worth the time and effort. If everyone you know already has a garden but you had some issues last season, talk to someone in your area to see if they experienced the same thing and if they did, what did they do to fix it.

Up to this point everything has been about what you can do indoors that requires absolutely no growing or getting your hands dirty (for the most part). Is there any gardening you can do? Yes, as you will see below.

Cold Frame Gardening
Not too long ago I wrote an entire article on vegetable gardening with a cold frame. I was fortunate enough to get some professional input from the author of How to Build Your Own Greenhouse, Roger Marhsall. Roger was nice enough to share photos of his own cold frames and give us some great advice as to which vegetables you can grow. A cold frame protects vegetables from the elements and is an excellent way to do some home gardening in the colder months. You can read that article, here.

Window Sill
This one is an oldy but a goody and one of my favorites. I have been successful in the past growing such things as basil (pretty much any herb), spinach, and lettuce on my window sill. I choose a spot that receives sunlight first thing in the morning. Even if you grow only 1 or 2 items this way, it at least scratches that vegetable gardening itch you might have.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

#92:Vegetable Gardening the New Prescription

More doctors and nutritionists are prescribing vegetable gardening as a means to a healthier lifestyle. Listen in as Mike gives you some more in depth information into this new trend. For more information on how vegetable gardening can help you, visit http://www.averagepersongardening.com or be sure to join the vegetable gardening page on Facebook.

The Pollination Process in your Vegetable Garden

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Recently I have written some vegetable gardening articles that have taken a turn towards more of a scientific approach, albeit entry level plant science as opposed to advanced horticulture, but very important, I believe, none the less. I wanted to touch on the process of pollination and what this process means for your vegetable garden.

As you may remember from science classes past, pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred, which then enables the fertilization process. Pollen is a fine yet coarse powder, which in essence, contains the male portion of what is needed during the pollination process.

Pollination occurs when pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone. The pistil or cone will then germinate and produce a pollen tube which then allows the transfer of the male portion to the ovule.

There are two types of pollination processes, Abiotic and Biotic. Abiotic pollination is when the pollination process occurs due to a non-living organism, such as wind. This is more common in grasses, most conifers and trees. According to the US Forest Department, roughly 10% of flowering plants are pollinated without the assistance of animals (and other living creatures). Which brings us to the next type of pollination, Biotic.

Biotic is the most common form of pollination and requires pollinators, i.e., some living thing to carry the pollen from one plant to the next. From birds, bees, and bats to moths and butterflies, they all play an important and crucial part to make this process happen.

Pollination can be accomplished either through self-pollination or cross-pollination. As you can imagine self-pollination occurs when pollen from one flower pollinates the same flower or other flowers of the same individual. Cross-pollination occurs when pollen is delivered to a flower from a different plant.

Now that you know how pollination works, you can then gather it is an important part of your vegetable garden. Most vegetable gardeners rarely think about the pollination process, that is unless, their zucchini plants produce flowers and then nothing happens, meaning pollination is not occurring. A good trick would be to manually “do” the pollination process yourself by using a cotton swab or small brush (as shown in the photo). Of course, planting flowers nearby that attract bees or butterflies would help as well.

Tomatoes self pollinate rather easily which is why they are far and way the number one item grown in the home vegetable garden in America. They require very little maintenance. Corn, however, cross pollinates, and can be difficult if not done properly, producing very little yield.

Most home vegetable gardeners want to plant seeds and forget about it. That is fine, but you should learn some of the basics about plant science so that if a problem arises, you can diagnose it and come up with a solution.

About the Author

Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

Did Santa bring you a Kindle?

If you were good this year and Santa brought you a Kindle, don't forget you can subscribe to our Vegetable Gardening blog. Visit our website http://www.averagepersongardening.com or Amazon.com for details.

3 Cool Gardening Things to Learn About this Holiday Weekend

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This weekend my family and I will be busy in the festivities of Christmas and even though this time of the year here in NJ means it’s cold, neither the holiday nor the weather deters me from wanting to know and learn more about vegetable gardening. I put together three things that I find fascinating and hopefully you will too.

Cytokinin
This should take you back to 3rd grade plant science class. Cytokinins are a class of plant growth substances (phytohormones, chemicals that regulate plant growth) that promote cell division, or cytokinesis, in plant roots and shoots. When a plant’s stem is moved back and forth, cytokinin is created. This helps create stronger thicker stems in plants. If you grow your plants indoors, once a day give them a light back and forth brush to help promote this process. If your plants are outdoors, you won’t have to do anything as this will occur naturally when the wind blows.

Personalization
If you are like me then you enjoy growing your own pumpkins for display during the cooler autumn months and of course Halloween. But did you know that the larger varieties of pumpkins, 5 pounds and over, are very durable during their growth? So durable that you can actually personalize each pumpkin you grow. I would like to say I came up with this idea, but I learned about it in “The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible” by Edward C. Smith. Using a finger nail or another sharp object, carve your name (not too deep though), into your pumpkin. For me, with two young sons, we carve their names into each of their pumpkin. As the pumpkin grows so will their carved name and the child gets a thrill watching their personalized pumpkin.

Pepper Heat
Not too long ago I watched a show on Food TV which was for a Buffalo Hot Wing contest somewhere in Texas. When one of the judges was asked about the eventual winner of the contest, he said, the wings were so hot that his lips began to ache as he brought it up to his mouth. The winner’s sauce was made from a pepper seed extract similar to how pepper spray is made...OUCH! As you know, pepper varieties will vary in the amount of heat you feel when you bite into it and in 1912 a man by the name of Wilbur Scoville discovered how to measure the levels of heat a pepper contains. Although we now measure the heat of peppers by the amount of capsaicin it has, you can still measure the heat in a pepper with his Scoville Units.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

Turnips for your Home Vegetable Garden

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Whether you grow them for their greens or the root they are best when harvested in cooler temperatures. You can plant turnips in the midsummer time and have them ready in the autumn months. Turnips also make for a great spring crop in your home vegetable garden.

Turnip seeds are a small to medium sized seed and should be planted no deeper than ½”. A ¼” will suffice as it will not be too much soil on top so it can produce enough energy to break through. It is not recommended that you start turnip seeds indoors. In fact you really don’t have to. When the fear of frost in your area subsides, start planting.

The soil temperature range for turnips is very wide. Although many experts believe that 85 degrees Fahrenheit is the best temperature for the seeds to germinate, some studies have shown the soil can be as low as fifty degrees Fahrenheit. If you are planting in the early spring where the soil will still be a bit cold, you can heat up the soil by laying a clear plastic tarp over it which allows the sun to warm it up, but prevents the cool winds from hitting it.

Turnips germinate quickly under optimal conditions. What are optimal conditions? Good soil, temperatures in a range that the seeds can tolerate and a pH level, discussed in the next section, that is slightly acidic, and good spacing. When you can meet these conditions you can get your turnip seeds to germinate in as little as 2 days, however for most of us, 5 is more likely.

This is the measurement of how acidic or alkaline your soil is. The scale ranges from zero up to fourteen. Anything below seven is considered acidic and anything above seven is considered alkaline. Seven is neutral. Your turnips like the soil to be a bit more acidic. They will do best in the 5.5 to 6.5 range. Invest in a good pH soil tester. It will help you out immensely.

You will find spacing requirements for your turnip seeds on the back of your seed packets. We only sell one type and those are the purple top white globe variety. They like to be spaced out at least four inches for optimal room to grow.

Turnips do best with a moderate watering that is more even and steady. In other words do not over or underwater. And although they can tolerate light shade, they grow best in full sun.

If you are like me and practice crop rotation and companion planting, avoid following all crops in the cabbage family in a rotation. Turnips grow well next to onions and peas, however avoid potatoes.

So the time has come to harvest the turnips. If you are growing them for the greens, you can start when the plants are still young, although you do not want to take too many of the greens as the root of the turnip will suffer. The greens are great in salads and soups. If you are harvesting the turnip for the root, anytime it is one to three inches in diameter you are ready. If you let them get too big they may develop too strong of a flavor.

If you are a fan of turnips or their greens, and have not grown any for yourself…what are you waiting for! They are easy to grow and because they are a cooler weather crop you can grow them in the early spring and again for the fall.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

#91:Pest Free Vegetable Gardening

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You are not alone when you see your vegetable garden get ravaged by pests, many of which are unseen. Listen in as Mike gives you some tips and tricks you can implement to get your pest problem under control. For information on pest free vegetable gardening, be sure to visit http://www.averagepersongardening.com or join our vegetable gardening Facebook page.

About the Author

Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

How to Deter Deer from your Vegetable Garden

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We recently asked this question to our 33,000 members on Vegetable Gardening Facebook page. How do you deter deer from destroying the crops in your vegetable garden? Here is a listing of the ideas from members that tackle this issue every gardening season.

Aimee Hall deer netting...works great

Carolynn Smelley When you cut your hair, put the trimmings around the garden, they don't like it.

Organic Gardening Beginner With Ted Begnoche Predator urine used to work pretty well for me, but lately, human hair seems to work just as well. Just need to be consistent with whatever method you choose.

Kathy Hawkins Baldassare Fence

Dilli Gaff pee, dogs on patrol and in the furthest away garden where we have the most trouble, 9 foot fencing..

Erin Burke Edwards We tried all the 'tricks' and had to go to electric fencing.

Morgan Carroll Ross We put up a fence this year, but sadly that still wasn't enough. They jumped it. Definitely putting up something taller next year. I did take left over boiled egg water and put that around my lilies and they didn't bother them this year. Might try that around the garden as well. Only problem there is you have to stay on top of it and do it after it rains.

Robin Gravis Plant some lavender around. I used it around hibiscus and roses last year and they still leave them alone this year--and the lavender is gone. Other pungent herbs also work. Clip the lavender and lay a few sprigs in the plant beds and the deer graze elsewhere.

Christy LaPrairie We have lots of clover that grows in the unmowed parts of our backyard- they would rather eat that, plus our dogs help them keep their distance.

Leslie Vaughn Burckard ‎10' fence..as we have deer antelope and elk

Carole O'Reilly I dont have a problem with deer but I do have a problem with Kangaroos comming in at night so i set up some solar powered light around the garden & so far it has kept them away

Kristina Masci Target practice...hahaha..just kidding. I use deer away product and it works well..added bonus,keeps people away also..smells God awful

Julie Batch I've taught my dogs to keep the deer and fox just out of reach but not chase them , and also to keep the Herons off of our pond

Debbie Beeler ‎2 big dogs! The square foot garden are just past the invisible fence line so the dogs cant get to it .... but the deer dont know that! :)

Ciocia Karolina A large dog.

Ej Kerr i just plant a little more so i can have some too

Raphia Trenkle SULPHUR granuals! BLOODMEAL! Sprinkle lightly in the garden, under evergreens, and acid loving plants like Hydrangeas.. pepper plants and veggie plants love a taste too. It keeps rabbits and deer away. . and they are awesome for your garden. We live near water and nature parks so our area is full of all kinds of wildlife animals, fox, rabbits, wild turkeys, deer, squirrels and the sulphur and bloodmeal keeps them away. I can almost hear them scream "OH GROSS PU .. PU!!" :)

David Lester I hang bars of soap out in the garden , that works for me ....

Helen Bowens Rosemary! I also hung shiny foil ornaments and a dollar store silver garland around certain plants and they didn't touch them this year. I think the appearance of movement disturbs them.

Jacqueline Witz i bought a mannequin & dressed her in flowing clothes & shiny jewelry. i also moved her aroung periodically. an old man driving by came to my door to see if there was anything wrong with the lady in the garden......heeheehee also used the christmas tinsel. the deer went to my neighbor's garden right next to mine.

Linda Oman An eight foot fence. Not making the financial commitment to put up a fence always led to disappointment during the growing season. Start looking in discard piles for fence parts. We love the deer, but we eat them too!

Vicki Davis we share - but nothign in my garden except some beets and onions (maybe the garlic is still hanging in there?) the deer out here can nibble on what I have - we share well!

Kristine Vreugdenhil I plant the hot peppers on the border a week ahead of everything else and try to plant extra so there is enough for everyone!

Louise Holcomb Nivison we have cougars. deer scarce

Linda Younglove deer have been nibbling on our newly planted apple trees (and we live in the chicago suburbs!)--they definitely don't like bird netting, though. when we wrap them in the bird netting, they leave them alone. i read somewhere that they don't like the feel of netting against their nose.

Anna Thompson helpful thread, since we are nearly INFESTED with deer. so far the smelly 'deer-away' spray has helped....some....but we're going to have to go with fencing / netting and ALL of the 'tricks'....and maybe a dog.... to deal with it in years to come.

BuffaLoam A fence and deer netting.

A Seed To Success Shiny things, Things that make noise and things that move work well. Windmills & wind chimes. We also dry and grind every hot pepper we have and spread it around our garden spaces often.

About the Author

Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

Combining Vegetable Gardening with School Curriculum

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Do you have school aged children? Are you a vegetable gardener? Imagine if you were able to combine the fun and reward of vegetable gardening with the education your child receives in school? I was thinking about this the other day and wanted to do some research on the topic. As a father of two and an avid vegetable gardener, to me the possibilities of combining the two, seemed like a no brainer.

However, I wanted to find out from teachers in the classroom if this is something that they do. After putting out some feelers I was fortunate enough to get in touch with 5th grade science teacher from High Shoals Elementary School, Linda Cooper.

According to Linda she incorporates a garden in the teachings of different types of plants. Linda, who also taught 1st and 3rd grade, (I teach 1st & 2nd graders part time, so I know how difficult that age group can be at times with the amount of energy they have), says, that in the lower grades, lessons include learning about the parts of the plant, seed sprouting, the plants basic needs, plant life cycles and the effects that over population or scarcity of plants has on communities. “A vegetable garden can give students more experience when taught these items,” says Linda.

As well as teaching science, Linda also runs the 5th grade environment club which currently has 20 students that have built raised beds for the purpose of growing fruits and vegetables. “Our students are also getting ready to start up a greenhouse that was purchased for our school.”

In her program, students get a chance to learn about farming and agriculture, where our food comes from and vegetables the students may not be familiar with. All great teachings that could lead our youth toward a path of understanding the importance of growing at least some of their own food.

Beyond getting the students excited about growing their fruits and veggies, her hopes are that the older 5th grade students become as passionate about vegetable gardening as she is and they assist with teaching the younger students their new learned skills.

Linda also believes she can incorporate the economic impact a vegetable garden can have and has laid out future plans to teach students vegetable gardening combined with math as it relates to purchasing equipment, supplies and being able to either sell what you grow, or calculate what you can save by avoiding paying for the grown vegetables in stores. Yet another valuable lesson combined with vegetable gardening.

About the Author

Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

Podcast Episode #90: Vertical Gardening

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Short on space?  Try vertical gardening.  Listen in as Mike talks about some creative ways to maximize your limited area.  For information on vertical gardening, be sure to visit http://www.averagepersongardening.com

Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

4 Gardening Items to Ask Santa for this Christmas

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For many of us, old man winter has moved in, putting a damper on our outdoor vegetable gardening efforts. While many still continue to grow some herbs, lettuce, spinach and other cooler crops in either outdoor cold frames or on indoor window sills, colder weather also means the Christmas season is upon us.

And while, falling snow may not spark an immediate thought of harvesting ripe tomatoes, Christmas is a great time to put some gardening gifts on your want list for Santa. So here are some items you may want to jot down.

Garden Cart/Wheelbarrow
I received a garden cart two years ago. It can carry up to 600 pounds, and the type I have has 4 wheels as opposed to the traditional 1 wheel, wheelbarrow (of which I have one of those also). They vary in cost based on features. They can cost as low as $20 up through $200. Mine is in the $60 to $70 range. It’s great for when I am moving lots of items at one time or moving mounds of compost around.

Pitchfork
Most gardeners have one or even two of these. They are a great help when turning over soil or your compost pile. They are available at any home or garden center for $10 to $40. My dad gave me one of his older ones, and my family gave me a second one as a gift last year. It’s nice to have a backup in case one of them decides to retire (my tools don’t break, they just decide to stop working).

Small Garden Tools
From a basic trowel to a hand cultivator the smaller tools are a must for every gardener. They are small enough to help you work in tight spots but large enough to complete tasks fairly easily. Again these range in price. You can pick them up at your dollar store (although quality is not the greatest) and at your local home or garden center for a few bucks more. Walmart and Target have them, but they will be tough to find at those stores this time of year, so your best bet are places like Tractor Supply, Home Depot and/or Lowes.

Seeds
While I will be the first to plug our Seeds of the Month Club here, I will also say that vegetable seed packets make for great stocking stuffers. Tie a ribbon around a dozen or so packs and put them in the stocking of your family vegetable gardener and they are sure to love the gift. Besides, what is a vegetable gardener without any vegetable seeds?

I could go on for hours as to what could be or should be on your gift list to Santa, but the above list marks the items I get the most use out of in my own vegetable gardening efforts. What would you like to see on your list?

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club:

We Vegetable Gardeners Know What to do with those Keurig Cups

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It seems as if every one of our neighbors and relatives received one of those Keurig individual coffee makers. If you are not familiar with them they are pretty neat, especially if you want to enjoy a quick, fresh cup of coffee. They give you the flexibility of making an individual cup of coffee in a wide range of flavors (over 200 the last time I checked their website) without having to make a whole pot, measuring the grounds and so on.



With the convenience of making your own cup of specialized coffee though comes the added waste of the cup itself. They are made out of a thin plastic, that can be recycled if you live in a part of the world that accepts <1> or <2> grade plastics, but us vegetable gardeners can put them to better use and better yet they can serve us two fold as I will show you in a moment.

First let us diagnose the evidence in question, in this case the cup. There are a number of cup manufacturers, however the cup is made from the same material and are all the same size. The top will be either foil or a thick paper. The top is strong enough to keep the contents of the cup in (i.e. the grounds), but pliable enough so the machine can puncture a hole into it.

Inside the cup, the contents if you will, are coffee grinds and a filter. The machine punctures a hole into the top and one in the bottom of the cup. Water is then sent through the top hole where it is mixed with the grounds of the cup and eventually comes out of the bottom hole and into your waiting coffee cup.

Now that you have the basics of how it operates, how can it actually help vegetable gardeners? Well very simply, let’s start with the obvious and that is the coffee grinds and filter sitting inside the cup. Both make for a great addition to any compost pile. To get the grinds and filter out, first remove the top foil or paper covering on the cup. Then dump the coffee grinds into a separate bowl (or whatever you use to collect your kitchen waste).

The next step is to remove the filter. It is attached fairly well to the cup so I used a knife and simply cut it and then put the filter into the same bowl with the grinds. We have the grinds and filter ready to go into our compost pile but we still have the cup. Do not throw that cup away!

You now have in your hands the makings of a great seed starter. And although the cup is small, it works perfect for starting such things indoors as celery or oregano and thyme, the small seeded variety vegetable and herb plants.

What makes the cup a perfect fit as a seed starter is your coffee machine has done a portion of the work for you already; it punctured the drainage hole on the bottom, so all the cup needs now is some soil and seeds!


There you have it. Using your Keurig coffee make as a means to add to the compost pile and create seed starters all while you get to enjoy a nice cup of hot joe!

Enjoy!

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club: