I am fortunate when it comes
to broccoli. Not only do I live in an area where I can grow broccoli
fairly easily (broccoli grows in most zones), but both my children love
eating broccoli. So as you can imagine, having my kids involved in
planting, cultivating and harvesting broccoli is an easy task.
Broccoli uses a lot of nitrogen from your soil, so in order to make sure
the area where you plant your broccoli will be adequate, be sure to add
plenty of shredded leaves and grass clippings in the previous fall.
That means right now!
I like to start my broccoli from seeds indoors about three to four weeks
prior to the final frost in my area. You can always locate your frost
zone from the new and enhanced USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
on the USDA website. I use a homemade potting soil to start my
broccoli seeds in. It is a combination of equal parts compost and peat
and I mix in just a little perlite. I use to add in equal parts of all
three, but I found the perlite in such a large quantity is really not
necessary.
Once the fear of frost is gone, I will transplant my broccoli plants to
their permanent location in my garden where I know they can get full
sun, although broccoli will still do well in partial shade. I space out
my broccoli plants about sixteen to eighteen inches. Broccoli plants
can get fairly large. In a square foot garden, you might be able to get
away with one square per broccoli plant, but that may be a bit tight.
Fertilize your broccoli plants every couple of weeks with a quality
organic fertilizer. I tend not to use synthetic fertilizers. The
choice is obviously yours. Fish emulsion is an excellent source of
fertilizer for your broccoli plants.
You will know it is time to harvest the large head of broccoli, when it
is dark green and firm. If you start seeing yellow in the buds, your
broccoli is starting to over ripen. You will want to harvest your
broccoli as soon as possible.
Just because you harvested the entire head of broccoli does not mean the
broccoli plant is done. Throughout the course of the remainder of the
season (at least a few more weeks in most areas), your broccoli plant
will grow small shoots of broccoli which can be harvested and thrown
into a salad for a nice fresh treat.
Additional Resources on How to Grow Broccoli
Great Seed Starting Project for Kids
Broccoli From Seed to Harvest
Swiss chard is such a great
vegetable to add to your home vegetable garden. Swiss chard can be used
in so many different dishes, and while it may taste a slight bit bitter
(to me anyway), when eaten raw, Swiss Chard has a tremendous amount of
flavor. Mix in the many varieties of Swiss Chard that you can grow, and
the possibilities are nearly endless.
Swiss Chard comes in all shades of the colors of the rainbow. In fact
there is a variety called Rainbow, and another called Bright Lights that
will have your Swiss Chard popping up in all kinds of color. But
enough about how cool Swiss Chard looks growing in your home vegetable
garden. Let’s talk about how you actually grow Swiss Chard.
Swiss Chard seeds are not too large, but not very small either. You can
get away with planting Swiss Chard seeds a half inch deep. Your Swiss
Chard will produce plenty of energy to push the growing young plant
through the surface.
Start your Swiss Chard seeds indoors, in a greenhouse or in a cold
frame, where the warmth will help your Swiss Chard seeds germinate
faster. Under optimal conditions you can expect your Swiss Chard seeds
to germinate in five to seven days.
Once your Swiss Chard has germinated, and fear of frost has subsided in
your area, move your Swiss Chard to your outside vegetable garden.
Space out your Swiss Chard plants eight to ten inches. You want to give
their roots plenty of room to grow. As a side note, Swiss Chard makes a
great companion plant to members of the cabbage family as well as
lettuce, but not so much to beets or spinach.
Swiss Chard, like many other leafy vegetables, will do best in full sun,
but produce well in a shaded environment. Be sure to give your Swiss
Chard a moderate watering not letting the soil get too dry.
When the Swiss Chard leaves are near eight inches, they are ready to be
harvested. Simply cut the stalks of your Swiss Chard plants about an
inch above the soil to harvest. Your Swiss Chard plants will continue
to grow when you do this.
Swiss Chard is rich in vitamins A, K & C, containing a great deal of
the recommended daily consumption (214%, 716% and 53% respectively).
Additional Resources on How to Grow Swiss Chard
Three Plants to Start Now for the Fall Garden
You might be asking yourself,
why is he writing about asparagus now in the fall. Isn’t this something
better for the spring? On the surface, writing about how to grow
asparagus in the spring time might be a better fit, however, growing
asparagus begins with proper soil amending in the fall. I’ll explain
that in a little bit.
Asparagus can be prepared for consumption in so many ways and in fact
asparagus does not have to be prepared at all, as asparagus tastes great
freshly clipped from the garden. This perennial garden vegetable has
but one draw back. When asparagus is grown directly from seeds, it
takes about 3 years before it reaches maturity. While that might seem
like a long time time, not to worry, asparagus has a lifespan of up to
20 years, although 15 is more likely.
Back to why we should prepare our asparagus in the fall. Asparagus
loves acidic soil, and loves the soil to be loose down to as deep as
eighteen inches. By continually working in compost in the fall months,
your soil will be ready for asparagus in the springtime.
If you do not have 3 years to wait for asparagus to reach maturity, then
you can always purchase asparagus crowns from a local home or garden
center. You can usually get about a half dozen for just a few bucks.
Well worth the investment. Just keep in mind, a part of your garden
will be dedicated to asparagus for the next one to two decades. So
choose your asparagus spot wisely.
Asparagus grows best when it gets eight hours of sunlight daily, but
will do well in the 4 to 8 hour range. Asparagus loves water, so be
sure to give them a good watering as often as possible.
If you are starting with seeds and plan to direct sow them into your
garden bed, be sure not to plant them deeper than a half inch. If you
are using asparagus crowns, then you should plant them eight to twelve
inches deep. And regardless of whether you are using seeds or crowns,
space them out at least eighteen inches. Your asparagus will spread to a
degree.
Mary Washington and Jersey Hybrids are the most popular varieties, but there are a whole slew of choices out there.
Your asparagus will have a big need to be fertilized. This is due to
the fact they are perennials. To make sure you are feeding your
asparagus properly, feed it a steady stream of compost, and/or compost
tea, throughout the year.
It is important to keep your asparagus beds weed free. To limit the
amount of hand weeding you are going to have to do, I recommend laying
down a few sheets of newspaper around your asparagus and covering with
straw mulch. You will always have to hand pick some, but at least this
will keep it to a minimum.
To make sure your asparagus makes it through the winter, cut back the
ferns, throw them in your compost pile, and layer on some compost and
straw.
By year 3 you should have nice, thick stalks of asparagus ready to be
eaten. Asparagus tastes great if consumed within 30 minutes after
harvesting.
Regardless of where you stand
on using chemical based bug sprays, one thing's for sure, and that is,
if you do not keep the harmful insects off your fruits and vegetables,
you won’t have much to harvest.
Me personally, I do not like to use any bug sprays made with chemicals.
It just makes me feel uncomfortable to spray the food, me and my family
is going to eat. What I have learned, over the thirty plus years of
gardening, is that you can make your own sprays at home, that can
definitely help.
One thing that has been common when searching for solutions to repel bad
insects, is that hot pepper is always the number one ingredient of any
home made bug spray (most of the time, some web sites differ). The
active ingredient in hot peppers is capsaicin (chili peppers actually).
Capsaicin will create a burning sensation when it comes in contact with
human tissue, so be careful when creating your spray.
As with any spray, you will need to reapply after rain or watering that
could wash your homemade spray away. As a note of caution, use care
when creating any hot pepper based spray as it can irritate your skin
and eyes. So wear protective eyewear and gloves when needed.
In a pot on your stove, add in seven crushed garlic cloves, one
tablespoon of powdered cayenne pepper and three cups of water. Heat up
mixture, stirring to completely to combine the ingredients. Try not to
bring the mixture to a boil as that is not necessary. Set the mixture
aside for forty-eight hours as to allow the ingredients to combine.
Once combined, add mixture to a hand held spray bottle and begin
spraying your plants as needed.
Just remember to wash your fruits and vegetables thoroughly prior to consumption.
