Fresh asparagus today. Yum!

Spring? Finally?

Planting season is finally here in USA Zone 5. Time to get ambitious and not forget the basics.

Be frugal. Grow from seed. Trade seeds with friends. Don’t overpay for plants from anywhere.

If you can’t resist the urge to start from plants, and didn’t start your own, spend the extra few dollars at a locally owned farm stand or garden store. Chances are, the proprietor is behind the counter and really appreciates your business.

Amend your soil. In my Clarence, NY area, a dairy farmer dries and bags cow manure, creating a high quality fertilizer for $5 per bag.

You can even go cheaper. Look for a sawmill in your town with excess sawdust of other sources of inexpensive or free organic matter.

This is the third year for my 18-by-25 foot vegetable garden in its current location. Years one and two I worked in three yards of double-screened mulch ($18 from Amherst, NY, loaded in my pickup). I also worked in half a pick-up load of horse manure (free but with a bit more weed-seed).

I also left all the leaves from my yard to rot on the garden in the fall and tilled them in when spring came. I turn the whole thing over once with my trusty spade and once with my 45-year–old Merrytiller (the best thing about it was I garbage picked it.)

This year, I worked in the aforementioned cow manure. My garden soil is luscious. In fact, I just repotted a house plant in some of it. I will use more mulch, sawdust and newspaper, to lay paths in another few weeks. Those paths will decompose and be tilled in next year.

Gardening is a never-ending experiment. Keep trying new things.

Here’s one more: Spend $3 on four tomato plants from that farm stand or grocery. Bring them home and plant them. Direct seed four tomato plants, following planting directions.

You may get an earlier yield for your $3, but total yield will be even by season end and watching the miracle is like raising your own child there is nothing better.

Another nice thing is that psychologically, no one wants to waste anything. Admit it. We’ve all done it. Pay $12 for a flat of vegetable plants. Get home. You can’t resist. You plant them too close together rather than discarding or giving away the extras. Then you end up with a lower yield and a tangled mess of tomato plants.

Grow from seed and you won’t have such worries because the psychological construct is different – you will save seed rather than over plant.

Lastly, as you do anything, keep a diary. Record mundane details like when you -planted and what the weather was like. Make notes of what you added to your soil or how the pH tested when you took it to the Cooperative Extension stand at the town farm market. It will give you an important record you can use for future reference.

Joe Genco is a contributing write for Mike the Gardener Enterprises, home for the Seeds of the Month Club. You can e-mail him at joegenco@gmail.com.

Growing Rutabaga from Seed

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Rutabaga makes a great addition to a variety of dishes. Even more amazing is how easy Rutabaga is to add to your home vegetable garden and even easier yet, to grow them from seed. Here I have outlined some tips to increase your chances of “Rutabaga from seed” success.

Soil Preparation
Long before you put that first seed into the soil you need to get the area prepped. Rutabaga needs a good supply of potassium and phosphorous. If you are mixing in a good amount of compost and/or leaf mold throughout the year your soil should be ok.

Your soil’s pH level should be in the 6.5 to 7.0 range for optimal results. If you follow a steady flow of composting and leaf mold as stated above, your soil should be fine. Invest in a $3 test kit just to be sure and make adjustments as needed per the instructions on the test kit.

Rutabaga seeds germinate best when the soil temperature is above eighty degrees Fahrenheit, however, once the seed has germinated, the rutabaga itself grows best in cooler temperatures. It’s best to heat the soil up prior to putting your seeds into the ground using a clear plastic tarp. Once you get the soil warm enough, plant your seeds (I’ll talk more on this in a moment), and remove the tarp. Your soil should be good to go.

The Seeds
Once your soil is ready you can go ahead and plant your seeds in the ground. Rutabaga does not transplant well so it is not recommended that you start them indoors. Plant the seed no more than one half inch deep and space out your rutabagas at least eight inches. They could germinate as soon as five days under optimal conditions, but seven to ten is more likely.

Care
Now that your seeds are in the ground you need to care for them to make sure you have a successful harvest. Rutabagas require a moderate watering. If your soil is moist then no need to water, just make sure the soil does not dry out. Your rutabagas will tolerate shade, but they grow best with full sun.

Harvesting

When you start seeing the top of the rutabaga push through your top soil it is ready to be harvested. Simply use a trowel to dig the rutabaga out of its spot. Cut about two inches from the top of the root and store in a cool dry location or your fridge. Rutabaga will store well for months.

Advanced Extras
If you practice companion planting keep in mind that rutabagas do not do well when planted next to potatoes, but partner up best with the onion family and peas. Rutabagas do well in a rotation that follow onions and scallions.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the owner of Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC, the exclusive home of the Seeds of the Month Club, which has appeared on NBC, ABC and MSN Money as a great way for consumers to save money.

3 Reasons Why Your Vegetable Garden May Stink

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Ok it is the hard truth that most people don’t want to hear and that is your vegetable garden, well, it stinks. Not in a bad rotting compost smell type of stink, but in a way that anyone, with or without vegetable gardening experience can immediately look at and say, “dude, your vegetable garden is a mess.”

Your vegetable garden stinks, because it looks messy and is not producing the fruits, vegetables and.or herbs you had hoped it would. Two of just a few reasons why many people give up on vegetable gardening. I have put together some reason as to why your vegetable garden stinks and some solutions that will help. The last thing I want to see is you giving up on your vegetable garden, when the solution may be something simple.

Reason 1: Planting Too Much

I have been guilty of this myself. Most of the time it happens for me because we are coming out of a long cold and/or snowy winter and I am so anxious to get started, I plant more than my property (and sometimes the neighbor’s property) will allow. Solution: Plan ahead. Know what you are going to grow once the weather breaks, and make sure you have the space available to put it there. Even if you are container gardening, you still need some space to put it. So plan ahead.

Reason 2: Attack of the Weeds

Your neighbor’s garden might look like it should be on cover of Better Homes & Gardens, but rest assured they get weeds just as you do. They don’t have magic soil that prevents weeds from growing, but more than likely they take steps to block as many of the weeds as possible making the activity (chore to some) of “weeding” more bearable. Solution: Use multiple layers of newspaper as a weed barrier and then cover the newspaper with straw. It helps keep the weeds at bay, protects your vegetable plants as well as many other benefits. Your weeding will be at a minimum.

Reason 3: No Chance for my Plants to get a Sun Tan

One of the major reason’s why many vegetable plants produce little results is that many vegetable gardeners do not plant them in an area where they can receive plenty of sun. Sure, the sun may be bad for us “humans”, but for plants, the more you give them, the better off they will be. Solution: Pick a spot on your property that receives full sunlight throughout the day or as much sunlight as possible.

Here are some simple rules of vegetable gardening you can live by to make it easier on yourself. One, grow only the vegetables, fruits and herbs you family will eat. Two, never grow more than what you can handle. Vegetable gardening should be fun not a full time job (unless you want to be a farmer of course). Three, keep your vegetable garden within sight of a window or door. If your garden is out of sight, it won’t be long before it is also out of mind.


About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the owner of Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC, the exclusive home of the Seeds of the Month Club, which has appeared on NBC, ABC and MSN Money as a great way for consumers to save money.

The beauty of yellow polka dots on a green lawn

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Perhaps no “weed” is more maligned (or useful) than the dandelion.

While some people take pride in spreading toxic chemicals to create a uniformly green lawn, the more natural-minded gardener chooses a different path.

There is nothing more beautiful than a green lawn with yellow polka dots.

Of course, before those polka dots come into full bloom, it’s picking season.

Oh sure, you can head into the grocery story and buy dandelions in the salad section for $3.99 a pound, or even find them by the frozen bag. Why bother?

It’s too early in spring here in Western New York’s Zone 5 to get into much serious prep work.

The plants are sprouted on the windowsill, not because of a desire for an early crop but because when you are addicted to gardening, it’s important to feed you habit by watching things grow.

Meanwhile, out in the yard, the first crop of dandelion greens is ready for harvest. Sautee them with some fresh-picked garlic greens and a little olive oil. Sprinkle with cheese. How can we poison such a delicious lunch?

In another month or so, they will be bursting with blooms. Bloom time brings a bitterness out in the foliage, but cry no more. Pick the blossoms and, with some steeping and an added dose of sugar and a bit of yeast you are on your way to a delightful aperitif with a floral bouquet delicious on the tongue.

Dandelion blooms are also a delightful and colorful addition to salads and can be battered and fried into fritters.

Even dandelion roots are edible, scrubbed clean and roasted.

It’s interesting when we think about how resilient and widespread the plant has become to realize it was imported from Europe in an effort to feed honeybees.

Another nice thing is that the dandelion doesn’t have any toxic look-a-likes. The earliest of spring flowers, coltsfoot, is an herb introduced from Europe as well. It blooms before showing foliage.

About the Author
Joe Genco is a contributing writer for Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC, home of the Seeds of the Month Club.

3 Vegetable Gardening Tips

It’s gardening season. The vegetable seeds are coming out of their packets. The rodent and pest protective fences (and other devices) are being hooked up and the anxiety builds to pick that first tomato. Spring is the Super Bowl for us vegetable gardeners as it marks the time when we can get our hands dirty, put the hard work in, all to reap the benefits of a bountiful harvest. Here are 3 tips to get you going as we embark on yet another season in the sun.

Planting Seeds

It doesn’t matter whether you start your seeds indoors or outdoors, how deep you plant your seeds depends on its size. As you may know, vegetable, fruit and herb seeds come in a wide range of sizes, shapes and colors. They can be very small such as the celery seed, up through and including the very large seeds of the Big Max pumpkin. Rule of thumb? The smaller the seed, the closer it should be to the top of the soil. For example, celery seeds can be placed right on top and lightly covered and the Big Max pumpkin seed can be a half inch to as much as one inch deep.

Weeding

Weeds! It’s the naughty word for vegetable gardening because weeds create that extra work that we all want to avoid. There are a couple of things you can do which will limit the amount of weeding you will have to do. You can of course always invest in landscape paper which will keep weeds at bay, but come the end of the season you will have to take it up if you plan on composting in the off season. A better solution, which has worked for me, is using newspaper. Three to five layers of your morning news will help keep those weeds at bay. You put it down just like you would any other landscape fabric. However, most, if not all, of the newspaper will be gone come the end of the year, so there is no extra work. Throw on top of it a 2 inch layer of straw/hay, pine needles or even grass clippings to keep the newspaper covered and of course keep it from blowing away in the wind.

Watering

You do not need an elaborate irrigation system to garden. Depending on the size of your garden, your watering technique can be as simple as a watering can up through a sprinkler system. For me, I attached a used sprinkler to a wooden post that I have standing in the middle of my garden. I have a garden hose that attaches to the sprinkler and when it is time to water the plants, I simply turn it on. The whole set up cost me less than $5 as I was able to get most of the material from craigslist for free. Your system may be a bit different and will vary depending on your garden size. With a little creativity you can have a cost effective, simple, easy to use watering system that can make your neighbors envious.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the administrator for the largest Vegetable Gardening page on Facebook. Join in the vegetable gardening conversation today with your Facebook account and find out how you can get 2 packs of seeds absolutely free.