I absolutely love growing
carrots in my home vegetable garden. I set aside a specific 4 x 4
raised bed (a different one each year), just to grow them. With a
little sun, water and nutrient rich soil you will soon come to find out
just how easy it is to grow your own carrots at home.
First things first. If you want to grow great carrots, that are long,
fairly straight and thick, your soil needs to be loose and friable.
This soil must also be this condition very deep. Minimum eighteen
inches. I say this from experience. If the soil is heavy on the clay,
or gets compacted, I have found that my carrots come out short and
thick. The carrots still taste great and there is nothing wrong with
the carrots, but the carrots are far smaller than I would like.
Carrot seeds, regardless of variety, are small. So when planting them
make sure you do not exceed a planting depth of a quarter of an inch.
You may be able to get away with a half of an inch, but a quarter is all
you will need.
No need to start them indoors. Carrots will do just fine when you
directly sow them into your garden. As a side note, your seeds will
germinate much better if your soil is a bit warmer and in the pH range
of 5.5 to 6.5.
Space out the planting of your carrots about four to six inches to
allow, not only for the carrots themselves to grow, but for their roots
to expand as well.
Carrots will tolerate light shade, but like all other root crop veggies,
full sun will do it wonders. They only need a moderate watering, but
be sure to fertilize them every week to 10 days with a good organic mix
or compost tea.
Carrots make a great companion plant for tomatoes. In fact there is a wonderful book on the market by Louise Riotte titled Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening, which outlines the benefits of planting carrots alongside your tomato plants.
Because carrot seeds are so small, chances are you will invariable plant
more than a single area can handle, so be sure to "thin the herd" so to
speak by cutting a few of them down to ground level.
You know your carrots will be ready to harvest when you see the carrot
tops start poking out of the ground. You can simply judge when they
"look" ready.
Cabbage is not only a great
vegetable to grow in your home vegetable garden, but it has a wide
variety of health benefits for you and your family. Cabbage is loaded
with antioxidants, vitamin C and other essential vitamins your body
needs. With such a wide array of cabbage choices to grow, you are bound
to find a cabbage variety you can grow at home.
The first step in growing cabbage at home is to make sure your home
vegetable garden’s soil is prepared. That means it needs to be rich in
nutrients and have a pH level of 6.0 to 7.5. If you have been mixing in
quality compost, your soil should be fine. Cabbage is susceptible to a
disease called club root. Keeping your soil’s pH in the 7.2 to 7.5 range will inhibit club root.
Start your cabbage seeds indoors about 4 to 6 weeks prior to the final
frost in your area. Cabbage seeds germinate best when they are planted
in a soil that is 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (24 to 29 C), however,
once germinated, cabbage grows nicely in cooler soil in the 60 to 65 (16
to 18 C) range.
When moving your cabbage starts from the indoors to the outdoors space
out your cabbage at least 18 inches (30 cm). I have tried planting them
12 inches apart, but that is very tight in my opinion. Give your
cabbage some room and they will reward you with a great harvest.
Choose a spot for your cabbage that receives full sun, although cabbage
will still do well in light shade. Give your cabbage a heavy watering
until you see the head begin to form, then scale back your watering to a
moderate level.
Most varieties of cabbage are heavy feeders, therefore you will want to
feed them weekly with a good fertilizer such as a compost or manure tea,
or another quality fertilizer that is high with nitrogen, potassium and
phosphorous.
Follow the instructions on the back of your seed packet for proper
harvesting as the variety of cabbage you are growing will determine when
to harvest.
Avoid following other members in the cabbage family in a crop rotation plan.
Whomever discovered that the
artichoke is edible once you break through to the heart is an absolute
genius. In my book anyway. Artichokes can be used in dips, boiled,
sauteed, stuffed or steamed. You can also consume artichokes in the
most simplest fashion and that is following the receipe, How to Cook and Eat Artichoke, which shows how to prepare your home grown artichokes for consumption in the simplest fashion.
But, before we can talk about consuming artichokes, we need to get you
growing artichokes. Artichokes thrive best in warm weather, but that
does not mean it won’t do well in cooler climates. In warmer climates,
artichokes will grow as a perennial. Artichokes can be a perennial in
cooler climates as well with some additional work. I will get to more
on that in a moment.
Starting artichokes from seeds is very easy. Whether you are in a
warmer climate or cooler climate, start your seeds indoors 10 weeks out
from when you plan on putting them in the ground. If you are planning
on growing your artichokes as a perennial (not removing the plant every
year), you will need to choose a permanent location. I will get more
more on location in a second. For those in cooler climates, you want to
start them a minimum of 10 weeks out from your final frost.
Sow your artichoke seeds to a depth of no more than a quarter of an
inch, in soil where the pH level is 6.5 to 8.0. So slightly acidic to
even a bit alkaline. You can expect your artichoke seeds to germinate
in ten to fourteen days.
Once your artichokes have grown indoors for 10 weeks and you are ready
to move them to outdoors, choose a location that receives eight or more
hours of sunlight. When transplanting your artichokes you will want to
space them out at least twenty-four inches. Artichoke plants will get
pretty big.
Once your artichokes are transplanted, be sure to give them a weekly
heavy watering and feed them constantly with a good organic fertilizer
such as compost or manure tea or fish emulsion. Artichokes require a
heavy dose of the big three nutrients, nitrogen, potassium and
phosphorous, so be sure to feed your artichokes weekly.
Your artichokes are ready to harvest when the buds are tight, firm and
an even green color. If you notice your artichokes are starting to
open, you will want to harvest right away as they will begin to lose
some of their flavor.
If you plan to grow artichokes as an annual, they will grow better if you do not follow sunflowers or Jerusalem artichokes.
Now back to growing your artichokes as a perennial. If you live in a
warmer region, zones 8a and higher, simply cut the artichoke back to
ground level and lightly cover with some compost or organic mulch. In
cooler zones, cut your artichoke plant back to twelve inches above the
soil and mound some mulch such as straw around the artichoke base, then
cover your artichoke plants with bushel baskets. You will want to place some more straw around the baskets.
Additional Resources on How to Grow Artichokes
Artichokes: From Seed to Harvest
I have read that brussels
sprouts are one of those vegetables that not only survive the cold
weather, but the flavor of brussels sprouts will improve with a light
frost. Brussels sprouts are definitely a vegetable that gives cooler
weather gardeners a boost for their gardening buck so to speak.
Brussels sprouts seeds are fairly small so make sure you plant them no
deeper than a quarter of an inch. While brussels sprouts may do well in
the cold, brussels sprouts seeds will need it to be a little warmer in
order to germinate. You can start brussels sprouts seeds indoors before
your last frost, but unless you have an extremely short growing season,
there really is no need since brussels sprouts will still grow in the
colder months.
A slightly acidic soil (6.0 to 6.8 pH) works best for brussels sprouts.
First take a pH reading of your soil. It may be fine as is. If you
find that your soil is too alkaline (above 7.0), check out the article How to Lower Soil pH. In there you will find some excellent tips to adjust accordingly.
If you need to raise your soil’s level because it is too acidic, the
rule of thumb is to add lime or bone meal. For more information on
raising your soil’s pH level, check out How to Iprove Acidic Soil in Your Garden. There you will find more tips on your soil’s pH level.
Now that you have the sunny location in your garden picked for your
brussels sprouts, you need to know how to plant them. Brussels sprouts
are very large plants. Many varieties can grow up to three feet tall
with a wide, but shallow, root base. I have read a few spacing options
for brussels sprouts. One technique suggests you space out your
brussels sprouts every eighteen inches leaving three feet between rows.
That is a lot of space especially if your space is limited.
In my experience growing brussels sprouts myself, and watching some
friends grow them, planting just a few brussels sprouts plants eighteen
inches apart in a square pattern will suffice. Think square foot
gardening when picturing what it looks like.
As a side note, just because you live in a warmer climate (Florida, the
gulf coast, etc.) does not mean you can not grow these tasty treats.
Direct sow brussels sprouts seeds into your garden from mid-October
through Christmas.
Fertilize every few weeks with fish emulsion or compost tea to keep
feeding your brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts are ready to be
harvested when the buds are firm. They will usually be the size of
large marbles (one inch).
A good companion plant for celery, cucumber and lettuce, one cup of
brussels sprouts contains 124% of the daily recommended amount for
vitamin C.
My wife is more of a fan of
eating beets then I am, which is why I continue to grow the many beet
varieties available. Combined with beets’ ease of growing, this root
crop can be a staple in anyone’s home vegetable garden.
Not only is the root edible (the part everyone calls the actual beet),
but beet greens are a tasty treat as well. If you weren’t sure what to
do with beet greens, be sure to check out the article 7 Things to do with Beet Greens.
If your growing season is extremely short, you can start your beet seeds
indoors about two weeks prior to the last frost in your area. However,
direct sowing your beet seeds after your final frost should suffice.
Plant your beet seeds in a pH neutral soil about a half inch deep. Your
seeds will germinate better when the soil temperature is 75 to 85
degrees Fahrenheit (24 to 29 Celsius). If it is still cool in your
area, and you have decided to direct sow, try a cold frame, or hoop
houses to increase the soil’s temperature.
Be sure to space out your beets no less than four inches, especially
when it comes to the varieties where the diameter of the beet root
itself will be two inches or larger. Give your seeds a good amount of
water in the early stages and then level the watering off to a more
moderate amount as the beets continue to grow.
Beets do not require a lot of nitrogen. In fact, beets do not do well
when exposed to a lot of nitrogen, so be sure to use a fertilizer to
feed your beets that is low in nitrogen but high in phosphorous and
potassium. There are plenty of organic varieties on the market.
Beets make for great companions to beans, members of the cabbage family and lettuce.
Additional Resources on How to Grow Beets
Beets: From Seed to Harvest
