Like the proverbial shoemaker and his children, the garden of many professional horticulturists often gets the minimum care and attention. We are so busy telling the other fellow what to do that we do not have time to do it ourselves. In addition to this, we are watched over most carefully by our neighbors who … Read more
The standardization of vegetables may have gone somewhat too far, and to use an inconsistent phrase, the public has been educated to be ignorant of many good things that grow upon the land. It’s merely because these varieties in shape or color deviate from the common lot. Many folks do not know that there are … Read more
Every year is a good year to have a vegetable garden, but this is a doubly good one. As President Truman has pointed out years ago in his appeal for Freedom Gardens, every pound of food raised at home will aid in feeding the hungry abroad and make easier the national aim of peace on … Read more
When I was a child, there were no supermarkets. So a vegetable garden was very important. After school, we helped mother plant lettuce, radishes, and peas on a warm day in early spring. At the same time, large whole onions were saved from the season before, and our own onion sets and a few potatoes … Read more
The cucumber is one of our important vegetable crops for both the commercial grower and the home gardener. History tells us it has been in cultivation for thousands of years. Early American colonists grew cucumbers, and so did the American Indians before them. Ideal Soil For Cucumbers Cucumbers are a warm-season crop. Like pumpkins, melons, … Read more
Tulips If you bought tulip bulbs early in the season and placed them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator (not the freezing compartment), they are ready to plant now. Two to three weeks of chilling helps to give larger, longer-stemmed flowers. There is still time to buy tulip bulbs and refrigerate them properly before … Read more
Question: When should beets, carrots, and other root vegetables be lifted, and how should they be handled for Winter keeping? Answer: Root vegetable crops should be lifted just before a heavy frost and stored at a 35° – 40° degrees Fahrenheit temperature. Maintaining a low temperature and sufficient humidity is a difficulty in the modern … Read more
Some coffee-loving gardeners may not realize that the spent coffee grounds left behind in the pot could be used in the garden with incredible benefits. These grounds hold some remarkable properties for use in the garden to help grow, and protect from many potential dangers and even spruce up the décor a little. Read on … Read more
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a vital part of green cleaning and has so many uses in the house, but what about the garden. Here are 7 ways to use it in the garden. Make A Non-Toxic Fungicide With baking soda, you can create a homemade plant fungicide to get prevent fungal diseases and as … Read more