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Home Grown Always The Best!
Why would you want to grow your own vegetables and herbs?
*Cost - whether you start from seed or from started plants, your home grown veggies will cost less than the produce you buy at the supermarket. Having said that it is important to chose which veggies to grow in the space you havejust because you can grow a multitude of veggies at home doesnt make them all cost-effective choices.
For example if you have to chose between the corn that will take up quite a bit of space and yield a crop that you could have purchased for a reasonable price locally and a specialty tomato that cost you an arm and a leg when you buy them at the produce store, the tomato is probably your best choice budget-wise.
*Organic quality - you know where the veggies you grow yourself have been, and what they have been fed and sprayed with, especially if you are starting from seed. Started plants are a bit more challenging from a totally organic perspective in that unless they are specifically stated to be an heirloom or heritage variety you may still be growing produce that came from genetically modified seeds. Started plants that come from a non-organic certified grower can also be sprayed/treated with Canadian government certified fungicides and pesticides. Started plants originating from American nurseries can have been treated with chemicals available to American growers.
*Educational aspects - if you have young people in your family growing edibles on the back patio is a great way to reinforce the fact that food doesnt magically appear at the supermarket all wrapped in plastic, and maybe to give them a sense of self-sustainability. For the truly motivated there are wonderful science, math and environmental lessons that can be worked in and around growing any plant material, but kids are quite often more interested if the end result is something tasty!
*Variety - many seed companies offer a wide variety of choiceswhy just grow regular tomatoes when you could grow yellow ones, striped ones, tiny ones, low-acid ones, heritage varieties no longer grown commercially, the list is almost overwhelming.
*Last but certainly not least is the immeasurable and priceless sense of self satisfaction derived from placing healthy, tasty herbs and vegetables on the table and modestly responding to the compliments with, Why thank you, I grew them myself.
So now we know why, let's talk about how
Any plant you grow has basic needs, a planting medium for roots to set in, light for photosynthesis, accessible nutrients, water to carry the nutrients through the leaves, stems and roots, and an ambient temperature conducive to growth. As with many things in life, you will only get out of your plants what you put into them, big crops and vigorous growth means attention to their needs.
Lets start at the bottom, the planting medium and the pot you put it in. For practical purposes we will look at traditional soil based growing.
The soil you use should be a mix specific for container growing, usually sold as planter box mix. Regular garden soil that hasnt been amended really doesnt have the right balance of porousness and water retention to give you the best yield for your efforts and quite often contains weeds and other undesirable elements.
Vegetables growing in containers have a wide range of root space needs, depending on the type of plant they are. For instance a tomato or cucumber plant will do well in a 7 gallon pot while lettuce only needs a 10 inch diameter pot. Individual varieties aside, the standard rule is the bigger the better. That doesnt mean that you have to have an enormous pot for each thing you want to grow as some crops can be combined quite nicely into a single large pot. Leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, radishes , small carrots and many herbs are some of the great fillers for the edges of large containers.
Creativity can be key to making your vegetables attractive even before they hit the plate. Dont be afraid to add some colourful annuals for your mixed planters, or to play up the lovely foliage many veggies provide. Consider the lacy foliage of carrots and dill, the amazing colours in Swiss chard and purple basil, the cheerful flowers of scarlet runner beans and it wont take long to see beautiful possibilities.
The next consideration has to be where to put your containers to ensure they receive the next element in the equation, light. Almost all fruit and vegetables need light, and lots of it. While there are artificial sources available that can be used quite successfully, most gardeners are better served by searching out the sunny spots in their space for container placement. It is always important to consider the type of light as well as the amount of it, as any individual with a propensity to sunburn can tell you, there is a great deal of difference between 4 hours of early morning sun and 4 hours of midday sun! The majority of edibles require a minimum of 6 hours of strong sunlight to produce tasty results. If your patio or deck doesnt have a sunny spot at ground level, look up! While you mightnt grow potatoes in a hanging basket, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, herbs, carrots and many others could be grown very nicely in a raised pot.
The type of nutrients you use and how you deliver them will depend on many factors. Both organic and non-organic options are available and range in type from organic worm casting to water soluble powders. Whichever method you use remember that container grown plants need a regular supply of nutrients, plan on feeding them weekly.
Consistent appropriate water for container grown plants is not something that can be underemphasized. While many flowering plants can bounce back from drying out with minimal residual damage, the quality of most fruit and vegetable crops can be noticeably impacted by times of stress due to under watering.
Your choice of container and soil will play a major role in the success of your watering regime. All containers need drainage holes to allow excess water to escape, (your vegetables should only end up in soup after they have been harvested!), and should be large enough to hold both the plants root ball and sufficient moisture retentive soil around it.
While we cant control the temperature outdoors, we do have some say as to when we subject our plants to it. Many warm weather crops such as tomatoes, peppers and herbs never seem to fully recover from too cool a start to the season. One thing all successful gardeners have learned to cultivate is patience, plants set out too early in cold, wet weather are subject to many more stressors including fungus and insect damage, all of which will take a toll on your eventual crop quantity and quality.
So with the foundation of how to grow your veggies out of the way we get to the fun part, what to grow! Once you have considered which crops make the most sense ecstatically and economically, you need to look at the varieties of the specific vegetables and choose those that will best suit your site and needs.
For example, if you have vertical space and hot much horizontal space, you might chose a pole bean that will grow on a trellis rather than a bush bean and you might choose to grow your cucumbers on a trellis rather than having then trail on the ground. Low growing doesnt mean low producing, many hybrids produce copious crops on very compact plants. Read seed packages carefully, they will almost always give you details on the plants mature size.
Great resources for more information include gardening books and magazines from your local library, (of course!) , internet sites including seed company websites and your local garden clubs.
Happy gardening, and bon appetit!
Success in the Shade
Thinking beyond Hostas
and Ferns
Some of my favourite places in my garden are the shady ones. There is a sense of peacefulness and calm in the coolness under the trees. In part that sense of calm has been brought about by accepting the limitations and adaptations that are necessary to achieve any degree of gardening success in shady areas. [read more]
Treat Yourself to a Little Pot of Herbs
It's one of the easiest and
most rewarding spring
projects you can do.
By Steve Whysall, Vancouver Sun April 23, 2010
Vegetable gardening is huge, but so is interest in growing herbs, especially in a pot by the kitchen door. [read more]
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