Millions of people love their gardens but wish they weren't quite so demanding. Imagine growing simple fruit and vegetables quickly, equipping yourself with a list of the best plants to buy for your garden in every situation, and losing fewer plants to pests and diseases. Gardening Shortcuts can show you how. Packed with effective techniques, sparkling ideas, and shameless shortcuts for every corner of the garden, Gardening Shortcuts contains all the advice needed to create the garden you want and still have time to sit on the patio with a glass of wine.
A Beginner’s Guide to Raised Bed Gardening Gardening Tips and Techniques on Organic Raised Bed Gardening Table of Contents Introduction Tips and techniques for Raised Bed Gardening The Benefits of Raised Bed Gardening Raised Beds as Spiritual Therapy Conserving water in raised beds. Preventing Soil Erosion Keyhole gardens How to Construct a Raised Garden Choosing the Right Soil Rooting zone Making Raised Beds From Timber Support for the outer wall. Watering your raised beds How to check soil drainage In Your Garden Making a Kitchen Garden in Raised Beds How to Make a Compost Heap How to Make Leaf Compost Organic manure for Making Compost Making a Worm Farm Herbal Plants in Your Raised Garden Staggered Harvests Lasagna Gardening Conclusion Author Bio Introduction The first time I came across an example of raised bed gardening, my reaction was, that is an extremely sensible way of gardening, you do not have to stoop down to ground level. I was seeing these raised garden beds in a friend’s home. She loved gardening. She also had back trouble. So crouching down in front of her beloved flower and vegetable as well as herbal garden in order to de-weed them was purgatory to her. And then her handy do-it-yourself practical husband said, “Why don’t we raise the crops and plants in beds which are waist high?” And he immediately set about building 4 feet wide beds, in square shaped blocks with wood. The soil was raised above ground level, and placed in that wooden frame. The results were amazing. It was only 10 years later that I found out that raised bed gardening was being practiced extensively all over the world. Avid gardeners were making bed frames out of concrete, rock, and even wood. They made the containers to their own particular requirements, with dimensions ranging from 1.0 m to 2 m, depending on the space they had. Gardening in containers is all very well, but raised gardening eliminates the use of pots. And best of all, as my friend told me, “I do the gardening on my raised bed. Himself –(her enthusiastic DIY gardener husband) plans to plant plants which love the shade under the raised beds. In that way, we are utilizing every inch of the soil, as well as lots of space above ground level. What a sensible way to make gardens in limited spaces.” She has the right of it. And this is possibly the reason why so many people want to know all about raised bed gardening in rich organic compost laden soil. So as you are one of them, let us start with how we can utilize every square inch of our land, economically and beneficially, by making raised beds, how to make them, how to take care of them and how to enjoy their harvest. I definitely advocate natural methods for gardening, so I am going to tell you about the best organic and natural gardening practices, which people all over the world have been using for centuries. Take advantage of our technology in other aspects of gardening like watering, etc., but still use the old natural methods for fertilizing the soil.
Table of Contents Introduction Planning Your Vegetable Garden Ground Preparation Transplantation Related to Seeds Collecting Seeds Length of Preservation Traditional Testing of Seed Age Soaking Seeds before Sowing Getting Ready for Sowing Seed Sowing Seed Sowing – Wet Soil or Dry Soil Shades Planting Outdoors Appendix Root Pruning Trenching Traditional Quick Composting Formula Conclusion Author Bio Publisher Introduction Since ancient times, dietitians knew all about the value of vegetables in human diet. The absence of fresh vegetables would result in ill health, as well as the lack of body resistance, and future healthy growth. Vegetables furnish nourishment in the shape of starch and sugar. They also stimulate intestinal activity. The term vegetables has through common consent down the ages, come to be applied to a particular class of plants. We eat the leaves, buds, stems, and occasionally the fruits of these particular plants. So if you say “is the tomato a vegetable or a fruit,” the answer is the tomato is botanically a fruit, but we use the tomato as we use other members of the vegetables class. Fruits are very sugary and vegetables are not. Vegetables are on the whole short term plants, but allow for repeated sowings to prolong the season of growth. Down the ages, vegetables have been grown by householders in patches of land around their houses for home consumption. People with large gardens also had their own vegetable patches and herb patches. So this book is for all of those people who are interested in growing vegetables in their own back yard and using every inch of land in a sustainable fashion. The tips and techniques given here may look so very old-fashioned, but they are tried and tested. That is because we believe in organic gardening where we are not going to be using chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides to protect our vegetables. Even though the methods given here may be called old school by 21st century gardeners, they have been in use throughout the world for millenniums and they have been giving time-tested results. So let us look at the easy ways in which we can begin preliminaries in vegetable gardening, in our own backyard.
Linda Tilger encourages you to embrace the lazy gardener within to work smarter and relax harder. With hundreds of time-saving techniques, Tips for the Lazy Gardener shows you how easy it can be to grow hearty vegetables and fragrant herbs. Covering everything from planning an efficient garden to effective shortcuts for harvesting your crops, Tilga’s expert suggestions are designed to mitigate chore time while increasing your gardening pleasure. Enjoy a thriving and abundant garden — without all the back-breaking, energy-sapping work.
Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening is your "201" level course in cultivating produce. Expand your knowledge base and discover options that go beyond the ordinary! Prepare to encounter new varieties of common plant species, learn their history and benefits, and, most of all, identify fascinating new edibles to grow in your own gardens. Written by gardening expert Matt Mattus, Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening offers a wealth of new and exciting opportunities, alongside beautiful photography, lore, insight, and humor that can only come from someone who has grown each vegetable himself and truly loves gardening. More than 200 varieties of vegetables and herbs from the 50 most popular groups are featured in hands-on profiles that tell you how, where, and why to grow each one. Take artichokes for example: They are far from the most common edibles home growers choose, but when and if you choose to grow artichokes, you'll be fortunate to find more than one seed option, even at the better nurseries. In truth, there are nearly a dozen varieties of artichoke that are suitable for home growing in just about any climate, and each has its own unique benefits and characteristics. In Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening, you will find 10 types of artichoke described in through, loving detail—along with helpful tips on where and how to acquire seeds for each. And artichokes are just one item in this field-tested garden basket. Other popular and fascinating vegetables include: celtuce, Asian greens, cowpeas, carrots and parsnips, potatoes, parsley, and of course the tomato—you'll find over two dozen varieties discussed. If you are one of the more than 800,000 folks per year who has begun growing vegetables at home, Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening is the reference you need to pursue this rewarding activity to a whole new level of excellence, satisfaction, and success.
"Presents twelve gardening projects using leftover scraps from cooking, including growing celery from stubs, growing a bulb of garlic from a single clove, and growing a ginger plant from a root"--Amazon.com.
