How do I begin a self-sufficient backyard mini-farm? I want to start being green and sustainable in my lifest?
October 26, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Anonymous1 asks: How do I begin a self-sufficient backyard mini-farm? I want to start being green and sustainable in my lifest?
I am a suburban single mom looking to start a mini farm- vegetable garden, raise animals (rabbits, chickens), etc. I already have area set aside for garden, I compost and am trying to be more “green” in my lifestyle. Does anybody have any general words of wisdom or advice for a beginner? I am hoping this will be a good lesson for kids as well… I have been reading sustainability books and organic gardening texts and feel semi-confident that this project is do-able, but any practical advice or experiences would be very helpful. Thanks in advance!
The answer voted best is:
Answer by fluffernut
it is very doable. Read as much Mother Earth News issues as you can. I learned a lot from them.
We did it for many years until age, arthritis, joint replacements, etc took over and we just don’t work as hard as we used to. It is extra work, a lot. But if you enjoy the physical labor, being outside in all weather, working with animals, poop, etc, it is fun. I know our friends missed us giving it all up as much as we did……..fresh eggs, veggies, fruits, honey….ok we didn’t share much of the honey.
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Vegetable Gardening For Beginners – 6 Easy Tips To Start You Off
October 19, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Vegetable Gardening For Beginners – 6 Easy Tips To Start You Off
Healthy vegetable gardens do more than provide a beautiful area in your yard. They repay your labor with nutritious food and a healthy varied diet. Vegetable gardeners are in tune with the environment, giving back to the soil what they take from it. Abundant vegetable gardens start with healthy, rich soil. Compost and mulch contribute to that natural wealth.
About 11,000 years ago, the first farmers began to select and cultivate desired food plants in the southwest Asian Fertile Crescent – between the ancient Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Although we believe there was some use of wild cereals before that time, the earliest crops were barley, bitter vetch, chick peas, flax, lentils, peas, emmer, and wheat. About 9,000 years ago, Egyptians began to grow wheat and barley. About the same time, farmers in the Far East began to grow rice, soy, mung, azuki, and taro.
Then, about 7,000 years ago, ancient Sumarians established the first organized agricultural practices that made large-scale farming possible. Of particular note, they established irrigation as a way to nurture crops where none were possible before. Vegetable gardeners today use many of the same techniques established in early history. But today’s vegetable gardeners have millennia of experience behind them. Trial and error today is success or failure at the margins. Failure is not disaster.
As in centuries passed, a successful vegetable gardener cultivates the garden before planting for three main reasons: to eliminate weeds, to distribute air and nutrients throughout the soil, and to conserve moisture. Preparation of the soil is the single most important step in assuring abundant harvests.
Weeds are the most powerful enemy of a healthy vegetable garden. Letting them multiply in your vegetable garden will create much work and disappointment through the growing season. And when your vegetables begin to grow, removing weeds can your new vegetable plants beyond repair. Weeds also steal the precious nutrients necessary to produce healthy vegetables.
Rather than sacrificing the new garden to a patch of weeds, the successful vegetable gardener will cultivate the bed often, breaking up the soil to maintain healthy air, moisture, and heat to facilitate desirable chemical processes that produce abundant plant food. Ancient growers learned by trial and error the importance of keeping the soil loose around young plants. Early farmers deposited rotten fish beneath their crops as fertilizer and then used tools of shell and stone to nurture healthy soil and get plentiful air to the roots of their crops.
As important as air is water, even when the vegetable garden is a promise waiting for new seeds. Consider the process of “capillary attraction” – the ability of a substance to pull another substance into it. When you dip one end of a strip of blotting paper into water, you’ll see that the moisture moves up the invisible channels formed by the paper’s texture. But when you place the side edge of the blotting paper into water, the moisture won’t move upward. In a vegetable garden, capillary attraction describes the attraction of water molecules to soil particles. Well cultivated, loose soil maximizes capillary action, maintaining an even distribution of moisture throughout your vegetable garden soil.
Even so, water stored in soil during rain immediately begins to escape, evaporating into the air. Surface water is the first to vaporize into the atmosphere. With capillary action, sub-surface water moves upward and evaporates. Left to natural processes, your garden will lose its moisture as quickly as if you left sponges in the topsoil. Cultivating your vegetable garden by hoeing the soil around your plants disturbs natural capillary action and slows the loss of water for your vegetables.
It’s important to hoe your vegetable garden often, particularly those areas not shaded, at the very least every other week. If this seems too difficult, using a wheel hoe will reduce your labor and keep your vegetable garden healthy and productive. Looking somewhat like an old-fashioned plow, the wheel hoe allows you to cultivate very close to your healthy plants, maintaining an even depth and destroying new weeds before they get established. With the wheel hoe, you can cultivate as fast as you can walk.
If you wait until weeds are established, you’ll have to pull the weeds by hand, damaging the root systems of your vegetables, depleting the soil of nutrients, and creating a much greater workload for you as gardener. And the work you invest will not be to cultivate a productive crop. It will be to prevent damage that may have already been done. A wheel hoe is essential for a large vegetable garden, but it will also save much time and effort in a small one. However, a simple scuffle hoe is effective in small spaces as well. It takes less storage space and cultivates the soil effectively.
Preparing your vegetable garden properly before you plant vegetables is well worth the investment in time and labor. Keeping your vegetable garden rows free of weeds later on is slow going and difficult. Here are a few tips for keeping your vegetable garden clean and clear of weeds as your plants mature:
1. Work at the weeds while the ground is soft and/or moist. Soon after a rain is the best time. Weeds will come out by the root easier without breaking off, leaving the unwanted plant to grow again.
2. Just before you weed your vegetable garden, cultivate the rows with your wheel or scuffle hoe very shallow in the topsoil and as close to your vegetable plants as possible. This will loosen the soil and make weeds easy to see. A double-wheel hoe with discs is best for this purpose, especially for large plants.
3. Make sure all of the soil is loosened when you cultivate. Pull all the weeds out carefully, avoiding disturbing the vegetable plants. Your weeder will destroy weed seedlings, but you’ll have to hand-weed near plant bases and where weeds have matured.
4. Use a small hand-weeder near your vegetable plants. It will loosen the soil, making weeds easier to eliminate, and save a lot of wear and tear on your hands and fingers.
5. Practice with your wheel hoe. At first, watch the wheel’s direction and the pressure you put on the handles. The discs or rakes will follow automatically, maintaining an appropriate cultivation depth in your vegetable garden rows.
6. “Hilling” was once a common way to nurture young vegetable plants. This is done by building the soil up around the stems of young vegetable plants, usually the after you’ve hoed your garden two or three times. In wet soils or dry climates, hilling may still be the way to go. But in most areas, level soil is best. It makes it easier to cultivate the soil in the long run, thereby assuring healthy vegetable plants through the growing season.
Rotating Vegetable Crops
Crop rotation, or growing different vegetable crops each time you plant, is an important part of maintaining a healthy, productive vegetable garden. Some Roman texts mention crop rotation, and early Asian and African farmers also found rotation a productive method. During the Muslim Golden Age of Agriculture, engineers and farmers introduced today’s modern crop rotation methods where they alternated winter and summer crops and left fields fallow during some growing seasons. With Chemical Revolution of the mid-20th Century, crop rotation lost some of its appeal. But for home vegetable gardeners, rotation eliminates the risks of using dangerous chemicals and prevents the environmental consequences associated with modern pollutants.
Each different vegetable plant depletes the soil of different nutrients, and each leaves different nutrients as its roots and stems decay. Rotating crops with each planting keeps the soil balanced and rich. Planting the same crop time after time drains it of necessary nutrients, leaving it less productive. Crop rotation also reduces the build-up of pathogens and pests that destroy healthy vegetable gardens. Rotation helps maintain a healthy mix of essential nitrogen in your vegetable garden.
Rotating crops is more important with vegetables like cabbage, but it is a good practice for your vegetable garden generally. Even the hardy onion benefits from rotation, especially if you’ve done a good job of breaking up the old garden soil and mixing the remaining vegetable plants to serve as compost for the following crop. Here are some basic tips about crop rotation:
1. Do not rotate crops of the same vegetable family, for example turnips and cabbage. Be sure the following crop is a complete different type of vegetable.
2. Deep-rooting crops like carrots or parsnips, should follow vegetables with roots near the surface like onions or lettuce.
3. Follow root crops with vines or leaf crops.
4. Rotate vegetable plants that have long growing seasons with quick-growing crops.
5. Decide on your vegetable garden rotation when you’re constructing your planting plan. Making these decisions in the middle of the growing season will be more difficult and waste time and money.
More Gardens Articles
How do I start a vegetable garden in Indianapolis, IN?
October 16, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Christy asks: How do I start a vegetable garden in Indianapolis, IN?
I live in a suburb of Indianapolis, IN and have never had a vegetable garden. I would like to start out small to see how it will go. There are a lot of squirrels and rabbits in our neighborhood to, so I need to know if I need a fence or any other way to deter them.
The answer voted best is:
Answer by ranger_co_1_75
You need a good recipe for squirrel gravy and rabbit stew so you can enjoy your garden labors after if the critters eat your plants. LOL
Actually no, you won’t need anything special for the squirrels. Very little grown in a garden is squirrel food. Most likely they will dig up your garden because the soft dirt will be an easy place to hide nuts and seeds for the winter.
Rabbits will eat lots of things grown in your garden. Purchase 24 inch high “Chicken Mesh Wire” and some stakes at the local farm store. Place it around your garden to keep Rabbits out and protect your plants.
First sit down and figure out what you need for space. Vining Squash and Pumpkins need about 5 ft. or planted on the edge of the garden so they can run off somewhere out of the garden to spread out. If you want Tomato’s, figure 3 ft. circle for each Tomato Plant. For plants like peppers, cabbage, head lettuce or egg plant, 12 inches between plants in a row. For onions, leaf lettuce, bush beans, about 4 inches between each plant in a row.
Don’t forget to leave space to walk between the rows.
Once you have the size of the garden you want, dig up the sod and weeds, pile it in a pile in one corner of the garden, cover with newspaper and lastly cover the news papers with lawn clippings or straw. Plant your Pumpkin or Squash on top of the pile, it will love the decomposing sod and grass clippings. The rest of the garden, till until the dirt is loose and easy to work with. Make your rows, plant your plants and seeds, and you will be a gardener.
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I want to start a vegetable garden and I want it to be Organic?
October 16, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Andrea asks: I want to start a vegetable garden and I want it to be Organic?
What are the first steps to start an organic vegetable garden? I know it’s too early to start a garden but I want to be prepared for when it is time.
The answer voted best is:
Answer by Daydreamer
dig over the ground to the depth of a spade, as soon as possible. spread fertiliser, ( animal , veg compost) when you have sown, or planted what you need. only use organic sprays if necessary, like vegetable oil mixed with garlic, to get rid of pests. Straw for mulch is good, seaweed liquid fertiliser also very good.Keep the weeds at bay. If you put out water for the birds and a little food, it will encourage them in your garden, and they will eat the snails and slugs etc. Good Luck!
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How do I start a vegetable garden?
October 14, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Ian asks: How do I start a vegetable garden?
I’ve been wanting to start a vegetable garden for a while now, and I’ve decided to finally do it this year, due to the economy. My question is, where do I start? I’ve been researching it, and it seems really complicated. The extent of my experience of working in a garden is putting out grass seed. Any tips or links would be appreciated.
EDIT: I live near Dallas, Texas.
The answer voted best is:
Answer by candylvr1221
go to lowes or home depot and buy seeds
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Why You Should Start Small When Beginning Gardening
October 12, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Why You Should Start Small When Beginning Gardening
When it comes to gardening, you definitely want to take it little by little. You should start with a small plant bed just so you can get the hand of things and make enough plants for a small garden. By starting small, you can test out your gardening skills and enjoy that little garden that you have with the possibility of expansion.
Once you’ve decided to start small, your next task is to find a spot to host your garden. This location should get at least 6 hours of sunlight per day, as you want your plants to thrive in the most favorable conditions. You want to stay away from large trees and big fences or buildings – since they both have the possibility of blocking the plants from receiving enough water and nutrients.
If you live in a place where there is a warm climate, it’s best to select a spot that will create a shade during parts of the day. This will help to prevent the sun from taking it’s toll on your plants. While it’s possible to have a flourishing garden with alot of sunlight, it is not advisable for you since you are just starting out. It’s best to pick a spot with both adequate sunlight and shade.
A location that has good soil is a good thing. If there are places near your home where there is rocky soil or where water stands, then you want to avoid these locations also. After you’ve done all of these things, the next thing to do is to start growing your plants.
The first thing that you need to know is that your hands will get dirty. So if you’re someone who has a problem with your hands getting a little dirty, then you will just have to get used to it. At this step, you want to remove all rocks, grass, and weeds that are in your way so that you can dig 1-foot deep in the area that you want to start planting at.
You can add mineral and compost if you want, but you want to start digging up the dirt so that you have enough room for your plants to grow. You can add lime and peat moss if your soil is too acidic and sandy, and don’t be afraid to do this.
If you have seeds then you want to follow the directions on the package. If you’re picking plants however, then you want to select ones that have healthy roots and that have good looking and healthy leaves. Your goal is to plant at just the right moment. Wait until all frost is removed before you start planting. If you have seeds, then your seeds box will tell you when to plant to get the best results.
After you’ve gotten off to the right for with planting, you want to make sure that your garden is getting adequate amounts of water. You can use sprinklers or hoses – or you can do it yourself if you don’t have many plants. It’s best to water during the latter parts of the day since water seems to work better when the temperature is cooler.
You should also consider adding compost or mulch to your garden. Using organic mulch will make your soil a little moist and improves how your plants grow. You can use items such as leaves, wood chips, and pine needles as mulch – or you can simply find something else that will be equally as effective.
All of these gardening tips will help you to have the garden that you want. Since you’re just starting out, these tips should be enough to get you on the right track. Good luck on your gardening adventures!
Related Garden Tips Articles
How do I start a vegetable garden in a weed infested area?
October 9, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Tracy R asks: How do I start a vegetable garden in a weed infested area?
We have a 20 x 50 foot area for a vegetable garden. It has a ton of weeds. This Spring we used a hoe, cut down the weeds, pulled a ton of them then sprayed weed killer on top. Now it’s mid-Summer and the weeds are taking over again. What can I do?
The answer voted best is:
Answer by letoya_5
smoke em weed
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How do you start a vegetable garden?
October 7, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Rob F asks: How do you start a vegetable garden?
I’d like to start a small, backyard vegetable garden. What’s the best way to get started?
The answer voted best is:
Answer by abc
pick a spot, till it up; plant……weed water and fertilize …and watch them grow….then enjoy!
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How do I start the perfect organic garden?
October 3, 2011 by Green Thumb
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rz asks: How do I start the perfect organic garden?
I want a decent size organic garden. I would like a lot of tomatoes, green beans, herbs, zuccine, eggplant, squash, lettuces, peppers, and corn. When do I start? Can I start them from seeds now? What can I plant to keep pests away? Any advise would be great.
The answer voted best is:
Answer by hopflower
First, get off of the position of having it perfect or you will be lead to disappointment. Often. gardens are evolving projects; from which you learn a lot about plants, yourself, and life. You find out what works for you and what you enjoy.
Now, depending upon the size of your garden; you can plant some early spring crops such as lettuces, radishes and peas. The time to tart your organic garden is in the autumn. Rototill or dig with your spade and bring the earth up and over to aerate it. If you have weeds, pull as many as you can out, then cover with about newspaper or cardboard about 8 sheets thick. After that, you can cover all this with about 3-6 inches of compost to feed the soil. The winter rains will mix it in and in spring, you have nourished, refreshed earth.
A great book on organic gardening, and there are many; is Straight Up Organic Gardens by Shepherd Ogden of The Cook’s Garden Fame. See if you can find a copy; it is very helpful. Or, go down to your local library and see if you can find an organic gardening book you are comfortable with.
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How to start a vegetable garden?
September 28, 2011 by Green Thumb
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Marco asks: How to start a vegetable garden?
I would like to start a simple vegetable garden. I know very little about gardening. Where do I start? Is there a book that you would recommend?
The answer voted best is:
Answer by Rachel
I borrowed a roto-tiller and broke up a section of dirt (you could do this by hand with a shovel, just keep turning over the dirt). Then I bought a bag of some kind of organic soil (I found it at HomeDepot and it said right on it that it was good for vegetable gardens). Then I dumped that on top of my garden and kind of mixed that in with the other dirt. Then I bought some seedlings from a local nursery, as well as some packets of seeds and followed the instructions on the packet for planting. For tomatoes and peppers, I would recommend getting the seedling. Cucumbers worked well from the packet of seeds, as did snap peas. I tried spinach from seeds but got nothing! I’m no expert but I ended up with lots of veggies!
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