Description Qag
Thyme is a fragrant, small, perennial evergreen shrub with six- to eight-inch stems that often spread out over the ground. It's a member of the mint family and has square stems with small opposite leaves and pale lavender mintlike flowers. Thyme is a charming, cheerful little plant and will last for years once it's established. It's a good plant for a border or rock garden. There a more than 200 species and manA hybrids, but the common form i the one grown for flavoring. The Greeks and Romans...
Theres a right and a wrong way to water
So much depends on climate and the ability of different types of soil to hold moisture that it's difficult to lay down specific directions for watering your garden. Generally, however, vegetable plants need about an inch of water a week. The best time to water your garden is in the morning. If you water at night when the day is cooling off, the water is likely to stay on the foliage, increasing the danger of disease. Some people believe that you can't water in the morning because water spots on...
Improving nutrient content
The next step in your soil-improvement program is to have the soil tested to identify deficiencies unless you correct those deficiencies, they can cause poor plant growth. In some states the Cooperative Extension Service will act as middleman and send your soil sample to the laboratory for you in all states the extension service can give you information on firms in your area Use a trowel to take a soil sample half an inch thick and eight inches down. Use a trowel to take a soil sample half an...
Serving suggestions Yzr
Savory has a peppery flavor that is good with fish, poultry, and in egg dishes. Try it in vinegars, or add a little to a cheese souffle. seeds is used for cooking and in salad dressings. Sesame is easy to grow if you can give it a growing season of about 120 days it grows well in the warm, dry areas of the South and Southwest. Plant it when danger of frost is over. Give sesame a place in the sun in well-drained, fertile soil. When you're preparing the soil, dig in a complete, well-balanced...
Basic Ingredients
Choose vegetables that are tender, ripe but just barely ready to eat, and just as fresh as possible. Slightly under-mature vegetables are better for freezing than those that are past their prime. For peak flavor, rush vegetables from the garden to the freezer within two hours. If you can't freeze vegetables within that time limit, cool the vegetables quickly in ice water, drain well, and keep refrigerated until ready to prepare for freezing. Ice. Since cooling is an important part of preparing...
Growing Spring Onions
Common name onion Botanical name Allium cepa Origin Southwest Asia Soil and growing conditions affect the flavor of an onion as much as the variety, so check with a garden center or with your Cooperative Extension Service for specific varieties that will do well in your area. Onions are hardy biennial vegetables usually grown as annuals. They have hollow leaves, the bases of which enlarge to form a bulb. The flower stalk is also hollow, taller than the leaves, and topped with a cluster of white...
Shallot
Common name shallot Botanical name Allium cepa Origin Asia Few varieties are available grow the variety available in your area. The shallot is a very hardy biennial grown as an annual, and it's a member of the onion family. It's believed that French knights returning from the Crusades introduced them to Europe, and that De Soto brought them to America in 1532. Shallot plants grow about eight inches tall in a clump, with narrow green leaves, and look very much like small onions they're favorites...
Seeds Or Transplants How To Decide
The answers to the questions of what and where to plant depend on several factors where you live, the kind of vegetables you decide to grow, and the amount of work you can reasonably handle. It's important to recognize your own limitations in terms of time, energy, and space. If you spend plenty of time at home, you may thoroughly enjoy nurturing your own transplants from seed. On the other hand, your home may not easily accommodate trays of young seedlings that need to be protected from cats,...
How temperature affects plant growth
Average day-to-day temperatures play an important part in how your vegetables grow. Temperatures, both high and low, affect growth, flowering, pollination, and the development of fruits. If the temperature is too high or too low, leafy crops may be forced to flower prematurely without producing the desired edible foliage. This early flowering is called going to seed, and affects crops like cabbages and lettuce. If the night temperatures get too cool it may cause fruiting crops to drop their...
Blackeyed
Common names pea, black-eyed pea, cowpea, chowder pea, southern pea, black-eyed bean, China bean Botanical name Gigna sinensis Origin Asia California Black Eye 75 days Pink Eye Purple Hull 78 days Mississippi Silver 80 days . Black-eyed peas are tender annuals that can be either bushy or climbing plants, depending on the variety. The seeds of the dwarf varieties are usually white with a dark spot black eye where they're attached to the pod sometimes the spots are brown or purple. Black-eyed...
Image Of Soyabean Plant
Common names bean, green bean, snap bean, string bean, French bean, wax bean, pole bean, bush bean, stringless bean vulgaris Origin South Mexico, Central America The most commonly grown beans are the green or snap bean and the yellow or wax variety. Since 1894, when Burpee introduced the Stringless Green Pod, most of these beans have been stringless. The following are only a few of the varieties available. Ask your Cooperative Extension Service for specific recommendations for your area. Green...
Improving soil texture
The physical texture of any soil can be improved by the addition of large amounts of organic matter. You can use materials like ground corncobs, sawdust, bark chips, straw, hay, peat moss, and cover crops it's a great way to recycle a lot of garden wastes. You A do-it-yourself test of soil texture the longer the ribbon that forms when you squeeze the soil between your thumb and the knuckle of your forefinger, the more clay the soil contains. A do-it-yourself test of soil texture the longer the...
Botanical Name Kale Til
Common names kale, borecole, collards, green cabbage, German greens Botanical name Brassica oleracea acephala Origin horticultural hybrid Dwarf Blue Curled 55 days Dwarf Blue Scotch 55 days Vate 55 days Dwarf Green Curled 60 days . Kale is a hardy biennial plant grown as an annual. It's a member of the cabbage family and looks like cabbage with a permanent wave. Scotch kale has gray-green leaves that are extremely crumpled and curly Siberian or blue kale usually is less curly and is a bluer...
Sonnet
Common names garden sorrel, herb patience or spinach dock, French sorrel, spinach rhubarb. Botanical name Rumex acetosa, Rumex patientia, Rumex scutatus, Rumex abyssinicus. Few varieties are available commercially grow the variety available in your area. Garden sorrel, French sorrel, and herb patience or spinach dock are all good for eating. Several varieties of sorrel will do well in your garden. Garden sorrel R. acetosa grows about three feet tall and produces leaves that are good used fresh...
Personal Gardening Calendar
Use this calendar to plan your gardening activities Start of growing season average date of last spring frost End of growing season average date of first fall frost Start hardy plants indoors 6-8 weeks before date to set out Start tender plants indoors 6-8 weeks before date to set out Plant very hardy plants and seeds outdoors 4-6 weeks before average date of last frost Plant hardy plants and seeds outdoors 2-3 weeks before average date of last spring frost Plant tender plants and seeds...
Ornate
The varieties of tomatoes available would fill a book. Choose them according to your growing season, whether you plan to stake or cage them or let them sprawl, and what you want to do with the fruit. Some varieties are specially suited to canning and preserving, others are better for salads. Beefsteak varieties are the large kind with rather irregularly shaped fruits. Patio varieties are suited to growing in containers or small spaces, and cherry tomatoes are the very small, round ones. Ask...
Oneqano
Marjoram Botanical names Origanum vulgare. Origanum heracleoticum Origin Mediterranean O. vulgare , Cyprus O. heracleoticum In cold northern areas grow any variety of O. vulgare. In warmer areas grow any variety of either O. vulgare or O. heracleoticum. The name oregano is more accurately applied to a flavor than to a plant, and there are two varieties that you can grow for seasoning called oregano. O. vulgare is usually grown it's hardier and easier to propagate than the alternative, O....
How to make the most of your climate
Whatever the climate is like where you live, you are not entirely at the mercy of the elements. There are certain improvements you can make to enable you to grow some vegetables that would not normally do well in your area. Don't expect miracles you can improve conditions, but you can't change the climate. No amount of watering can change a desert into a vegetable garden however, if the average rainfall in your area is reasonable, a few hours of watering can improve it more than you'd think...
Container Gardening
In areas where there is little or no space, a well-organized container garden can produce substantial vegetables. A point to remember about container gardening The small volume of soil in a raised bed will warm up faster in spring than the soil in your open garden. This gives you a longer growing season, because you can start your cool-season crops earlier. You can also bring plants inside if the temperature takes an unexpected plunge this mobility is an advantage you obviously lack in an open...
Vegetable Gardening
Common names chard, Swiss chard, sea kale, Swiss beet, sea kale beet Botanical name Beta vulgaris cicia Lucullus 50 days Fordhook Giant 60 days Rhubarb 60 days . Chard is basically a beet without the bottom. It's a biennial that's grown as an annual for its big crinkly leaves. Chard is a decorative plant with its juicy red or white leaf stems and rosette of large, dark green leaves, it can hold its own in the flower garden. It's also a rewarding crop for the home vegetable gardener it's...
Drawing a plot plan
This is the pencil-and-paper stage of planning, and if you use graph paper, you'll find it easier to work to scale. Don't be intimidated by all this talk about drawing and sketching. Your garden plan doesn't have to be a work of art just a working document. Drawing to scale, however, is helpful. A commonly used scale is one inch on paper to eight feet of garden space adapt the scale to whatever is easiest for you. Draw up a simple plot plan giving your garden's measurements in all directions....
When To Plant Okra
Fingers, gumbo Botanical names Hibiscus Emerald 56 days Clemson Spineless 58 days Dwarf Green Long Pod 52 days . Okra, a member of the cotton and hibiscus family, is an erect, tender annual With hairy stems and large maplelike leaves. It grows from three to six feet tall, and has large flowers that look like yellow hibiscus blossoms with red or purplish centers. When mature, the pods are six to 10 inches long and filled with buckshotlike seeds. Okra is used in Southern cooking, in gumbo or...
Providing the right environment
The purpose of growing transplants from seed is to provide them with the correct environment for the important early growth period. This requires both care and common sense on your part. Cleanliness, temperature, moisture, and light all contribute to the healthy development of your plants. The following are supplies or conditions you'll need in order to grow transplants at home. Planting medium. Young seedlings are subject to damping-off a disease that can ruin your potential crop in infancy....
Planting problemfree vegetables
First of all, you can take the simple precaution of planting only varieties that are not susceptible to major pest problems. There are a lot of vegetables that pests usually don't attack, or don't attack in large enough numbers to cause you any real grief or require the use of nonorganic methods of control. All these are fairly problem-free vegetables artichokes, asparagus, beets, carrots, celeriac, celery, chard, chicory, cucumbers, dandelion, horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, okra,...
Potato
Potato, Irish potato Botanical name Solanum tuberosum Origin Chile, Peru, Mexico There are more than 100 varieties of potatoes in the United States, and they fall into four basic categories long whites, round whites, russets, and round reds. The most important variety is Russet Burbank, but it does not grow successfully in all areas. Good white varieties for general use are Irish Cobbler 75 days and Norchip 90 days . Good red varieties for general use are Norland 75 days and Red La Soda 110 to...
Bean cfaif
Common names pinto beans, navy beans, horticultural beans, flageolet Botanical name Phaseolus species Origin South Mexico, Central America Dry beans are so called because the mature seeds are generally dried before they're eaten. There are many types, and some of the most common are cranberry. Great Northern, michilite, pinto, red kidney, white marrowfat, and pea beans. Horticultural beans, the genuine French flageolets, are a type of dry bean highly regarded by gourmets they're usually eaten...
Pumpkin
Common name pumpkin Botanical names Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita moschata, Cucurbita pepo Origin tropical America Small pumpkins are grown primarily for cooking intermediate and large sizes for cooking and for making jack-o'-lanterns and the very large jumbo ones mainly for exhibition. The bush and semi-vining varieties are best suited to small home gardens. The following are a few of the varieties available, and unless otherwise indicated they are the vining kind. Ask your Cooperative Extension...
Antichoke qlobe
Globe artichoke Botanical name Cynara scolymus Origin southern Europe, North America There are very few varieties of artichokes Green Globe is the variety commonly grown. The artichoke is a thistlelike, tender perennial that grows three to four feet tall and three to four feet wide. It is grown for its flower buds, which are eaten before they begin to open. The elegant, architectural leaves make the artichoke very decorative, but because it is tender and hates cold weather, it's not for al...
Honeydew melon
Common name horseradish Botanical name Armoracia Horseradish looks like a giant, two-foot radish. In fact, it's a hardy perennial member of the cabbage family. Ninety-eight percent of all commercial horseradish is grown in three Illinois counties near St. Louis. Horseradish has a very strong flavor and like the animal for which it's named can deliver a powerful kick when you're not expecting it. Horseradish is a very cold-hardy plant, which does well in the North and in cool, high-altitude...
How to plant Kjm
Parsley likes well-worked, well-drained soil with moderate organic content. Don't fertilize before planting. Plant it from seed they take a long time to germinate, but you can speed up the process by soaking them in warm water overnight before planting. Plant the seeds a quarter-inch deep in rows 18 to 24 inches apart. Thin the seedlings to 12 to 18 inches apart when they're growing strongly. Or start seeds indoors six weeks before the average date of last frost. You don't need to fertilize the...
The computerized garden plan
If all this planning thoroughly intimidates you, don't abandon the idea of gardening. It's the age of technology, and you can have your entire garden planned by a computer. The computer uses some basic information that you supply about your garden and develops a complete, easy-to-use plan that includes all the information the novice gardener needs to grow a vegetable garden. The only problem involved in having your garden planned by a computer is finding out who offers the service. At the...
Starting New Plants From Parts
Seeds and transplants are not the only forms from which to raise new plants they're the forms you'll use most often, but some vegetables are started from other plant parts suckers, tubers, slips, crowns, sets, cloves, divisions, or cuttings. In some cases plants can be grown either from seed or from plant parts. Onions, for instance, take a very long time to germinate from seed, so it usually makes more sense to grow them from sets. Other plants grow best from plant parts. The following are...
