Home Vegetable Gardening: Garlic
I was watching a rerun of an episode of the television show, Friends the other night and in the episode Phoebe accuses Monica of using way too much garlic when she cooks food at her restaurant. That led me to thinking is too much garlic a bad thing? Me personally, I don't think so.
Beyond warding away vampires in horror films, garlic is a great addition to a lot of wonderful recipes you can prepare right at home. To make those recipes even better you can user garlic grown right in your own backyard.
Home Vegetable Gardening: Treating Plants for Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew affects such a wide range of plants but most notably those that are in the broadleaf category such as squash and different varieties of plants in the pea families.
If your plants currently have them, do not worry it is a very common occurrence and even better yet this pesky problem is easily treatable.
If left untreated by doing nothing however, your plants can become weak, look deformed and reduce yields of your harvest.
Here are some steps you can take today that could reduce and/or eliminate powdery mildew from your vegetable garden.
The first step is to avoid planting species of plants, such as phlox or bee balm, anywhere near your vegetable plants. This simply invites trouble into your garden, making it easier for it to infect and spread.
Home Vegetable Gardening: Taking Care of Blossom End Rot
Blossom end rot occurs because the soil in your home vegetable garden is deficient in calcium. It also occurs when the weather in your area has been considerably wet followed by an immediate dry period.
Blossom end rot most notably affects peppers, squash, tomatoes and watermelon. As you can see in the picture, it looks like a dark circle and spreads to the end fruit as the vegetable will then look like it is rotting.
If not taken care of it could spread to the remaining of the unaffected portion of your garden and also lead to additional or secondary rotting.
Here are steps you can take to control blossom end rot in your home vegetable garden.
Home Vegetable Gardening: Growing Cucumbers
Cucumbers are a great vegetable to grow in any garden. They are excellent for salads, or to simply dip in some ranch dressing (or your favorite flavor).
There are a variety of great dishes you can make with cucumbers and if you have time to learn it, the skill of “pickling” can take your cucumber even further.
More importantly though, is, all of that is for naught if your vegetable garden does not produce plenty of healthy cucumbers.
Here are some steps you can take to increase your chances of healthy and more abundant harvest in your home vegetable garden.
Home Vegetable Gardening: Growing Eggplant
There are many varieties of eggplants and they come in all shapes and sizes. The most common eggplant is called black beauty.
There are a number of great dishes you can make with eggplant including my favorite eggplant parmesan.
If eggplant is not part of your home vegetable garden you really should consider it. They are easy to grow with a little care and a couple of plants can produce all the of the eggplant you will need for an entire growing season.
If you plan on starting your eggplant from seed, as opposed to buying a plant from a local home or garden center, you should start them indoors about 6 to 8 weeks prior to the last frost of the season, in a portable planting greenhouse available at any garden center for less than $5.00.
Home Vegetable Garden: Add Melons to Sweeten up the Backyard
Melons aren't vegetables of course but that does not mean you can't add a few varieties to your home vegetable garden.
Melons range from cantaloupe to watermelon and honeydew and many other varieties in between.
Most grow on vines, so they do take up some space if you do not put the time in to have them grow vertically up a trellis.
If you are willing to either put the time in to direct growth vertically or are willing to part with your gardening area, melons can add some great tasting produce just a few feet from the kitchen window.
Here is how you can successfully grow melons in your own home vegetable garden.
Home Vegetable Gardening: Growing Claytonia
Although this salad green is not well known, it is very tasty and grows well in cooler climates, making it a perfect addition to your fall, early spring or even a winter garden.
It is also referred to as miner's lettuce. The name comes from the 1849 gold rush of California where claytonia was used as fresh salad greens.
Here is how you can add claytonia, this tasty salad green, to your home vegetable garden.
Like most other vegetables claytonia prefers a neutral soil pH. Test your soil and adjust accordingly to a pH level of 6.5 to 7.0. You can pick a pH soil testing kit at any home or garden center for a few bucks.
Planning And Building A Security System That Works
First of all a security system is not an alarm system, although the alarm system plays an important part in the overall security plan. In fact,no single component should be seen as most important, although as I will explain some measures provide greatest value for the security money you will be investing. The first step though is a survey of the premise, including how it is used, for what purpose and by whom, and of course the physical layout. Risk factors and loss potential are scrutinized as these greatly influence the budget.
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