Our Blogs

The definitive website on plants & horticulture

February

Summer Harvest

Steve

Time to start harvesting!

Gather seeds
Dry fruits, herbs and flowers
Keep the weeds under control
Time to Can your food
Water if needed
Make some jams and jellies

Roy March 24, 2013 8:22 am	A pack of seeds will have a number of seeds in it, could be 25 or more. You shulod put 2 or 3 seeds in each pot to make sure you get one to germinate. You will have to water the plant once a day before it sprouts to keep the soil moist. After it sprouts, you will water as needed, maybe once a day, maybe every other day. The soil shulod not be soggy but shulod not be allowed to completely dry out. Good luck.

Lonesome March 24, 2013 1:01 am	Each seed will make on plant. Not all seeds grow though, so plant more seeds than you need. When you plant your seeds, fololw the directions on the package. It will tell you how much dirt to put on top, how far to space each plant, and how long it will take for the seed to start growing. Water your plants whenever the soil feels dry. You don't want to over-water them so just make sure the soil is always damp.The best planters to start seeds are small styrofoam cups. Poke a little hole in the bottom to let the extra water out. Put that cup inside another one, without a hole, to catch th ewater so it doesn't make a mess. Good luck on your planting and on your project!

Kyaw December 14, 2012 10:14 pm	Gardening organically takes time and effort but is worth it. I don't know if they still publish or not, but if they do; look for Organic Gardening magazine. It is produced by Rodale Press. Most of my gardening abilities were learned from that wonderful little magazine. In a nutshell, here are some ideas:Decide on the size and shape of garden you want and mark the corners with stakes.Either dig or rototill the ground to loosen it.Cover the ground with several inches of grass clippings, leaves, straw, etc and work it deep into the soil.Plant your garden using the spacing noted on the seed packages. As your soil gets richer through years of composting, you can cheat the plants closer together.As the plants come up, thin them to the correct spacing and keep them free of weeds.Mulch them in with leaves, grass clippings, newspaper, straw, etc to keep the weeds out and moisture in.Try to keep insects under control by picking them off by hand, using organic sprays, spraying soapy water on the plants, or by putting a handful of the culprits into a blender and mixing the paste with water and spraying it on your plants.Good Luck!

Aira December 14, 2012 9:35 pm	At last! Someone with the insight to solve the problem!

Rodney December 14, 2012 6:16 pm	I think we are getting better at being environmental friendly in this country, and the environmental education in schools is catching on.There are lots of good schemes going in communities through agencies like Ecoschools, Grounds for Learning and Learning Through Landscapes which are helping, and Greenspace projects work extensively with communities, as well as local authority green and recycling schemes, which are consistantly developing. So all in all, I think the future for UK ecofriendliness is fairly positive.It will take a while to happen though, but I think the changes need to be made in Government. If I could afford solar panels, a windmill, a green roof, a hybrid or electric car and could rely on public transport to get me to work in less than 2 hours, my carbon footprint would substantially decrease, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. If they gave everyone in the UK a windmill and solar panels and set up community generators, rather than digging up sensitive and sssi designated land for windfarms it would cost less, but the problem here is that it creates less work and isn't good for business to encourage people to be more self suffiecient the energy companies would lose out big time.In my house, we already reuse and recycle everything we can, bike when we can, use the higher octane fuel in the car (which is meant to be slightly kinder), grow some of our own fruit and veg, use less energy, etc, etc. But hitting us with taxes when we are trying to do our best by the planet isn't going to help. I agree that the changes need to be made commercially, as we are often victims of trade in what is available to purchase, and we are already being taxed to high heavens. Speaking of the heavens, the only tax I would change is for planes, and add the extra a375 cost to flights, but rather than giving it to the government or flight agents, put it directly to planting more trees and saving the rainforest.The problem is that enterprise and business seem to come before the needs of the environment, as economics hold a special place in the heart of politicians. And in the UK, we add 2% to the world carbon emissions, and this needs to be balanced against what the rest of the world is burning. Shouldn't China and the USA take a bit of extra responsibility, although it's good to hear that Arnie is behind California going green. Surely there is money to be made in the new technologies which are more efficient, and helping the 3rd world countries could potentially open up business and trade. It's a big, hard ugly problem that isn't going to be solved overnight by taxing everyone.

Boston September 28, 2012 8:53 am	Abosltuley first rate and copper-bottomed, gentlemen!

Winny September 28, 2012 8:49 am	Read ‘The One Straw Revolution’ by Masanobu Fukuoka. He is a Japanese farmer. I have a link to the USA Amazon below. It does not maettr what environment you live in as long as you respect it. I live in England and gardeners here seem to be at war with nature, always trying to trick it into producing more. I find that fruit tree and bushes grow them selves over here. I recently started a wild fruit tree map in google, it has trees and bushes local to me on it, it is open to be edited by any one, so please if you have some fruit tree in Florida do add them. There is a link to this below as well.

Michal September 28, 2012 6:45 am	When raising coeoantivnnl food, one uses pecticieds as compared to natural pesticides with organic (organic less expensive). Chemical fertilizers compared to organic fertilizers (organic natural and less expenisive ie manures etc)How can this justify the higher cost of organic food as compared to commercially grown (less expensive) and having to purchase chemicals etc. Doing artifical pollination as oposed to natural pollination. The list goes on and onl. This boggles my mind. I know from my own garden by not having to spend money on poisons and artificial fertilizers it costs me less to grow vegatables than if I used chemicals and other artificial means.Then why are we being charged more for a vegatable or a piece of meat that has no chemicals that are costly to produce, distribute, and apply as compared to natural herbicides, fertilizers, etc. that are plentiful and less expensive to use?

Mayara September 28, 2012 1:14 am	Cabbages, beets, turnips, poaottes, carrots. Many of the best veggies are spring and fall crops- the cabbage family includes broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts. They won't grow in the dead of winter, but they all tolerate light frost and enjoy a little snow cover.You should be able to keep them going into early winter with just a burlap row cover or a cold frame made of an old window. Watch for lead paint.In the depth of winter, you eat your root crops. Turnips aren't the best thing in the world, but living, breathing turnips taste better than week old tomatoes shipped in from afar. The hardy root crops also warm the blood.Keep in mind that the Sun stays closer to the horizon in the fall and winter- it never moves directly overhead. A garden that gets full sun in summer might be shaded for most of the day in fall.

Qhairun September 27, 2012 11:51 pm	Depends on how cold your freezer is. The garneel rule of thumb for most home freezers is to keep food in the freezer no longer than 3 months. For a deep freezer, frozen food can last a year to several years.Most freezers attached to home refrigerators maintain a temp of 0 F to 20 F. A deep freezer can get down to -20 F or lower.Just so you know, frozen vegetables are not a hazardous food product like meat. Meat can spoil in the freeze; this is known as freezer burn. The 3 month rule just means that the vegetables MAY not taste as good as they did when you first bought them. They'll be fine and they will be perfectly safe to eat many months from now.

Search A Plant's Home Website

Search Our Knowledge Base

Submit a support ticket in left menu if you cannot find an appropriate answer in the KnowledgeBase

Browse Topics	Find Useful Information
Monthly Chores Winter Care Planting Techniques Pruning	Vegetables Fruit Perennials Annuals
Garden Design	Water Gardens