Endive is a robust and hardy grower. It is a warm plant and it needs to be sow in mid spring through summer and it is harvest in mid summer through fall. It is prone to fewer pests and diseases than other salad crops. It makes an attractive addition to any vegetable garden plot. It has a slightly bitter taste to it that many people will blanch it to moderated the bitterness down.
There are two main types of endive ' curly' or 'frisee' and " Batauian" or "escarole". Curly endive has narrow leaves and a flat appearance, while Batavian is hardier, broad-leaf, and the plants tend to grow more upright. Both types of endives likes rich, well- drained soil in a sunny or a partly- shaded location. I will talk about four different types of endive.
'Kentucky'- their leaves are finely cut and they are good for blanching. It is a reliable curly- leaf variety. ' Natacha'- this one is a Batavian type of endive and it has good resistance to bolting. ' Glory'- this one produce deeply cut, curly leaves that are tender when they are young. ' Frenzy' - this one is a compact, self-blanching type with very fine, curly leaves that borne on dense heads. Seed can be sown in modules or seed trays under cover in the spring. The tray needs to be fill with seed compost, from the seed compost gently, water thoroughly , and stand it somewhere to drain. The seeds need to be made in the center of every cell using a dubber or pencil, and then drop one seed into each one. Firm over with a little compost, and water very lightly. Seedlings will start coming up in about one week. Continue to grow them under cover until the strong roots of the plants have developed.
Endive can be sown directly into the ground, in growing bags, or in a large container, that has multi-purpose compost in it. The soil needs to be turn over to get all of the weeds out of it and then apply a general-purpose fertilizer to light soils. Make drills 1/2 inch deep, then water well, and then row your seeds thinly along it. Cover over the seeds very gently and water it lightly. The area needs to be well -watered for the first few weeks after transplanting or sowing to encourage the root system to develop a strong one. After the endive is established, it is quite drought - tolerant, but it will need to be watered during very dry conditions. The plants need to be weeded regularly until they become large enough to another out any competing growth. Weeding between the plants needs to be done by hand, and weeding between the rows by using a hoe. Cover the plants with fabric if the weather turns cold to keep them from bolting. Endive has a bitter flavor that can be lessened by blanching. Some of the varieties are described as ' self-blanching' but others need help. The best method is to place a plate over the center of the plant to block out the light, and it needs to have the foliage is dry. Blanching takes about two to three weeks. The leaves can be cut when the plants are a suitable size, and leave the stump in the ground to re sprout for a later crop.
It is a perennial relative of the summer sunflower which bears attractive, bright, yellow flowers. The Jerusalem artichokes are grown for their delicious knobbly tubers, which are harvested in the fall. They are very easy to grow and they form a sizable clump in a season. It is best to keep them confined, because of not, they can become invasive. This vegetable are best grown on larger plots and not in containers.
Jerusalem artichokes are planted as bare tubers, which can be brought from seed supplies or maybe a supermarket. Before the tubers are planted in early spring, the ground has to be dug up to remove all weeds. The tubers needs to be planted six inches deep, and space them twelve inches apart each way. Large tubers can be cut into two to three pieces, with each piece having a distinct growing bud. Cover each tuber with soil, and water the tubers in.
The routine care of them arethe shoots will appear after a few weeks. Once the plants are eight to twelve inches high, put the soil around the plants to help support the stems. The plants need to be kept well watered, especially very dry periods, because if this is not done, the tubers will become extremely knobby and small ones. If the soil is light, a thick mulch needs to be appl, so the moisture is retain. The plants need to be weeded while the plants are young, the plants will be able to compete with most neighboring plants after they get big. The Jerusalem artichoke stems are sturdy, but may need some support until they grow to full height. Tall stakes need to be put around the edge of the clump or bed, about six feet high and tie a string around them to form a flexible frame. This helps to keep the plants tidy. If there are any stems that are damaged by the wind, the stems need to be cut using clippers.
In late summer, the tall stems, need to be cut back to five feet high to prevent them from rocking in the wind and loosening the tubers. While this is being done, the yield can be maximize by removing all the flowers, which will divert the energy away from the developing tubers if this is not done at the same time. In the fall, when the leaves begin to turn yellow, the plants will start to take nutrients down the stem to store in the tubers, which means that they are almost ready to harvest. Once the leaves begin to yellow or fall, the stems need to be cut below 12 inches in height. The Jerusalem artichoke tubers should be lifted as required. Because they have relatively thin skins and they do not store very well, which means they are best left in the ground and then dig up as they are needed. Any tubers left in the ground will regrow the following year, but if another crop of them are going to be grown in the same location, thoroughly dig the whole site to make sure that they are all remove by the end of the winter.
Tomatoes comes in many different types of tomatoes. They are so good to eat, especially right out of your garden. Just pick it, bring it inside, wash it real good and enjoy. You can use tomatoes in so many different ways and they are good. I will now tell you about several different varieties of tomatoes. 1. 'Tigerella'- This type of tomato is a early variety that has medium sized red fruits with yellow stripes on the tomato. You can grow this one under cover or outside and this one needs to be trained, as a cordon. 2. 'Totem'- this one needs to grow in a window box or growing bags. It is one of the dwarf size variety and you do not pinch off anything. It produces cherry -sized fruits. 3. ' Tumbling Tom Yellow'- it is a compact bush tomato that it is good to grow in sunny hanging baskets.
4. ' Moneymaker'- it is a cordon variety that you can grow both indoors or outdoors. They produce medium-sized red tomatoes. The sideshooter will need to be kept punch off and train them up to a stake. 5. 'Marmandle'- it is a cordon type tomato that can be grown outdoors, support it with a stake, and always cut off any sideshoots. This one has beefsteak, deep red fruits with few seeds. 6. 'Sungold'- it is one that can be grown indoors or out and it is a cordon type tomato. This tomato is a very- sweet tasting, hybrid that bears cherry tomato sized, deep orange fruits.
7. 'Gardener's Delight' it is a cherry variety and it has red fruits. It can be grown under cover or outside, whichevers, you want to do. 8. 'Sweet Olive'- This is a hybrid tomato and it has oblong-shaped red fruits about 1 1/2 inch long. It can grow indoor or outside, but it needs to be staked to support the plant.
9. Tumbler- This one is a bush tomato that is an excellent choice to grow in containers, window boxes, and hanging baskets. They can go in smaller gardens.
Everybody who has a garden, whether it is in a container or a regular garden, you will find tomatoes planted there. Tomatoes are America's favorite vegetable. A full size tomato plant needs a container with a soil capacity of at least twenty quarts and a water capacity of at least a gallon. It would be better if you have a bigger container like a forty quarts of soil and at least a two gallon water reservoir. If you have a bigger water reservoir you will not have to water so often. Tomatoes like sunlight. They like warmth. You will need to give the tomatoes so they can have the longest time in the sun. Tomatoes takes a lot of water. A mature tomato plant will use a gallon of water every day.
Start planting tomato plants is not difficult to do, it just means you will need to have some equipment and a sunny place. If you have the desire, the space, and the equipment, start growing your own tomatoes can be very rewarding for you.
If you start your own plants, you can get different varieties of tomatoes. A well-stocked garden center or nursery may not have a lot of varieties, where as, a seed catalog may have a whole bunch more, like three dozen or more. You can buy tomato seeds and tomato seedlings. A tomato plant's root system is the key to its success in life, because when a tomato is ready for transplanting, it should be growing in at least a four inch deep pot. Most of the time, you will not find tomatoes in a four inch pot in a nursery, because they will become pot bound and stressed. When you are at a nursery looking for tomato plants, if you see blossoms on a small, skinny tomato plant, this may be a sign of stress, because the plant can not grow more roots, so it goes into the next phase of life long before it has the strength to bear fruit. If you find blossoms on your tomato plants before or soon after transplanting, always clip them off. The tomato plant needs to grow more roots and foliage before taking on the work of growing and producing fruit.
Tomato plants should be short, stocky ones and not tall lanky ones. If you are going to buy tomato plants, always look for signs of insect damage or disease. The leaves should be dark green without holes, brown or black spots, or curled edges. Do not start your tomatoes indoors no more than five to six weeks before you have your last frost where you live at. You can start your tomato seeds in a seed starter kit. You can used a peat/compost mix or a sterile peat based starting mix. Always keep the soil moist but not soggy and the temperature stay between 75 degree and 90 degree F. If you are using a fertilizer- free starting mix, you will need to fertilizer the seedlings with liquid seaweed fertilizer.
Ten days after your tomato plants have germinate, you will see the first true leaves have appeared then you need to transplant into the four-inch pots. You will need to set the plants so that only the top leaves show above the soil. The soil needs to be just moist all the time. Before you plant your seedlings outside, you need to harden them for two weeks. You can do this by moving them to a shady spot for a hour or two, it can be longer on cloudy days. After a hour or two you will need to put them inside. By the time they are ready for planting in your garden they should be used to being out all day and able to stand the full sun for most of the day. When the soil temperatures are at least 55 degree F and the night air temperatures do not go below 40 degree F, it is time to transplant. The best time to transplant your plants is in the cool of the day, and shade your plants from the sun for a few days. Plant your tomato plants in containers deeper then you had them in the pots, trimming off all of the leaves that will be buried. If you are going to put your tomato plants in containers, some of them will need some kind of outside support. They do not like to climb trellises or be tied to stakes, but they love to crawl on the ground like the vines that they are.
Growing tomatoes on a stake, or on a single trellis will required a more drastic style of pruning.All the suckers that appear on the main stem has to be pruned off. Because if you do not do this, each sucker becomes a new stem and the tomato plant becomes impossible to put on a trellis or stake. When the plant grows up to the top of your trellis, stop the growth by pruning the terminal shoot. This is done to keep the plant to top heavy. A lot of the diseases that affects tomatoes are soil borne and if your tomatoes are in containers, that will not bother them. If you find a tomato horn worm, pick it off and drop it in a can of soapy water. When the tomatoes get ripe, it is best to take them off of the vines with scissors to avoid damaging the plant. If it is getting close to your first frost, you need to pick all of your tomatoes that have begun to ripen inside and they will finish ripening all the way. Put your tomatoes up in your windowsill to finish ripening inside. If you have a container that you can bring indoors, you can let the tomatoes ripen on the vine. Summary Tomatoes are very easy to grow and they are a very popular vegetable that are planted every year. They are many different types of tomatoes to choose from red, yellow, big and little ones.
There are many different shapes and colors of winter squash. These squashes provide a wonderful delicious feast in late fall and winter, especially in soups and when they are roasted. I like to grow winter squashes because of the many different ones and they are easy to grow. Winter squashes can be grown in containers, and the stems can be trained to make a decorative fruit, but I have not yet done this, I have planted them in my garden with my other vegetables.
I planted my seeds in pots under cover in the spring. I do this by filling 4 inches pots with seed compost, water each pot real good, and then let each pot drain real good. I put one seed in each pot 1 1/4 inch deep and I continue on doing this until I get all of my winter squash planted. Next, I will set each pot into a heated propagator set at 59-64 degree for a week or two. When I see my seedlings and I know that it is definitely not going to be anymore frost, I will then plant them out in my garden because winter squash and frost sensitive. In early summer, is when I plant my winter squash plants, but before I do this I will harden them off first to get t hem acclimatize to outdoor conditions. I place them outside during the day, and the I bring them back inside at night for two weeks. After this I plant them out at 3 feet apart, and water them well. They also need to be planted a the same depth in the ground, as I had them planted in my pots. Always protect them from slugs by putting a light dusting of pellets on them. I keep my planets water well as they are growing and all through the summer months. The plant needs to be feed well by regularly applying a general-purpose fertilize as it says on the instructions.
There are two types of winter squash and they are bushy or trailing. Bush-types ones has clumps of leaves and the trailing plants send out long, winding stems. Now, I would like to write about some different winter squash tat is available to grow. "Butternut" is a classically shaped squash that is grown on trailing plants. This one has deep orange flesh and few seeds. They are ideal for stuffing and roasting. this winter squash stores real well. "Harlequin" is a very colorful fruit, this one would be the one if the space is limited and it produces a good harvest. "Sweet Dumpling' is a trailing variety and the squash has a slightly ribbed , white-skinned fruits with green vertical stripes. It grows 5-6 inches in diameter and it has yellow flesh. "Queensland Blue" is a Australian heirloom variety that has heavy-ribbed, gray-blue fruits. They grow to 10 inches in diameter and has a nutty, orange flesh. "Uchiki Kuri" is called "onion squash" and it is a trailing variety winter squash. The fruit has orange flesh and it harvests five or six fruits per plant. "Turk's Turbar" is a trailing type that has unusually shaped orange fruit that has a sweet taste to it. It also has bold green and white stripes to the fruit. The fruit grows to 8 to 10 inches in diameter. "Cream of the Crop" it produces acorn-shaped fruits that are large and it has cream skins and nutty-flavored, golden flesh. It is a compact plant and it produces 3 or 4 fruits per plant. "Crown Prince" is a trailing plant that bears round, gray-blue fruit and they are 8-10 inches in diameter. It has an orange flesh that tastes very nutty when they are cooked. Vegetable spaghetti is a trailing plant and the mild-tasting flesh of the fruit separates into spaghetti-looking strands, It produces 3 or 4 fruits for each plant. Mid-fall my winter squash fruits should be coloring up. I will harvest all of my winter squash before the first frost comes. I always leave a little stem on my winter squash, as I am cutting it form my plants. I will leave my fruits in a warm, sunny spot for two weeks to get them harden. The fruits can be stored when needed.
There are a lot of different varieties of peppers that you can choose form. You can choose them while they are green or you can leave them to color up and mature so they can develop their full sweet flavor. Peppers can be grown in beds, containers, and growing bags, either under cover or outside. You can plant eight plants on each nine feet row and three plants in each growing bags. If you are going to grow your peppers in a container, you can put two or three plants for every container that you have to use.
Getting Started: 1. Peppers require a long growing season, so you will have to sow them under cover early in the year so they will have plenty of time to grow to maturity and then produce fruit. Your pepper plants will do real good in large containers as long as you provide them with fertile compost and if you give them enough space to grow. 2. Sowing Seeds If you want to use small pots to sow your peppers seeds in them, you can put one pepper seed in each pot then cover it with a thin layer of soil, and then put it in a heated propagator. You will need to do this with each pot that you plant in. After you get your pepper plants strong, you will need to plant them in a 3 1/2 inch pot and keep them under cover. The young plants has to be kept well watered. When the plants reach eight inches in height, they will need to be feed regularly with a liquid tomato fertilizer.
3. Planting out If you are going to plant your peppers outside, you will need to harden them for two weeks, to harden them, they will need to be put outside doing the day and move your plants back inside at night. The site has to be a sunny, sheltered place and you will need to space each pepper plant sixteen inches apart in each direction, or if you want to sue containers because of not having a great big area for a garden, just fill each container with a multi-purpose compost with a minimum diameter of anything less then twelve inches. Then water your plants well. 4. Growing Indoors You can grow your peppers on a sunny windowsill indoors or outside in a bright spot that is under cover. If your plants are inside you will need to hand pollinate indoor flowers. This is done by simply inserting a cotton swab or soft paintbrush into the center of each open flowers, and then transfer the pollen to another open flower. 5. Routine Care All of the pepper plants has to be kept water well. You will need to feed the pepper plants with a high potash liquid fertilizer such as a tomato feed to encourage flowers and then fruits to form. Keep your plants fed every two weeks and keep them well watered.
6. Harvesting The colors of the peppers will come in different colors according to the many different varieties of peppers. The colors are green, red, orange, yellow, or purple. You can harvest them while they are green, or your can wait till they mature which they will be sweeter. Take a pair of shears to pick your fruit, and by doing this, the plant is not damage. Put a cloche on your outdoor pepper plants in the fall, and this will help speed up the ripening. Four different kinds of peppers "Gypsy" this pepper is a compact fruits which are very flavorful and fleshy. "Gourmet" this pepper is a compact plant that produce well and the peppers are orange. "California Wonder" this pepper has a very sweet flavor and the peppers grow large and red fruit. "Marconi" this pepper grows to be long and tapered ones and when they mature, they will be red.
I have fond memories when I was growing up and summer was always very busy on our farm. We would be out picking different vegetables and just say one of the vegetables would be summer squash. Mom and I would cook some squash for supper, along with other different vegetables form our garden. We would cook our summer squash which was crooked neck, with some onion and a little sugar, water, and then cook it down. Yum!
Summer squash are easy to grow and the plants will crop a heavy supply of fruit all summer long. Here I will like to talk about a few different varieties of summer squash. "Tromboncion" needs to always be harvested when the squash reaches to 12 inches long. Patty pan is a type of squash, which comes in white, yellow, green in colors. "Sunburst" can be picked as a young fruit or let it grow bigger before you pick it. "Rolet" is a baseball sized fruits that has a sweet tasting fruit. In early summer is when we plant our summer squash seeds in our garden. We will s ow two seeds together, then water the seeds in well, and cover with a cut-off plastic bottle for each pair of seeds. In our garden now, I planted our summer squash seeds on a outside row because they grow like watermelon vines, they take up quite a bit of space. I also plant them in a space of 3-5 feet apart, and water them real good after planting. Summer squashes should be watered well and they need to be fed regularly with tomato fertilizer. After I do this, I will mulch around the squash plants with a thick layer of compost or some other organic material. I do this, because the mulch will break down and will constantly release nutrients to the plants.
The majority of summer squash are of the trailing plants so I just leave them on the ground. Squashes will take about for to seven days after they flowers start to wilt. If I want some of my summer squashes to be bigger, then I will leave them on the vines longer, and then go back out to the garden a few days later and then I will start harvesting my summer squashes.
