How to grow and harvest my carrots?

Carrots are always grown in our garden for several reasons, which are, all my family and I love carrots and they are rich in Vitamin A, which promotes good eyesight. I like to plant carrots because you can enjoy them for almost twelve months of the year, with me being able to have baby "pullings" in early spring and then  you have the main crop roots that store well into the winter. Carrots comes in many different shapes, colors and sizes which I like this about carrots.

I have read that some types of carrots can be grown in containers, but I have not tried any of them in my garden. "Parmex" is a good one to grow in containers and it produces bite-size, sweet-tasting round carrots. I might try some of them in one of my containers next winter or spring. "Carson" is one that is good to grow because I like them for their taste and they store well. "Bangor" is another that has a good taste and they store real well in the winter. I like to try new things, so "Purple Haze" would be one for me. It produces purple-skinned roots and they make a lot of carrots.

To get my garden soil ready for my carrots seeds. I turn over the soil and get all of the weeds out, then I rake it level. I make drills with a hoe, water it well,and sow the seeds 1/4 inches deep, and then I cover the seeds with soil and water. Since carrots seeds are slow to germinate, I keep checking them and make sure that I keep my soil well-watered until I see my seedlings coming up. I am always watering my plants, especially during the dry spells in the summer, but I don't overdo the watering. By my watering, this promotes leafy growth and this is at the expense of roots. When I weed my plants, I do it by hand, not with my hoe. I also do the weeding at dusk, because weeding releases the scent of the leaves, which attracts carrot fly and carrot fly in not around at dusk. Another way to keep the carrot fly form laying their eggs at the base of plants, I put a barrier of insect mesh about 24 inches high around all of my carrot plants.

I have to pull my early sowing up for the soil by my hand. The carrots that I planted that are main crop varieties, when they are ready for harvest, I use a fork to get them out of the ground.

I always like to have early crops and main crop carrots, because that means that we will have carrots almost all of the year.

How to grow and harvest green beans?

I am one that likes to raise her own vegetables. As far as green beans are concern we always raise them in our own garden, when i was growing up, and I still raise them now.

Green beans, which is called snap beans can be harvested for their plump pods and they can be harvested for the beans themselves. Green beans comes in varieties of climbing ones and dwarf ones which can be grown in containers.

The climbing varieties is the ones that we have always used in our garden.

Before I plant my seeds, I have to get my ground ready and I do this be putting well-rotted organic matter such as garden compost to my garden space and I will get all of the weeds out of the garden. I take my rake and level it out. I then put my stakes into the ground, where I am going to put my climbing plants to grow. 10 inches apart, and I sow two seeds at the base of each stake 2 inches deep. After I have sow all of my green beans sees, I have to keep them well-watered and keep a lookout for slugs. To keep the slugs away from my green bean plants, I applied a light scattering of pellets. After I see the plants starting to flower, I water them well and I feed them regularly with a balanced liquid fertilizer.

I check my plants every day or tow. and when I see my pods are large enough to pick, then I start picking them right away. I continue to check my green beans, when I am checking my other vegetables, so I can pick them at their best. The more I pick, the more they produce. If I decide that I want to save some seeds fro next year, I will leave a few pods on a plant until it matures fully and I collect the seeds later on.

I remember when I was growing up, we would pick all the produce that was ready and then I would snap our snap beans, shelled our peas and so on.

How to grow and harvest runner beans?

I can remember growing these beans when i was growing up and I still love to plant these beans because they have such a good taste to them.

I like to grow these runner beans because they have given us a steady supply harvest of tender pods throughout summer, because the more beans we pick, the more they will grow. Most of the runner bans are climbing plants, and that makes it nice because they do not use up much of my garden space. Some of the varieties  are dwarf bush-types that if I want to try them I can plant them in my containers.



I would like to talked about some different varieties of runner beans. "Desiree" is a very tasty bean and it is a very good one as it will produce beans all summer long. "Lady Di" has string less pods that will be producing runner beans all summer long. Another string less variety is "Polestar" and the beans grows 10 inches pods and they grow all summer long.

As I am getting my garden ready to plant in the spring, I will get my garden soil ready by digging a trench for my wigwams which is a collection of poles I will train my beans later on to grow up on. I will add well-rotted organic matter, such as compost or manure to my soil. then I will put my poles up where the plants are to be growing and then I will sow one or tow seeds at the base of each pole at 2 inches deep. I will cover the sees and then I will water all of them well. It takes about two weeks for the seeds to germinate, and then I will thin out so I will have the healthiest one growing by each of my poles. I will put a light sprinkling of pellets to keep slugs from my runner beans.

I always remember that runner beans are hungry and thirsty plants. I mulch my plants in the  summer with well-rotted organic matter, such as garden compost and this helps to conserve moisture and keep my runner beans crop fed.

Runner beans needs to be well watered once the flowers appears so they will produce beans. If I do not keep my runner beans watered good, the flowers or beans will wither and fall. When the stems reach the top of the poles, I pinch off the growing tips to promote new cropping side shoots.

I check my bean pods as soon as they are large enough, and then I check my plants every two or three days. I pick them regularly because the more I pick the more the beans produce. I also love to freeze some too, so we can enjoy them during the winter.

How to grow and harvest peas?

Gardening is  one of my favorite hobbies and another great thing about gardening is all I have to do  is walk out to my garden, when my produce is ready and pick it, instead of having to go to the grocery store.

To me, all vegetables taste better when picked fresh, and this is definitely the truth about peas. Peas are very easy to grow, and they have types of peas that are dwarf and climbing and these types can be grown in small plots. If I sow my peas little and  often, I will be able to enjoy fresh peas from late spring to mid-fall which is great for my family.

After I decide that I am going to grow some more peas, I will have to get the right peas seeds for which ever time of the year that I am growing them. Peas comes in two different forms. Smooth-seeded varieties is the one that seeds are sweeter tasting and spring and all summer and we can enjoyed them through mid-fall.

I would like to talk about some different varieties of peas. "Oregon Sugar Pod" is a sugar snap pea that has to be harvested as a whole pod while it is young. "Douce Provence" is a dwarf pea plant and they produce very well in pots or containers. "Feltham First" is one that I will be planting early and this one grows real good in containers.
I need to plant my peas seeds in the spring so I can plant them out later on when the weather warms. Now, for me to get ready for a earlier crop, I have to sow them in the fall and I would keep them under cover to plant out the larger plants in the spring. I will sow the seeds in deep pots that I have filled with seed compost. After I sow the seeds, I will water the seeds well and they will germinate in two weeks. I will let them keep growing, then I will harden them off, and when the plants reaches 8 inches tall, this is when I plant them in my garden.

When it stats to warm up where I live in the spring, I will make a drill 4 inches wide and 2 inches deep. I then will water each drill real good, and then space 2 inches apart along the length of the drill. After I plant all of my seeds I will cover the seeds with soil and I will water well. When I am getting ready to sow my seeds in the summer, I will go out to my garden and water the soil where I will be sowing my seeds two days beforehand, and then I will sow my seeds deeper at 3 inches deep instead of 2 inches deep.

Most of the varieties of peas are climbing plants and they will need support as they grow. After I plant my peas, I will insert stakes along the rows of all of my peas so they have them for support. Sometimes I also put up chicken wire with my stakes for support.

During the summer, when my peas are growing, they need to be kept well-watered especially when in flower or pod.

Peas are ready to harvest from early summer onward. I will pick my peas as soon as they mature, and we will eat them very shortly after I pick them because this is when they are the sweetest. I also like to freeze some of my peas so we can enjoy them throughout winter. If I decided that I want to save some seeds for next year, all I have to do is leave a few pods to dry on the pea plants and turn yellow at the end of the summer. this way I will have my seeds for next year.

How to grow and harvest eggplant?

I am a country girl who was brought up with having gardens year round, so I was always working in the garden.

I always leave a space in my garden for some eggplants. Eggplants need a warm, sheltered spot, but since there is modern hybrids and grated plants they can grow well in cooler climates. 

Eggplants come in many different varieties to choose from such is, classic large-fruited purple-skinned types to the tiny green or white-skinned types that are used in Asian cooking. "Moneymakers" is a large fruited variety that I can grow under cover or outside.l "Calliope" is a eggplant that I can grow in a container. It producers a good yield of small fruit. "Black Enorma" is one that I like to use because it yields real larger eggplants and they make a lot of eggplants.

I decided that I am going to use seeds for my eggplants. The first part of spring is when I start sowing my seeds under cover. This is how I do this, buy filling small pots with seed compost, water the compost well, and let it drain.  I put my seed on the surface, spacing them about 3/4 inch apart, and then lightly press them into the surface by using a pencil. Next, i cover all the seeds with compost, water them real good and put all of your post not a heater propagator. When my seedlings get large enough that I can handle them. I will plant each one  in an 4 inch individual pot of multi-purpose compost, and grow them under cover. Feed each eggplant plant regularly with a balance liquid fertilizer so they will continue on growing.

When you see roots appearing through the bottom of the post, they will need to repot the plants individually into containers that is 12 inches wide, fill each container with multi-purpose compost. After this, they are put in a greenhouse to grow.

When I am use that we are not going to have any more frost, this is when I plant my eggplant out in a summer sheltered spot in my garden. After I have all of my eggplants planted, I will put up stakes to support all of my plants. After they grow to 12 inches tall, I then pinch off the main shoot and this promote bushier growth.

I keep my eggplants well watered, and so soon as I see the first flowers appear, I switch my general purpose, liquid feed to one that is high in potash that encourages fruiting.

Eggplants are ready to harvest as soon as the are large enough. Always make sure the skins are shiny. Pick regularly ot encourage fruiting, and  need to remove small fruits at the end of the season so the one that is still on your plants can develop fully.

How to grow sweet corn?

I love to garden and I have been gardening on and off all of my life. I love to be able to raise my own vegetables and herbs etc.

Sweet corn is a very tasty vegetable no matter how you fix it. They can be foiled and slathered with butter or maybe we put them on a  barbecue to grill them. I have found that corn is the best when they are first picked immediately after harvest. all the times that I have planted corn, I have planted them in rows in the garden, along with some of my other crops that I am growing. Corn can be grown in containers, but I have not yet tried this.

What I like about raising corn is you sow the seeds during the same time that I am planting my other vegetables. So I get my ground ready then I decided where I am going to plant which vegetables I sow my sweet corn in the spring through the first half of summer and I then will be harvesting my sweet corn later summer through fall.

After I planted my sweet corn, I know that I must keep them well-watered throughout the summer, especially when the plants are in flower and the cobs are developing. I am always protecting my plants from snails and slugs, and I also keep weeds away from my sweet corn plants, I am checking the cobs, and I check the tassels coming from the cobs and it turns, brown. I gently peel back the outer leaves of the cobs so I can check the maturity of the kernels. When I see that my sweet corn is ready to harvest, I do my harvesting right away, because if the sweet corn is not picked as soon as they are mature, the corn turns starchy and lose a lot of its sweetness if the corn is left on the plant too long. After I have picked my corn, I will leave some in the refrigerator for a few days to have them fresh for my family and the other corn we  will freeze to eat later on.

I would like to talk about some different varieties of sweet corn that are real good tasting. "Indian Summer" is one that grows best in warmer climate. This corn is very good and the cobs has a multi-colored appearance and I can use some of these for decoration for fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving. "Butterscotch" is a variety that matures early and it has sweet cobs that freezes well which is good for me.

"Minipop" is one I have to pick when they get finger-size. This one also produces a larger crop which is good for us. There are many different varieties of sweet corn that I didn't talk about that you might want to check out for your own garden.

How to grow beets?

I love walk to raise vegetables in my garden. It is so nice to be able to be bale to walk out ot your own garden and be able to pick fresh vegetables, when you want to and not have to go to the grocery store to get them.

Beets are one of the most popular crops that is grown in a vegetable garden. I always like to plant some beets in our vegetable garden. Since beets are highly productive and there is not much trouble in growing beets. Beets can be grown in my vegetable garden or I can grow them in my containers that I have her at my house. Beets can be harvested as baby roosts and this happens after a few weeks after they are sown or I can leave them in the ground longer so they will reach full size, which makes the beets ideal for storing. Other uses for beets are great roasted, beets being pureed for soup or the can be added to cakes.

When I am thinking about what I want to put in my garden, beets will be on the list of vegetables that I will grow in my garden.

Beets can be started either by plants or seeds. Plug plants can be bought in the spring so there will be a head start or you can raise them from seeds. So, I want to use beet seeds for this time, instead of beet plants, I will soak my beet seeds in warm water for thirty minutes before i plant the seeds out in my garden an I do this because that helps with germination.

Now, I would like to tell you about four different beets that I like to plant in my garden. One of them is called "Boltardy" and this is a wildly grown and they produce firm, round beets. "Forono" is one that I grow for their tender baby roots. If I run out of room in my garden. I just plant them in my containers. "Red Ace" is a beet that grows dark red roost and they are very easy to grow which I really like about them. This one is good for storing which is also good "Chioggia Pink" is a beet that has red roots with pink and which flesh inside the roots. This beet has a sweet flavor.

Another reason that I like to raise beets is that are pretty much pest-and disease- free, which makes them a sure thing. The big reason that I always raise beets is, everybody n the family loves them.

Now, even if beets do not have much trouble with pests and diseases, beets need to be weeded regularly around the plants. If I do not weed my beets, then the weeds will compete against my beets and that will not be good because they will take away moisture and nutrients from the beets and slow their growth. Also if I do not weed my beets like I should, then the weeds will attract pests.

Another requirement for beets is the same for all of my garden plants and this is water. Beets need to be water regularly.

Harvesting beets can be done either when they get to be a usable size or them can be left to grow larger to be used any way.

Beets can be used in two different ways, one for the roots and the other way is the leaves. Either way they are good.

How to grow and harvest kale?

I love to have my own garden and be able to raise my own vegetables. I love planting kale in y garden, because it is packed with vitamins, and it stands real well, over the winter months, and that means we will have a great crop of kale for a long period of time to enjoy.

Kale plants like a rich well drained soil, so I always make sure that the soil is good for kale, before I do any planting. Another thing that I always need to keep in mind is that kale must have sufficient space to develop so I  pick a place in the garden that will be great for it. There are many different varieties of kale to choose from, which i like. there are crinkles and savor-leaf types, some with striking purple steams, and dwarf forms. Kale is a highly ornamental plants and the leaves need to be harvested when they are little and often to make sure they stay tender.

Here are some different varieties of kale that I can choose from to put in my garden. "Redbor" has frilly leaves. "Cavolo Nero" has dark green savored leaves and they are tender when they cook. "Nero di Toscana" s a black kale that has very flavorful, dark green savored leaves. "storbor" is a kale that has heavy frilled leaves that I harvest when the leaves are young and tender. All of these would go great in my garden.

Some years I start off with kale seeds instead of plants. In mid-spring is when I need to sow my seeds under cover. I fill my my seed trays with seed compost, I water everything, then I let it drain real good. II make holes, 1/2 inch deep in each cell. I put two seeds in each hole, cover with compost, and I then water it very well. I will have to thin out the plants to make sure  leave the strong ones till planted and just let them keep on growing.

When I decide I just want to plant outside, this is what I do. I will dig over my soil, removing all of the weeds, and add some high nitrogen granular fertilizer to my soil. Rake the soil level and then I will make a drill to sow my kale seeds in my garden.

After my kale seeds make into plants during the summer, I need to water my plants well, and I will need to place cabbage root flow collars around each of my kale plants.  Do this to prevent the adult female fly from laying her eggs next to the stem at soil level. I hoe my kale plants regularly to keep weeds out of the plants. I am also watching out for either the cabbage white butterflies and flea beetle to try to keep them out of my kale plants.  I use poles to put of some netting over my plants to keep the pests out.

As my plants grow them will become top-heavy and tall, so I have to stake each plant with sticks or poles with netting.

When my kale is ready to start harvesting, I harvest the leaves that are large enough to harvest, but I do not harvest all of the leaves on one plant because that will make my kale plants weak which I don't want. I only pick from the plants every few days so I can have a steady supply of kale.

How to grow and harvest potatoes?

Growing vegetables is something that I have done all of my life especially when I was growing up. I lived on a farm and we always had two gardens year round raising so many different vegetables.

Potatoes is definitely a vegetable that goes in my garden all the time because they are easy to grow and there are many different varieties that I can choose from classed, in order of maturity, as early, main, and storage types. Another reason I like to raise potatoes is my family loves potatoes any way I fix them  and they store well and by this, that means that my potato crops will last for several months for my family and I.

When I am getting ready to start gardening, I will have my potato garden site ready and this occurs mid to later winter.

After I get my "seed potatoes" and by getting the early types of seed potatoes there is a benefit from them being pre-germinated before I plant them because this gives them a head start. Head start on seed potatoes means that I allow the "eyes" to sprout before the tubers are planted in my garden. I place the seed potatoes "rose-end" which is the end of the potatoes that has the most eyes on it upward in a egg carton, and position  it in a cool, well-lit place such as on my windowsill.

Seed potatoes can be planted in the ground in a garden or in containers. I put the potatoes in the ground in my garden. If I choose potatoes that are in the early varieties I will  plant them in my garden in early spring and then I will plant my main types of potatoes in mid-spring. I dig over all of my garden soil, get all of the weeds out and then I apply a general purpose fertilizer to my soil. After that, I dig a drill about six inches deep and then I will place my potatoes along the bottom and I space them every 18 to 30 inches apart. Then I put 8 inches of soil over the potatoes so I can create a slight mound.
Potatoes as I mention early can be grown in containers, but I have not got around to try this way out yet. This is what I will need to do, to plant my potatoes in containers. There are certain types of containers that I will have to get before I try this. the containers are specially designed potato barrels such as large tubs or plastic sacks. After I get my large tubs, I will put a 50-50 mix of garden soil and multipurpose compost, placing a six inch layer of this in the bottom of each of my tubs. The next step no matter where I have planted my potatoes is to keep them watered well and feed them by using an all-purpose granular fertilizer. All plants need to be weeded regularly and potato plants are the same, so I hoe everything. While I am weeding my potatoes, I am checking my plants regularly for potato blight.

  During the summer, I will go out to my garden and earth up my potatoes and this is what I do. I draw the soil up around the stem to leave the top 4 inches of the plant visible.

My early potatoes I will begin harvesting in early summer which generally they are ready to be lifted once their flowers develop. My main types need to be harvested in late summer or early fall, so this way I will be able to have potatoes for awhile. I use a hoe to harvest my potatoes by lifting the soil-grown plants, making sure I do not damage the tubers.

I will like to talk about a few different varieties of potatoes. "Yukon Gold" is a early variety potato and it has a great flavor and it is used baked, boiled as a new potato, roasted or mashed. "Pink Fir Apple" is a heirloom main crop potato, this potato produces red skinned and ]knobby tubers that has a great flavor to them. It is a potato that is grown as a salad potato. "Belle De Fontenay" is a salad potato and it is an early main crop variety and the yield of tubers is good, and the flesh is yellow and waxy. These are many more different varieties of potatoes that I did not talk about.