Vegetable Planting

Posts Tagged ‘home vegetable garden’

Material

There are many ways to construct the edges of a vegetable bed and many materials that can be utilised. These include lumber, brick, stone, metal and plastic My preference is to use lumber in the form of railway sleepers (or ties).

Construction

The big advantage of my chosen material is that the job is simple and easy to complete quickly, although you may need a friend to assist as the sleepers are heavy. It is the weight that keeps the sleepers basically in place.

Steps to take

Firstly see what sizes of sleeper, or similar lumber, are available from your local supplier. It is much easier to adjust the size of your vegetable bed than to cut the sleepers to length, although some cutting may be required. A standard size is 8ft x 8in x 2in but there are many variations. Some of my beds are two sleepers long and one sleeper wide while others are one sleeper by one half sleeper. It all depends upon fitting the bed to your available space.

Layout

Lay out string lines to mark the outside edges of your vegetable bed remember that the thickness of the sleeper will add to one of the edges.

Now simply lay the sleepers on edge to match the string lines. While the weight of the sleepers will generally keep them in place they can topple if grandchildren climb on them.

Securing the sleepers

Again there a different ways to secure the sleepers, using pegs hammered into the ground, nailing or screwing the corners or using metal brackets.

Completed bed

My preferred method utilizes galvanised metal brackets place around the corners and across any lengthwise joins. The sleepers are drilled with clearance holes to suit the brackets and galvanised bolts fitted and tightened.

Corner joint

This gives a secure construction while still allowing some movement for final position adjustment if required.

Sleeper to sleeper join

Vegetable garden design does not need to be difficult. Follow these tips and your garden can be productive, practical and beautiful.

Size

Consider what space you have available for planting the types of vegetables you wish to grow. Read the rest of this entry »

How to grow pumpkins

If you have ever wondered how to grow pumpkins, read on and you will discover that it is not as difficult as you might think.

Frost sensitivity

Pumpkins are very sensitive to frost, so when planting the seedlings take care not to transplant them out into the garden until you are confident that the last frost has passed. To be on the safe side, consult other gardeners in your neighborhood about the frost patterns of the previous year.  Read the rest of this entry »

Many people that try growing tomato plants within their vegetable garden make the mistake of sowing the seeds far too early. The optimum time for sowing tomato seeds is between seven and ten weeks before your local last frost.

So now you know when to plant your tomato seeds, you need to know how. First I would suggest you get a fairly large container and put some holes into the bottom for drainage. Then you need to fill this with soil, well it’s not really soil, but a special seed starting mixture like Pro Mix or Jiffy Mix which you should be able to find in your local Walmarts. This type of ‘soil’ is far better for seeds as it will be totally free of harmful bacteria and will provide the necessary nutrients to your new seedlings. You will need to make sure that the soil mixture is wet before you sow your seeds. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t be put off vegetable gardening, just because of the time of year. Many veggies actually grow really well in the fall season, mainly because it’s a little cooler and of course there are less insects around.

During fall is also a great time to get your garden fertilized ready for the next batch of seeds you decide to sow. Why not pay a visit to your local nursery or garden center and get some advice from the experts as to the best type of seeds to buy for fall vegetable gardening?

One of the major things that you need to consider when planning fall vegetable gardening is when the first frost is likely. You will want to go backwards from that date to ascertain the correct time to get your seeds into the garden. Read the rest of this entry »