By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Vegetables can be grown year round regardless of where one may live and without grow lights and/or a greenhouse.

But how can this happen one may ask and the answer is a simple one, plan your planning according to the season.

Springtime is a great time for those cold crops.

These include broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kohlrabi, turnips, watercress, and many different types of greens. These plants love the cool, crispness of a spring morning and can be incorporated with cool-seasons flowers such as pansies, and flowering kale and/or cabbage.

As the days grow longer these plants will bolt, in the case of the greens, and become bitter. This is the time to remove this plant material and plan for the summertime planter. The choices abound during this time of year. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, Read the rest of this entry »

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Container gardening is the apartment dweller’s savor when it comes to gardening.

It can take many forms from terracotta pots, horse troughs, and even the simple food grade can.

But what are the requirements that a container must have before it can be used as a planter.

First a container must have some form of drainage or a way of creating drainage. Drainage can come in many forms from holes in the bottom of the container to drainage material. But if a hole is or can be drilled through the container figure on one hole per gallon of soil the container will hold.

Next a container must be Read the rest of this entry »

By Sonya Welter

Some people grow their own wheat grass to juice for smoothies.

It’s so loaded with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and chlorophyll that it’s referred to as a superfood, capable strengthening the immune system and battling any number of ailments.

But I grow wheat grass for a much more important reason. I grow wheat grass for my cats.

Growing your own wheatgrass is much cheaper than the cutesy grow-you-own-cat-grass packets sold in pet stores or the trays of fresh wheatgrass in the produce department of fancy grocery stores. Wheat grass is sprouted wheat berries (which can also be ground to make wheat flour).

Almost any Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

For many of us, gardening season is coming to an end.

The leaves are changing, and the promise of snow looms in the near future.

While you may keep some plants indoors in the house or greenhouse, you anxiously await spring.

Some, though, are a bit more fortunate. They live in the warmer zones where it rarely snows and you can garden for most, if not all, of the year. I used to enjoy that (sigh), since I spent my first 20 years living in Zones 9/10 California.

Back home in Southern California, we would get rainstorms during the winter. Since I lived in the mountains, the wind would blow especially hard and the storm wreaked havoc on the yard. Our banana tree was destroyed this way.

When you have a container garden, it’s important to Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Vonnie writes:

“I plan to eat beets grown inside my kitchen in containers and would love any tips!”

Hi Vonnie. That should be a fun project!

For starters, make sure your container is deep. It should be at least 12″ deep. Since beets are root crops, the more room you can give them, the better.

Also, since a large root is being formed, the soil needs to be loose. Sand is the best soil for producing well-formed roots. Make sure there are no rocks or sticks that could make the roots grow strangely.

When you go to plant your seeds, it’s important to give them a good start in life. Plant them 1″ apart in your container. As Marie Iannotti points out, “Beet seeds can be slow to germinate, because of their tough outer shell. Soaking the seed clusters over night will help soften the shell and speed germination”.

Once the beet seeds have sprouted Read the rest of this entry »