Category Archives: Plant
Starting Seeds Indoors
Starting seeds indoors can be a fun way to garden while the weather is still cold and dreary. If you are a beginner, skip this step and just buy your plants! Supplies: Your garden plan Pots Potting soil Scissors Bucket Seeds Pencil Labels and permanent marker Storage containers with lids Grow lights Heat lamp Timer that turns lights on and off Be sure your pots and potting soil are sterilized so you don’t spread disease to your new plants. Refer to your garden plan to determine how many plants I you need to start. I’ve had great success with starting … Continue reading
Posted in Plant
44 Comments
Companion Planting
Choosing what to plant together for the happiest, healthiest garden is called “companion planting.” Companion planting is the practice of growing plants next to each other for mutual benefit. This can happen because a companion attracts beneficial or repels harmful insects, or because the natural chemicals found in or produced by a plant improve flavor or growth. I have scoured the web for lists of what each vegetable likes and dislikes, put it all into a spreadsheet, and here you go! Two simple tools to help you when planning your garden. If you have Excel, you can use the companion … Continue reading
Posted in Plant
69 Comments
Starting Seeds Indoors (Update)
Since I posted about this last year, I have improved my methods and wanted to share! Supplies: Seeds Peat pots (Jiffy size 3) Potting soil Bucket (the size you’d use for mopping) Labels (I use bendy straws) Permanent marker Pencil Storage containers with lids Heat lamp (super cheap from Home Depot) Grow lights (I use two shop lights) Fertilizer (optional) To begin with, I always refer back to my garden plan to determine how many plants I need to start. This year I wanted 4 broccoli, 2 cabbage, and 2 parsley plants. To be safe, I decided to start 6 … Continue reading
Posted in Plant
21 Comments
What is YOUR color?
The Struggle Trying to explain when to prepare your garden, start seeds inside, and plant outside is so confusing! That is because the timing is different for each location. When to plant is all based on your “last frost date”. This is the average date of the last spring frost in your area. After this date it is generally safe to transplant frost-sensitive plants and seeds. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN A CHARLIE BROWN CARTOON, AND I JUST SAID “WAH, WAP, WAH, WO, WAH?” That’s because this is CONFUSING!!! Don’t worry, I’ve made it simple! A Simple, Easy Way … Continue reading
Posted in Getting Started, Plant
109 Comments
Planting and Transplanting
Planting Seeds Here’s what you’ll need: Packets of seeds (I prefer to cut the corner of mine, and have them all upright in a tupperware) Pencil Garden plan Watering can Before you even walk out the door, make sure your garden plan shows where each variety will be planted, and how many plants go in each square foot. Now, head out to your garden with your hands full and your hopes high! Work methodically so you don’t lose track of where you are. Pick a square. Use your pencil to poke the right number of holes (16 plants per square … Continue reading
Posted in Getting Started, Plant
12 Comments
Starting Seeds Indoors
Whether you’ve got the winter blues and growing seeds helps you feel better, or you want to save a little money, starting seeds indoors can be fun. It can also be annoying, time consuming, and a big huge failure! Here are some ways to find success: Start fresh. You will need new or clean supplies every year. Do not use pots from last year (unless disinfected), dirt from your garden, or anything that might have mold or bacteria. These little plants have a hard enough time–don’t make them fight disease as well. Shopping list: Tray of peat pellets, containers of … Continue reading
Posted in Plant
Tagged garden, gardening, seeds, square foot garden, square foot gardening, starting seeds, transplanting
5 Comments
Suggested Plant Varieties (by State)
Iowa Missouri Utah Happy gardening!
Buying Seeds and Plants
I will admit, when it comes to buying seeds and plants I’m not that fancy. I haven’t yet ventured into the world of catalogs and heirloom seeds. I have gotten my seeds from several different stores: WalMart, Home Depot, and IFA (Intermountain Farmers Association). I have not found a huge difference in price, except for the American Seed Company. They tend to be really inexpensive, but when I spoke with the cashier at IFA she said they sometimes have a germination rate of 10% (only 1 in 10 seeds will sprout). In the end, this method uses so few seeds, if … Continue reading
Posted in Getting Started, Plant
3 Comments
Square Foot Gardening Plant Spacing
To calculate how many plants per square, look on the back of the seed packet–totally ignore the row spacing, just look at the plant spacing: 12″ apart, plant 1 per square 6″ apart, plant 4 per square 4″ apart, plant 9 per square 3″ apart (or less), plant 16 per square Square Foot Gardening Spacing Plant # Per Square Asparagus 1 Basil 1 or 4 Beans, bush Beans, pole 9 8 Beets 9 Broccoli 1 Cabbage 1 Carrots 16 Cauliflower 1 Celery 1 Chives 9 Cilantro 4 or 9 Collard greens 1 or 4 Corn 4 Cucumbers 8 Dill 1 … Continue reading
Posted in Plant
11 Comments
