gardening Archives - Homesteader DepotHomesteader Depot

4 Ways to Solve Your Ant Problems

Ants are complicated. On the one hand, you want some of them in your garden, because they go after other insects. They protect their territory unless you’re an aphid. They’ll help aphids, which can be bad because those insects have the power to wipe out an entire garden. One of the other hand, you really don’t want them to harm your plants. Whole colonies will set up shop near the root systems of your plants, harming them in the process. Thankfully, you can get rid of ants in your garden using a number of different methods, none of which require […]

Preventing Tomato Worms

Is your garden plagued with hornworms or tobacco worms? Also known as tomato worms, these pests can destroy your plants, as they’ll eat the leaves, stems, and even the fruit, leaving pretty much nothing behind. If you enjoy fresh tomatoes – as well as the pleasant experience of growing them – this is a problem. You need to take care of these pests as soon as possible. Till Your Soil Well Since tomato worms are the progeny of moths (and they turn into moths over the course of a few months), they appear at the same time every single year. […]

How to Grow the Perfect Cucumbers

Cucumbers are the perfect vegetable even though scientifically, they’re considered to be a fruit. No matter what you classify them as what matters is that they are extremely tasty and rather versatile. They taste great on salad, can be eaten alone, and are used in dozens of recipes. In addition, there’s nothing quite like a cucumber that you grew yourself, in your backyard garden. Although the kind grown outdoors tend to have spines and bumps on them, making them not-so-pretty to look at, they taste good. In order to produce a garden full of tasty cucumbers, you need to know […]

How to Correct Nitrogen Deficiency in Your Soil

Did you know that your plants need nitrogen? Obviously, they need four other things as well: soil, air, sunlight, and water, but they also need plenty of nitrogen. This element is found in the air, as well as the soil. The nitrogen in the air doesn’t really help plants at all. In order for them to absorb it, the element must be in their soil. It occurs there naturally, but over time, especially if you use containers or grow bags for your plants, the nitrogen will begin to get used up. The end results are plants that don’t really thrive. […]

Why are my Vegetables not Growing?

You’ve planted your vegetables, and have tended to them properly (you think, anyway), but they still aren’t growing. Instead, you have tomato plants without flowers, tiny zucchinis that wither on the plant, and cucumbers that just won’t grow. Something went wrong, and it’s time to find out what. There are a number of issues that can cause your vegetable plant plans to go awry. Here are some of the most common problems. Everything Is Planted too Close Together This happens to the best-intentioned gardeners. You start off with tiny seedlings that are transplanted into the ground or a series of […]

4 More Simple Ways to Improve Soil Quality

Growing your own fruits and vegetables is much easier when you have great soil. If yours is filled with too much clay, is infiltrated by tree and shrub roots, or has nutritional deficiencies, then you won’t be able to produce as many of them as you’d like. Or, you could end up with great quantities of fruits and vegetables, but they won’t be very large. Either way, your plants will struggle. The best thing that you can do in order to reverse this is by improving the overall quality of your soil. There are several useful (and fairly simple) methods […]

11 Simple Ways to Practice Sustainable Gardening

How much do you know about sustainable gardening? These useful tips might just fill in any gaps in your knowledge! The more you know about these practices the better. Do you think that you’ll use some of these in your garden this year? 1) If you own cats or dogs, brush them and then sprinkle some of their hair around the edges of your garden. Sure, it might look weird, but it will keep any critters away. They’ll smell your predators and steer clear of your vegetables. 2) Place a laundry sink in your yard, near where your vegetable garden […]

5 Great Uses for Cheesecloth in Your Garden

Cheesecloth is a very useful material. While it has its obvious uses in the kitchen, including cheese making and filtering various products, this fabric can also be used in your garden. One of the reasons why you can use it outdoors is the fact that it’s such a natural material that it can be composted. On top of this, you can use it more than once, turning your small investment into something that will stick around for a while. Here are some additional uses for cheesecloth – and all of them take place outdoors in your garden. Protect Your Plans […]

Why Do You Need a Greenhouse and Things to Look for

Many avid gardeners have considered putting a greenhouse in their yards. There’s just something about having the ability to grow tropical and warm-weather loving plants year-round that really appeals to them. If you’re one of these people, then you need to read this primer about greenhouses. It contains just about everything that you need to know about them. What Is A Greenhouse? Let’s start by defining exactly what a greenhouse is. These are structures of various sizes that have clear walls and roofs. Some of the fancier greenhouses have glass walls, although you can use clear, plastic polycarbonate sheeting as […]

Protecting Your Plants from Frost and Freeze

Cold temperatures are not good for the plants in your garden. Many of them need air temperatures that are above 32 degrees Fahrenheit in order to survive unprotected. While others, such as pine trees and evergreen bushes, might be fine, you’ll have to take some steps to ensure that everything else in your garden (except for your annuals, of course) will survive the winter. Types of Plants The first step involves determining which types of plants that you have. This way, you’ll know whether you need to protect them or just let them go. For example, if you have annuals, […]

8 Powerful Uses for Limestone

As one of the most versatile materials on the Earth, there are a plethora of uses and benefits of limestone. It can be utilized for a vast number of activities from fertilizing lawns to whitening teeth. Discover more on how limestone works to benefit your livelihood. Gardening and Farming Limestone has the capability of adjusting the acid levels in the soil to produce conditions that are ideal for growing crops on both the larger agricultural scale and in smaller home gardens. Plants, vegetables, and other crops are protected from nutrients in the ground that could potentially become toxic from nutrients […]

7 Tips to Grow the Perfect Tomatoes

Tomatoes are tricky fruits to grow. Some years you end up with the perfect amount of ripe, round, bright red tomatoes without having to tend to your plants. It’s as if they grew by magic. Other seasons you end up with finicky plants that need a lot of TLC, and you still end up with one or two fruits – not the dozens of seasons past. It’s easy to blame this on the environment or weather, or even on the efficacy of the plants themselves. After all, you just didn’t have good plants this year, right? It’s even easier […]

Plastic Sheeting Gardening Hack

Many gardeners count down the days until the winter ends because they’re just dying (not literally, of course) to get their crops in the ground. Rather than wait until the earth warms up and the last frost is far from over, start your season early by using plastic sheeting in to create a greenhouse-like effect. Plus, if you leave the sheeting up once the weather than changed for the better, you’ll have fewer weeds to deal with. Your garden will be magnificent thanks to this quick and easy garden hack. It All Starts in the Autumn Once you […]

5 Tips for Using Manures in Your Garden

Manure is one the best, all-natural fertilizers around. Yes, it does smell, since it consists of animal feces. However, its many benefits far outweigh the stench. You’ll be glad that you put up with it when your plants are growing strong and tall. Before you begin spreading manure around your garden willy-nilly, take the time to review these five useful tips. 1) Don’t Place Manure around Your Edible Vegetables You might be tempted to use manure to fertilize every single plant in your garden, after all, it’s good for all of them, right? Wrong. You never want to […]

5 Great Benefits of Having Succulents in Your Home

Plants help clean the air, add oxygen and any number of other benefits. The problem? Not everyone has a green enough thumb to keep their plants alive, let alone flourishing. Fortunately, you don’t have to have a degree in botany to enjoy having plants indoors; you have to pick the right ones. Enter the succulent. Succulent plants, or succulents, are a type of plant that displays parts that are especially thick and fleshy. This characteristic lets the plant retain water in drying climates and soil types in a similar manner to cactus plants. These wonderful little plants have become even […]

How to Prune your Roses the Proper Way

Roses come in a plethora of species. Over a hundred of them are available to be exact. They can be climbing, bushes, or trailing with long stems. You can grow just about any color that you can imagine at this point as a result of cross-breeding different ones to achieve the desired shades. They are gorgeous, they have a pleasant aroma, and they brighten up the exterior of any homestead or home. That’s why they are one of the most popular flowers found in gardens all over the world. Even though roses are pretty easy to grow and to […]

The Best All Natural Fertilizers For Your Garden

Store-bought fertilizers can get expensive. On top of that, they don’t always produce the results you are looking for. They aren’t natural, so there’s no guarantee that they are going to work the way they’re supposed to. Instead of heading into town to pick up an overpriced bag for your garden, go to your kitchen and mix up your own batch with any of these natural fertilizer recipes. Egg Shells After breakfast, don’t toss your egg shells. Wash them up and crush them. They are 93% calcium carbonate. With that there, it’s effective to use near peppers, tomatoes, […]

4 Critical Methods to Improve Your Garden Soil

You have the perfect spot picked out for your new garden. It gets just the right amount of sun, its easy to access and there is plenty of room to plant whatever your heart desires. Just one problem. The ground in your perfect spot is less than optimal for growing anything more than plastic plants. What do you do when your potential garden’s soil is more akin to just plain dirt that the rich compost you dream of getting your hands into? Pick another site? Probably now very practical. Fortunately, there are several natural ways you can inject your ground […]

Can You Grow Miniature Fruit Trees and Non-Native Plants?

Can You Grow Miniature Fruit Trees and Non-Native Plants? Well, the short answer? Yes. It is possible to grow just about anything on a homestead or even in an urban environment, with the right care and maintenance. And, if you are successful, you can provide yourself with your own rice, coffee, citrus fruit and more. The main trick? Growing everything in planters and pots, essentially creating a mobile farm. During the summer they can be kept outside. When it turns cold you have a few options: Cover the plants with clear plastic to create mini-greenhouses Move them inside your home […]

DIY Recycled Planters

When you are getting ready to start seeds for spring planting, you may find yourself with more seeds than starter containers. Instead of running right out and buying some at your local garden center, try digging through your plastic recycling bin instead. Empty plastic soda and water bottles are durable enough to handle taking on plants but easy to cut down, trim and otherwise alter to create a handy little planter to suit your needs. Here are two options to create plastic planters. Standard Planter Cut or punch drain holes around the bottom of the bottle. Any easy […]