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gardening – Page 18 – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Tag: gardening

  • DIY PVC Hoop House (Video Instructions)

    DIY PVC Hoop House (Video Instructions)

     

    It’s getting cold, and your crops are certainly feeling it when they are left exposed.  A greenhouse is a great thing to have, but they are also expensive.  A cheaper alternative is a hoop house.  There are lots of videos that people have put online of their hoop houses and how they built them, but they all seem to still involve framing out the back and front with lumber and putting a swinging door on.  These luxuries can double the cost and difficulty of constructing it for those that aren’t carpenters or don’t have the tools necessary.  Here is a video of step by step instructions showing how to make a PVC hoop house using only PVC conduit, rebar, rope, wooden stakes, and the plastic sheeting that covers it.  The hoop house in the video is for large row crops, but the basic design could easily be sized down to cover raised beds in your garden.  One detail that he does leave out that might help you is to leave the PVC out in the sun to heat up to make it more flexible.  And remember, even if your garden has already stopped production, having a hoop house can also add to your growing season by allowing you to start your crops earlier in the spring.  Hope this helps!

     

     

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  • How to Keep Rabbits Away from the Garden

    How to Keep Rabbits Away from the Garden

    Sure, they might look cute, but wild rabbits can be a lot more trouble than they’re worth when it comes to the safety of your garden. If you and your family depend on the garden for your food, you can have rabbits coming in and devouring everything in sight. If you are proactive when you first see a rabbit in the garden, it could save your crops. Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to keep the rabbits away from your veggies.

    While some rabbits are overly picky, there are certain types of vegetables that they tend to avoid. By planting some vegetables that they don’t like, you have a lower risk of rabbit problems. Some of the plants that they don’t tend to eat much of include cucumbers, corn, squash, tomatoes, and peppers.

    Of course, you should be able to plant the crops that you want. Therefore, you will want to look at some of the other options for keeping the rabbits out of the garden. One of the best, which will work for rabbits as well as some other creatures, is to build a fence. Having a wire fence – chicken wire work well – around the garden can help to keep the rabbits out. However, you want to make sure that you bury the bottom of the fence down about six inches into the dirt. This will discourage the rabbits from trying to dig their way under.

    Another good trick is to spray urine or blood from coyotes or foxes around the area. You can find it online and in many hunting and outdoor stores. You can also collect it yourself if you trap or hunt coyotes or foxes.

    You can also put some cages around the plants help keep them safe. Additionally, you could put some cage traps around the garden to capture the rabbits and then relocate them. Of course, you can always put out other types of traps rabbits and then utilize their meat and fur.

    With these simple tips, you should be able to keep the rabbits out of garden.

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  • Winter Composting Tips

    Winter Composting Tips

    A compost pile that has done fine all year long can freeze solid on you in the winter.  This could leave you having to buy soil or compost in the spring when you are planting again.  To avoid this, keep these tips in mind this winter for your compost pile.

     

    Build it Big

    A large compost pile will remain hotter than a small pile.  There will be more food in it for composting organisms and the outer portion will insulate the center.  When temperatures drop, worms and other organisms will simply migrate to the center of the pile until it warms up again, rather than dying off leaving your pile in stasis.

    Put it in the Sun

    Place your winter compost pile where it can receive the most sunlight.

    Cover It

    Cover your compost pile with plastic.  This will allow you to control the moisture level and insulate it from the cold.  If possible, use black plastic since it will absorb the most sunlight and heat up more.

    Add hot Material

    Make sure to keep feeding your composters with the material that heats up your pile.  Grass clippings will probably not be on the menu for them in the winter but coffee grounds are a favorite of composters.

    Don’t Turn

    Turning your compost pile in cold weather will allow all the heat to escape the warm center which could be fatal to your composters.  When you adding more food for them, like coffee grounds, instead of turning the pile make a hole in it with a long stick.  The handle of a shovel should work, jab it into the center of your pile and wiggle it around until you have a hole that you can pour your grounds into.  Then fill the hole back up with you done.

     

    Don’t think that because the days are too short to grow vegetables this time of year that you have nothing to do in the garden.  Staying on your compost in the winter will give you the ability to get your garden going quicker and with better results in the spring time.

     

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  • 3 Things You Should Stop Doing in Your Garden

    3 Things You Should Stop Doing in Your Garden

    There is no one right way to garden, everyone’s resources differ and everyone’s approach will also differ.  That being said, there are some practices that will tend to yield better results, and there are some that should be avoided.  This is a list 3 things that people commonly do in their garden that you should not be doing in yours, and why.

     

    Tilling

    Tilling hard, or weed-covered ground to get it ready for row planting is a common practice.  But it can be counterproductive to the reasons why most people chose to do it.  First, it can destroy soil structure and kill beneficial organisms.  This can lead to the soil becoming more compact over time.  The other reason many chose to till is to clean weeds, but tilling can result in bringing weed seeds to the surface.  It would be better to save the money, time, and energy building raised beds that will never become compacted, and won’t have a seed store of weeds in them.

    Comfrey Tea

    Many people wanting to grow organically have turned to comfrey as an alternative, and for good reason. But while comfrey tea boasts many beneficial properties, it can take time an energy to make and can be a bit overrated. It smells like hog manure at best, I’m not exaggerating.  It takes weeks to get and space to store and “brew”.  The same advantages and more can be had by simply cutting your comfrey leaves and mulching with them.  In fact, the tea doesn’t even provide mulch, which will in time become food for beneficial organisms and become plant available on a similar timeline to making “tea” from the leaves.

    Using Synthetic Fertilizers

    Most of the people who chose to use synthetic fertilizers do so because they are cheaper than store bought organic fertilizers.  But a better approach would be to help strengthen the natural food web in your garden by supplying natural (and often free) food for beneficial organism.  You can do this by using green manure, comfrey, coffee grounds, wood chips, grass clippings, egg shells, and homemade compost.  Consider testing your soil as well, it might be more nutrient rich than you think.  Avoiding synthetic chemicals in your garden is healthier for the food web, your plants, and therefore you.

     

    Your garden is yours, you can do what you want in it.  But replacing these practices with the suggested alternatives will get you more enjoyment and more food out of your garden with less hassle.

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  • 5 Space Saving Tips for Your Garden

    5 Space Saving Tips for Your Garden

    For most of us, space is an issue in the garden.  Whether your yard is small or you just haven’t converted as much lawn into growing space as you want to so far, space can be the number one determining factor for productivity in your garden.  Here is a list of 5 ways that you can help make the most of the space you do have to grow more food.

     

    Raised Beds

    Growing in raised beds instead of rows helps make the most of space you have.  With tightly defined borders you can plant right up to edge of your beds.  And if your beds are around 4 feet wide, they are large enough to hold plenty of food and still narrow enough to easily reach across to weed or harvest.  If you were to make paths between each row you would drastically reduce your growing space.

    Sun Tracking

    Taking note of the angel and amount of sunlight in your garden as the day goes on will allow to plant your crops in a way that maximized the sun available to each plant, making it possible to grow more crops in the same space.  Making sure to plant the shortest crop on the side that the sun is on will still allow the taller crop to get light.

    Trellis

    Tomatoes and pole beans are not the only plants that can be grown on trellises.  Even larger crops like pumpkins can be grown vertically if the fruit is supported as it grows.  An old worn out t-shirt around the fruit and tied to the trellis works great.

    Perennials

    Not only does growing more perennials help reduce your work load, but it also means that the soil they are grown in will always be productive instead of having months of waiting in between harvests.

    Interplanting

    Interplanting your bed with slow growing crops like brussel sprouts and fast growing crops like radishes can double your yield without increasing the space necessary.   The radishes will mature before the brussel sprouts and be ready for harvest without interfering with them.

     

    This list is just a few of the ways that you can save room in your garden and increase production.  Don’t let the size of your garden keep you from growing more, just make the most of it.

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  • All About Lemon Balm

    All About Lemon Balm

    Lemon balm is a perennial herb in the mint family.  It gets its name from the strong “lemony” smell of the leaves, which also have a tangy taste to them.  If you aren’t currently growing some, here are a few reasons why you should start.

     

    1. Ease: Lemon balm is easy to start from seed and once established it needs little care.  It can be grown in full sun in areas with mild weather, or in partial shade in hotter climates.
    2. Anti-viral: Lemon balm can help fight off viral infections.
    3. Sleep aid: Lemon balm has shown in tests to provide a natural and healthy deeper sleep.
    4. Antioxidant: Lemon balm contains eugenol, rosmarinic, ferulic, caffeic acids, and quercetin.  All of which can help protect your cells against damage by free radicals.
    5. Brain health: Lemon balm has been linked to improved memory and in animal studies compounds in lemon balm have shown promise in protecting the brain from damage after a stroke.
    6. Child safe: Don’t go crazy with a child safe sleep aid, but lemon balm has not been shown to be dangerous for children or pregnant women.  Though of course if you were to buy a product made from lemon balm it would tell you to consult a doctor so I’ll say the same so I don’t get sued.
    7. Attracts bees: Bees aren’t doing so good these day.  Lemon balm is a favorite food for bees.  By planting it in your garden you are not only attracting pollinators that will help your fruiting plants, but you will be helping to strengthen a vital species that is in danger.

     

    So, from detoxifying your system, putting your kids to bed when they don’t feel good, and helping to save the world’s bees, lemon balm can do it all.  It’s not a plant that you want to go without in your garden or your medicine cabinet.  Start growing some, you won’t regret it.

  • Food That Magically Re-Grows Itself

    Food That Magically Re-Grows Itself

    I recently found this awesome infographic on Pinterest that depicts several foods that can regrow themselves, no garden needed! It’s from WholeFoods.com. Most of these you can do on your counter, windowsill or on your porch, and it’s a great way to re-use scraps from vegetables (which, if you’re shopping at Whole Foods, will probably have cost a lot!)

    This is also a fun idea for winter. As your garden dies out, you can grow celery or what have you on your countertop! Not to mention, this would be a great little science project for kids, especially homeschoolers. Why should the learning and gardening stop because the weather gets cold?

    Enjoy!

    food-that-regrows

     

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  • Safe Homemade Weed Killer (Video)

    Safe Homemade Weed Killer (Video)

    If you are homesteading and have not heard about the dangers of using chemical herbicides like Round Up, then you have probably been living under a rock.  For everyone else, controlling weeds with natural methods can be time consuming and energy intense.  Aside from mulching your garden heavily, what can you do?  Here is a short video of a recipe for homemade weed killer, it even shows some of the results at the end.

     

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