There are over 200 varieties of radishes, although most home vegetable gardeners grow the Crimson giant, champion or the cherry belle. These three varieties look like the small round red radishes most people are accustomed to.

Whichever variety you choose to grow, the steps to ensure a great radish harvest are virtually the same. Here is how you can grow great radishes in your home vegetable garden.

Radishes are one of those vegetables that are fairly easy to grow. In fact it is not necessary to even start them indoors. Regardless of whether you are growing them in a traditional backyard garden or in pots/containers or raised beds, growing radishes from the seed started outdoors is the best way to go. They can be grown in early spring, after the last frost, or in the autumn before frost sets in and they can germinate in as little as four days in optimal conditions. Do not plant the radish seeds any deeper than 1/2″.

Radishes like to grow in a soil where the pH level is neutral or as near neutral as possible. You can test your soil’s pH level by using a home soil testing kit available from any home or garden center for less than a few bucks. Try to get your soil’s pH level above 6.0 and near 7.0 without going over. Most kits come with recommendations as to how to make the adjustments you are looking for.

Read the rest of this entry »

Container Gardening Tips

Some people find vegetable gardening to be difficult because they select plants that are not compatible with the existing growing conditions. For other people, an unexpected amount of maintenance often leads to less than fruitful green beans growing as well. Taking advantage of as many natural elements as possible is often the first and most important step in successful planting, and this would include making sure that you have:

� Available sunlight

� Proper drainage

Read the rest of this entry »

RADICAL RADISH REPORT

Growing radishes was pioneered before the Roman empire; the name “radish” derived from “radix,” the Latin word for “root” (the Romans could wield a sword but weren’t really clever with names!).

Mustard and turnips are close relatives to the radish.

Growing radishes can be a colorful pastime. Colors range from red, pink, and white, to gray-black or yellow radishes, in varying sizes and shapes, the most popular being the red round radish.

WHEN TO PLANT

Growing radishes in the early spring usually gives us our first crop of the year, or at least competing with leaf lettuce.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. First, you need to decide what you want to plant. The two main choices are bush beans or pole beans. I prefer pole beans because they are easier to pick, have better flavor and have less problems from pests and disease. Pole beans will grow nearly anywhere. These types of beans require staking with supports that can be from items such as bamboo, string, a fence or trellis. Growing pole beans gives you the advantage of maximizing your space, and the beans grow straighter and are easier to pick. A method I use is to take some six foot long wooden poles (I use bamboo stakes) and place them in an arrangement like a teepee, tying them together at the top. It only takes up about a three foot area. Bush beans grow in the form of small, bushy plants, which are close to the ground, and are easy to grow. They need no support, require little care. These types of beans typically produce an earlier crop, and may require successive plantings for a continual harvest.
2. Choose disease resistant varieties of green beans to prevent diseases such as rust, powdery mildew, and curly top virus.
3. You can soak most green bean seeds overnight in a small dish of warm water. This will help speed up the germination process.
4. Beans love the sun, so plant them in an area that gets at least 6-8 hours of direct sun each day and if possible, in soil that has reached between 65�F or 70�F.
5. When bush beans are planted in hills, they should be about an inch deep and approximately 2-3 inches apart. For rows, plant the beans at the same depth with spacing about 18-24 inches apart.
   Once the seedlings begin to develop true leaves, the plants can be thinned to six inches apart. Pole beans can be planted at a spacing of 1 foot, while bush beans should be planted at 3 foot intervals. Maintain good spacing around green beans to increase air circulation and decrease chances of powdery mildew.
6. To help prevent diseases, water your green beans at ground level using a soaker hose or drip irrigation system. This helps to keep the plant leaves dry.
7. Try not to walk around or work on your green bean plants when they are wet. Working around the wet leaves can promote the spread of disease.
8. Fertilize once when the plants start climbing the poles. It’s best to use organic methods such as compost, fish emulsion, compost tea, or other organic fertilizers.
9. Water bean plants about once a week or more frequently during dry weather. The use of organic mulches, such as straw, grass clippings will help to retain moisture and control weeds.
10. Pick your green beans often. That helps to promote more growth and increases yields. When harvesting green beans, pick them once they have reached adequate size but do not allow them to over ripen. When they are too ripe, the pod becomes tough, and the bean will taste bitter. **Last, but not least, ENJOY your fresh green beans.

James Corman is the author and can provide additional information about gardening questions, whether you are planting in a garden, raised beds or planter boxes. If you are interested in some beautiful high quality Redwood or Douglas-fir planter boxes, please visit [http://theplanterboxshop.com] for any size or shape. The planters are all 100 percent hand custom made and are perfect for your home or garden. These planter boxes are guaranteed not to rot or decay.

Read the rest of this entry »

There are hundreds of varieties of peppers on the market. You may only be familiar with a few of them, and may not want to branch out and try more exotic varieties. If you don’t eat hot peppers, focus on the sweet varieties, or plant a mixture of both. Peppers are easy to grow, and the rewards are tremendous.

Peppers require warm temperatures and soil to grow, so they should not be transplanted outdoors until three or four weeks after the last average frost date. Seeds should be started indoors eight to ten weeks before they are planted in the garden. Make sure that you have a sunny spot to start seeds so that the plants will grow vigorously. Transplants are available in most garden centers, but this greatly decreases the variety that you have to choose from.

The garden should be prepared for peppers. Soil should be well drained, and full of organic material like compost or aged manure. Peppers do better in slightly acidic soil, which is why peat moss would also be a good soil amendment. They need nitrogen to grow, and could be planted where peas have grown earlier in the season to accomplish this. Fertilizer can also be used.

Read the rest of this entry »

Carrots are one example of a vegetable I always deliberate over whether to grow or not. They can be problematic and are prone to carrot fly, but once you have tasted the very intense flavour you get from home grown carrots, that’s normally enough to sway my decision in favour of growing my own. Carrots are normally sown directly into the ground and require a light well drained soil, so using containers to grow them in is an ideal alternative.

Another good reason for growing carrots in a container is that when grown in the ground, carrots can be easily distorted by stones or large clumps of soil acting as obstructions. They are also prone to attack by carrot fly, but if you use a large container or place it about two feet off the ground, it will help deter them as carrot fly normally only travels low down.

Choosing a container

Read the rest of this entry »

I grow a pretty mean tomato, but my record with its cousins, the peppers, is much less impressive – and that’s with a regular, season-long effort. But, after years of trial and error I think I have perfected my plan and know how to grow peppers that I am proud to call homegrown.

Capsicum annuum, as the garden peppers are properly known, were once even harder to grow, but today’s hybrids have an easier time of it, with less disease and better, often quicker, yields. Though they may look like the most vigorous of the lot, it is not a good idea to buy seedlings that are in flower or already showing the beginnings of young fruits. A younger plant will adapt better to its new home in your garden. It’s worth the wait, since a plant that is blooming in such tight quarters as a six-pack is sure to be stressed already. Also, what you want first is for the plant to expend energy on root growth, not fruit production.

In perfecting how to grow peppers I have found that warm soil is a must. Wait at least three weeks – and many people say as many as six – after final frost to set out peppers. A black plastic mulch is great for heating up the soil. It is especially useful for the spicier peppers, which are usually later varieties. Put it down a week or more before the plants are set out. At the midseason point, though, when the weather gets hot, no more blossoms will set until it cools down. Don’t pull up the plants, but wait until they revive later in the summer and set another crop.

Typically, pepper plants should be 3 to 6 inches tall when they go into the garden (anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks old) and should be placed 15 inches apart in all directions in beds, or 18 to 24 inches apart in rows that are 3 feet apart.

Read the rest of this entry »

GROWING POLE GREEN BEANS or BUSH GREEN BEANS?

Many gardeners, organic and otherwise, agree that pole bean plants produce a better tasting, more tender bean over a longer harvest period than bush beans.

Pole beans take a little more work to grow than bush beans because they need to be trellised.

WHERE TO PLANT

Growing Pole Beans will work best in a sunny location with well drained soil rich in organic matter (manure and compost).

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re growing spinach in your garden, you already know it’s a really versatile vegetable with many uses at the dinner table. And on top of that, it’s among the healthiest vegetables to eat! Spinach thrives in cooler weather, so plant some to keep gardening and eating fresh produce into the cooler months. One of the great things about growing spinach is that it doesn’t require much time to reach harvest. In fact, you can eat the leaves at any point, so it’s ready to be harvested whenever you want a spinach dish.

Spinach History

Wild spinach is believed to come from the Middle East and southwest Asia. It was first grown as a crop in Persia, before spreading east and west to China and the Mediterranean region. It was made popular throughout Europe by the French in the 14th century. It was also popular in England and Germany at this time. Many years later, in the 19th century, it made the trip across the Atlantic to be cultivated by Americans.

Read the rest of this entry »