Suburban Vegetable Gardener

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These are the ones I’ve used and love.  It’s easy to see when you need to refill them, they’re a nice size, and they assemble very easily and don’t have stickers all over the place

Two green thumbs up.

Cauliflower is supposed to be challenging to grow. It can only survive in moderate temperatures—neither too hot nor cold. In addition, there are certain varieties that can be planted in specific seasons.

Cauliflower is part of the cabbage family, and just like their cousins, they require some extra care and attention. Here are the steps on becoming successful on growing cauliflowers:

1. Location matters. Choose a place that gets full sunlight. Check for the quality of the soil. Its acidity should be around 6.0 to 7.0. It should also be well-drained, has a lot of organic matter and evenly moist.
2. The soil should be prepared months before planting since cauliflowers grow better in a more consolidated soil. If not done properly, this will just waste all your efforts and get tiny buttons on your harvest.
3. Grow cauliflower seeds on individual pots or trays. Transplant the seeds after 6 weeks or just the time when the seedlings are hardened just enough. Place individual seedlings at approximately 60cm apart. Make sure that the soil and air temperature is around 50 degrees F. When planting, cover the plants with soils just before the bottom leaves.
4. Plants need to be evenly moist. To do this, build a small soil saucer around individual plant to keep hold of moisture. For each week, small cauliflower plants need around an inch of water especially when they are still small.
5. When the flower head is about the size of a medium-sized egg, start the blanching process. Make sure the flower head is dry before starting or else, it will rot. Keep the light and moisture away but let the air in and leave some room for the flower head to grow. To do this, loop a heavy twine just around the leaves, then lift them up gently and tie them altogether.
6. To determine if the cauliflower is ready for harvesting, check if the heads are already full. The correct timing is dependent on different varieties. When the flower heads grows to three to four inches across, start checking the plants daily.
7. Harvest cauliflowers first thing in the morning. This is the time when they are most succulent. You can store them for three weeks by hanging them upside down and spraying mist regularly. After harvesting, break up the stalks and add them to your compost heap.

Don’t be like me.  The first time I grew cauliflower, I picked a head and then thought I’d leave the rest for the following week.  Well, we had a hot spell and they bolted.  Bleah.  Not good eats.

That was a Spring planting.  For the Fall planting, I watched them carefully, and got a few good ones.  The next winter, I started seeds in my home because I wanted to grow cool varieties, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Growing vegetables in containers can pose certain challenges. Although vegetable gardening can be fun, it’s not all glorious. Here are important means to prevent these problems:

1. Plant in large containers. The more space there is the, the more room for the roots to grow and expand. This also means better growth for your plants and better yields.
2. Use compost. It helps a lot in the nourishment of your plants. It also adds moisture to the plants especially during the summer season. You will save a lot of money from buying chemical fertilizers on the market. And the best benefit of it all is that you can help the environment by going green.
3. Don’t soak your plants. If you are placing trays beneath the containers, drain the water off from time to time especially during after the rain. This will prevent the roots from drowning. If your plant can’t hold so much water, it might die. The pots or the containers that you are using should also have drain holes in them.
4. They need sunshine. Make sure that your plants get enough sunshine. For vegetables, they need at least 6 hours of sun exposure while herbs and lettuce only need 3-4 hours a day.
5. However, avoid too much heat. High temperatures are damaging to other plants like tomatoes. Don’t use dark-colored containers especially during summer since they absorb a lot of heat. Too much heat can also dry out your plants and will cause wilting.

These tips are really simple but sometimes, we tend to forget them. Plants need taking care and a lot of personal touch from the owner for them to give out the best results.

Carrots grow very well in cool temperatures like in early spring or fall. To ensure healthy growth, they should be planted ten days before the last predicted frost. They can be grown on large or small spaces, containers or even flower beds.

Soil quality. Make sure that the soil used is sandy loam. It should also be well-drained. Remove trash and rocks. Other organic materials can be retained to make the soil rich. Too compact soil or rocky ones can cause slow maturity of the carrots and rough roots.

Before planting, it is recommended to mix the soil with fertilizer. Compost is great for your plants.

Spacing and depth. Plant carrot seeds in rows 12 to 24 inches apart from each other. The distance of seeds in the plot should be 1-2 inches apart and should be half an inch deep. A thin layer of peat moss should used to cover the seeds and cover with soil afterwards. Water the seedbed.

Cover the seed bed with clear plastic. This will provide heat and promote seed germination. The plastic cover can be removed once in a while when watering the plants. From time to time, check for any weeds growing in the bed.

Growth. When they start to show up, you can then remove the plastic cover permanently. Adjust the spacing of the carrot seedlings so they are three to four inches apart from each other.

After spacing, mulch the carrot bed with compost to retain moisture. To keep off pests, soak the carrot bed with wood ashes and water once every week.

Harvesting. Your carrots can be ready for harvest after three months. The largest carrots can be identified because of their greenest tops. Soak the soil with water for easier pulling.

When harvesting, pull the carrots by their tops and by making a twisting motion. You can remove the carrots from the bed with the help of a spade if the greens break off.

Carrots can survive longer after three months; however, it shouldn’t take so long to harvest them since this will cause the plant to dry up and split.

Insects and pests are unavoidable in vegetable gardening. When you see the leaves nibbled by insects, it is still okay and your plants are not in danger of wilting and dying. However, it is heartbreaking to see all your plants destroyed, eaten, cut-off or dug out by other insects and animals. All your efforts go down the drain overnight.

There are simple methods which can be applied to ensure that untoward events happen in your vegetable garden.

Basically, making your plant healthy is its first defense against any disease that might attack. They have a sort of natural immunity against any problem that might arrive.

If you resort to commercial chemical pesticides, make sure that you read and follow the directions carefully and never use more than what is recommended. This is also the same when you are using organic pesticides. Not every insect in your vegetable garden is harmful that’s why it’s not a very good idea to kill everything. This can do more harm than good in your garden. There are other species living in your garden which are beneficial to our garden such as the earthworm and bacteria.

Also, be careful when watering your plants. There are instances when plant diseases are transmitted from one plant to another through the splashing of water.

Mulching is a very efficient technique to hold moisture especially during hot seasons and at the same time keep diseases under control.

Vegetable gardening doesn’t always require that all the insects should be killed at once. It is also important to maintain the health of your garden through mulching, regular weeding, watering and cleaning. This is the first natural defense that they have against any disease.