tips for gardeners

[lightheart]

thought of this while planting some cabbage and broccoli plants that I bought in the little plastic pots and thought I'd post so others might benifit from my past mstakes maybe others will add little things so that newbie gardeners (or us old ones might learn)

*** when you transplant little seedlings from pots into the garden be sure the soil from the pots are covered with dirt from our garden especially if it's a peat based soil in the pot, the light fluffy peaty soil in the pots will dry out WAY faster than the soil in your beds. Just a little layer of your dirt will keep things moist.

***onions sets like their shoulders oncoverd, don't bury too deep.

[MorganRiley]

good tips!!

we should do a whole thread of tips...let everyone add their tips here!! that would be really cool

[FarmerCathy]

Tips? Hmmmm.... Got lots.

• Companion plant
• Tomato plants need 50-70 degree ground temp. before being planted in your garden
• Mulch, mulch, mulch to keep weeds out (with straw, bark, newspaper, compost, etc.)
• Plant a radish at the base of your melons, cucumbers, and squash to keep the striped cucumber beetle away
• Fertelize your garlic in the Spring (fish emulsion, compost is what I use)and mulch
• Plant African Marigolds and nasturtiums throughout your garden for bug control
• plant flowers that attract pollinators to your garden like wild bees, birds and butterflies

Will add more later when they come to mind.

[nattybo]

Good goly! I could right a book but who would want to read it
ok, here are some timely tips. When planting out your Cole crops this spring sprinkle some wood ashes around their bases to keep away pests. When planting seeds, put them 3x down in the dirt that is the seeds' size. For example little seeds like celery and lettuce just need to pressed into the soil or sprinkled ever so lightly with some fine sifted compost while peas need to be down about 2 inches.

Here's one I just learned about onions and its useful in the grocery store as well. Store/buy onions that have thin/little necks. Thicker necked onions are usually doubles and will rot faster. There is nothing I hate worse than the smell of rotting onions/potatoes :Puke

Bees like daisey like flowers and blue/purple flowers. So look for those while buying your veggy seeds.

Spring is the time to pull back the winter mulch and fertilize your hedges.

Prune spring flowering bushes right after they done blooming. Prune summer blooming bushes before they bloom (ie spring). Prune your trees while they are still dormant (late winter). Spray problematic fruit trees (like peach trees with brown rot) before they bloom.

Ok. Thats enough for now. Don't want to bore you guys too much

If someones got a tip on how to get those evil mocking birds to go away I would love the hear/read it. It breaks my heart when I see those birds chasing my sweet tiny little hummers

[lightheart]

*if you garden in wide rows or beds and have access to both sides of the bed, make them twice the length of your arm reach so that you can easily reach the middle.

[root*children]

store your seeds in the fridge in an airtight container and include some of those little moisture trappers that come in vitamin/pill containers.

Don't ever *not* garden because of start-up cost... everything can be obtained free or cheap - pallets for compost, cardboard for weed barrier, manure is free, leaves and grass clippings are free from the curb (and already bagged!), kitchen scraps can be taken by the 5-gallong bucket full from any health food store, coffee grounds are free for the taking at any Starbucks, and most other coffee shops.

Got slugs? Get ducks.