Container Gardening

There are two main types of tomato. Many get confused about these so I thought I should quickly talk about each of the types of tomato here.

Cordon – These are the varieties that are grown on a simple stem. They need to be trimmed and supported throughout the growing season. With these varieties you should only allow four trusses to set. There are many varieties available varying in colour, size and shape.

Bush – These varieties are mainly outdoor varieties, these make growing tomatoes outdoors so much easier. As the name suggests they grow as a small bush which grows to only 1ft high. The major advantages are that the plant does not need supporting and trimming. However as the plants are low growing it can cause the tomatoes to rot, lay hay or straw around the plants to prevent this.

Hope that helps

I think I have apple tree blight! I’m worried! Help!!

I have been growing apples for several years and last year they were fantastic, the best tasting apples I have ever had. However this year one of my trees leaves have all gone slightly brown and this is rapidly spreading over the entire tree. There are brown patches on the fruit and one of my friends who’s an allotment ‘oldie’ says that they have a serious case of blight.

This could be a problem!

Contacting your local council is the first step that needs to be taken when getting an allotment. The council will be able to inform you of where the nearest allotment plots are located. If no plots are available upon your request, you have the option of putting your name on a waiting list. You will then be notified when a plot becomes available.

Privately owned plots are also available. A privately owned allotment is not protected from disposal. If the allotment that you end up renting happens to be closed, you will most likely receive a twelve month notice. This will allow you time to find a new allotment. When your allotment ends tenancy, you should also be reimbursed.

Since you will need to spend a lot of time at your allotment garden, pick a plot that fits your time schedule. You can pick a full plot or a half plot. A full plot is about three hundred square yards. For a beginner it might be wise to just rent a half plot until you have more experience. Only rent an allotment as big as you can handle.

An allotment garden can contain herbs, flowers, fruits, or vegetables. Since gardens require a lot of energy, as well as time, it is advised to keep your allotment simple. Ask a friend or a neighbour to look after you allotment if you need to be away for a few days. This will help deter intruders from entering your allotment. Also, your friend can water your allotment if needed.

A shed or greenhouse should be on the allotment site that you choose. Keep your out buildings locked whenever you are away. Also, never keep items of great value on your allotment site. Rent an allotment that has assessable water supply, security, and clear pathways. Some allotment sites contain toilets and garden centers. A garden center is convenient if you need to buy a tool in an emergency situation. Having a garden center on site will save you time.

Some basic tools that you should purchase are a hoe, fork, spade, power cultivator, and clippers. Choose a lightweight material that will last. These tools might be more expensive, but it is worth the extra cost.

The more time you spend in your garden the better the chance is that your garden will be successful. Time is required to create the look you desire in your allotment garden. Each time you visit your allotment garden do a small portion of work. It is very important not to wear yourself out. Doing all the work at one time could be harmful to you and your garden.

Getting children involved in gardening can be a tough task to tackle. The most important thing to remember is to keep gardening fun and exciting and fun for children. Hopefully my tips can help you get your children gardening.

Getting the entire family in the garden can be very rewarding. You get to spend quality time with your family, you accomplish work in the garden, and you improve your health by receiving fresh air and exercise. Younger children look up to Mum and Dad as their role models. Let your children help you work in the garden. Tell your children they are doing a good job in the garden and it will make them want to keep helping.

Another tip to getting children gardening is to turn gardening into a game or contest. A contest idea might be to see who can pick the most beans, or who can pull the most weeds. We are born with a competitive spirit so this technique should work. You could create a scarecrow making contest so everybody can make their own scarecrow. Make sure you compliment each child on all their work.

Offer rewards or treats to your children for helping in the garden. However you shouldn’t bribe your children with rewards or treats. Ask your children to help with the garden. After the work is done you can offer the reward. This will train your children to know they will be rewarded for doing hard work.

When it comes time to harvest your crops, use a cookbook designed for children to make snacks and meals. This will help children harvest and also get your children involved in cooking. You can find a children’s cookbook at the library or on the internet. Recipes can also be found on cooking websites.

Along with cooking with the produce, you can use the produce for crafts. One fun family activity is to carve pumpkins in the autumn. Potatoes can be used for making stamps. All you need to do is carve a design in a potato and dip it into paint. You can then stamp paper to create wrapping paper or whatever you wish.

One last idea is to let your children have a garden to call their own. What you need to do is dig up a small area and let your children take over from there. You can let your children decide what to plant in their garden. There are seed packets intended for children that would be great to purchase. They can even start the plants indoors to watch them grow day by day.

We all have snail problems. They are slimy, horrible and eat my precious vegetables! Snails can be hard to stop, however hard you try you always get one muching on your veggies.

Here are a few ways I stop them.

Upturn a flower pot, snails will soon find there way under them to get in the shade. Then it is up to you to ‘get rid’ of them however you wish.

Make beer traps and get ‘em drunk. The snails will become tipsy and fall in the beer and die. A great way to die!

Simply check for snails daily and again ‘get rid’ of them in anyway you want. You will find that you will be able to get rid of 60% of snails by just doing this.

Slug pellets, I don’t like them and don’t use them but they do work. If you are having big problems with snails then you may decide to use them.

So how do I ‘get rid’ of the snails? I collect them and place them in a jar full of soapy water, it will kill them instantly. Another famous method of killing them which an old friend of mine does is collect a whole heap of snails and drops a brick on top of them, it’s a quick and painless death for the snails.

Disclaimer (I have to have one!) – In no way do I encourage the killing of animals with this post. The information is for entertainment purposes. (Sorry about that. I have got to have a disclaimer)

On my daily read through all of my top forums I ran across a post from a man who was unsure about how to plant cucumbers so I thought I would post here about it.

Cucumbers should be sown under glass as they can be a little temperamental. The seeds should be sowed March – April. Place the seeds on there side in 3 inch pots ¾ filled with quality compost, topping the pot up with compost.

Plant the Cucumbers in larger containers, the greenhouse boarder or in containers in late March. Plant one per pot or two per regular growbag.

If planting the cucumbers outdoors things need to be done a little differently. Before planting the small plants outdoors they need to be hardened off, this is a process in which the plants are placed out doors for longer amounts of time daily until they become used to the colder outdoor temperatures. Plant the cucumbers outdoors in late May or early June once the risk of frost has passed.

Once planted outdoors you should keep the plants well watered and make sure that you feed the plants with a general feed in the summer months.

It really isn’t as hard as people say!

I mentioned this yesterday….

There are a new breed of gardeners in town, different to every other gardener you have ever met. I call these gardeners Elite gardeners. Adapting to any situation that is thrown at them these elite gardeners tackle the situation directly.

These elite gardeners scavenge for information, search for clues and always find an answer. They read blogs, are active posters in forums and love a healthy debate.

Are you an elite gardener??

Is it possible to grow tomatoes year round in a greenhouse?

Realistically it isn’t, however it is possible to harvest tomatoes for 7 or more months of the year. By making several sowings indoors from November to May will extend the harvesting season massively. August – September is when regular gardeners harvest their tomatoes but I consider us Container and Greenhouse gardeners the elite gardeners.

Extending the season isn’t easy and nature can be a difficult thing to work with but there are ways you can extend the season easily. Making sowings in November in a heated greenhouse will mean that your plants should have green tomatoes on there before others have even begun sowing. Tomatoes grow best at 65F (18C) so you should make sure you greenhouse is constantly at that temperature.

The rest is simple, work, work, work!

As garlic reaches maturity, the leaves will soon begin to brown and die away. This is telling you that it is time to harvest your crop of garlic. If you harvest the garlic too early the cloves will be very small, harvest too late and the bulb will have split.

Proper handling of garlic after it’s been picked is almost as important as looking after it whilst it’s growing. It’s really is essential that garlic is dried properly, otherwise it will rot. The bulbs are often hung up in a cool, dry place. After a week or so, take them down and brush the dirt off gently - don’t wash the bulbs at this stage.

Then enjoy the delicious results of growing your own garlic in your own garden.

Garlic is part of a vegetable family called the allium family, this includes onions, shallots and leeks.

Garlic is growing from cloves, Once the plants are ready for harvesting each clove will produce a bulb which should contain a number of cloves (10-12 on average)

When planting garlic you should always choose a well drained variety which gets plenty of sun throughout the day. Cloves should be planted upright about 2.5 cm under the soils surface, plant the cloves 2 inches apart in rows which are around 18 inches apart.

Once the garlic cloves begin to grow you should keep the beds well watered and weed free. Regular checks for pests and disease should also be done.