I started all of my carrots by seed, and yes it is a little tough planting all of those tiny seeds, but the benefits were quite obviously worth the trouble. I planted in a row three feet wide, which equaled to a thinned row of ten carrots per row. I also planted each row three inches apart, so, my calculations tell me that at harvest time, barring any lose to rabbits, insects and diseases; I could easily harvest 1,000 carrots…That’s a lot of rabbit food.

After the seed germinated, I thinned the plants to three inches apart. I then spent the next several weeks watching them grow. Carrots have a beautiful, fernlike top, so it was a pleasure watching them wave in our Texas breezes. I checked them daily as they grew, and enjoyed the growth spurts after a wonderful rain, or after fertilizing.

Because I planted early, I had very little problem with pests. Right as I began to harvest some of them, I noticed some small grasshoppers starting to get interested in the tops. While harvesting, I noticed a caterpillar starting to munch. This caterpillar was so very small, that I could not really tell what it was, and quite honestly at this point I did not care.

I processed the carrots by cutting off the tops. Those tops immediately went back into the compost pile. I then cleaned them and did any necessary additional trimming. I put them on ice and made a plan for canning them. Once I found a good recipe, I broke out the canning gear and got busy in the kitchen. 16 pints later and I have a great feeling of accomplishment. To know that I can feed my family by the planning and hard work put into my vegetable garden just makes me feel really good.

I hope you are having some of the same successes as I am having. Please feel free to join us on my Facebook page, where I hope you will come and participate by asking questions, and posting your photos.

He headed home before the storm started, and I broke out the samples of Winchester Gardens Select Organics fertilizer samples that were sent to me for review. I quickly read the directions for use on each packet, and started to apply the fertilizers accordingly.

First the tomato stakes. My plants were about 6” tall at the time of fertilizer application. I pushed three stakes into the ground around each plant to a depth of more than one inch and proceeded to the next vegetable. It has been just a few days longer than three weeks since the stakes were pushed into the ground, and I must say that I am extremely happy with the results.

The tomatoes are all about 16 inches tall with very stout branches, stems and leaves. I’ve never grown plants that looked so healthy. The fruit is approximately quarter size or bigger with lots of fruit coming on and more blooms.

My potatoes were approximately 6-8 inches tall at the time of the making of the video. I fertilized this 35 foot row of Red Potatoes with the “Vegetable” fertilizer at about half the rate, just in case we had a heavy downpour. To my surprise, the plants took off and are currently 18-20 inches tall in some cases. The plants are blooming like I’ve never seen my potatoes bloom and, needless to say, I am also very happy with the results.

I used the Berry fertilizer on my Blackberries (they were about 12” tall when I applied the fertilizer), White Grapes that were about two feet tall (I’d pruned them back in the fall), and my newly planted Blueberries (I planted gallon containers with fruit).

Three days after I fertilized, blooms began to show on the grapes. I was shocked, because there were so many blooms for such young plants. The blooms continued to pop out of almost every new stem and now that they have matured over the last three weeks, I’ve got grapes that are set, and maturing.

The Blackberries are producing lots of vegetative growth and will soon show flowers. I’m thrilled with their progress, because blackberries are my favorite bramble fruit. And finally, the blueberries are maintaining most of the fruit that came with the plants at the time of purchase, and have even begun to grow a lot more foliage.

Moving down the garden rows, each of the different vegetables have outperformed last year’s growth and blossom set. Yellow crookneck squash are producing a little earlier and I have already made two harvests from enough plants to provide some fresh veggies for us and the neighbors who aren’t growing a garden this year. The yellow sweet corn is taller than I had expected. The zucchini has exceeded my expectations. The pumpkin plants have already filled their growing area, with baby pumpkins already set and waiting for pollination.

Watermelon and cantaloupe plants are already beginning to send out running vines and the White Scalloped Squash are about the size of a quarter as well.

The best results that I’ve gotten so far are not necessarily huge growth spurts, or lots of blossoms, but the recovery of plants that I was sure would not make it. Somehow I had forgotten about some Bell Pepper plants that had been placed in a corner out of my eyesight. I think they received no attention for a period of about three days, as these delicate transplants were yellowing and drying out.

I immediately planted them into a spot in the garden and added a small portion of the vegetable fertilizer, so as to not burn the already stressed roots. To my complete amazement, approximately three days later I began to see recovery. Today, just two weeks later, the pepper plants are going to make it to maturity, with several new sets of solid green leaves and are currently about 8 inches tall…WOW!

Please go take a look at Winchester Gardens complete line of fertilizer products today, and get your vegetables, herbs, berries, nut trees and more off to a great start this gardening season.

Are you thinking about starting a vegetable garden? Or, are you the type that considers it too much work for the results? Well, all I can tell you is that I’ve reaped the rewards for the last 40 plus years by planting vegetables and receiving some other rewards from the work as well.

The benefit in knowledge gained (and shared with anyone who wants to learn what I’ve learned) is just tremendous and you can just imagine all of the other benefits that come from spending time in the garden with family, teaching the next generation.

And let’s not forget the health benefits! I just came from a visit with my doctor, who said that beyond a few very small problems easily fixed, he’d never seen a 55 year old as healthy looking as me. He knows my gardening history, and partially attributes my level of health to my involvement in the garden.

I know you really want to get started. I can feel it right through this keyboard as I type this post to you. So, are you ready? Where do I start, you may ask? Start by setting a goal. Start out with a 4X4 foot area. Learn as you grow, but get started. There are so many viable resources available to anyone who wants to get started, so get started! I’m here to help. Ask questions and get to it today!

Please get started with my free email subscription to this blog today! Just type your email address in the small form on the right side of this page.

All determinate tomatoes are varieties that have been bred to grow shorter in height than indeterminate types. Determinate varieties may only grow to be about four or five feet tall. They will stop growing when flowers have set their fruit on the terminal bud. Determinate tomatoes will ripen their entire crop at the same time and then they will complete their lifecycle and die back.

Supporting your tomatoes is always important, and it doesn’t matter whether they are determinate or indeterminate. They all need some sort of support. No pruning is necessary with either type of tomato; however, if you do pinch out the sucker growth of a determinate tomato, you are removing a lot of the potential for flowers to set fruit. I grow Celebrity and Roma varieties. These two examples are known as determinate tomatoes. Remember: Do Not Pinch Suckers!

Indeterminate varieties or the so called “vining” tomatoes require a lot of support. Using 6” square wire mesh used in the pouring of concrete driveways is a good material to wrap in a three foot diameter circle for a cage. These cages could be as tall as eight feet, depending on the width of the wire mesh. This type of wire mesh can be found at your local “big box” hardware store, or lumberyard.

Indeterminate tomatoes grow throughout the season putting on a lot of vegetation and fruit until it gets so cold that the plants can be killed. They are known to flower, bear fruit and ripen all at the same time as the growing season progresses. Remember: it is not necessary to pinch out the suckers on an indeterminate variety of tomato, but you may have been taught, or are already practicing this acceptable method of improving fruit quality. I’ve planted Early Girl, and cherry tomatoes that are indeterminate varieties.

Regardless of the variety or its determinate or indeterminate nature, during times of high heat and humidity, you are bound to see fruit set decrease dramatically. The pollen gets too sticky, and is unable to float to other flowers. Bees are not typically found out working in the extreme heat of the day in places like Texas.

Always check the label in the pot or the back side of a seed packet prior to purchasing your tomatoes so that you know if they are determinate or indeterminate. You will better understand your tomatoes growth patterns and how to best care for them during the growing season.

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Heirloom varieties are famous for their flavors, and equally notorious for growing well in some areas, but not in others.

The world’s number one “bible” on growing potatoes – How to Grow Great Potatoes – delivers 12 pages of detailed information on potato varieties. There’s photos, cultivation notes and cooking notes on over 100 varieties, including russet, red, white, fingerling and blue/purple potatoes.

Apparently when selecting varieties for your garden, you should consider your main cooking use, variety productivity, suitability to your soil conditions and disease resistance. The potato variety that you pick should also be a good fit for your climate because healthy plants produce better-tasting tubers.

This book contains 11 beautifully illustrated chapters which cover everything from soil preparation, planting, watering, nutrition and controlling pests and diseases.

I love this book. It’s got a quick start guide for beginners and quite advanced information for seasoned growers. Co-Author Lucia Grimmer holds a Masters Degree in Plant Pathology and Nutrition – so she knows a thing or two about pest, disease, nutrition and cultivation.

Click here to see the book.

Thank you,
Steven Coyne

PS: Oh, and the ebook comes with 2 further bonus ebooks too. One of them is a lovely recipe book called How to Cook Yummy Potatoes and provides 45 gorgeous recipes and images. The other is How to Cook Jerusalem Artichokes, another tasty vegetable which is surprisingly easy to grow.

The very first step we took together was that which has happened in most family homes for many years…the Sweet Potato! Yes, she cut the top off of a sweet potato and forced some toothpicks into it so that it would sit in just enough water in an old mason jar filled to the top. I was instructed to watch for new roots and shoots that would start appearing soon.

To my great excitement, the day came when I walked into the kitchen counter and, behold, tiny little roots and shoots started to show themselves. I quickly hurried to mom’s bedroom and began to shake her awake, insisting that she hurry to see the new growth. She reluctantly wrapped herself up in her housecoat and came to the kitchen.

In my exuberance, we found three new sprouts from the top of the sweet potato and, too numerous to remember, lots of tiny new roots coming out of the bottom of the cut end of the potato. We had success! We watched that old cut piece of potato grow shoots, that had also grown adventitious roots out of them as well, and enough roots to support all of that growth.

As time went on, we snipped and gathered some of those sprouts that were now about one foot tall, and went out to a prepared garden area where we were to grow these little plants into edible tubers. I was so excited that I asked mom if there were other vegetables that we could do the same thing with.

Of course she said yes, and immediately went to the refrigerator and collected an almost used up stalk of celery.

She made me diligently trim off a few stalks and keep just 3 or 4 of the tiniest stalks. We placed the bottom of that little crown of celery in a bowl of warm water and as I did with the sweet potato, watch it begin to grow. I changed the water daily. I then began to notice that the existing small stalks started to grow a little.

Then I noticed that the stalks started to expand out and away from the center. Something magical was happening and I couldn’t keep my eyes, or for that matter my mind off of that little crown of celery sitting in that bowl of water. A few more days went by and I began to see roots. I was surely becoming a gardener at eight years old.

I soon took that little experiment out to its own space reserved specifically for celery and planted it according to my mother’s explicit instructions. She then started showing me how to prepare soil by making and adding some compost. We discussed seeds and how to store, freeze if necessary, and eventually plant them at just the right time. She taught me the importance of doing things right the “first time” and everything else that I needed to do to get the best results.

I was becoming a very good gardener with lots of experience by the time I was eleven years old. Not many kids in my neighborhood could say that! I was always thrilled to run home from school and get any homework done before I could go out and learn something new in the vegetable garden. During a time when a famous brand of canned vegetables was running an extremely popular commercial to advertise its canned goods, I was known as the green giant on my street.

I planted everything from green beans, to broccoli, to cantaloupe and zucchini. I learned things that still have value to my life, even outside of the vegetable garden. I had quickly become popular with those that were also growing their own vegetables in the community. We all had “green thumbs” and enjoyed sharing information that would help each other produce the best yields for our efforts.

Now that I’m an old coot, I still find myself overjoyed to share what I’ve learned through the years. And to think, it all started with a little piece of sweet potato!

The fresh, crisp flavor of red raspberries is the wonderful result of growing them in your own vegetable garden. Learning as much as you can about red raspberries is one of the most important tools you can use to your advantage when it comes to producing these flavorful morsels of sweetness. They can be grown in almost any USDA Zone; however, they are not necessarily great producers in southern states. I’m currently growing them in northeast Texas. With a little effort, though, you can become the recipient of a high yielding crop for many years.

There are two different types of raspberries that can be grown in the garden. Fall bearing raspberries (considered everbearing) produce fruit twice before the cane dies back. First in the fall (autumn), and then the following year in the summertime. The plants produce large clusters of white flowers followed by the fruit. The second type is a summer-bearing plant that yields fruit on a two year old cane. There is nothing prettier that a cluster of ripe red raspberries.

There are many varieties available through mail-order catalogs and from your local nursery. Some are sold as bare root stock, while others can be purchased as planted stock locally. My preference is always to start with rooted stock, however, if the best variety for my area was only available as a bare root item, I would have no trouble purchasing this type of stock for the garden. Remember to make sure the stock you purchase is best suited to your growing region. Raspberries need a good amount of winter chill hours but also need a growing season that provides them with a slow warming in the spring.

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When selecting your peppers, choose large, plump pieces that are free from scars or other damage. Slice the peppers about ¼ inch wide and set aside in a bowl of hot water.

Do the same when selecting your carrots. Look for large, straight carrots that are at least 1 ½ inch in diameter at the top end. Peel the carrots, rinse and slice on an angle. Set the carrot slices in the same bowl of hot water with the peppers.

Thinly slice one large yellow sweet onion and place in the bowl with the peppers and carrots.

Heat up the water in your canning pot and in the pot you are going to use to sterilize your jars, lids and bands. Have all of the necessary canning tools ready and within easy reach.

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You will enjoy the time invested in growing cabbage in your spring vegetable garden. Cabbage is grown for a variety of uses and is quite popular whether eaten fresh or canned or even cooked up in a recipe. Cabbage can be grown in both the spring and the fall months and is a very desirable plant to grow.

Starting your plants indoors under a lighting system is your best bet to get quality transplants to set out in the garden; however, you can purchase your transplants from your local garden center. If you are planting for a late fall harvest, plant transplants 15 to 18 weeks prior to the first winter frost. If you are planning for a late spring harvest, plant transplants at least 4-5 weeks prior to the last frost date in the spring.

Prepare the soil in your cabbage beds well in advance of the actual planting of transplants. Make sure to use copious amounts of finished compost from your own pile, or you can purchase bagged material from your nursery. Loosen the soil to a depth of 12” for best drainage results. Cabbage does not like wet feet, so make sure the soil drains well.

Cabbage plants are big and leafy, so, give them plenty of room to grow. Set your transplants at least two feet apart and mulch heavily with something light like wheat straw. Mulch with at least 4” of straw. This will keep most weeds from competing with the cabbage and it will maintain even moisture levels if you are watering properly. Mulching with straw also helps to keep the garden soil out of the cabbage head.

You have two options when it comes to feeding your cabbage plants. You can purchase a commercial fertilizer that is balanced, and apply at the labeled rates, or approximately one pound of fertilizer per 100 square feet of planted bed.

You should start making your first application of fertilizer about 3 weeks after the plants were first planted. Apply fertilizer at the same rate once the cabbage heads start to form. If your plants are looking healthy, avoid fertilizer until absolutely necessary, as too much will cause the heads to split apart.

The other option is to use a side dressing of finished compost, spread evenly around the plants, to a depth of 2 inches. Make applications as necessary through the growing season. By side dressing with finished compost, you are adding beneficial micro-organisms to the soil. This will aid the plants intake of needed nutrient through the life of the plant.

Water consistently but avoid saturating the soil. Water evenly, both in quantity and in timing so that the soil does not create problems for the cabbage down the stretch. The mulch will help to retain moisture, so keep checking for the need to water prior to watering.

One pest that you need to be aware of is the cabbage looper. This is a chewing insect and will do a lot of damage if allowed to get out of control. Place sticky boards hanging from poles over the cabbage to help you identify when adults are in the area. There are several options for pest control of the cabbage looper. Please read the label of any pesticides you may consider using, even if it is branded as an “organic” control product.

Aphids are a soft bodied insect that will attack your cabbage plants new growth. If possible, release “Lady Bird Beetle” larvae around your plants just as you begin to see aphids show up. These little buggers have a voracious appetite in regard to aphids and will eat 100’s of aphids each as they grow into adult beetles

Harvest your cabbage when heads are bigger than a softball. You can harvest them all the way up to a soccer ball size, but you shouldn’t wait too long since the heads will start to split or they could get sunburned. Rinse and process your cabbage as quickly as possible for best flavor.