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Gardening and growing food can have plenty of challenges for
both beginners as well as serious farmers.
The tips and techniques here were either learned
from my own experiences or learned from books on
using organic and sustainable agriculture methods.
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When to Plant
Start seedlings indoors or plant outdoors when appropriate for your area. Seed packet information and garden shop consultants are helpful at finding out planting conditions. Many plants do well when seeded directly into the Earth, like lettuce and carrots. Some, like tomatoes, do better when started indoors and then transplanted outside several weeks later.
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What Vegetables to Plant
Each vegetable has a cycle of growth designed by Nature
to thrive in the weather conditions for a warm or cool season.
Cool Season Vegetables require cool soil and air temperatures to germinate and grow. They have shallow roots and are in danger from drought. Most can take a light frost and are harvested
during the fall and early winter months.
Warm Season Vegetables require warm soil and air temperatures to germinate and grow. They will not withstand any frost and when they sense the shorter daylight, will start focusing on seed production instead of growth. They have deep-growing roots and can resist drought well.
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Some Cool Season vegetables to plant are:
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Collards
- >Kale
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Peas
- Potatoes, Irish
- Radishes
- Spinach
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Some Warm Season vegetables to plant are:
- Beans (bush, snap, pole and lima)
- Corn
- Eggplant
- Okra
- Sweet Potatoes
- Tomatoes (better to plant seedlings not seeds)
- Vine Crops - Cucumber, Melon, Pumpkin, Squash, Watermelon, Zucchini
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When planting seeds, it helps to inoculate by placing them
in a quart of lukewarm water with 1/2 teaspoon of
Nature's Team All-Purpose Probiotic for about 10 minutes
before planting. This helps protect them with beneficial bacteria
which will help build a healthy soil biology around them
once they are in the ground.
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