Garden Blog Today

Gardening Question of the Day for Monday, February 16, 2009

(Via Gardening Question of the Day (from The Old Farmer's Almanac))

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2009-02-15, 20:00:00

All my tulips died last season, although they did fine the previous two years. Only some late-planted bulbs bloomed. Why? (answer).

From The Old Farmer's Almanac.

10 Must-Grow Plants for the Self-Sustainable Garden

(Via Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2009-02-15, 13:19:55

When you have unlimited resources and enough space to fling a Mack truck it doesn't matter what you grow. Even if you're trying to escape the supermarkets and remain self-sustainable, unlimited resources allows you to to be frivolous with your choices and grow any plant you like.

However, confine yourself to a suburban backyard and the options become very limited. No longer can you grow every exotic fruit or experiment with boutique vegetables. It now comes down to finding the most appropriate plants that will supply your needs throughout the year, and limiting your choices to just those ones.

So, if you were given the task of restricting your choice to just 10 plants, what would they be? Here's my 10 MUST grows for a suburban self-sustainable garden;

Lemon/ Lime Tree - ok, this one may border on the luxury end of the choice scale but when it comes to flavouring and preserving other foods, acidic limes are one of the best options you could grow. Plus, if you had a surplus you could always make lemonade or churn out your own marmalade.
Apple Tree - this is your source of winter fruit. If you're not into apples you could always grow pears or even mandarins. The beauty of an apple tree is that it produces abundantly and can easily be espalliered against a boundary fence to minimize space. A good apple tree can keep you in fruit for most of the cooler months.
Peach / Nectarine Tree - then there's the summer fruit to consider. You could opt for a berry vine instead but for the sheer amount of fruit that glupe producers offer it would be hard not to choose at least one. Not into peaches or nectarines? Then you could choose from apricots, plums or even loquats.
Cabbages - a winter-growing vegetable. Cabbages are a great storing vegetable with a superb shelf-life. If you grow too much they can always be pickled and stored as sauerkraut.
Tomatoes - tomatoes are the best fruit/veg that the self-sustainable gardener could grow. Not only do they taste great during the summer months but you can easily produce enough to can, bottle or freeze for the cooler months.
Potatoes - the ultimate carbohydrate vegetable can be grown for at least nine months of the year and produce brilliant harvests. Potatoes, like cabbages, have a great shelf-life and provided they're kept in a cool, dry yet dark location should be able to keep you in stock for most of the year.
Beans - with the range of beans available you can have these growing for almost six months of the year as well (depending on your climate). Beans are a great vegetable that lend themselves easily to being blanched and frozen for the winter months.
Carrots - the ultimate all-rounder vegetable that will grow as a continual crop. Carrots can be grown at any time but if your area is too cold to support them during winter then they can be blanched and frozen like beans.
Lettuce - while mostly considered as a summer vegetable, lettuce can also be grown indoors in a small hydroponic setup that gives you year-round supply. It's a great vegetable, especially the many new varieties that avail themselves to be picked indiscriminately and still continue growing.
Onions - the final choice in this list. I would have said garlic if I had another option but we're trying to limit ourselves here. Onions are a great option for the home self-sustainable garden. They store really well making them available in the off season and are great producers. Plus, like lemons, onions are a great flavouring for many dishes and are useful in pickling and preserving other vegetables.

Could that list satisfy you and your family? Or, would you need to embellish it with a few more choices or even replace some the ones I've mentioned.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day or Remembrance of Things Past

(Via Idaho Gardener)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2009-02-15, 12:37:45

February may be the shortest month as far as calendar days go, but in my gardener’s mind, it is the longest, coldest, and dismal. With that in mind, I stolled around the garden, taking care to review what once was blooming bright. With any luck at all Spring is just around the corner.