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    Vegetable Garden Mulching

    Mulching tomatoes

    Mulching can benefit your vegetable garden. Mulch is any material laid on the surface of the soil. Mulch protects the soil surface and allows air and water through. It can be organic, such as compost, shredded leaves, or lawn clipping, or inorganic or synthetic, such as coarse sand, gravel, or plastic. Mulch reduces evaporation from […] More

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    Vegetable Garden Soil pH

    Cool weather crops

    Soil pH is a scale used to measure the soil’s acidity or alkalinity. Alkaline soil is called “sweet” by gardeners and farmers; acidic soil is called “sour.” Soil pH is measured on a scale of 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. Acidic soil measures below 7; alkaline soil measures greater than 7. Soil pH […] More

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    Soil and Air Temperatures for Growing Vegetables

    Spring vegetable garden

    The most useful measure of the vegetable garden growing season is soil and air temperature averages. Warming soil temperatures activate root growth and the uptake of moisture and nutrients. Soil temperature is very closely affected by the air temperature. As days lengthen in spring and the air temperature warms toward summer, the soil temperature follows. […] More

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    How to Make Compost for Your Vegetable Garden

    Wood compost bin

    Compost is one of the best soil additives for a vegetable garden. It is also one of the least expensive. Composting turns garden and kitchen waste materials into a rich, organic amendment. The combination of dead vegetation with air and moisture will result in compost. Composting is a natural decomposition. Composting can take place in […] More

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    How to Make Comfrey Manure Tea

    Comfrey plant1

    Comfrey manure-tea time arrives with the first flowering of tomatoes and peppers. Comfrey tea is made simply by soaking the leaves of the herb comfrey in water for about 20 days. Comfrey tea is rich in nitrogen and potassium; it is a nutritious side-dressing for fruiting vegetables. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and berries use nitrogen to […] More

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    How to Make Compost Tea

    Compost bin1

    Compost tea is excellent all-purpose plant food. Made from aged compost–organic materials that have finished decomposing, compost tea contains all of the major and minor nutrients plants require. It gives young plants a starter boost and older plants a pick-me-up. Not only that, but compost tea will ward off many common garden diseases and even […] More

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    Organic Fertilizers and Soil Amendments

    Beans on fence

    Organic fertilizers and organic soil amendments come from natural sources–plants, animals, and rocks. Organic fertilizer is a natural soil amendment that adds plant nutrients to the soil, most often nitrogen, phosphorous, or potassium. (NPK analysis is the concentration of major plant nutrients–nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K)–in fertilizer as a percentage of the whole.) […] More

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    Vegetable Garden Watering

    Watering onions and beets

    Vegetables need water to grow quickly, tender, and tasty. Keep the soil evenly moist throughout the growing season—that means not too wet and not too dry. If the soil dries out, vegetables can become bitter-tasting and woody. If the soil is too wet, vegetable roots can become starved for oxygen and plants can die. Water […] More

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    Watering Vegetables: Critical Watering Times

    watering kale

    Water is essential for vegetable growth. Vegetables are mostly water: an ear of corn is 70 percent water, a potato is 80 percent water, and a tomato is 95 percent water. Vegetables will not grow and yield without consistent, even watering. Most vegetable crops require one inch or more of water each week during the […] More