Gardening from A-Z

Part 3

Check out this UH-MAY-ZING series of gardening ideas from every letter in the alphabet!

Join me in this gardening series as we journey through every letter of the alphabet, reading about different gardening methods from Experts all over the country. Whether you are gardening on a balcony or 100 acres, from the novice gardener to advance, there is something for everyone!!!

 

 

J= Journal

Simple Record Keeping for the Garden with Printable Seed Starting Chart by Common Sense Homesteading 

Those who’ve been gardening for a while know that you should rotate your crops, and keep track of your successes and failures to make improvements in the future.  I also plant in garden “families”, roughly along the lines of those described in the book “Great Garden Companions“, so I like to make sure we don’t end up with the garden version of the Hatfields and McCoys.  Here are some of my favorite techniques for simple record keeping for the garden.

Read more from Common Sense Homesteading Here

A Quick Guide to Garden Planning by About Home

Planning a full garden can be a daunting task. It seems like a lot of information to take in and process – and those seed catalogs have so very many wonderful things to try! How to you narrow it down and ensure success? Pull out your garden journals with me and let’s look at what you want, what you need, and what you might be able to try.

Read more from About Home Here

K= Keyhole Gardens

Starting a Keyhole Garden by Herbal Academy of New England

Gardening is a passion that has resurfaced with a vengeance in recent years. Whether it’s to save money on veggies and fruits, or a purposeful garden to avoid GMOs, getting dirt under your fingernails in the garden is catching on. With so many newcomers to the gardening game, it’s no surprise that there are many new ways to garden. One of these ways is called a keyhole garden.

In essence, a keyhole garden is a raised planting area, complete with a basic drainage component and a composting bin in the middle, to ensure equal distribution of nutrients. With the keyhole being in the center, you’re able to access the entire garden, along with the compost area, in a few short steps

Read more by Herbal Academy of New England 

L= Lasagna Gardening

Lasagna Gardening by Learningandyearning

Last summer, we experimented with lasagna gardening at our cottage and since that garden outproduced the one here in town, we decided to add a third raised bed this year and start another lasagna garden. Also known as sheet composting, a lasagna garden is built by layering organic materials which eventually will decompose into wonderful garden soil.

Read more by Learningandyearning Here

Building Soil with Lasagna Gardening by Homestead Honey

Susan discusses several great ways to build soil, including the strategy that I used to create a new garden without tilling or plowing: Sheet Mulching or Lasagna Gardening.  Essentially, a lasagna garden is made up of layers and layers of organic material that compost in place to create rich garden beds. I wrote about the process of creating the beds in some detail but to summarize, I layered straw and composted horse manure in multiple layers, and then topped the garden with some top soil and compost.  I began the sheet mulch process in the early spring, and planted into it for a summer harvest.

Read more by Homestead Honey Here

M= Mushroom

Growing Your Own Shiitake Mushrooms by Linn Acres Farm

I absolutely adore mushrooms. They are delicious, healthy, and easy to prepare. What more could you want? But I honestly never heard of growing mushrooms yourself until recently. I immediately assumed it would be difficult. And probably include a lot of upkeep. And probably be expensive. Especially when I heard the term “inoculating logs”. That almost sounds like a medical procedure! But I assure you, none of my initial assumptions were correct.

Read more by Linn Acres Farm Here

M= Micro Gardening

How To Grow Pea Shoots Indoors: Fresh Greens Year-Round by Herbal Academy of  New England

Enter pea shoots, the tender seedlings of new pea plants. Yes! The curling, twining, leafy tops of the same pea vines that produce snap peas and snow peas. You may have encountered pea shoots in little clamshell packages in the grocery store, but I find that homegrown pea shoots are much more tender. They have more leaves, the stalk is much less fibrous, and they taste more— well, green.  Rich in vitamins A, C, E, K, and protein, they are delightful unto themselves as a delicate pea shoot salad, add a shot of chlorophyll when thrown into smoothies, and bring color and texture to salads and stir fries. All this, and they are so easy to grow! Within 10-12 days of planting, you’ll be harvesting them for dinner.

Read more from The Herbal Academy of New England Here

M= Mulching

Using Wood Chips in a Vegetable Garden by Learningandyearning

First let me say while I am a firm believer in the benefits of mulch in a vegetable garden, I don’t think that any one method is the end all, or right for everyone. The best mulch that you can use is the one that is available in your area for free, if possible. For us, wood chips, and grass clippings and leaves from our own yard, are available for free. We can often find spoiled hay relatively inexpensively, or even free. We use them all.

Read more by Yearningandlearning Here

 

N= No Till Gardens

Create an Instant Garden with Sheet Mulching by Homestead Honey

Sheet mulching is a way to create an instant garden by deeply layering organic materials.  If you have a large backyard, imagine turning a corner of your lawn into a space to grow food!  On our land, we will most likely plow a piece of earth in the fall for next year’s planting, but this summer sheet mulching will create an immediate growing space, with no tilling.

Read more by Homestead Honey Here

Why Rototillers May be More Harmful than Helpful in an Organic Garden by Learningandyearning

The most important thing you can do, in my opinion, to grow a healthy, disease and pest-free garden is to build your soil. Therefore, the most important thing you can do to keep your garden pesticide and chemical fertilizer free is build your soil. And unfortunately, rototillers destroy soil rather than build it.

Learn more by Learningandyearning Here

Did You Miss Reading from A-I ?

Gardening from A-Z Part 1 Here

Gardening from A-Z Part 2 Here 

 

 

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