Plant seeds according to package instructions. Seed depth and spacing varies greatly, depending on the crop being planted. For example, Austrian peas should be planted 1-inch deep, while smaller seeds can be broadcast on the top of the soil at a rate of one seed per square inch.1 Wat...
So make sure you exercise a little patience – the best time to plant your seeds is at least two weeksafteryour average last spring frost date. For watermelon seeds to germinate, the soil needs to be a minimum of 60°F. If you can wait for your soil to heat up to the 70 to 95°...
Plants need a lot of nutrients to grow and stay healthy. Growing the same type of plant year after year can deplete these nutrients from the soil, making the soil less healthy. This can lead to pests and diseases developing on these plants. Crop rotation is the practice of changing what t...
Whereas, the French grey doesn’t store as long, and so you really have to plant it when you get it. For us, that means people are ordering now. We ship in October so that people get them when it’s time to plant them and don’t have to worry about storing them at home. I wo...
Buckwheat is probably our favorite cover crop. Many times we cut it down before it reseeded and used these as a green manure. Green manure is simply plants which are mown or cut down and allowed to decompose in the place you want to improve. As they decompose, they provide readily availa...
"Andrea, my first thought is that an "old potato plot" would possibly host nematodes (microscopic worms) that could infect lilies. I usually follow my potatoes with a cover crop of buckwheat, or use the space to grow fall leafy greens. "Barbara Pleasant on Thursday 16 August 2012 "Just ...
Earlier in this post, we talked about growing cover crops to enrich our soil. Well, one type of cover crop is buckwheat and, when we plant buckwheat, it also becomes apit stop for Monarch butterflies, edible flowers ideal for their needs. We find them flitting every which-way, numbering ...
Sow a cover crop:This is another way to enrich soil and help accelerate the creation of a mini ecosystem. Summer: Buckwheat, cow peas, or millet Winter: Daikon radish, oats, or winter rye See what seeds I like to include in my‘kitchen sink’ cover crop mix. ...
Tillage is the manipulation of soil and plant residues by iron/steel tools to prepare an appropriate seedbed for crop cultivation, which has several advantages such as loosening soil, improving surface drainage, changing soil structure, increasing the release of nutrients from soil for crop growth,...
To prevent weeds completely, cover crops such as buckwheat or winter rye are ideal solutions. Both produce allelopathic effects which release toxins that inhibit other forms of weed growth. When choosing to use chemical herbicides be mindful to adhere to all instructions and cautions on the label....