Companion Planting with Sweet Peppers

Sweet peppers have a few companion plants that will help them in the growing season.

Basil: this plant helps sweet peppers by repelling flies and mosquitoes and also by promoting growth and flavor of the peppers.

Parsley: attracts the beneficial parasitic wasps and hover-flies that help the sweet pepper stay healthy.

Okra: this plant shades the peppers from being burned by the sun and also helps to keep wind off the fragile stems.

Avoid planting sweet peppers near fennel, kohlrabi, and apricot trees.

When harvesting, it is best to cut peppers off using pruning shears, rather than breaking the stem.

Cucumber Companion Planting

Thinking about your 2012 summer garden? Are you planning on planting some cucumbers? If so you should keep the best companions for cucumbers in mind.

These cucumber companion plants consist of:
Radishes, Peas, Beets, Corn, Beans, Carrots, Dill, and Sunflowers.

However, you should not plant your cucumbers near potatoes or sage as they tend to grow poorly when planted next to these plants.

When growing cucumbers, you might want to consider using a trellis with them as most cucumber plants are vines and the trellis gives them the space they need to climb.

Most people like to pickle their cucumbers for storage, there are many pickling mixes on the market to help you do this if that is how you wish to store your cucumbers.

What are your cucumber growing recommendations?

First time garden? Read: Starting a Garden.

Companion Plants for Tomatoes

It is still a little early to actually do any gardening, but winter is a great time to reflect on how you want your garden to look, and what you want your garden to grow. Companion planting is a great way to allow plants to do their best while benefiting one another during the growing season.

Since tomatoes are a very popular plant in gardens, we will start our companion planting series by discussing different plants that complement tomatoes.

These plants help the tomato in a myriad of different ways. Each has its unique benefit to the tomato.

Basil attracts butterflies and repels other pests.

Oregano repels aphids.

Carrots attract insects beneficial to the garden particularly the tomato. (See more Carrot Companions)

Onions/Chives repel pests.

Many of the companion plants help by repelling pests, however, if you still have pest problems in your garden you can use sprays (chemical or organic) in a garden sprayer to help keep your plants pest free.





January Gardening Tasks

A few things that you can be doing in January to prep yourself for the gardening season:

• If you need to purchase any seeds, plants, replacement tools, etc. go ahead and start placing your orders.
• If your garden design wasn't quite right last year, rework your design to something that is more suitable for your needs.
• If you kept a garden journal review it, and start a new journal now being sure to record the plants and seeds that were ordered.
• Check any stored bulbs or vegetables that you may have.
• Take a class on gardening.
• Sharpen, clean, and test your gardening tools.

How to Cut up Firewood

With winter coming closer with each passing day, many people who have wood stoves or fireplaces are preparing their firewood for the winter.

So how does one chop wood exactly?

Before you begin the task to cutting up your firewood you will need to choose the correct axe for the job. There are single bit, double bit, splitting maul, splitting wedge, and even more tools available for wood chopping.

Be sure that there aren't any people in the vicinity that could be injured, also be aware of the level of the ground, you don't want to get off balance or fall while holding a sharp object.

If you aren't the one chopping, then do NOT stand behind someone who is. Actually it is probably best to steer clear of the axe wielder all together. Better safe than sorry.

Be sure your axe is sharp. As with knives, a dull axe is more dangerous than a sharp one as it can slip or bounce due to the dullness, and an axe that slips off its mark can result in injury.

Let the axe do the work for you. This means that you need a swift controlled swing and relax just before the axe hits the wood. For the last split second you are only guiding the axe. By relaxing it prevents the shock of the striking blade from being transmitted back into tensed up muscles. If you relax then you will allow yourself to be able to chop wood longer.

When splitting wood with an axe, if you strike with the axe head very slightly off perpendicular, it will be less likely to get stuck in the block of wood, but will cause pieces to pop free, these pieces can fly off in any direction so appropriate safety wear is needed (safety goggles, etc.).

1. Balance the piece of wood that you want to chop (or split) on a chopping block or level ground.
2. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
3. Hold the axe with both hands. Slide one hand up near the head of the axe, and practice letting it slide down the axe handle toward the other hand as the swing is executed. This maintains control and delivers a more powerful blow.
4. Put the axe in the spot you want to hit. Study the piece, and note any knots or limbs. You will want to hit a spot between these, as it is much harder to split across these, since they hold the wood together like nails or pins.
5. Pull the axe carefully over your head, allowing the upper hand to slide up near the ax head. Hold it with the head back over your shoulder with a firm grip.
6. Bring the axe quickly and firmly down, allowing your hand to slide down the axe handle to the other hand, aiming to hit the exact spot you selected.

It is always a good idea to let someone know when you are going to be chopping wood. You never know what could happen, and having someone aware of your location and what time you began and should be done is always a good thing.

Be safe, if you feel uncomfortable chopping wood, you can purchase it already chopped, or talk to someone who is experienced that could help to teach you the proper method. Never do anything dangerous that you feel uncomfortable about.

Source:
http://www.wikihow.com/Chop-Wood

What to Do to Your Garden in October

It isn't quite October yet, but it looms just around the corner. A mere 8 days away. So what is there to do in your garden in October?

Harvest: Harvest any fruits and veggies that are now ripening, some things aren't at their peak until fall is upon us.


Weeding: Be sure to not let weeds take over now that your garden is done. It will just make the chore that much harder come spring time.

Clean up: This is a big part of what to be doing in your garden in the fall, getting rid of falling leaves, dead plants, etc. Be sure to add these things to your Compost Pile so you will have a rich soil amendment to use in the spring.

Also during clean up you will want to thoroughly clean your garden tools and store them where they will not be exposed to moisture all winter. You want to keep them from warping or rusting.

What else are you doing to prepare for the winter in your garden?

Revisiting Composting

This morning, while checking my email, I was made aware of a very informative article on the art of composting. The article is called 10 Rules to Remember About Composting. It can be found on nannypro.com

Photo from nannypro.com

We will give you a little teaser of this article by sharing 2 of the rules with you here:

Rule # 2:

Remember to turn your compost pile: As the ingredients in your compost pile start to biodegrade they will start to get hot.  To avoid your compost pile rotting and stinking you need to turn the pile to aerate it.  This addition of air into the pile will speed up the decomposition.

Side note: Rule 2 can be made easier with a spinning composter.

Rule # 6:

Never put trash in your compost pile: Just because something says that it is recyclable it doesn’t mean that it should necessarily go into the compost bin.  For example, newspapers will compost and can be put into a compost pile, but you will want to shred the newspapers and not just toss them in the bin in a stack.  Things like plastic and tin should not be put into a compost pile, but can be recycled in other ways.

Be sure to check out the entire list of rules:
http://www.nannypro.com/blog/10-rules-to-remember-about-composting/