How to grow plants from seed - Part 2

I am a huge believer of growing plants from seed. To me it is so much more rewarding to plant my plants from seed. It truly is so easy! You just need a little patience and a few tips! If you haven't seen it already, check out Part 1 of this guide on how to grow seeds, cos that will help you with the basics! This part of the guide will give you a little bit more detail and tips that aren't essential, but really help out! So lets get into it!

My first trick or tip when growing seeds is to use a propagator, or an equivalent. This creates a micro-climate for the seeds in which to thrive. This micro-climate helps to keep the plant warm, and retain soil moisture. My Dad bought me an electric propagator, so I use this! It makes such a huge difference! I just put it in a sunny place, adjust the vents and turn it off an on when appropriate. If you wanna get super technical (which I don't bother with) you can use a propagator thermometer so as to get the ideal temperature for the plants to grow. But I just turn it on for a few hours in the cold parts of the day!

If you don't have an electric propagator, don't even worry! You can use things like plastic bags, plastic containers, or even plastic soda bottles with the bottoms cut off. These things all help to create essentially mini glass houses. The plastic soda bottles with no bottoms can also be used to help protect the plants when they go out into the big garden. The bottle lid makes it easy when it is out in the garden for you to water the plant too, as you simply unscrew the lid and water the plant! Talk about repurposing (;

Now I'm going to teach you about a little problem you may have encountered if you grow your seedlings inside. Mold. It is not nice. It starts out like little white fluffy spots on the top of the soil, and can spread across the whole top of you soil. It won't really affect your plants, but its preferable to not have this! This mold is caused from either over-watering or from your plants not having enough air circulation around them.

The great news is that it is super easy to get rid of the mold. You have a few options for treating the mold:

• Sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon on top of the soil (it actually does work)
• Place a fan near your plants to increase circulation
• Or, simply remove the layer of mold and make sure you aren't over-watering your seeds

Mold starting to grow on the soil of a seedling

Now that your plants are starting to grow and you know how to get rid of any mold that may start to sprout, here is an ingenious tip that when I got told about this I thought it was brilliant. Its so simple, but makes so much sense!

When you plant your seeds, no doubt you plant a couple of seeds in each little pot, and if you don't, then start doing it!! What will happen when you start growing these seeds, and the plants germinate and start sprouting, you will have a couple of shoots. Once these shoots have sprouted their true leaves (when your seeds sprout, they will start out with two leaves right opposite each other, as the plant starts to grow and develop, other leaves will start to grow which look more like the leaves that the plants end up with - hence the name, true leaves) you are ready to use this trick!

True leaves - sourced from about.com

Grab your scissors, and cut at the base of the stem of any "extra" plants that you have grown. Choose to keep the ones that look like they are doing really well! I know what you're thinking, because I thought this too "what a waste, I will just plant all the shoots". Well by all means, go for it! However, what changed my mind was the justification behind doing this. When you try to separate the shoots, you can actually damage the roots of both plants, as they will no doubt be connected. Its actually better to sacrifice one plant then lose two! Then once the plant is a little more established you can move your plant out to the garden! It is super important to make sure that once the true leaves have started to grow that your plants are being fed and getting enough nutrients! But I'm sure you already could guess that!

How great were these extra tips?! I know that these tips totally changed my seed growing experience! I hope they help you out! Let me know if you have any sneaky tips that I could use when growing seeds! Sharing is caring :D

My "Making Use of a Small Space" Garden

You're not always going to be able to live at a house that has land for you to establish your vegetable garden presence. So sometimes you just have to get creative, and use whatever space you can. Although I do have space for a vegetable garden, I do also have my patio/kitchen garden that I love.

I love it because I can look at it all the time if I want. I can easily pop out and get some vegetables, pick a couple of herbs to add to dinner, or even just easily water and tend it (as my main veggie garden is up a little hill). There is something so beautiful and creative about turning any little space you have into a garden. 

Have you heard of Guerilla Gardening? Google it. But basically, do it to your own place.

And I have some handy little tips to help you turn whatever dull, small, empty space into a thriving GARDEN.

Tip #1

Try to get some sunshine, (or light and warmth) onto your precious babies. This will help them to be the plants you dream they could be. Without getting technical, pretty much all plants need some light and warmth, so if you don't have the real stuff, then fake it some how!

Tip #2

Use whatever you can to plant in. This isn't really a tip, but I'm pretty much saying, you can make everything uniform in matching pots (very pretty), or you can mix and match whatever you have and whatever you can AFFORD. You may have heard the fancy term "repurposing". Its very fashionable and you can do it! I use mixes of old planter boxes, big plastic pots, little pots that some seedlings came in, as well as glass jars, little buckets, empty soup cans. You name it. If you can put soil in it, you can grow something in it. Go wild. And have fun. Just make sure there is some drainage (holes in the bottom).

Tip #3

Nourish your plants. As you will be planting in boxes or pots, your plants don't have the opportunity to gather nutrients from the surrounding soil as much as their counterparts out in the big wide world of the ground. This nourishment factor is so easy to over look, as we are so used to house plants, that you just water and leave, then water every so often. But your vegetables need your love. When you are planting your plants, use a really good quality organic soil or compost. As this will be the foundation for your plants long and healthy life. And make sure that they are being watered adequately, as often water can drain straight out the bottom of the plant, and not reach all the soil it needs to. And this leads to the next tip...

Tip #4

Feed your plants! Plant food, compost, whatever you want! BUT JUST FEED YOUR PLANTS! There isn't a lot of soil in those pots, and the plants need a lot of nutrients to grow! I like to use and organic (liquid) plant food, that I treat my plants to every one or two weeks depending on how well they are growing, or what they are (heavy fruiting plants need more than leafy plants). I grow strawberries on my patio, and I make sure that they get strawberry food (its a real thing!), as this helps them to grow, even in the small pots.

Tip #5

Plant things that you wouldn't plant in your big garden. For example, in my kitchen garden, I grow wheatgrass, because it works better in a tray, and its good for it to be nice and easy on hand. Get creative and think outside the (planter) box.

Tip #6

Plant "cut and come again" plants. These are plants that you literally take a couple of leaves off, and then you can come back to them again later and take a few more leaves off. You don't have to harvest the whole thing at once. In my small garden, I like to plant lettuces, spinach, kale and swiss chard, as they are fast growing, but they are also very handy and useful plants in terms of eating. 

Tip #7

Have a few flowers in your small potted garden. Having some flowers will help to attract the good bugs, and may even help to keep the bad ones away (depending on what you plant). It is very important to make sure that your little garden (or big) is getting pollinated, and if no bees do it, make sure that you do it for the plant (depending on what plant it is!) because that is important in the growing stage for some plants!

Tip #8

Move your plants around. For two reasons. The first reason is to create companion planting. Putting some plants next to others is a good thing (for example tomatoes and basil), they enhance one anothers flavour while growing, whereas putting tomato and cabbage next to one another is bad and stunts growth. So move those babies around to get the best possible growing happening. Secondly, move them around to get the best sunshine for the plant. If you are like me, your planting area isn't in the sun all the time, so move those babies around a couple of days a week so that they can soak up some nice rays. They will thank you for it in beautiful vegetables.

Tip #9

Start small, and increase. You don't need to have 50 pots of varying varieties of vegetables the first day of your garden. I started with two pots, and slowly but surely I kept adding and collecting, and now I have many random containers, and some random plants. If you start small, its easier for you to manage, and make sure that those vegetables are getting the love they deserve. Add a few more to your collection every couple of weeks or so. This leads to the final tip...

Tip #10

You can increase the container size if you want. Say you planted a tomato plant in a small pot, but now it seems that it is just getting too big for that pot, well never fear, buy a slightly bigger (or much bigger if you are super keen) container, and just move your little friend into a bigger home. Plants will only grow until their roots can't grow no more, so the bigger the space for roots, the bigger your plant will be. And once you've moved that plant into a bigger container, you have a spare container to start something else in. Its like the circle of life. Only different.

But most importantly HAVE FUN!! And remember, you are only limited by your imagination, so get out there are get creating your own little piece of vegetable paradise.

Kale - Your new best friend

Yes. Kale. YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE. No jokes.

Let me tell you why.

1. Its super good for you

2. Its easy to grow

3. Its yummy

Are you sold?!

Well let me tell you a bit more about kale, as you will have a long and happy relationship with this beautiful plant if you listen to what I have to say!

So what is Kale?!

Photo from Walmart.com

I like to think of Kale as a combination of broccoli, swiss chard (silver beet), and spinach! It is actually from the same plant family as broccoli and brussels sprouts! And Kale... wait for it... IS ONE OF THE HEALTHIEST VEGETABLES IN THE WORLD! AHHH!!

And in easy to understand terms, Kale has a lot of fibre in it (good thing), is low in calories (good thing), high levels of Vitamin A, C and K (very good things which keep you healthy!), and kale helps to lower cholesterol levels and keep your heart healthy! This is the super plant!

So how do you grow the "Queen of Greens"?!

So just like with all plants, get your seeds and plant them in some really good quality soil. However, with kale, you want to plant it when the weather is cooler, although you can plant kale all year round, so long as it doesn't get too much hot sun. So where ever you plant your seedlings (if in summer), make sure its a place that gets just morning sun, as this tends to be cooler. But generally, planting the seeds in spring is ideal!

6 weeks after planting the seeds, transfer them to where you want to plant them. When planting, ensure that there is around 2 feet, or 60 cm spacing between the plants, as these beauties can grow large! And like all plants, make sure that they are watered adequately. Also using an organic plant food is a good idea, as this helps to get all the right nutrients to the plant so that it grows really well. As it is a leafy plant and you eat the leaves, putting the organic plant food just at the base of the plant, rather than on the leaves is a good idea, and still will be just as effective, if not more.

I personally, am growing my kale in my kitchen garden, as it does grow well in pots as well! This is good for me, and I can move the pots to get out of the sun! And its easy for me to harvest it!

BONUS: Because this plant does best in cooler temperatures, if it frosts while the plant is at least 6 weeks old, the frost is actually beneficial for the plant, as it makes the leaves a bit sweeter! 

Outer leaves can be harvested as you go, so if you need a few kale leaves, just pull a few off! The great thing about kale is that it has many uses, and I will definitely be posting about these in the future. But as a general rule, the outer leaves, which are older, are better for cooking, and the small tender inner leaves, are perfect for salads.

So please give kale a try! You will love it!

Organising Your Seed Packets!

Even gardeners need to be organised. And I found the best way to be organised, so that I am planting seeds at the right time of the year/I don't lose any of my seed packets! Let me let you in on my secret!

I took an old photo album, and organised my seed packets first of all by which month they are planted in, and then within that alphabetically! WOAH!!! SO CRAZY!!! Hahaha. So find out in your area when the best time to plant certain seeds is. If you prefer to organise it into four seasons, then thats all good! But I like this way, because then I can be like "oh hey, its March, what is there for me to plant this month?" instead of being like, "oh dang, its March, its too late for me to plant rockmelons!"

So enjoy organising your seeds in a way that is also easy to store, and is accessible! I just keep mine in my bookshelf so I see it too! Yay!

Growing Squash!

Squash, like pumpkins, are insanely easy to grow. They are so rewarding because the amount of growth from one plant is amazing! They are a very simple plant to grow, and one plant can produce around 12 squash, depending on the type of squash you planted! I planted butternut squash, but the same rules pretty much apply to both squash and pumpkin. Squash and pumpkin can be grown from spring, to mid summer. So in New Zealand, September to January, or in America - March to July.

So to begin, take your seed and plant it in good quality soil. The seeds can be soaked in water overnight to help improve germination, but this isn't necessary if you can't be bothered! It is recommended that you plant the seed in a small pot that can be left to germinate on a cool windowsill, but I planted mine straight in the soil in my garden in January (middle of summer in New Zealand), and it did exceptionally well! So its really up to you to decide what you choose to do! No matter what method you choose, plant two seeds in each pot/area, as one will be stronger than the other after the same amount of time, and that will be the one you want to keep! Unless you want more than one squash plant, and in that case, make sure you have enough room to plant two plants!

When you are ready to plant (if you started in a pot), make sure that the space where you will plant your squash has a lot of room. As you can see from the photo below, this is just one giant squash plant! Its really important as well, that the plant will get a lot of sunlight in the space that you have chosen for it! If you do decide to plant another squash plant (general rule, 1 plant per person) make sure there is at least one metre, or just over 3 feet between seedlings or seeds!

Once the plant has grown considerably, flowers will start to appear on the plant. These are the flowers that will turn into the squash or pumpkins! They look almost identical to courgette flowers. These flowers need to be pollinated, so having flowers growing near by helps to get the vegetables going. Planting peas, beans and sweetcorn around squash and pumpkin is really beneficial to all the plants. This is called companion planting, and often helps to maximize flavour as well as encourage speedy growth.

Once the plants start to produce the beautiful vegetables, its important to make sure it is getting fed enough. The plants can be fed by placing compost at the base of the plant, things like coffee grounds, manure or seaweed, are all good things that will help to feed this productive plant. I like to use organic plant food, or a liquid compost, and use this at the base of the plant. It is important to do this every two weeks, or even once a week as the plants start to produce a lot of fruit. Watering your plant sufficiently at this stage is very important too. This needs to be done at the base of the plant as well, as watering the leaves can lead to spreading of things that aren't nice for your leaves, such as powdery mildew. Watering your plants a lot also helps to ripen the vegetables and make them as tasty and big as possible! So make sure you are giving your plant a lot to drink, especially in the very hot summer weather.

After about a month (or sooner), your squash or pumpkin will have gone from looking like that ^ to looking like the vegetable below (or however it is supposed to look if you aren't growing a butternut squash). But now this poses the important question, when do I pick my vegetables??

Summer squashes can be picked as they ripen, like spaghetti squash, whereas a butternut squash (often called a winter squash) and most common pumpkins should be picked only when all the foliage has died and shriveled, and when the vegetables have tough skins. Make sure that the winter squashes look pretty much perfect (no bruises), and then store them in a cool and not damp place. If you are concerned about damp soil rotting the vegetables as they are growing, placing bits of plywood or a similar object can help prevent this.

I cannot wait until my squashes are ready to be harvested! It is very exciting adding a new vegetable to the list of harvested goodies from The Cottage Veggie Garden.

Making a raised flower bed

So today, we killed two birds with one stone. Or rather, cinder blocks (hehe). We had an old incinerator  next to our veggie garden that was a) ugly, b) stopping us from extending our veggie garden and c) made of bricks. Which was great because a) I wanted more planting space, b) I wanted to get rid of the incinerator and c) I didn't wanna spend a lot of money!

So here is my guide on how to build a cheap raised garden (even if you don't have an incinerator you wanna get rid of)!

1. Mark out the space that you want to create your raised garden in! To start with we laid out left over stakes from the tomatoes. These were easy to move around and gave us a good visual representation of how big, and how practical the garden was going to be.

2. Assemble the materials. You'll need a spade, some soil and some organic compost, and the bricks/rocks that you are going to use to make the garden.

3. Using the spade, cut into the ground, to mark out the space.

4. Dig a slight trench into the ground about the width of the bricks, so that they can sit easily in the ground, while being level, and not tipping over.

5. Dig up the grass or dig over the soil that is the base of the raised garden at the moment.

6. Place the bricks in the ground, and then fill the garden with soil and compost until the bricks are firmly in the ground. Packing the soil round the bricks, while moistening it helps to do this!

7. The bricks I used had holes in the top of them, so I filled these with soil to create extra weight, and so that flowers can grow in them too! You can do this too if the bricks have space, or otherwise just skip it!

8. Water the garden until the compost and soil is moist.

9. Plant whatever seeds or seedlings you would like. I am turning mine into a flower bed, so I planted a mixture of flower seeds!

10. Water well and enjoy your new raised garden!

P.S. It doesn't need to look pretty, cos once the plants are growing, its going to look amazing!!

Our Garden Progress - February

How to grow plants from seed

Planting seeds. It sounds like a simple task, but many people find it scary, and therefore opt to, instead of taking on this "challenge", buy seedlings to plant in their garden. Planting seeds is a very rewarding experience, that lets you know, exactly what your plants have been through to get to you! There is something so amazing about eating fruit or vegetables from a plant that you know started as a small seed that you planted and helped nurture as it germinated and then started to grow!

So here is a simple guide on how to grow plants from seeds!

To get started all you need is a packet of seeds (ensure that it is the right time of year to grow the seeds you have chosen), either potting mix or seed raising mix, and some containers to grow the seedlings! I used jiffy pots, which can be put in the ground as they are environmentally friendly and are bio-degradable! But if you don't have them, you can use empty egg cartons or small pots! OR seeds can be planted straight in the ground! I used seed raising mix, as it contains nutrients that specifically feed seeds and encourage germination, but if you don't have this on hand, potting mix works well!

Fill the container that you have chosen with soil, and then water until the soil is moist. Plant the seed in the soil. Follow the directions on the seed packet about how deep the seed should be planted. But most seeds should be planted a couple of mm under the soil. Make sure that you keep track of which seeds you have planted where! It makes it easier to companion plant when you are getting ready to move the plants to the big garden!!

Place the seed tray in a spot that gets good morning sunshine, as well as some shade in the hottest part of the day. This means that the seeds will grow well, and the soil won't dry out. Make sure that you water the seeds everyday, but that the seed tray doesn't flood, or that the water doesn't pool, as this can damage the seed.

After a week to two weeks small green plants will start to sprout! It is still important to ensure they are getting morning sunshine, and adequate water. Once the seedlings are well established, they can be transferred to the main garden!

Easy as pie!! Enjoy your new lease on gardening!

Now that you know how to grow seeds, check out Part 2 on how to grow plants from seed. This will give you some more tips and tricks that will help you out heaps!