Vegetable gardening trend likely to maintain momentum
Garden Writers Association Foundation survey suggests edibles will remain big in 2010Vegetable gardening trend likely to maintain momentum is a post from: How to Vegetable Garden
Posts Tagged ‘vegetable gardening’
How to Vegetable Garden in February
How to vegetable garden in February? Well of course that depends upon whether you are to the north or south of the equator. For those vegetable gardening north of the equator it is still very much winter but now that the days are getting longer there is the promise of spring in the air and [...]
How to Vegetable Garden in February is a post from: How to Vegetable Garden
Building a Raised Garden Bed
Building a raised garden bed is not difficult but does require a little thought and some work with a spade and fork.
When starting out learning how to vegetable garden, raised bed vegetable gardening may be something that the beginner leaves until they are certain that they wish to vegetable garden in the longer term. However [...]
Building a Raised Garden Bed is a post from: How to Vegetable Garden
Learn From the Past and Learn How to Vegetable Garden
Learn From the Past and Learn How to Vegetable Garden
By Rodger Cresswell
There was a time when most young boys learned how to vegetable garden. It is perhaps more appropriate to say learned than taught as the learning process was a practical one. There was a great need to grow your own vegetables so that the family had food on the table.
The history books teach us that it was essential to grow as much of our own food as possible during the World Wars. Dig for Victory conjures up pictures of lawns and ornamental borders being grubbed up, dug over and planted up to provide the much needed nutrition for the family.
Instruction leaflets were produced to teach many people skills that they had not had to call upon when vegetables were readily available and affordable in the shops. And as we know, this was a task that had also to be undertaken by women as many of the young men were away fighting.
Returning to the period before the war, a picture is literally painted of cottage dwellers spending their leisure time cultivating their vegetable gardens and harvesting wonderful healthy and nutritional crops. This is so far from the truth and some of the blame can be put at the door of the commercial artists whose canvases show contented wives and children watching as the man of the house working in bright sunshine maintaining the vegetable plot. Apart from the cottages being draughty, cold, damp and overcrowded the man of the house had very little leisure time. They worked very long hours from dawn to dusk so how did they manage to dig over their vegetable gardens and cultivate their crops? The answer is that they had to work in the time they had available which would be late into the evening using the Parish Lantern to see what they were doing. What is the Parish Lantern? Moonlight.
There is a growing interest in vegetable growing and some of our reasons for wanting to do so are the same as those cottage gardeners. For example, one reason is the desire to save money when prices of fresh vegetables have risen in the greengrocers and supermarkets. But we are also aware of the number of miles clocked up to get the produce to our table. The carbon footprint is not the only issue; we like to know that a concoction of chemicals has not been used in the production of that food.
If you want to help yourself and your planet try growing your own vegetables. You can start in a small way and expand as you become more confident. Unlike those gardeners of the past you may not have had the chance to learn vegetable gardening but there is not a better time to learn how to vegetable garden.
Rodger Cresswell is interested in all things about gardens and gardening. Flowers, vegetables and greenhouse growing and also tries to encourage as much wildlife into the garden as possible.
How to Vegetable Garden – Hints, tips and instruction about vegetable growing.
My Garden is My Space – Hints, tips and how to’s about gardening generally.
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When is a weed not a weed?
Last weekend we had visitors who took a walk around the garden. One stopped and said, “That is a weed”. My reply was “No that is a wild flower and I like it so it stays”. A few minutes later the second visitor remarked, “What a beautiful flower, where did you get it?” I explained that it was a gift from Mother Nature and she decided that it should be planted in that spot. The view of this visitor was totally different, agreeing with me that a weed is only a plant in the wrong place, why assume that every wildflower is a weed.
I am enjoying the great show of berries in the garden this year while they last. The birds will soon see them off but I know I cannot have everything. I want the birds to visit the garden, I love the berries as they extend the season of colour in the garden but I have to trade one against the other. The trees and bushes want the birds to eat their fruit and distribute the seed; I want to see the birds so I make sure that I enjoy the view of the berries each day knowing that one day the inevitable will happen. After all, my feathered friends provide me with so much joy and amusement the year round and not just for a few weeks.
We now move into September and there is still so much to do and that can be done in the garden. Vegetable gardening in September is still a pleasure as is enjoying the late show of followers in the flower garden.
There is one tree in the garden that is showing autumn colour but I noticed last week that just six miles up the road there was a street lined with Acers and parts of the trees were already in full autumn glory.
This week’s garden diary is about Nectar Bars and Berries