The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Growums seed gardening kit for kids review

9 days ago indoor seed starting, kids

I am a sucker for kids seed growing kits especially when I pass by them on clearance.  The one I found was the Growums Herb Seed Kit at Lowes on clearance for $2.49, though typically they run for $5 so not a bad price at retail.

The kit includes 8 peat pots, bottom watering container to hold them, and ~20 seeds of basil, cilantro, oregano, parsley (each with matching labels for each peat pot with colorful characters on them. 

It also came with a secret code that gives you access to an online site where the kids can watch for directions on how to start their plants and some additional advice on topics such as watering and pest control in short animated videos which had a bit of a Veggie Tales feel to them (minus the religious stories)  The site also features a few garden related games for the kids to play.

Overall I like the design of the planter as it is very easy to setup basically place it on a sturdy container (cake/pie pan) and add a cup or so of water and watch the peat pots grow and plant 3 seeds in each pot and then water as needed and bring outdoors.  I think the online portion is a nice touch to get your kids/grandkids dig a little more into the caring part of the plants versus planting some seeds and heading on their way.  Given this uses standard sized peat pods you can easily use the planter again and again with the remaining seeds or any other variety you choose.

Along with the “herb garden” we got they also offer a “taco garden”, “salad garden”, “pizza garden”, “ratatouille garden”, and “stir-fry garden” which offers different selections of seed varieties associated with the theme.

When to start your vegetable seeds

1 month ago cheap, indoor growbox, indoor seed starting, seedling, seeds

The most difficult part of starting a vegetable garden is getting your schedule down to ensure that start your vegetable seeds with enough lead time that they are mature enough to venture outside but also not so large they take over your growing area.

Personally this has been a difficult part for me where I am really good getting the early vegetables started on time (onions, peppers, tomatoes) but when it comes to the later plants and/or second/third plantings is where I begin to get forgetful.  Over the years I have come across a couple of great tools to make this easier that I thought I would share.

No matter which option you choose you will need to determine an important date, your last frost date. There are many sites/tables out there that will give an estimate I actually have a couple posts on the subject but at the moment my favorite site that makes this very easy is WeatherSpark, it uses historical data with great visuals to easily determine when the best probability of picking the right date. Here you can take a look at this historical data and make your call of what date you think will be safe.

1. Create a garden schedule.  Just by figuring out your last frost date and doing a little math (Excel works great for this) you can determine the optimal seed starting dates and even get a general idea of when your plants should be ready for transplanting.  What I love about this technique is you can tweak it each year as things worked well (or not so well) in previous years to get the schedule finely tuned to your particular garden and the micro-climates within it.

In addition knowing an estimate of when these plants will be venturing out in the wild can assist in your space planning for your seeding area as well as having a reality check if you see your peppers will be ready to be transplanted in March when it doesn’t get above freezing until mid-June.

Here is my schedule for my area and estimated last frost date (April 20th), though sure everyone that is reading this will not have the same date as mine so thanks to my infinite nerdiness I made the following table so you can adjust the “Last Frost Date” to yours and see how my schedule would look in your area.

* N/A because vegetables should be sown directly in the ground.

2. Create a garden plan online and get reminders.  My favorite online vegetable gardening software is GrowVeg.  It is very easy to use and provides some great visuals when to specifically plant seeds and transplant your seedlings outdoors, which you can see below.

In addition you also can recreate a virtual copy of your garden and plan exactly where you want to plant your vegetables, to ensure your ambitions for growing a huge crop this year does not exceed the reality of the limited space you have to actually grow.  It also remembers where you planted vegetables in previous years to help enforce crop rotation to ensure pests/diseases will be forced to remain in check.

Though one of my favorite features is the weekly reminders, once a week you get a simple email letting you know what plants you should be starting/transplanting that week.  This was very helpful later in the season where I probably would have completely forgotten about my carrots without this helpful reminder.

3. Buy a garden planning book.  If you want something that you can really get your hands on you might want to check out the Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook helps with this problem by providing weekly reminders of what vegetables you should be order/planting and what preparations you should be doing in your garden.  This can be a very helpful tool in getting a little more organized in your vegetable garden.

Already falling behind on your seed planting here are a few great options to get a great selection of seeds without spending a lot of money:

• The name is not too exciting but Generic Seeds offers no thrills packaging with quality seeds and very reasonable prices and if you spend $20 or more shipping is on them.
• Another of my favorites is Park Seeds, they have been around since 1858 and definitely know their stuff. They actually have seed sale going on right now and have a great selection of organic seeds and also offer frequent web specials where you can find some killer deals. You might want to get on their free mailing list where they send out pretty good gardening tips but also frequent coupon codes and special deals.

Indoor gardening with 2 liter bottle and USB LED light

1 month ago indoor growbox, indoor seed starting, LEDs

I came across this pretty cool Kickstarter from Vegetronix where they are putting together a neat little kit that includes an adjustable 1 watt that can plug into any USB port on your computer.  All you need to supply is an old 2 liter bottle and you have a nicely contained growing environment.

Personally, I think this could make an awesome addition to my windowless office and bring a little plant life to my personal space.

If the Vegetronix name sounds familiar, I use their moisture sensors in my grow box which I wrote here.

Things to know before making home garden greenhouse

1 month ago greenhouse, indoor growbox, indoor seed starting

There are so many options these days when you decide to own a greenhouse. You can buy a lot of greenhouse structures and modify them or just do-it-yourself. Also there are guides for you to build your own greenhouse. These guides are available on the net, and also on print.

But before you start, you first need to decide on what you need. It is also important to know or understand what you can build and what you want to grow.

Other important aspect that needs to be considered is the expenditure and the climate of your region. Space that you have at your disposal is also one of the key factors. Mentioned below are some of the things you must know before you start your dream project.

1. Location:

Always try to place your greenhouse in such a spot that enjoys a lot of sunshine. It is better that there are no shady trees around. This will have two benefits, during storms the chances of branches falling on your greenhouse is nullified, and shade from the trees will not affect the heating up of your greenhouse. More importantly shedding of the leaves from these plants can prove to be a problem to the greenhouse too.

In case the greenhouse tends to overheat, using a cover or painting it can be good options.

2. Cleaning:

If you are planning to reuse your old greenhouse or even set up your new one, make sure to clean and scrub all windows and glass parts. Also clean the outer surface. Using brown soap for cleaning seems to be the best option. In case you are cleaning the old one make sure to remove insect protections if any before the cleaning jobs starts.

3. Temperature:

The temperature in the greenhouse should range between 77 degrees F (25 degrees C) and 59 degrees F (15 degree Celsius) on the positive side. There can be lots of options to heat your greenhouse, which is very essential for the success of a greenhouse. Electrical heaters, oil or wood fuelled ones are also available with the gas powered ones; but all these heating systems particularly the last three must be ventilated to the outside properly.

These days passive solar green heating options are also available which are very much environment friendly as well. They also have a heat sink which stores the heat and uses it to heat the structure during the dark phase.

The heat needed in the greenhouse is proportional to the size of the greenhouse and also varies with the crops. Consult a professional to help you calculate the proper temperature to be maintained.

4. Ventilation:

Proper ventilation of the greenhouse is extremely important.

Ventilation will circulate air inside the greenhouse and fresh air is necessary for proper plant growth. Stale air is not conducive for proper plant growth.

5. Insulation:

Insulating the greenhouse is very important for it to function properly. The structure need to be airtight in order to bring in the best result.

6. Moisture:

The moisture inside the greenhouse needs to be maintained along with a good drainage. Overwatering and under-watering can both be harmful to the plants. So make sure to have the right amount of water, and a good drainage to ensure that its does not remain water-logged. Automated water sprinklers can be very useful. Rainwater harvesting and recycling can be environment friendly options.

7. Protection:

Protecting the plants from pests and other elements need to be one of the priorities. Make sure to use good quality soil, and treating them before use, and also use pesticides and fungicides regularly. Bio-pesticides and bio-fungicides will help for greener environment.

8. Fertilizers:

Depending on the soil quality and nutrient choose fertilizers. But do not use excessive fertilizers, as they harm the plants much more. Use bio-fertilizers like compost for best results.

Conclusion:

Take into account the climate you live in and choose the crops accordingly. That will save you a lot of pain. Non-heated greenhouse can be fine, but that will only reduce your choice of crops, and the growing season possibly. Try not to make the green house too low, or the roof flat as that may cause unforeseen trouble, as the roof might cave in at some point of time.

About The Author: Alia is a writer/blogger. She loves writing, travelling and blogging. She contributes in Morris Gad

Plan your garden with Sprout Robot

1.2 years ago gardening software, indoor seed starting, robot, seeds, sprouting

I came across Sprout Robot in the past week, you simply create an account and provide your zip code and it will give you a complete calendar of planting dates as well as follow ups when to expect sprouts to form, when to bring out, harvest etc.

When a new event is coming up you will get an email similar to the one below letting you know what is new to plant that week. 

When you connect to the site you then can “Check-In” and check off the tasks you have completed which get updated with next event for that plant.

They also have an option where they will even send out organic seeds just in time for planting in your area starting at $19.99 a year, though personally I have plenty of seeds saved for at a couple of years in my refrigerator.

Using GrowVeg to discover new vegetables to grow

1.2 years ago gardening software, growveg, indoor seed starting

It seems like every year there is something I decide I want to grow in my garden only to discover I am a couple months late to get started.  In the past season this was brussel sprouts, I had grand visions of growing them this winter only to discover I should have started the seeds back in March…

I got a great idea when I was planning this years garden in GrowVeg where I simply created a plot and just dropped in each vegetable that I typically eat and enjoy regardless is I have grown them in the past or plan to in the future.

This way when the time comes when I should be planting these I will see this on the chart I printed out and get a reminder email in my mailbox from GrowVeg I can make this impulse decision to get seeds and start these plants at a time where I can still be successful.

Just by doing this exercise I have decided to consider fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, parsnips, and sweet potatoes.  Sure many of these may result in utter failures in my cold damp area but at least I can make sure I can start at the right time to give them a fighting chance.