The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Free Vegetable Seeds

11.3 years ago cheap, free, seed exchange, seed saving, seeds 4 Comments

Free Vegetable Seeds

Ask your coworkers: Are any of your coworkers gardeners? Setup a seed swap at lunch and/or see if they want to go in on a seed order and split up some seed packets for varieties you only need a few seeds.
Harvest your own seeds: I typically grow at least one or two cilantro and pea plants to collect seeds from for the next year . Notice your neighbor has some neglected plants going to seed? Ask if you can get some they may even look at this as free weeding (important part is to ask though)
Get seeds from the grocery store: Before putting those vegetables in the compost bin, set the seeds aside to let them dry and you got some free seeds. The riper the fruit/vegetable the better results you may have on fertility here so shortest time between picking at getting up for sale will yield the best results. So look for local fruits and vegetables or even better visit your local farmers market.
Get free vegetable seeds from the US Government: Have a little experiment or study you want to conduct and report the results on your blog? Check out the National Plant Germplasm System from the US Department of Agriculture. Within a database of over 10,000 species of plants you are sure to find some vegetables for your experiments. Even shipping is included though can be time consuming to find what you are looking for.
Check your spice rack: In many cases you can plant seeds from your spice rack. Just look for words like “raw” anything that has been “roasted” will probably not yield positive results. Some ideas, mustard seed, dill seed, coriander, poppy seed, celery seed. If your spice rack is lacking you can pay a few cents buy a teaspoon of organic spices in bulk, last time I bought dill seeds got about 100 seeds for $0.05 which is a significant saving over paying $2-3 for an envelope of seeds.
Seed swap web sites: Below I have listed a few links where you can share seeds with others. This is a great way to find some heirloom seeds you might not be able to find in stores/seed catalogs. In many cases people will offer seeds for free by just sending a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) Just remember to pay it forward when you come into a plethora of seeds yourself after this years harvest.

If this is all seems like too much effort you can just buy some very inexpensive seeds online where you can check out some of my personal favorites in my “Cheap vegetable seeds” post

Site unpacking after our move

11.3 years ago Uncategorized Leave a comment

Well finally my level of frustration for poor performance, support, and site availability overcame my laziness for moving my site I finally pulled the trigger and made the move to a new hosting provider. Hopefully you will find things running a little smoother and while I was add it doing some work to make performance even better and cleaning up some broken images/links while I am at it.

Though it is still pretty cold outside the grow box is running warm and am excited to start filling it up, so stay tuned for more content…

Indoor gardening with 2 liter bottle and USB LED light

11.3 years ago indoor growbox, indoor seed starting, LEDs 1 Comment

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.

How to grow brussel sprouts

11.3 years ago brussel sprouts Leave a comment

This past year I started something new in my garden, I attempted to grow brussel sprouts. In my area these plants are very hearty throughout winter. What I discovered is growing brussel sprouts is truly and exercise of patience.

I started by starting my seeds around September of last year and let them grow all winter in the grow box until springtime came and I moved the strongest plant out into the main garden. I then did pretty much nothing, just ignored it, maybe gave it some water when I was watering other plants but just let it be.

Sometime in later August I did see some sort of insects bothering the plant but a quick high pressure spray of the hose seemed to take care of that problem.

Finally by this last Thanksgiving (over a year later) I had a full crop of brussel sprouts to enjoy with my Thanksgiving feast. In case you were curious I did a paleoish brussel sprout recipe for these and they were delicious.

So in the end if you have some extra patience and space in your garden you might want to give brussel sprouts a try, though for me I seem to be lacking both of these and next year will just buy mine on the stalk at Trader Joes or my local farmers market…

Things to know before making home garden greenhouse

11.4 years ago greenhouse, indoor growbox, indoor seed starting Leave a comment

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

2012 Gardening wish list

11.4 years ago gardener, gifts 2 Comments

Maybe you are looking for something to add to your Christmas list or a fellow gardener you still need to buy for here are a few items on my list…let me know if anyone needs my address (smile).

	Though my homemade computerized grow box works pretty good there is something appealing about having something like this Indoor Grow Tent to provide some more growing space and also clean things up in my growing area in my garage and well as improve the light efficiency with the light reflective properties of the sides of the grow tent.
	Even with my grow box I am always running out of room for my seedlings each winter/spring so having an extra Seedling Heat Mat is a pretty inexpensive way to start some seeds with just the cost of a seedling mat and cheap seed flat you can enable a head start to your garden.
	For many years I did most of my gardening squatting down or hunched over now I am getting order I can not maintain these positions as long as before so the addition of a classic kneeling gardening cushion can be just the thing to save my knees as well as my back during prolonged weeding and planting.
	I have mentioned the book “All New Square Foot Gardening” at least a few times previously and do already own a copy and is a great resource which I turn back to at least once per season. This is on my list to pick up for friends and family just starting out with gardening as a gift this season.
	I originally purchased this same set of kid friendly gardening tools when my oldest daughter (11 now) was just barely walking. Now with our third daughter using them (almost 2) they have held up well but probably is about time to get a new pair. Not only does this give the kiddos their own tools to “help” in the garden but I must say these are actually quite functional to do a little weeding or minor digging when in a pinch, which I have done at least in a few occasions.
	No matter how carefully I plan each year I always seem to miss some dates on either ordering seeds on time or getting seeds into the ground. 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.