Anyone who can dig a hole can grow a salsa garden. Imagine picking fresh wholesome organic vegetables and herbs that you grew from seeds and transplants. Now imagine turning them into the world’s best homemade salsa. Can you taste it! Growing a salsa garden brings family and friends together. It is a wonderful way to beat stress and tap your creativity on so many levels. Let’s grow, it is time to get your hands dirty.

Step One: What Kind of Salsa Do You Like?

1. Do you like tomatoes?
2. Do you like hot, mild or sweet peppers?
3. Do you like the tartness of a tomatillo?
4. Do you like cilantro?
5. Do you like basil?
6. Do you like onions, garlic and chives?
7. Do you like fruit chunks in it?
8. Do you want it to be colorful as in yellow, orange, purple or red tomatoes?
9. Do you want the peppers to come in green, yellow, red, orange or purple colors?

Step Two: Where Will You Plant Your Salsa Garden?

Sunlight:

Garden Size:

No Land:

Step Three: What Will You Grow in Your Salsa Garden?

Pick the Plants:

Plant Limit:

1. Red Tomato
2. Yellow Tomato
3. Jalapeno Pepper
4. Sweet Banana Pepper
5. Tomatillo
6. Cilantro
7. Large Leaf Italian Basil
8. Chives
9. Onions

Step Four: Digging and Turning the Garden

Measure the Plot:

Remove the Grass:

Loosen the Soil:

Step Five: Preparing the Garden Soil

Don’t Worry: This is the easiest part. It is also the part where people start saying things like soil test, alkalinity, clay soil, compost and lots of other garden terms. Forget them. All you need to know is the garden will grow if you prepare a decent garden that gets at least 6 full hours of direct sunlight. Buy Garden Soil: You have already dug the garden. Now you need to go to your local home improvement center and buy at least 4 bags of garden soil. Do not buy TOP SOIL , buy GARDEN SOIL. It will say it right on the bag. Buy what every kind of garden soil you want. It doesn’t matter. You can buy moisture control, with or without fertilizer, name brand or whatever. Just remember you are preparing the garden soil by buying garden soil. The bags should say 1 cubic foot on them. You can buy more than four bags if you wish. The more the merrier. Buy Fertilizer: You will also need to buy some fertilizer. You can ask for a box of tomato fertilizer. You do not need the big 40 lb bag of fertilizer. It’s the size of a box of instant mash potatoes. That is all you will need for a 4 ft. x 4 ft. salsa garden. Spread the Fertilizer: Now that you have your supplies, it’s time to finish preparing your garden. Take 3 or 4 handfuls of the fertilizer and spread it directly over your freshly turned garden before you put down the garden soil you just purchased. Dump the Garden Soil: Now simply toss the bags of garden soil onto your garden in an even row. Open the bags and dump the bags out. Keep about 1/4 of a bag of the garden soil for starting seeds. We will discuss seedlings in another step. Roughly rake the soil across the garden. Fertilize Again: After you have dumped the bags out, take another 3 or 4 handfuls of fertilizer and spread it evenly over the garden. You’ll have to turn the garden over one more time to mix the new garden soil with the standard earth. Rake, Break and Mound: If the soil is clumpy you should break up the clumps. A clump is measured as the size of a meatball or larger. Anything smaller, don’t worry about it. Finally, use a rake to mound the garden. Rake the edges of the garden towards the middle of the garden. The middle should be about 6-10 inches higher than the edges of the garden. If mounding is too hard, well just rake it flat. Your salsa garden is now ready to be planted.

Step Six: Purchasing Plants and Seeds Tomatoes, Peppers and Tomatillos: You can easily find pepper and tomato transplants at your local home improvement store or garden center. Tomatillos are harder to find. I recommend buying tomato, pepper and tomatillo transplants. If you can’t find tomatillo transplants then you will have to buy seeds. Only buy green plants. The leaves should be completely green. Sometimes you find yellow or purplish colors mixed on the leaves. Sometimes the leaves are spotted. These colors changes are all due to some sort of nutritional deficiency or water problems. The plants should be perfectly green. Other Plants: You can buy the plants below as seeds, transplants or bulbs. I will suggest the best way to purchase them but you do have a choice. Cilantro Large Leaf Italian Basil Chives Onions Cilantro is best purchased as seeds. You will need to buy 2 or 3 packs because you will need to plant them every 2 weeks. Basil is best purchased as seeds. You should also buy 2 or 3 packs of the variety of basil you like. Chives are best bought as transplants in the herb section of you local garden shop. Chives don’t grow nearly as fast as cilantro or basil so you will want use a transplant. They are also a perennial plant and will come back year after year. Onions fall into 2 categories. One is scallions which should be bought as seeds. The other is onion bulbs or sets. These are the onions you buy in the grocery store to eat but in baby size when you plant them into your garden. You can find onion sets where you find seeds. Remember, these are miniature onions about the size of a large marble. They are bulbs. You can buy a bag of 50 for a few dollars. You can use either or both to flavor your salsa. GARDEN TIP THREE: You might as well buy some oregano, thyme or other herb transplants. You will always have room to stuff another herb into your garden. Now you will have an herb and salsa garden.

Step Seven: Starting Seeds Indoors

Six to Eight Weeks:

Containers:

Soil:

Planting Tomatoes, Peppers and Tomatillos Seeds Indoors:

Planting Herb Seeds Indoors:

Cilantro: Plant 1 or 2 cups of cilantro indoors. Put 5 to 10 seeds in each cup and cover with about 1/2 an inch of soil. Just let them grow. You will not thin these plants.

Basil: Plant them just like cilantro.

Chives: Plant 1 or 2 cups of chives indoors. Put 10 to 15 seeds in each cup and cover with about 1/2 an inch of soil. Just let them grow. You will not thin these plants.

Oregano: Plant 1 or 2 cups of oregano indoors. Put 20 to 30 seeds in a cup and cover them with about 1/4 inch of soil. Just let them grow. You will not thin these plants.

Thyme: Plant them just like oregano.

Onions: Onion seeds or bulb sets should be sown directly in the garden.

Garlic: Garlic should be sown directly in the garden.

Watering Your Seedlings:

Where to Set Your Cups:

Step Eight: Planting Your Salsa Garden

When to Plant:

Hardening Off Your Transplants:

First day in the real world:

Put them on the shady side of the house where the will get a little early MORNING sun for about 2 hours. Let them sit in the shade for an additional 4-6 hours. You do not need to be exact. You just want them to get early morning sun. Morning sun isn’t as strong or damaging as afternoon sun.

Second day in the real world:

Put them outside where the will get 2-3 hours of morning sun and then move them to shade for the rest of the day. Don’t forget to bring them in at night.

Third day in the real world:

Put them outside to get a full day’s morning sun 4-5 hours and move them to shade around lunch time. Don’t forget to bring them in at night.

How to Plant:

Location:

Tomatoes and tomatillos will grow the tallest. If the sun spends most of the time on the left side of your garden then you will plant the tomatoes and tomatillos on the far right side of your garden. The tallest plants stay on the opposite side of the garden, from the sun, so the don’t block the sunlight from shorter plants.

Peppers are the second tallest group of plants. They should be planted on the left side of the tomatoes using the example where the sun spends most of the time on the left side of your garden.

The rest of the plants can be planted as seeds or transplants to the left of the peppers. You can follow the directions on the seed packs for help. You really can’t mess up planting herbs, onions and garlic. You just want to make sure the tomatoes, tomatillos and peppers don’t grow to block the sun from them.

Spacing:

Tomatoes and tomatillos need about 2 feet between plants. You can plant two plants per row in a 4 foot garden. Peppers need about 1 1/2 feet between plants. You can plant 2 -3 peppers per row in a 4 foot garden. Don’t worry about being exact, 6 inches either way is fine.

Bulbs need about 2-3 inches between each bulb and seeds will have the directions right on the seed package.

Cilantro and basil plantings can be 6 inches apart. Remember, like the cup planting you used indoors, drop 5 or 10 seeds per planting. Put a hand print in the ground. Drop 5 to 10 seeds into your hand print. Space the hand prints 6 inches apart. Cover with a 1/4 inch of soil.

Oregano, chives, and thyme are perennials. They will come back year after year. They need to be planted with 12 inches between each plant.

Depth:

If you are planting seeds, just follow the seed pack directions. If you are planting bulbs, the depth is about 1 1/2 -2 inches or the length of you index finger will work. Poke you finger into the garden soil and drop the bulb in, root side down, and cover. Remember to space the bulbs about 2-3 inches apart. The bulb will still grow fine even if you plant it upside down.

Tomatoes are vigorous vines that will sprout roots off the stem. Plant the tomato plant to 1/2 the size of the plant below the ground. If your transplant is 6 inches tall then plant the bottom 3 inches of the plant below the ground and leave 3 inches above the ground. Most transplants are 12 inches or taller. In this case, plant the bottom 6 inches of the tomato plant below the ground and leave 6 inches above the ground. Do the same thing for tomatillos. You can even go as far as planting 2/3 of the plant below ground.

Peppers are almost planted the same as tomatoes. For peppers, plant 1/4 of the plants total size below the ground. That would leave 3/4 of the plant above the ground. Pepper transplants are typical 8 inches tall. Plant the bottom 2 inches of the transplant below the ground and leave 6 inches above the ground.

Herbs are very hard to kill. Plant them to the same depth as to how the transplant looks in the cup or container. That is, look at your plant that is in the cup. Keep what ever is above the soil in your cup, above the ground and what ever is below the soil in your cup, below the ground.

Every Two Weeks:

Step Nine: Tending and Picking

Staking the Big Plants:

Watering and Feeding the Garden:

You have planted your herb garden with all your favorite herbs. They are thriving; you are enjoying the zing and zest they are adding to your meals. You’ are also reading all you can about different ways to use them. In fact, you are getting downright passionate about herbs! So… why not make some money with something you love?

It really will not matter whether you are more interested in medicinal herbs or culinary herbs; let me assure you there is a growing market for both of them! There are several ways you can profit from your passion, and it really will not matter which you decide on. What is important is that you start out small.

If you love seeing the new plants spring up from the seeds you sow in spring, and often have more than you can use, then the most obvious choice is to sell seedlings. Lots of people would rather buy healthy seedlings already in pots than grow their own.

Consider which herbs you have the most success with, and which people use the most. Is it basil, that popular and sought-after culinary annual? Perhaps your interest is exotic herbs that are not available locally, or scented herbs for teas. Think about which herbs people would likely use and buy, as well as which are easy to grow, or have multiple uses, like thyme, which is a culinary, medicinal and tea herb that also is a great landscaping plant.

Begin by just letting people – friends, neighbors and family, know you are starting a small home business venture selling organic locally-grown herbs. Word of mouth is often the best advertisement. Put out the word in flyers, or on community bulletin boards, and talk to local businesses to see if they will allow you to post advertisements.

Another way to start selling is to set up a small roadside stand with colorful signage, where your seedlings can be bought on the honor system. You will be pleasantly surprised to find that herb and garden loving customers are very honest about paying.

Investigate whether your area has a farmers market or local flea market, and if so, set up a table there with your plants and seedlings. Lots of people love to visit these weekend markets, and most expect to buy items worth a few dollars. Have some business cards printed up before hand, and give them out to everyone you talk to.

You will need to start your herb plants in late winter or early spring. Start with just one or two varieties and micro-manage them so your crop of seedlings is lush and healthy. A few weeks before you are ready to sell, transplant individual seedlings into pots so they have some time to ‘settle in’. You want satisfied customers who will come back next year to buy from you, and who will also pass the word along.

Next, you could expand into selling your dried herbs, attractively packaged and extolling their freshness and purity. Many people will not be bothered to plant their own herbs, let alone dry them for future use. If you offer herbs organically grown and dried with care from your own garden, you probably will expand your customer base quite a bit.

Visualize watching a bright green hummingbird in your garden moving from flower to flower in search of the tasty nectar within. These beautiful and tiny birds weigh about 2 to 20 grams and are found in a wide variety of environments from the high Andes to lowlands, and from dry desert areas to rainforests. They have slender beaks, extensible tongues, ten primary feathers, and tiny feet suitable for perching but not walking. Hummingbirds can fly straight up, straight down, backwards, left, right, and even upside down. While most birds obtain their flight strength only from the down stroke, hummingbirds have power on the up stroke as well.

Most hummingbirds flap their wings about fifty times a second and have a very fast heartbeat and high body temperature. They feed every ten minutes or so throughout the day and typically consume two-thirds of their body weight in a single day. Their source of nutrition is primarily nectar from flowers, as well as sources of protein from insects and tiny spiders.

The key to attracting hummingbirds to your garden mainly consists of the right type of flowers and places where they can perch and rest during the day, such as trees or large plants. Hummingbirds are guided by visual means and are particularly attracted to certain shades of red. According to The Hummingbird Society, there are several possible explanations for their preference of red blossoms. Given that insects also see nectar, they can be regarded as competitors. Nearly all insects see well in the visible and near-ultraviolet light but poorly in the red end of the spectrum. Also, a red blossom may appear nearly black and unattractive to a number of insects, but not to the hummingbird, which can see the full visible spectrum but also some in the ultraviolet. This makes it less likely that an insect has taken nectar from a red flower. Another likely explanation is that during migration, red blossoms effectively contrast with a green environment more than other colored flowers do.

Hummingbirds are welcomed guests to nearly all gardens. By planting flowering shrubs and plants that are their favored food source, we can easily attract them to become regular visitors to our gardens. Below is a short list of their preferred flowering plants by common name, separated by region:

Southeastern United States:
a. Butterfly Bush
b. Cardinal Flower
c. Coral or Trumpet Honeysuckle
d. Cypress Vine
e. Native Trumpet Creeper
f. Texas Sage

Southwest United States:
a. Indian Paintbrush
b. Lantana
c. Lily of the Nile
d. Mexican Honeysuckle
e. Texas Sage
f. Western Coral Bean

West Coast United States:
a. Beebalm
b. Bottle Brush
c. Cape Fuchsia
d. Colombine
e. Salmonberry
f. Woodland Orchard

Northeastern United States:
a. Blue Lobelia
b. Cardinal Flower
c. Hollyhock
d. Red Morning Glory
e. Salvia
f. Scarlet Sage

Midwest United States:
a. Coral Bells
b. Coral Honeysuckle
c. Foxglove
d. Hosta
e. Impatients
f. Lilac

Even though flowers are the natural means to attract hummingbirds to your garden, man-made feeders filled with a mixture of water and sugar (sucrose) are an essential alternative. Sugar, whether from a flower or a feeder, is a necessary nutrient in a hummingbird’s diet. Tests have shown that hummingbirds favor sucrose in flower nectar more than other sugars such as fructose and glucose. Therefore, with the proper ratio of ingredients, your feeder becomes a good substitute to the flowers that hummingbirds like best.

The formula for the mixture used in hummingbird feeders is 4 parts water (not distilled) to 1 part table sugar. Boil the mixture for one to two minutes, then cool and store in refrigerator. The mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week. Do not use red food coloring, honey, or artificial sweeteners in your mixture, as this could be harmful to the hummingbirds.

If one of your goals is to attract hummingbirds to your garden, a visit to your local nursery is a great starting point. Find an experienced employee who can tell you which species of plants grow well in your area and have a history of successfully attracting hummingbirds. Most importantly, be imaginative and have fun planting and growing your garden to attract beautiful hummingbirds.

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The Secret of Rooting Cuttings

by Michael J. McGroarty

The secret of rooting cuttings can be summed up in two words.

“Timing and technique”.

When you do your cuttings is every bit as important as how you do them. So if you do the right thing, at the right time of the year, your efforts are sure to bring success. Through this article you will learn both.

“Rooting Hardwood Cuttings of Deciduous Plants”

Hardwood cuttings are much more durable than softwood cuttings which is why hardwoods are the best technique for the home gardener. A deciduous plant is a plant that loses it’s leaves during the winter. All plants go dormant during the winter, but evergreens keep their foliage. Many people don’t consider Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and and Mountain Laurel evergreens, but they are. They are known as broad leaf evergreens. Any plant that completely loses it’s leaves is a deciduous plant.

There are three different techniques for rooting cuttings of deciduous plants. Two methods for hardwood cuttings, and one for softwood cuttings. In this article we are only going to discuss rooting cuttings using the hardwood methods. If you are interested in softwood cuttings, you’ll find a very informative article at http://www.freeplants.com

Of the two hardwood techniques is one better than the other? It depends on exactly what you are rooting, what the soil conditions are at your house, and what Mother Nature has up her sleeve for the coming winter.

I have experienced both success and failure using each method. Only experimentation will determine what works best for you. Try some cuttings using each method.

When doing hardwood cuttings of deciduous plants, you should wait until the parent plants are completely dormant. This does not happen until you’ve experienced a good hard freeze where the temperature dips down below 32 degrees F. for a period of several hours. Here in northeastern Ohio this usually occurs around mid November.

Unlike softwood cuttings of deciduous plants, where you only take tip cuttings from the ends of the branches, that rule does not apply to hardwood cuttings of deciduous plants. For instance, a plant such as Forsythia can grow as much as four feet in one season. In that case, you can use all of the current year’s growth to make hardwood cuttings.

You might be able to get six or eight cuttings from one branch. Grapes are extremely vigorous. A grape vine can grow up to ten feet or more in one season. That entire vine can be used for hardwood cuttings. Of course with grape vines, there is considerable space between the buds, so the cuttings have to be much longer than most other deciduous plants. The average length of a hardwood grape vine cutting is about 12” and still only has 3 or 4 buds. The bud spacing on most other deciduous plants is much closer, so the cuttings only need to be about 6- 8” in length.

Making a deciduous hardwood cutting is quite easy. Just collect some branches (known as canes) from the parent plants. Clip these canes into cuttings about 6” long. Of course these canes will not have any leaves on them because the plant is dormant, but if you examine the canes closely you will see little bumps along the cane. These bumps are bud unions. They are next year’s leaf buds or nodes, as they are often called.

When making a hardwood cutting of a deciduous plant it is best to make the cut at the bottom, or the butt end of the cutting just below a node, and make the cut at the top of the cutting about 3/4” above a node. This technique serves two purposes. One, it makes it easier for you to distinguish the top of the cutting from the bottom of the cutting as you handle them. It also aids the cutting in two different ways. Any time you cut a plant above a node, the section of stem left above that node will die back to the top node. So if you were to leave 1/2” of stem below the bottom node, it would just die back anyway. Having that section of dead wood underground is not a good idea. It is only a place for insects and disease to hide.

It is also helpful to actually injure a plant slightly when trying to force it to develop roots. When a plant is injured, it develops a callous over the wound as protection. This callous build up is necessary before roots will develop. Cutting just below a node on the bottom of a cutting causes the plant to develop callous and eventually, roots.

Making the cut on the top of the cutting 3/4” above the node is done so that the 3/4” section of stem above the node will provide protection for the top node. This keeps the buds from being damaged or knocked off during handling and planting. You can press down on the cutting without harming the buds.

When rooting cuttings this way it helps to make the cut at the top of the cutting at an angle. This sheds water away from the cut end of the cutting and helps to reduce the chance of disease. Once you have all of your cuttings made, dip the bottom of the cutting in a rooting compound. Make sure you have the right strength rooting compound (available at most garden stores) for hardwood cuttings. Line them up so the butt ends are even and tie them into bundles.

Select a spot in your garden that is in full sun. Dig a hole about 12” deep and large enough to hold all of the bundles of cuttings. Place the bundles of cuttings in the hole upside down. The butt ends of the cuttings should be up. The butt ends of the cuttings should be about 6” below the surface. Cover the cuttings completely with soil and mark the location with a stake, so you can find them again in the spring.

I know this sounds crazy, but rooting cuttings this way does work. To increase your chances of success you can cover the butt ends of the cuttings with moist peat moss before filling in the hole. Make sure you wet the peat moss thoroughly, then just pack it on the butt ends of the cuttings.

Over the winter the cuttings will develop callous and possibly some roots. Placing them in the hole upside down puts the butt ends closest to the surface, so they can be warmed by the sun, creating favorable conditions for root development. Being upside down also discourages top growth. Leave them alone until about mid spring after the danger of frost has passed.

Over the winter the buds will begin to develop and will be quite tender when you dig them up. Frost could do considerable damage if you dig them and plant them out too early. That’s why it is best to leave them buried until the danger of frost has passed.

Dig them up very carefully, so as not to damage them. Cut open the bundles and examine the butt ends. Hopefully, you will see some callous build up. Even if there is no callous, plant them out anyway. You don’t need a bed of sand or anything special when you plant the cuttings out. Just put them in a sunny location in your garden. Of course the area you chose should be well drained, with good rich topsoil.

To plant the cuttings, just dig a very narrow trench, or using a spade, make a slice by prying open the ground. Place the cuttings in the trench with the butt ends down. Bury about one half of the cutting leaving a few buds above ground. Back fill around the cuttings with loose soil making sure there are no air pockets. Tamp them in lightly, then water thoroughly to eliminate any air pockets.

Water them on a regular basis, but don’t make the soil so wet that they rot. Within a few weeks the cuttings will start to leaf out. Some will more than likely collapse because there are not enough roots to support the plant. The others will develop roots as they leaf out. By fall, the cuttings that survived should be pretty well rooted. You can transplant them once they are dormant, or you can wait until spring. If you wait until spring, make sure you transplant them before they break dormancy.

There really is no exact science when it comes to rooting cuttings, so now I am going to present you with a variation of the above method. This method still applies to hardwood cuttings of deciduous plants. With this variation you do everything exactly the same as you do with the method you just learned, up to the point where you bury them for the winter.

With method number two you don’t bury them at all. Instead, you plant the cuttings out as soon as you make them in the late fall, or anytime during the winter when the ground is not frozen. In other words, you just completely skip the step where you bury the cuttings underground for the winter. Plant them exactly the same way as described for method number one. As with all cuttings, treating them with a rooting compound prior to planting will help induce root growth.

Hardwood cuttings work fairly well for most of the deciduous shrubs. However, they are not likely to work for some of the more refined varieties of deciduous ornamentals like Weeping Cherries or other ornamental trees. Rooting cuttings of ornamental trees is possible, but only using softwood cutting techniques.

Now let’s discuss rooting cuttings of evergreens, using hardwood techniques.

Hardwood cuttings of evergreens are usually done after you have experienced two heavy frosts in the late fall, around mid November or so. However, I have obtained good results with some plants doing them as early as mid September, taking advantage of the warmth of the fall sun. When doing them is early, they need to be watered everyday.

Try some cuttings early and if they do poorly, just do some more in November. Hardwood cuttings of many evergreens can be done at home in a simple frame filled with coarse sand.

To make such a frame, just make a square or rectangular frame using 2” by 6” boards. Nail the four corners together as if to make a large picture frame. This frame should sit on top of the ground in an area that is well drained. An area of partial shade is preferred.

Once you have the frame constructed remove any weeds or grass inside the frame so this vegetation does not grow up through your propagation bed. Fill this frame with a very coarse grade of sand. The sand used in swimming pool filters usually works. Mason’s sand is a little too fine. If you have a sand and gravel yard in your area visit the site and inspect the sand piles. Find a grade that is a little more coarse than masons sand. But keep in mind that most any sand will work, so just pick one that you think is coarse enough. If water runs through it easily, it’s coarse enough.

Make sure you place your frame in area where the water can drain through the sand, and out of the frame. In other words, don’t select a soggy area for your cutting bed. Standing water is sure to seriously hamper your results.

Making the evergreen cuttings is easy. Just clip a cutting 4-5 inches in length from the parent plant. Make tip cuttings only. (Only one cutting from each branch.) Strip the needles or leaves from the bottom one half to two thirds of the cutting. Wounding evergreen cuttings isn’t usually necessary because removing the leaves or needles causes enough injury for callous build up and root development.

Dip the butt ends of the cuttings in a powder or liquid rooting compound and stick them in the sand about 3/4” to 1” apart. Keep them watered throughout the fall until cool temperatures set in. If you have some warm dry days over the winter, make sure you water your cuttings. Keep in mind that sand in a raised bed will dry out very quickly. Don’t worry about snow. Snow covering your cuttings is just fine, it will actually keep them moist, and protect them from harsh winter winds.

Start watering again in the spring and throughout the summer. They don’t need a lot of water, but be careful not to let them dry out, and at the same time making sure they are not soaking wet.

This method of rooting cuttings of evergreens actually works very well, but it does take some time. You should leave them in the frame for a period of twelve months. You can leave them longer if you like. Leaving them until the following spring would be just fine. They should develop more roots over the winter.

Rooting cuttings of the following plants is very easy using this method. variegated Euonymus varieties, Taxus, Juniper, Arborvitae, Japanese Holly, Boxwood, and English Holly. Rhododendrons and Azaleas prefer to have their bottoms warmed before they root.

A perfect recipe for new gardeners to get you growing

Garden dirt or soil is one of those things that can be discussed and detailed to death. The dirt discussion can be so overwhelming, it turns off potential new gardeners. Do we call it dirt or soil? It doesn’t matter. Plants want to grow. They will grow if you get them into the ground and surround them with pretty good earth. I mean soil or should I say loam.

A Basic Garden Dirt or Soil Recipe

by Gary Pilarchik LCSW-C

It is easy to get overwhelmed when building your first garden. This recipe is designed to simplify soil and remove a barrier that can prevent people from becoming gardeners. This is not a scientific recipe. It will not go into detail about all the aspects of perfect garden soil. This recipe should be adapted to fit the site you grow your vegetables on. The basic recipe is based on a 4 ft. X 8 ft. garden with 6 inch raised sides.

Understanding Dirt

Vegetables will grow in dirt, soil, earth or loam. Whatever it is called, vegetables will grow. The idea is to give them a good basic growing medium so the vegetables can grow to their fullest potential without being stressed. I call it soil. I call it soil because it is simple. Take a look at the definition for loam from the website Free Dictionary. It uses the word soil to define loam. Why not just say soil? You could say loamy earth if you enjoy complexity. Dirt does not need to be complex.

loam (lm)

n.

1. Soil composed of a mixture of sand, clay, silt, and organic matter.

2. A mixture of moist clay and sand, and often straw, used especially in making bricks and foundry molds.

tr.v. loamed, loam·ing, loams

To fill, cover, or coat with loam.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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loam

Noun

fertile soil consisting of sand, clay, and decaying organic material [Old English lām]

loamy adj

Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006

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loam (lm)

Soil composed of approximately equal quantities of sand, silt, and clay, often with variable amounts of decayed plant matter.

I can’t imagine trying to create a soil with equal parts of sand, silt, clay and organic matter from the get go. Maybe that’s why I don’t have loam in my garden. I have dirt which I proudly call soil. It is not possible from the start nor is it practical to think perfection in the way of a vegetable garden’s dirt. Great garden soil is created and improved over time. This recipe will give the basic ingredients and direction need to get started and growing. The only thing to understand about dirt is that once you start amending, you now need to proudly call it soil. Soil is what you are building for your garden.

Here is the evolution of events to turn dirt into soil. Before a garden is dug there is only dirt. It is untouched. It will vary in quality. As a gardener, you amend your dirt and this creates a basic soil. Over time gardeners further amend the soil and improve it. Amending is the act of improving the basic dirt in your local area. Perhaps one day you will create loam as defined above. Realistically, you will just create better soil that has tons of organic matter in it.

Building Garden Soil: The Basic Ingredients

Garden soil is built by turning the existing dirt and adding the following ingredients:
•Premium Topsoil

•Garden Soil

•Peat Moss

•Lime

•10-10-10 fertilizer

•Organic matter & more organic matter & more organic matter

Some thing to keep in mind is purchasing the right product. Basic topsoil is sold in 40 pound bags. Do not buy basic topsoil, it can be garbage. It is typically wet clay and sand. Purchase premium topsoil. The premium is the addition of some sort of organic matter. Premium topsoil bags are labeled with various weights or measurements depending on the brand that is purchased. However, it usually only comes in one bag size.

Garden soil is a better blend of materials and it is prepared specifically for the garden. It is typically balanced and anything planted in it will grow wonderfully. I suggest the use of both premium topsoil and garden soil as a way to save some money. Premium topsoil is typically cheaper. Garden soil comes in 1 or 2 cubic ft. bags. It will say garden soil right on the bag.

The peat moss is added as the organic matter and moisture holding agent. Peat moss comes in large and small square bails. This is the initial organic matter for your garden. Organic matter is something that should be added forever to a garden as it is available. This typically comes in the way of grass clippings for many gardeners.

Lime is used to provide calcium and magnesium to the soil and it helps balance the PH of the soil. Many articles go into details about PH. The basic goal is to have a mid range/neutral PH level for garden soil. Peat moss is naturally acidic and lime is naturally alkaline. Mixing the two together will help them neutralize each other. A web search will provide all kinds of information about PH soil testing and PH levels vegetables prefer. I suggest doing that in the winter when there isn’t much to do for a gardener.

The fertilizer is added to provide nutrients. I suggest buying the cheapest bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer available. If you want to go purely organic, you can fertilize to you standard. The goal is to prepare the garden soil with a growing season worth of nutrients.

A 4 ft. x 8 ft. area with 6 inch sides or mounded to 6 inches above ground level requires the following for amending purposes:

•8-12 bags of premium topsoil (standard bag)

•8 bags of Garden Soil (2 cubic ft. bag)

•Peat Moss (large bail)

•Lime (40 lb pulverized bag)

•10-10-10 fertilizer (20 lb bag)

Building the Garden Soil: Amending the Garden Plot

The true first step is to remove the grass or spray the grass with a standard salt grass killer. I have done both depending on the type of plot I am designing. Once the grass has been managed, the following steps should be followed.

Step One

Turn the existing dirt or earth to at least 12 inches. I have suggested going as far as 18 to 24 inches in a Knol about creating raised beds gardens. The idea is to create loose soil, at a good depth, for the roots of the vegetables to easily grow through to find nutrients and moisture. Any clumps should be broken up by hand. I define a clump as larger than a basic meatball. You can use your judgment.

Step Two

Now there really isn’t a wrong way to amend your turned plot. I have describe different methods for preparing the soil if you are using containers, creating raised beds or making a layered “lasagna” garden in other Knols. The principle is essentially the same. You are adding better amendments to the garden. The variations in the different preparation depends more on the needs of the vegetables and the amount of work desired by the gardener.

Peat moss is very light and it is your organic matter. I suggest mixing it into the turned earth. The bail should be open and spread evenly across the garden plot. Add anywhere from four to six 8 oz. cups of pulverized lime evenly across the top of the peat moss. Mix the lime a peat moss together by hand or with a rake. Once mixed, spread three or four 8 oz cups of fertilizer evenly across the garden. Turn the garden one more time and mix the layer old dirt (the earth you turned) with the peat moss. The peat moss gets mixed into the bottom layer. You could save some and mix it into the top layer where your seeds and plant will go. However, you are using premium bags of top soil and garden soil and they will have a good mix of organic matter in them for the first year.

Step Three

Evenly mix and spread the bags of premium top soil and garden soil over your plot. This should raise the garden to the top of the wood box if you are using a raised bed. You should give it one more turn to about 12 inches. You want to blend the top layer with the bottom layer by at least a few inches. You want to mix the layers enough so you don’t have problems with water. Though rare, depending on your layers you could have a bottom layer that doesn’t quickly absorb water (clay) and this creates a pooling effect. You get a pool of water that makes the top layer a soggy mess. Blending the layers takes care of this rare problem.

Step Four

Spread two 8 oz cups of 10-10-10 fertilizer across the top of your garden area and rake it in to a few inches. If you have grass clippings, you can begin using them as a mulch over the gardening season. The clippings will become your future organic matter and will get turned into the garden the following year.

Soil Summary

Don’t letter preparing a garden keep you from starting a garden. This Knol is to help you get the dirt out of the way and get you into planting and growing vegetables. There is nothing exact about this recipe. The key of importance is that you created about 2 feet of garden grade soil to grow your plants in. That is exactly what they need. Great job.

Photo taken from my own garden in Texas. These are Chocolate Morning Glories that I grew from seeds Yes, even Morning Glories root fast to make new plants!
Visit Our Seed Store click here!

Cuttings are often fun and easy to make. I have made many plants from cuttings over the years. Each Spring I start my cuttings from parent plants that I like the most. I have sold many plants doing just that online and on Craig’s List. Try it.. it saves so much money plus make some extra cash too!

When taking cuttings, place them into a plastic bag until you are ready to plant them. The bag helps to retain moisture and helps to keep them fresh.
Stem Cuttings: – These are pieces of growth taken from the aerial parts of the parent plant, and can be either side shoots or the tips of main shoots. They may be soft wood, half-ripened wood or ripe wood. Soft woodcuttings are taken from young tender growth of the current season; half-ripened cuttings are made from semi-ripened wood that has been grown for some time and become slightly woody or firm; ripe wood cuttings or hard wood cuttings are made from mature wood at the end of the growing season and are chiefly used for the propagation of trees and shrubs.

All stem cuttings are prepared by removing the lower leaves, and then cutting straight across the stem, just below a joint or node. The cutting should be about 3 inch (7.5cm) long. In the case of ripe wood cuttings they can be made with a “heel” of the older wood attached at the base and be up to 10 or 12 inch (25-30cm) long.

Inserting the Cuttings

No mater how well the preparation of the cuttings is, they will not root properly unless they are inserted correctly. When the cutting is made it causes a wound, which must heal and in doing this new tissue is formed to cover the damaged area. Under favourable conditions the wound will heal and grow roots and so provides a means to continue a separate existence.

Sometimes cuttings will put too much effort into healing the damage at the expense of root formation. They may appear to be growing yet will not produce roots. High soil temperatures, or a coarse rooting medium may cause this. Open and coarse planting mediums allow too much air to penetrate to the base of the cutting. The use of very coarse sand has been found to create such development problems.

Leaf-bud Cuttings: – These are made from half-ripened wood and consist of one leaf
with a dormant bud at its base and also a portion of the stem. They are planted in the same way as stem cuttings, but with the leaf and bud just above the surface of the rooting medium. This type of cutting is used particularly for the propagation of camellias and some other evergreens. It has the advantage of providing a greater number of young plants from one piece of growth than are by stem cuttings.

Bud or Eye Cuttings: – These are similar to leaf-bud cuttings but with no leaf attached, and are made from dormant ripened wood in autumn or winter. Ornamental and fruiting vines are propagated from this type of cutting. Make each cutting of woody stem with a single dormant bud or eye about 1/2 inch (38mm) long. Take off a strip of bark and wood on the side opposite to the bud, and then insert the cutting on its own in a small pot of potting compost with the bud just at soil level.

Leaf Cuttings: – Many plants can be propagated from leaf cuttings these include
Begonias, gloxinias, saintpaulias, streptocarpus and echeverias. Remove the leaf from the parent plant with the leaf stem attached and, after cutting the end of the stem cleanly, insert it into the compost or sand so that the leaf blade lies flat along the surface. After the roots have formed a young plantlet will grow from the base of the cut leaf stalk.

Root Cuttings: – There are several plants both shrubby and herbaceous that can be
propagated by root cuttings; perennial phlox, verbascum, hollyhock, romneya,
eryngium, gaillardia, anchusa and Oriental poppy to name a few. Lift a complete plant during the dormant period and cut sections of the fleshy roots into pieces about 2 to 3 inch (5-7.5cm) long. Insert the root cuttings into pots or new planting locations. Large quantities of cuttings of the same kind can be tied into bundles and placed in sand or soil to root.

Pipings: – using pieces of the young tip growth called pipings easily propagates
Carnation and pinks. This type of cutting does not require trimming. Hold the growth or shoot in one hand and then pull out the tip of the shoot with the other hand. Insert the shoot in sandy soil around the edge of a pot and place in a sheltered location. Alternatively place shoots into a jar of water. The water should cover only the lower third of the shoot, allow roots to form before planting.

Division: – This is the simplest method of increasing stock, particularly when it is not
possible or wise to propagate by seeds. Many plants require a shoot or young growth
with roots attached in order to form another plant that will be exactly the same as the parent.

The division of most plants is carried out during early spring when growth is active, and it is only necessary to retain sufficient rhizome or underground stem to supply the immediate needs of the divided portion until it has become established. Shrubby plants can only be divided if they have a compact habit and produce new growth by branching or making suckers from below ground.

Tubers: – Tuberous-rooted plants, such as peonies, require special treatment and
careful handling when being divided.

I sell seeds on line and thought others may be interested in learning how to do the same thing. This is information to get you started in a home business using a hobby that you love!

There are several online venues and I suggest you use as many of them as possible. Online auctions such as ebay can be quite profitable. Ebay selling involves fees to list, fees taken when the item sells, and store fees if you have an ebay store. Prices for the products have to be high enough to cover the fees and still leave some left over to make you money. There are protections on Ebay for buyers and sellers and once you’ve earned a reputation as a decent seller to deal with, more customers are attracted.


Online stores are a fantastic way of selling online. There is many free trials to get your feet wet. Here are a few that I really like. You can click any of these with a free trial
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Many website builders and hosting companies offer free domains with the deal but If you need a domain name www.GoDaddy.com is a really good company to use. I have most of my domains there. They are always running good sales at Go Daddy.
Social Media- To get your website on the map!

No matter what way you sell online, if you haven’t all ready created a Paypal account, I highly suggest you do so. I like the convenience of it as well as the protection. Customers can pay with their accounts, their credit card or checking account, even without a Paypal account. It is essentially guaranteed money. You don’t ship until the payment clears. They also charge a small fee per transaction but it is more than worth it. It is absolutely essential to have Paypal if plan to sell internationally. If you sell to someone in Europe, they pay with Euros and you get paid in dollars. Selling to the world increases customer base…by a lot. I’ve shipped seeds all over the world and sometimes, international sales outpace domestic ones. It definitely is a good idea to sell internationally. Lately, I have been selling in the USA only because I do not have the time to go inside the post office. Printing my postage online and dropping it off in the post office box saves me a lot of time.

Whichever venue(s) you choose, spend some time investigating how other sellers set up their listings and what price they are asking for their plants and seeds. Then decide what you will ask for your products. What do you put in the listings? Information such as life cycle (annual, biennial, perennial), latin name, which USDA zones will it do well in (can be found on the web), a description of the plant and flowers, how tall will it grow, light, water, and soil requirements, and it’s uses.


One thing that is absolutely necessary when listing plants and seeds is pictures. Good pictures sell the plant for you. If it flowers, catch it in bloom. If it is just ornamental, catch it when it is at its best. Tomato pictures should include the whole tomato and one sliced open. There are sites on the web to obtain pictures but you shouldn’t take someone’s photos without their permission and particularly if they are copyrighted. All the selling sites I have mentioned have some way of uploading pictures. You can take regular photographs and scan them in or the easiest way is to have a digital camera. The photos can be manipulated in any way you wish, made larger, smaller, text included, etc, and they are easily uploaded to the sites.

Vegetable gardening has lately become just as popular as going to the grocery store fore produce. Vegetable gardening can produce vegetable that are usually cheaper than store bought, and vegetables from a home vegetable garden definitely taste better by far. Vegetable gardening is no different than growing herbs or flowers and if the proper steps are taken and the plants are give the proper care they will flourish and produce very tasty vegetables.

First you must decide what size of garden you wish to plant and then select a place for it; somewhere that has good drainage, good air flow, and good, deep soil. It also needs to be able to get as much sunlight as possible. Because vegetable gardens have such tasty rewards, many animals, such as dogs, rabbits, deer, and many others will try and get to your veggies. One way to prevent this is to surround your garden with a fence, or put out a trap to catch mice, moles, and other animals.

Before planting, the soil must be properly prepared. Good soil for vegetable gardening is achieved by cultivation and the application of organic materials. The soil must be tilled (plowed) to control weeds and mix mulch into the soil. If you have a small garden, spading could be a better bet than plowing. Mulching is also a vital part of soil preparation. Organic matter added to the soil releases nitrogen, minerals, and other nutrients plants need to thrive. The most popular and best type of mulch you can use is compost. While the kind and amount of fertilizer used depends on the soil and types of plants, there are some plants that have specific needs; leafy plants, like cabbage, spinach, and lettuce usually grow better with more nitrogen, while root crops like potatoes, beets, turnips, and carrots require more potash. Tomatoes and beans use less fertilizer, while plants like onions, celery, and potatoes need a larger amount.

One thing that is vitally important in vegetable gardening is the garden arrangement. There is no single plan that will work for every garden due to varying conditions. One popular way to arrange a vegetable garden is to plant vegetables needing only limited space together, such as radishes, lettuce, beets, and spinach, and those that require more room together, such as corn, pumpkins, and potatoes. Try and plant tall growing plants towards the back of the garden and shorter ones in the front so that their sunlight does not get blocked.

When you are finally ready to begin planting your vegetable garden, make sure and plant at the right time of year. If you are dying to get an early start, you may want begin your garden inside in a hotbed and then transplant when the weather permits. After you are finished planting, make sure your vegetables receive the appropriate amount of water, which depends on the type of plant. Most plants will need the equivalent to about an inch of water per week.

Weeds must be controlled in vegetable gardening because they will take up water, light, and nutrients meant for the vegetables and they often bring disease and insects to the garden. You can get rid of weeds by cultivation or mulching. To protect against disease and insects you can buy seeds that are disease resistant or use controlled chemicals.

Vegetable gardening is many people’s favorite form of gardening because you can actually taste the fruits of your labor. Vegetable gardening is not that expensive to start and the taste of home grown veggies definitely beat out that of supermarket vegetables. Your vegetable gardening days will be full of produce if you take the proper precautions when planting and continue maintenance of your garden

This is a picture of my backyard a few years ago. The pond is concrete that my husband and son poured. I bought ten cent goldfish and some of them became huge. One even had babies. I will never forget when a tropical storm blew in and I had to catch them all up and down the street!

As people have began to realize environmental problems and global warming better, they have changed their negative thinking towards the environment into something which can be beneficial for the environment and for them. One such process that people have adopted to reduce environmental devastation is green gardening practices. For numerous humans, gardening is an important part of their lives either for making a living out of the crops or just for leisure purpose. Nowadays, as people have started to make their move towards sustainability and green living, organic gardening has become very famous. Before, humans had to rely on Northern Kentucky pest control and Cincinnati pest control for their herbicide needs and to keep their backyard free from insects. Additionally, with green gardening, people can be certain they can take care of the insects and infestation with natural methods.

There are many tips available that can make organic gardening procedures easier and there are numerous benefits associated with the procedure as well. Organic fertilizers are the best to be used for the vegetables growing in the garden. They release minerals slowly so that minerals last for a long time. Rain water is chemical free and people can collect rain water in containers to use in the backyard. There are many different kinds of rain barrels available which are made of recycled plastics and reused food drums. Collecting rain water can be very helpful for the garden during hot seasons.

Green containers can be used to plant veggies and flowers where space is limited. This method is known as container gardening and do not require excessive organic material as they are being sealed. Green pots are made out of natural elements and will make a great component for organic gardening. To take care of the development of plants, gardeners can make use of green gardening supplies and organic disease control techniques. Furthermore, if the garden gets infested, it is wise to use biological control or natural control techniques like presenting natural hunters into the backyard which will crush invaders without causing any damage to the vegetables.

It allows the attachment between nature and human beings to become healthier and enables humans to take advantage of chemical-free fruits and vegetables. Organic gardening uses natural compost and does not encourage usage of chemical fertilizers. This means that humans are able to save the environment from ongoing degradation and protect wildlife also. There is no risk associated with organic gardening for people and animals.

Green gardening offers humans to do good for the nature and for the generation to follow. It also allows people to feed their kids healthy produce without the influence of chemicals and toxins. Moreover, these procedures allow people to grow food much inexpensively than those grown with the use of chemicals. Fertilizers and pesticides are generally made of toxins which are harmful to the environments and to the well being of humans. Organic gardening makes individuals do something for the environment, for themselves, for their children and for the future generation.