Keep your veggie plants healthy.

I hope all your veggie plants are looking healthy are growing well. Some may be growing better than others so now is a great time to fertilize them to give them all a little boost.

Vegetable plants need nourishment for proper plant growth. Different soil fertilizers may be needed to give your plants a boost during the growing season. Do this once the plants are established, usually starting 2-4 weeks after planting.

Some gardeners confuse organic soil fertilizers (used to increase soil fertility) with soil amendments (used to improve soil texture).

Ways to fertilize your veggies:

Side dressing:
Using your hands or lightly hoe dry organic fertilizers into the soil around the plant base or place well rotted compost around the plant base then water in both so the nutrients soak into the soil reaching the plants roots.

Make compost tea or manure tea:

1. Fill a bucket or garbage can 1/4 full with compost or manure.
2. Fill the container with water, let this sit at least 24 hours.
3. dilute this mixture with water (1 part tea to 2 parts water).
4. water plants with this mixture.

Alternative Garden

I have decided to try a straw bale garden this spring. We planted some lettuce and parsley into the straw bale, however the straw started growing, not our transplants! The bale needs to decompose more so I have it wrapped in plastic and have wet it so hopefully this will help it to rot a bit more.

The plastic helped a bit, I turned the bale as well since the bottom seemed to be rotting faster. I then planted in some Gai Lan, Swiss chard, and marigold. They have started to grow but the bale is looking a bit sparse so am going to get a few annuals to brighten it up.

Staking veggies

Some plants such as cucumbers, tomatoes, some beans and peas definitely benefit from staking. Stakes help to keep the fruits from touching the ground where they can become crushed, rotting, or molding. Check out some suggestions for staking

My 2012 Vegetable Garden Journal is a full package planning/journal book. You get the dates that are best for planting above and below ground crops, tips on how to grow 25 common vegetables, as well as tonnes more info to create a successful garden.

2012 Vegetable Planting Calendar gives you the best dates to plant your vegetable garden by the moon cycles. Learn more about planting by the moon cycles

All will make for wonderful winter reading and will assist in planning for next season. These are perfect gifts for any gardeners on you Christmas list as well.

Other vegetable gardening books written by Catherine Abbott, Your Vegetable Gardening Helper.

• Vegetable Garden Plans for Square foot Gardens
  
• Vegetable Garden Plans for your Rasised Beds
  
• Vegetable Garden Plans for Row Gardening
  
• The Everything Grow Your Own Vegetables Book
  
• The Everything Root Cellaring Book

If you have enjoyed this ezine please tell a friend.

Welcome to the world of vegetable gardening!