Kitchen Gardening for starters

A kitchen garden doesn’t means you have to garden inside your kitchen, rather it refers to a garden where you can get fresh healthy vegetables to cook In your kitchen. Though the closer the garden to the kitchen better it is for you to collect the vegetables in fresh condition.

For the starters it is recommended to start small and plant what you want to eat, you can always do the add on later. It will not only maximize your pleasure and health it will add energy to continue the activities of Gardening for the longer period.  Choosing a site is very important for the success of Gardening. Given a choice between a sunny spot and a shaded one I would recommend to choose the place with the presence of sunlight. For details on the effect of  sunlight on the growth of plants check out my earlier blog Sun or No-sun.

Next step is to prepare the media for growth. It can be soil or Soil-less. You can directly put the seeds or the seedling into the soil. In case the soil is not of good quality or lack proper drainage, you can always go soil-less. There are different types of soil-less media available. I have discussed some of them here. Whatever the option you take make sure there are no weeds present in the media.

Next is to add compost to the media. It controls weeds adds organic matter to the media and also retains water. More on this here.

The next choice you have to make is whether to start with seeds or with transplants. It is always better to start with transplants as there are fewer chances of mortality and more the chances of success specially for plants like tomato or brinjal. Though many gardeners starts with seeds due to lower cost, more variety and more satisfaction to see a plant go from seed to fully grown.

Make sure your plants don’t die of thirst. Fruits and vegetables require lots of water. Specially in case of transplants, you need to provide enough amount of water initially as the plants yet to grow deep root structure.

Lastly one single tip. It is important to plant some of the flower plants along with the vegetables plants to your Kitchen Garden. Flowers add colours to the garden as well as attract beneficial insects which promote pollination. In some cases it also repels some of the undesirable and harmful insects.

I hope you got what you are looking for. Help others by sharing the content. By the mean time you can check out this Cool looking 4-Tray Kitchen Seed Sprouter

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Beans Growing An Ideal Vegetable For The Starters

It’s never late to start gardening. And if you are a starter growing beans is a very good option. Beans belong to the legume family. They are one of the few easiest vegetables to grow (Check out the entire list here). Some of the beans are grown for the seeds whereas some of them are grown for their pods (green beans) which can be served as vegetables. Here we will use the term beans to mean green beans in general.

Ideal temperature of growing beans lies around 70 to 80 deg F. Put them in a place where you will receive at
least 6 hours of sunlight. Mix some coconut coir or perlite along with the soil to increase its water retention and drainage capacity. Add a generous amount of compost with the soil before sowing the seeds. Being a member of the legume family, they will produce their own nitrogen. So while deciding on the composting ingredient you don’t need to add much of the ingredients which are very rich in nitrogen. You can find the list of minerals or plant nutrients in this article.

The seeds are generally bigger in size than many vegetables. Ensure the seed is entirely covered (sow them one inch deep in the soil) by the soil. The best way is to keep at least 3 to 6 inch gap between two plants, to ensure proper growth.

They are very fast growing plant. You can choose either the pole or the bush variety. Though the earlier one takes more time to mature it produce much more yield than the later. Bush variety is also self sufficient i.e. they don’t require any outside support. But in case the area is too windy, it is always recommended that you give them something to hold on to. If you are planning to grow pole variety then you have no choice but to give them trellis.

Depending on your variety of the beans germination time will differ. Generally the bush type will germinate within a week whereas for a pole variety it might take couple of weeks. Water deeply, at least once in a week (to know more about how to water a plant click here). You can also use mulch to reduce the water loss from the soil.

Harvesting of beans can be done everyday to encourage further fruit formation. The best time to pick them is when they are tender and before seeds become prominent. Pluck using your finger nails or scissors. You can eat them fresh or can incorporate in other dishes. You can also store them in refrigerators.


Are you growing Beans? Share your experience with us.

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