Soil Mates- Book Review

29 Apr 2011 1 Comment

by nadiaqh in Books, Living Healthy, organic gardening, Vegetable/ Herb Garden Tags: , , , , ,

Book Review: Soil Mates: Companion Planting for Your Garden by Sara Alway

Author: Sara Alway

Length: 128 pages

Price: $16.96

Online- Amazon.com (Save $5.00 of the cover price)

Soil Mates is a creative and fun gardening book for companion planting (symbiotic relationships of plants in the vegetable garden). Author Sara Alway makes learning about companion planting simple by using humor and charm in her examples. Alway says that plants are in search of the “perfect companion” and just as people find the best condition for a relationship to grow, so do plants. Each section of the book has Turn ons and Turn offs  for plants and also Needy Alerts such as warnings on plants that are high maintenance. The Stalker Alerts give good advise on what pesty animals and insects will devour your plants. The Love Triangle gives a list of plant groupings that grow well together. Some of  (Twenty) Soil Mates listed are: Sweet Potato & Summer Savory, Carrot & Onion, Tomato & Basil and Eggplant & Marigold.  

After reading about companion planting, the second half of the book is devoted to understanding Garden Preparation, Planning and Care. Even for the practiced gardener there is great advise on Laying the Groundwork with crop rotation and making garden beds, or as author Alway puts it, “making the bed.” Another section in the book named Foreplay describes seed starting and the section on Aphrodisiacs covers the basics in fertilizers and composting. One of my favorite parts about this book are the many garden recipes included that I think most people would actually try out. You will also find a list of Botanical names and their “Quirks and Eccentricities”. There is yet so much more included in this book and I highly recommend it as a gift and as an addition to your library of garden references.

Thank you for visiting my garden blog: http://www.nadiaknows.com

“Romeo” Baby Carrots in the Garden

18 Jan 2011 2 Comments

by nadiaqh in Living Healthy, organic gardening, Vegetable/ Herb Garden Tags: , , , ,

♥ Growing carrots year-round gives me a chance to sample every variety I can get my green thumbs on, so when I say ‘try these out’ I mean it! Round Baby Carrots “Romeo” to be exact from Renee’s Seeds.  These little orange gems are sweet and crunchy with an almost undetectable core and packed with a sweet carrot flavor. Don’t confuse these with the shaved down baby carrots that are found in the produce section of the grocery store, those are just machine-shaped whittled down carrots with so-so flavor.

The Romeo carrot is about the size of a Nasturtium flower.

Carrots patch in a raised planter bed.

Planting several rows of carrots each month offers year round harvest in Southern California. I like to grow them in raised planter beds where the soil in not too compacted making it easier for the roots to grow freely downward. For companion planting with carrots try Bush and Pole Beans, Lettuce, Peas, Onion and Radishes. Rotate crops continuously to prevent disease and optimize soil vitality and mulch the top layer for pest prevention and moisture retention when the carrot tops reach about 2 inches high.

Thin carrots several times when they are about 1-2 inches high and when ready to harvest pull them out with a twist. Grow in a sunny location or partial shade with consistent moisture. Carrots do not grow well in extreme heat so in the warmer months grow them in partial shade. One of the best bits of advice I have gotten for growing carrots is from master gardener Pat Welsh, she advises pouring hot to almost boiling water over the seeds after sowing them and just before covering them with soil to help speed up germination. She also suggests using potting soil to cover the seeds and a gentle water spray the first few weeks after planting. Pat Welsh book on gardening LINK.

Another successful way to grow carrots is by using Planting Strips/Seed Tape which makes sowing the seeds super easy, especially with children. The seeds are perfectly spaced in-between thin layers of paper that are rolled out to any desired length.

Ferry Morse 'Seed Tape' Planting Strips

 

LINK: Renee’s Seeds: Romeo Round Carrots. Seed Packet Photos from Renee’s Website:

Carrots and Companion Planting

23 Oct 2009 1 Comment

by nadiaqh in Flowers, Garden Design, Vegetable/ Herb Garden Tags: , , ,

Planting carrots this month was so much fun! I used planting strips for the first time… wow, super easy. Planting strips keep all the seeds contained in-between a strip of paper. All you need to do is dig a trench to the suggested depth,unroll and lay down the planting strip, then cover with soil. I also used a companion planting guide and planted the carrot strips next to the rosemary, but far away from the dill. Companion Planting is a gardening technique of placing specific plants in proximity to one another. The result creates benefits of enhanced growth, optimum taste, and a natural pest control. Companion planting is a chemical free method to a healthy garden. Beans and corn grow well together because beans produce nitrogen which is used by the corn. Did you ever wonder why grandma had marigolds in her garden? Well, they are a great pest deterrent, their pungent smell keeps pests away from vegetables. Container gardening can also benefit from companion planting. It helps to keep a sketch diary of your garden each year, this way you can keep track of plant locations and crop rotations.

*This link for companion planting is a great reference chart for compatible and incompatible planting.

Thank you for visiting my blog: http://www.nadiaknows.com   “Knowing that creating, growing and inspiring are essential.”

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