Soil Mates- Book Review

29 Apr 2011 1 Comment

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

Shade Vegetable Gardening

13 Jun 2010 1 Comment

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

Creating Garden Space

BEFORE

Eight weeks ago I decided to move the kayaks out of one area in my garden/side yard to create some more edible planting space. This area only gets about 5 hours of sun due to the tall fence that prevents afternoon sun exposure. I researched what I could grow here and found a list of Shade Vegetables. I was surprised to learn that I could have a partial shade garden that could produce all of my lettuce and radish supply for the year. Here is a list of “SHADE GARDEN” vegetables that only need about 3-6 hours of sun per day.

BROCCOLI, PEAS, BEETS, RADISH, SWISS CHARD, BEANS, COLLARDS, MUSTARD GREENS, LETTUCE: ARUGULA, ENDIVE, RADICHIO, ETC. SPINACH, KALE.

Not a bad list for an area that might not get to produce sun-loving vegetables like tomatoes, basil and eggplant.

AFTER

This is an after photo of the area now set up with drip irrigation and planted with lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, strawberries, broccoli, and nasturtium.

The fence is painted with Behr Premium paint color called Chipotle, the red tones of the fence next to the green plants created a nice color pop. Always on a quest for adding more garden planting space to my yard I was pleased with the outcome. Maybe the next thing to go will be the back lawn? :)

Thanks for your visit today and happy planting.

New carrot patch in shaded part of garden

Funky Garden Finds

12 Feb 2010 4 Comments

by nadiaqh in Garden Fruits, Vegetable/ Herb Garden Tags: , , ,

FUNKY GARDEN FINDS

What is the quintessential fruit or vegetable? Would you classify them as perfectly shaped with no growth deviations, or speckled, oblong and skinny? They have to taste amazing if I am going to take the time to grow them in my garden, but not everything that I plant ends up looking perfect and in my opinion the funkier the shape the better. Here are some photos from my garden over the past year that I thought would make a nice blog of funky garden finds. Pulling a carrot out of the soil and being surprised by its root diversion, or asymmetry gives it that quality of  looking “home-grown” and not the super perfect produce we find at the grocery store. I called the Master Gardener Hotline  of San Diego this week to ask about my carrot with two roots, I was informed that I over-watered my orange friend which caused it to create two roots instead of one. Even though it turns out that my carrot was a gardening blunder, I liked its uniqueness and it still tasted great so I consider it a success!

* *Click on each of these photos  below to enlarge

I look forward to the next growing season with anticipation of what I might find under the soil, up in the trees and growing on vines! Watching how soil conditions, sunlight exposure, air temperatures and watering ratios can create different growth patterns and outcomes is simply amazing.

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

Enjoying the process of creating, growing and planting.

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Southern California DECEMBER Planting Guide

04 Dec 2009 2 Comments

by nadiaqh in Garden Projects, Vegetable/ Herb Garden Tags: , , ,

December Plant: Poinsettia

For those of us Southern California dwellers who are LUCKY enough to live in this sunny winter climate, beach activities all year-long and a wide variety of gardening: here is our December planting guide.

VEGGIES = BEETS- BROCCOLI- BRUSSEL SPROUTS- CABBAGE- CARROTS- CAULIFLOWER- CELERY- COLLARDS- ENDIVE- FAVAS- KALE- LEEKS- LETTUCE- MUSTARD- ONIONS- PARSLEY- PARSNIP- RADISH-RUTABAGA- SPINACH- SWISS CHARD- TURNIPS

FLOWERS = POPPIES – VIOLA- SWEET PEA- SNAPDRAGON- PANSY- PHLOX- MARIGOLD- LAVENDAR- LUPINE- WALLFLOWER- CARNATION- CANDYTUFT- CALENDULA- FOXGLOVE- COLOMBINE- BLUEBELLS-  BLAZING STAR- BULBS (Tulip-Daffodil-Crocus-Hyacinths).

Now get out there and plant SOMETHING. I know there is at least one vegetable or herb listed here that you can plant in a container outside your abode where there is sunshine 6 hours a day. I promise you will not be disappointed and once you grow your own you are well on your way to being called a green thumb, or an herb connoisseur!

Thank you for visiting my garden blog: http://www.nadiaknows.com    ** CREATE- GROW- INSPIRE **

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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