Healthy eating starts in your backyard container gardens

Healthy eating starts in your backyard container gardens
When you watch or read the news, you most likely see stories about how people are getting back-to-basics and planting vegetable and herb gardens. You hear about free neighborhood gardens, rooftop gardens, organic gardens, urban gardens, children’s gardens—even about the president’s garden. Everyone seems to be jumping on the garden bandwagon to save on grocery bills, avoid pesticides, eat more …

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Growing Vegetables in Container

Many of us would like to grow our own herbs and vegetables but have a limited amount of space. I am here to tell you that it can be easily done with the right equipment. Growing vegetables in containers is not as strange as it seems and there are many people doing it successfully. Many of the vegetables we buy from our local store can be grown in pots or containers as long as they are large enough for the right plant. Larger containers are needed for items like carrots or cabbages. While the smaller sized pots will grow herbs and baby vegetables.

If your space is limited then you could grow your herbs and vegetables amongst your flowers, use a small patch in your garden, a corner of the patio or your window sill would make an ideal location. So there is no excuse to not at least try to grow your own.

Below is a list of some herbs and vegetables that can be easily grown in pots or containers and there is a lot more.

Spinach Runner Beans Baby beetroot Cherry Tomatoes Onions Chard Turnips Asparagus Dwarf beans Carrots Celery Artichokes Squash Courgettes Cucumber

You can use almost any container to grow your vegetables as long as they are cleaned properly. If they contain any chemicals like paint use the appropriate cleaner. The idea sized containers should have troughs as deep as 20cm/8″, if space is not too limited. While pots with an average diameter size of 15cm/6″ are particularly good for small vegetables like spring onions, radish or Cherry Tomatoes. To grow herbs you only need small pots with a diameter that can be as small as 8cm/3″. These are ideally suited to the window sill.

Here is a list of suitable containers that you can get you hands on for free and a few you may have to purchase.

Glass/ Plastic Jars Paint Pots Old Fruit and vegetables containers Old Household Bins Cooking Oil Drums (Catering size) Hanging baskets Terracotta pots Wooden pots/boxes Grow bags

Grow-bags are ideal for growing plants such as squash, courgettes and cucumber, you know the trailing kind. There are special grow bag supports for tomatoes and/or peppers if the cordon variety is being used.

Any container maybe used as long as it has drainage holes at the bottom so that the soil/compost can breathe and does not get waterlogged. A good mix soil and compost will keep everything as light as possible and help with aeration.

Your window sill is an idea place to grow and it will give the necessary sunlight for most vegetables and herbs. Some may need a break in the amount of sunlight as it may damage them. For more information check out the link below and go green.

How to Care and Grow Crassula Ovata or Jade Plants Flowering Container Garden Favorites

Crassula ovata or Jade plants are shrubby succulent plants that make excellent choices for dry gardens and container plants.  Xeriscaping with drought tolerant cactus and succulent plants has become popular in dry areas or places where water conservation is a concern.  Jades have thick, deep green leaves sometimes tinged with red on the edges. The leaf shape, like the name ovata implies, are oval from 1 – 2 inches long.

Crassula ovata develop thick, fat trunks that have an aged look and will eventually grow up to 8 feet tall.  In late winter jade plants get 3 inch clusters of light pink to pale salmon flowers with five petals. These perennial plants are drought tolerant and only need water once a month or so.

Indoors, succulent jade plants make good houseplants in containers.  They prefer bright, indirect light and can take a few hours of direct sunlight but they are also adapted to low light.  In a pot, Jade stay small and can even be used for bonsai.  Crassula ovata is sometimes confused with Crassula argentia, which has a similar growth habit, but has silvery grey leaves.  Crassula are usually not bothered by insects or disease.  The biggest problem crassulas face may come from over watering.  This will result in a soggy brown, rotting trunk.

In the garden, drought tolerant jade plants will grow in light shade to full sun.  In hottest desert areas, crassula do better when they don’t have an entire day of full sun.  Crassula ovata are hardy to 41 degrees (5 degrees centigrade).  A light frost will show up at brown dots on leaves.  Overhead protection is usually enough to protect succulents during a light frost.  Heavy frost, or a deep freeze will turn leaves brown and shriveled.  Frozen leaves will fall off, or you can brush them off with your hands.  If the plant branch or trunk is not damaged, new sprouts should form in a few weeks.

Green jade plants are able to live off rainfall alone in many areas.  In my southern California garden, crassula are happily growing in both full sun and shade, in heavy alkaline, clay soil.  You can see photos of flowering jade plants at http://www.theGardenPages.com .

To root cuttings like jade plant or gollum jade, start with a 5 or 6 inch cutting.  Bury about half of the stalk in soil.  This will give you deep roots and helps the plant withstand drought better.  Keep the soil moist (like a squeezed sponge).  After a month, cut back to monthly watering.  The leaves will probably shrivel a bit as the plant forms roots: it is living off the stored energy in its leaves.  This is normal.  You may also lose a few leaves, which is also normal.  The plant will start growing again and may even flower in a year.

Visit at http://www.theGardenPages.com to see crassula plant photos and read about more plants that are versatile and easy to grow.  Their winter bloom make jade plants a great addition to any garden or home.

Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits and Vegetables for your Organic Garden

Product Description

Container Gardening for Health is your complete guide to growing the twelve fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residues according to USDA testing. From Apples and Celery to Strawberries and Spinach, pick a few of your favorites from the list. Make a big difference in your family’s pesticide exposure with a small organic garden.

“After talking with other parents, I realized we all wanted an inexpensive way to feed our children more foods with less pesticide residue. None of us had time and few of us had the space to grow large gardens. I began researching the problem and soon realized a family’s intake of pesticides could be substantially reduced by selecting their favorite foods from the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list and growing these in containers or small space gardens.” – Barbara Barker, from the first chapter

The Environmental Working Group(EWG) analyzed USDA pesticide residue data and compiled this list of the “top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables”:
Peaches, Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries,Cherries, Lettuce, Grapes (imported), Pears, Spinach, and Potatoes.

About The Author
A certified master gardener, Barbara Barker traces her love for gardening back to fifth grade when she started a business rejuvenating her mother’s ailing plants and selling them back to her for a small profit Barker expanded her knowledge of plants by working in garden centers in high school and college. After obtaining a BA in English from the University of Florida, she started an internet company selling gourmet varieties of vegetable and herb plants.

Contents
List of Figures – 8
Introduction – 9
1. Chemical Residue on Your Food – 11
2. Peaches and Nectarines – 15
3. The Forbidden Apple – 23
4. Sweet Bell Peppers – 31
5. Celery – 35
6. Strawberries, Mother Nature’s Candy – 39
7. Cherries – 47
8. Lettuce – 51
9. Grapes – 55
10. Pears – 61
11. Spinach – 65
12. Potatoes – 71
13. Primary Pesticides Found On the Dirty Dozen – 77
14. Pests and Diseases – 83
Raised Growing Beds – 99
Selected Resources/Bibliography – 100
Glossary – 103
Index – 107

Container Gardening for Health: The 12 Most Important Fruits and Vegetables for your Organic Garden

Fiskars Kangaroo 10-Gallon Gardening Container #9404

• Collapsible, stand-alone container ideal for yard waste, debris collection
• Unique spring design to hold container open
• Heavy-gauge vinyl construction
• Collapses into convenient 2-inch stack
• 10-gallon capacity; 15-inch diameter; 2-year warranty

Amazon.com Product Description
Perfect for pruning or weeding jobs, the Fiskars Kangaroo 10-gallon gardening container holds itself open, freeing your hands for work. The Kangaroo’s unique spring design springs up to a 15-inch diameter, 10-gallon capacity, just waiting to be filled with weeds, pruned branches, or raked leaves. When you’re done, the container can be collapsed and stored easily in a compact, ready-to-hang 2-inch stack. The heavy-gauge vinyl construction is tear and milde… More >>

Fiskars Kangaroo 10-Gallon Gardening Container #9404

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