Vegetable

Vegetable Videos

How to Grow: Season Extending

Learn about extending the season to care for your vegetable garden. I talk about which veggies to grow for a fall garden, the timing of those plantings and the use of cloches, row covers and cold frames to protect your plants from frost. Transcript I'm Charlie Nardozzi, if you're a vegetable or herb grower you never want the season to end. In some parts of the country you can get away with that, but for most of us we have to deal with frost in the fall. But there are ways to extend your season so you can have a longer harvest. In this...

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AnnualsPodcastVegetable

How to Grow: Seed & Plant Catalogs

Learn about seed and plant catalogs including how to select the best varieties for your garden. Listen to Podcast: It used to be New Years meant a slew of seed and plant catalogs filling my mailbox. Now the catalogs start arriving in November, but I still never get around to perusing them until after the holidays. Seed and plant catalogs are a good place to shop. They offer unique varieties at an affordable price. Where else can you find a plum-shaped Green Zebra tomato or a non self-sowing cleome flower. And now most catalogs are on-line...

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AnnualsPerennialsVegetable

How to Grow: Seed Starting

Learn about ways to start your flower and vegetable seed indoors successfully Listen to Podcast: I tend to get a little seedy this time of year. I'm itching to get into the garden, but snow, cold and mud stops me in my tracks. So, I turn my attention to seed starting and get seed crazy. I want to grow everything too soon. We all know what happens if we start out tomatoes now. It's a tomato jungle by mid-April, a good month before we can put them outdoors. So, here are some seed starting tips for you and me to remember to help contain...

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AnnualsVegetable

How to Grow: Seed Swapping

Learn about seed swapping including information on heirloom seeds and seed libraries Listen to Podcast: On a cold, snowy night in February, I was invited to the Jericho Town Library to talk about seed saving. But this wasn't your regular home gardener audience. These gardeners have created a seed library. The premise of the seed library is quite simple. Like with books, you go in and “take out” some seeds. However, at the end of the season you deposit seed of that variety back into the library for others to try. There are more than 400...

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AnnualsVegetable

How to Grow: Self Sowing Vegetables

Late in the growing season, certain plants bolt or go to seed. The plants sense the changing of the light and naturally send up a stem or a stalk, then pour all their energy into creating new seeds. After, the plants drop seed onto the soil for next year. Known as self-sowing, these veggies, annual flowers and herbs do all the work and make less guesswork for you in the garden! And these free plants and seeds are also great for pollinators, as they bolt and flower late in the season. Plants such as lettuce, mustard, arugula, sunflowers,...

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Vegetable Videos

How to Grow: Self-Sowing Veggies

Sometimes being a lazy gardener can have some benefits. A few years ago I neglected to cut down some bolting lettuces, greens and arugula in our garden. By the time I got around to cutting them back, they had already created and dropped their seed. I did eventually cut back the bolted veggies, but I remembered where they once stood. The next spring I noticed lettuce and arugula seedlings all in that area. They were in the beds and pathways. I took advantage of this bounty and transplanted them into other beds or just left them to grow in...

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HerbVegetable

How to Grow: Shiitake Mushroom Logs

Learn how to grow your own shiitake mushroom logs. Listen to podcast: There's not much fruiting this time of year, except my logs. Let me explain. I've been growing mushrooms in wood chip beds for years, but last year I decided to try something different. A local mushroom grower was selling pre-inoculated shiitake logs, so I purchased some. Well, even after a dry summer and my infrequent waterings, our logs are fruiting. Growing your own shiitake mushrooms isn't that hard and can save you some money. Shiitake mushrooms grow on hardwood...

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Vegetable

How to Grow: Small Space Corn

Learn about growing sweet corn in small spaces including information on varieties and growing techniques. Listen to Podcast: It is as quintessential as the fourth of July and apple pie. Sweet corn is an All-American crop and there's nothing like munching on an ear of freshly picked corn on a hot summer day. It's so sweet, I don't even bother cooking it. When gardeners think of growing sweet corn we often think it terms of large plots of land. There's a good reason for that. Corn is wind pollinated. The tassel produces pollen grains that...

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Garden MaintenancePodcastSoils & FertilizerVegetable

How to Grow: Soil

Learn about getting your soil ready for planting this spring. Listen to podcast: I'm Charlie Nardozzi and this is the Vermont Garden Journal on Vermont Public Radio. Let's get down and dirty about soil. First we should understand that soil is alive. What makes soil more than just dirt are the millions of bacteria, fungi and microorganisms that populate our land. Their activity allows for water and nutrients to flow freely  to our plants. So we should feed the beast and organic matter is the food. This time of year we should add well...

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LawnsPerennialsPodcastSoils & FertilizerVegetable

How to Grow: Soil Testing

Listen to this podcast on how to take  soil test.   While fall is a time of garden cleanup and planting bulbs and garlic, it's also a perfect time to test your soil. Soil testing is one of those good garden ideas that often gets forgotten. Testing your soil now has some advantages. There's less to do in the garden compared to spring, soil labs aren't as busy, and you'll get a good accurate reading of your soil pH, organic matter, and nutrient levels. Take a soil sample anytime up until the ground freezes and do a soil test every three...

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