- Large winter squash (slow) interspersed with early beets (fast).
- Broccoli (slow) interplanted with lettuce (fast)
- Brussels Sprouts (slow) interplanted with early spinach (fast).
- Anything slow interplanted with lettuce, scallions, radishes, or cresses.
Not only does this technique allow you to make the most of the space in your garden, it lets you grow certain heat sensitive plants later in the season. For example, lettuce that's tucked in around your pole beans may thrive even into hot summer weather, since it has the protection of the tall vines.
Saving the Earth 
One Bite At a Time
MAKE YOUR COMPOST
RECIPE:- Grass clippings,
- Leaves, chopped in pieces if possible (run the mower over them)
- Deadheaded flowers
- Discarded healthy vegetables and flowers
- Vegetable and fruit peelings
As you collect them, put ingredients together on a pile in an obscure corner of your garden or in a bin of special compost-making container if you dont have space for a large pile. Add a shovelful of soil from time to time. Keep the pile moist with rainwater or the garden hose. Aerating the pile with a picthfork occasionally will speed up the decomposting process. When the pile is dark brown and crumbly, you have compost.
Boosting Phosphorus
An important component of healthy plant development is phosphorus, which plays an important role in plants' ability to utilize the nutrients they need. Phosphorus helps a plant develop a strong root system, resist disease, and produce fruit and seeds. The mineral portion of most soils doesn't contain much phosphorus, since it generally comes from the decay of organic matter. so you may need to amend the soil with a little organic content by supplementing it with bone meal or phosphate.
HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW
Even a small space can yield surprising amounts of delicious food. Katie Harries picks 12 favourite vegetables to power up your diet. So find yourself a sunny spot and some good earth and go to it!
If you don't have yard space you can grow most of these in pots on your balcony. A bucket of tomato in center with lettuce, herbs, scallion, cucumber, around is quite attractive on a patio.
CUCUMBER
Start seed inside in early May. Transplant, or sow directly outside in late May.
Space-saving tip: Grow up a trellis. How many: four or five plants, more for preserves.
Variety: Pioneer or any other pickling type, also tastes great fresh.
Companions: Corn, peas, radishes, dill.
PEAS
Sow as soon as the ground can be worked, very thickly, a centimetre apart, in a double row.
Space-saving tip: Mix early, mid and late varieties in one row.
Variety: Lincoln, tall Telephone.
Non-companions: Onion family.
SUMMER SQUASH
Start seed inside in early May. Transplant, or sow directly outside in late May.
How many: Two or three plants.
Variety: Yellow Sunburst.
Companions: Corn, beans, radishes.
BEETS
Sow outdoors as soon as ground can be worked and repeat in late May. Leaves are delicious cooked like spinach.
Variety: Chioggia.
Companions: Bush beans, lettuce, onions.
MESCLUN
Cool weather versions of this gourmet blend of lettuce and other salad greens (and reds) can be sown outside as soon as the ground can be worked. Switch to a summer mix for later sowings.
Companions: Onions, radish.
TOMATOES
Start seed indoors in mid to late April and transplant outside after last frost.
How many: six plants unless preserves are planned.
Variety: Stupice for fresh eating. Principe Borghese for sauce.
Companions: Carrots, onions, parsley, borage.
SWISS CHARD
Sow in early May and again in June. Cast prejudice aside and try it -- fresh picked is in a different taste league from store bought.
Variety: Bright Lights for its rainbow-coloured stalks. This variety is slightly less frost-hardy than other chards so wait until mid-May to seed.
Companions: Onions, garlic.
POTATOES
Mid-April to mid-May.
How many: One pound does a 10-foot row.
Space-saving tip: grow in a compost-type container (with holes in the side); add soil as foliage grows.
Variety: Yukon Gold, Yellow Finger.
Companions: Peas, beans, marigold, borage.
CARROTS
Sow outside as soon as soil can be worked and again in late May, early June.
Variety: Touchon, or any of the Nantes types.
Companions: Onion, radish.
ONIONS
Start seed indoors now, or outdoors when ground is well-drained and friable, or use sets. Use thinnings as scalions.
Variety: Early Yellow Globe, Lucifer (red), Barletta (pickling) or shallots.
Companions: Carrots, lettuce, beets, strawberries, tomatoes.
FRENCH FILET BEANS
Wait until soil is warm to seed this gourmet bush bean outside; repeat sows at two-week intervals. Harvest pods while ultra-slim.
Variety: Maxibel, Nickel.
Companions: Cucumbers, squash, marigold. Keep away from onions.
BROAD (fava) BEANS
Start with easy cool-weather shelling bean outside as early as possible and enjoy the first harvest in July. The sturdy stalks need no support.
Variety Broad Windsor.
Companions: Summer savory.courtesy T/Star
PLANT A FALL VEGETABLE GARDEN
How much you'll harvest from a full garden depends on the date of the first fall frost in your area. The later the frost, the more some vegetables planted in late August and early September will have to grow.
FALL GARDEN CHART
Sow greens in foot-wide rows. Water seeds immediately after planting and don't let sprouted seeds dry out.HARDY FROST TOLERANT VEGETABLES
VEGETABLE VARIETY DAYS to MATURITY Arugula 75 -from seeds Beets-Early Wonder 52 -from seeds Carrots 50 -from seeds Lettuce -Oakleaf 40 -from seeds Lettuce -Salad Bowl 45 -from seeds Kale -Blue Curled Vates 55 -from seeds Kohlrabi-Grand Duke Hybrid 45 -from seeds Mustard Greens 28 -from seeds Spinach 45 -from seeds Turnips 35 - from seeds PLANTS THAT SLUGS AVOID:
- Baloon flower
- Candy tuft
- Coral bell
- Moonbeam
- Coreopsis
SHADE LOVING PLANTS THAT SLUGS ESCHEW:
- Bleeding heart
- Foxgloves
- Lenten Rose
- Jacob's Ladder
- Hardy Begonia
How To Buy Fresh Fruits And Vegetables 
Experience is the best teacher in choosing quality, but here are a few pointers on buying some fruits and vegetables.
Asparagus: Stalks should be tender and firm, tips should be close and compact. Choose the stalks with very little white as they are more tender.
Berries: Select plump, solid berries with good color. Avoid stained containers, indicating wet or leaky berries. Berries such as blackberries and raspberries with clinging caps may be under-ripe. Strawberries without caps may be too ripe.
Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and Cauliflower: Flower clusters on broccoli and cauliflower should be tight and close together. Brussels sprouts should be firm and compact. Smudgy, dirty spots may indicate insects.
Cabbage and Head Lettuce: Choose heads heavy for size. Avoid cabbage with worm holes, lettuce with discoloration or soft rot.
Cucumbers: Choose long, slender cucumbers for best quality. May be dark or medium green, but yellowed ones are undesirable.
Melons: In cantaloupes, thick close netting on the rind indicates best quality. Cantaloupes are ripe when the stem scar is smooth and space between the netting is yellow or yellow-green. They are best when fully ripe with fruity odor. Honeydews are ripe when rind has creamy to yellowish color and velvety texture. Immature honeydews are whitish-green. Ripe watermelons have some yellow color on one side. If melons are white or pale green on one side, they are not ripe.
Oranges, Grapefruits, and Lemons: Choose those heavy for their size. Smoother, thinner skins usually indicate more juice. Most skin markings do not affect quality. Oranges with a slight greenish tinge may be just as ripe as fully colored ones. Light or greenish-yellow lemons are more tart than deep yellow ones. Avoid citrus fruits showing withered, sunken, or soft areas.
Peas and Lima Beans: Select pods that are well-filled, but not bulging. Avoid dried, spotted, yellowed, or flabby pods.
Source Farmers Almanac.
The Herb Garden
Easy growing herbs that will bloom in your garden:
- Purple Basil
- Sweet Basil
- Oregano
- Coriander
- Dill
- Mint
- French Tarragon
- Catnip
- Rosemary
- Marjoram
- Thyme
Grow some flowers too click here
- Grass clippings,
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer Gods heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth"
How to Grow Great Vegetables
Green thumbs are made, not born. With these tips from the experts, a beautiful harvest can be yours.
Although gardening challenges you, the good news is that even if you're a novice, it's easier than ever to grow your own vegetables, thanks to advances in horticultural techniques. To bost your odds for success, try these guidelines from the experts.
Plan ahead. People tend to plant more than they can care for. Then they get frustrated, and the garden dies of neglect.
Plant at the right time. To stay on target, remember that vegetables generally fall into two categories: cool season crops and warm-season ones.
Weed and water. Weeds compete with plants for nutrients and moisture in the soil. Sow vegetable seeds only in freshly prepared beds. After seedlings come up, mulch.
To estimate the right garden size for you, factor in space available, family size, amount of time you're willing to spend and whether you can expect help. Draw the plot to scale on a sheet of paper, indicating what you're going to plant and where, number and length of rows, space between rows.
Plant only what you can consume. Figure one tomato, pepper or zucchini plant per person. A ten-by-ten foot garden can provide a family of four with enough of what they like, and require little more than an hour of work per week.
Select a well-drained, level area that receives six to eight hours of sunlight daily. Site your garden far from large trees with spreading roots, but near a water hookup.
Transplants cost more and selection is limited, but they're easier to grow and they give you a head start on crops that take a long time to mature. Look for a full, stocky plant with good green color and a thick stem. Reject plants with flowers or fruit (yield will be affected), as well as those with spindly growth.
Spinach, lettuce, broccoli, onions, peas, radishes and carrots withstand frost and grow best in cool conditions. The right time to plant their seeds is several weeks before the average fruit-tree date in your area.
Plant transplants of warm-season crops like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant after all danger of frost has passed. To avoid wilting, first water, then plant seedlings on a cloudy day or in the evening.
You'll enjoy an extended supply by using varieties of corn, tomatoes and peppers that mature at different times. For a continuous flow of beans, peas, lettuce and spinach: rather than plant the entire crop at once, stagger three or four smaller, successive plantings over two weeks.
Mulch--such as straw, wood shavings, leaves and grass clippings--holds down weeds, helps retain water and warms soil. The black-plastic kind you can buy in rolls dramatically reduces gardening work and improves the quality of crops.
Watering is critically important. Use a gentle spray, not a blast of water. Generally, one inch of water per week, including rainfall, is recommended. The proper amount depends on the soil. Clay needs less water than sandy loam does.
Gardeners are a hearty, happy lot who know that producing food for the table is just one reason for their hobby. Another is mental health. I love to be outside and watch nature at work. I forget the cares of life in my garden.
Vegetable gardening can be done by anyone and is a pleasurable and relaxing activity for gardeners of all ages. Especially kids! they love playing in the dirt and mud.
The satisfaction and rewards of growing your own vegetables have made gardening one of the favorite hobbies for generations of gardeners.
Prepare the vegetable garden site by clearing and tilling the soil as soon as the ground can be worked. Some organic matter (peat moss, compost, well-rotted manure), should be added to the soil to assist in drainage and to add valuable nutrients, which will promote good root growth, which in turn will encourage strong plant growth. Then water the surface with a fine spray, until the soil is thoroughly soaked. Allow the water to drain and you are ready to sow the seeds to a bountiful harvest.
Sow your seed according to the instructions on the packet. While most vegetables can be grown directly from seed, some should be started indoors (Tomatoes, Cabbage, Broccoli, Peppers etc.) and transplanted to the garden after all danger of frost has passed. If starting indoors, fill a seeding tray with potting soil to 1cm (1/2") from the top. Do not use soil from the garden as it becomes hard and may carry disease or insects from the garden. Sow the seed to the required depth, moisten the soil by misting then cover, if necessary, with plastic to make a mini greenhouse. Keep soil moist at all times and transplant to the garden after the last spring frost. See the chart on the packet of seeds you are using to determine which of your vegetables should be started indoors.
Caring for your garden need not be a chore, but should be taken as a time to relax and enjoy your garden as it grows. As the seeds germinate, take a few minutes each day to remove weeds, and thin where necessary to avoid overcrowding.
The Benefits of Interplanting
...takes advantage of the variety of growth rates among various plants. Here is how it works: You plant a quick-maturing crop either alongside slower-maturing plants or interspersed among them. The fast growers develop and you can harvest them, leaving the slow-growers to finish the season at their own pace. Good combos for this scheme include: