How to Grow Cucumbers

cucumbers in a bucket

Learn How to Plant, Pick and Preserve This Crisp Vining Squash Ever hear the phrase “cool as a cucumber”? Whoever originated the phrase knew their fruits; the inside of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees cooler than the outside air, making it the perfect snack or accompaniment to a mid-summer’s feast. Although commonly …

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Organic Fertilizers

cow patties - manure

When used in reference to fertilizers, the word organic generally means that the nutrients contained in the product are derived solely from the remains or a by-product of an organism. Cottonseed meal, blood meal, fish emulsion, manure and sewage sludge are examples of organic fertilizers. Urea is a synthetic organic fertilizer, an organic substance manufactured …

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How to Grow Horseradish

horseradish plant after blooming

In 1995 the International Herb Association started naming a Herb of the Year. This practice brings focus each year to a particular herb so herb enthusiasts, groups and gardeners can learn more about an individual herb. This year, 2011, Horseradish, Armoracia rusticana, is the herb of the year. So, let’s explore this pungent, powerful herb. …

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Winter Rye

rye cover crip

The hardiest of cereals, rye can be seeded later in fall than other cover crops and still provide considerable dry matter, an extensive soil-holding root system, significant reduction of nitrate leaching and exceptional weed suppression. Inexpensive and easy to establish, rye outperforms all other cover crops on infertile, sandy or acidic soil or on poorly …

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Oats

oats - cover crop

Oats are not particularly winter hardy. If you need a low-cost and reliable fall cover that winterkills in Hardiness Zone 6 and colder and much of Zone 7, oats is the cover crop for you. Spring-planted oats are used for green manure, while fall-planted oats provide winter-killed ground cover. The residue is incorporated before the …

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Buckwheat

Buckwheat is a fast-growing summer cover crop; a succulent that can be grown as a green manure because it adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil. It smothers weeds, protect the soil surface and provides habitat for pollinating and other beneficial insects. Buckwheat seed can germinate within days of planting, especially if the soil …

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