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Getting Started With Jerusalem Artichokes
Despite their misleading name, Jerusalem artichokes are perennial sunflowers, not artichokes, typically grown for their tubers with the flowers being an added bonus. Jerusalem artichokes are grown like annual sunflowers: plant them in neutral to slightly alkaline soil in full sun and in warm weather. To determine your soil pH see Tips for Testing Soil […]
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Maintaining Citrus Trees in the Spring: 6 Tips
April 14, 2018
Made with Sunshine: Growing Citrus in California
/ The Mighty Garden Archive
By: Ann Clary
Tips for maintaining citrus trees in the spring can be difficult to simplify, as many but by no means all citrus trees produce mature fruit during the winter. For example, Washington Navel oranges typically mature in mid to late winter in much of Southern California, but Valencia oranges mature later, from spring through summer depending […]
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Planting Citrus Trees: Proper Planting and Long-Term Health
April 13, 2018
Made with Sunshine: Growing Citrus in California
/ The Mighty Garden Archive
By: C. Darren Butler
Spring, after all possibility of frost has past and before the heat of the summer, is an ideal time to plant citrus trees. Proper planting of fruit trees is critical to their long-term health and productivity; many issues that plague trees over years may be avoided by selecting a healthy young tree that isn’t rootbound, […]
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Storing Freshly Harvested Carrots: 5 Essential Tips
You have just harvested your carrots. How should you prepare and store them? Here are five essential tips: Carrots last for up to three to five months under ideal the conditions of 32° F and high humidity. To optimize the storage life of carrots, brush off all dirt, then wash and dry thoroughly. Unless […]
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Do Peppers Make Good Container Plants?
April 6, 2018
Container Gardening
/ Organic Gardening: Vegetables
/ The Mighty Garden Archive
By: Ann Clary
Both hot and sweet peppers make excellent container plants. Containers allow you to move peppers to follow seasonal changes in sun, to shaded areas during hot summers, warmer areas during winter, and to protected areas when necessary in response to winds or other environmental factors. Fruits may crack or develop blossom end rot easily as […]
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Winter Squash and Companion Planting
It can be difficult to know what to plant next to winter squash: winter squash plants take up a large amount of garden space and can easily overwhelm neighboring plants. Because lack of pollination is a primary reason for poor yield, GardenZeus recommends encouraging bees to visit your squash by planting it near borage, nasturtiums, […]
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Harvesting Cauliflower: 6 Essential Tips
Uncertain exactly when you should harvest your cauliflower heads? Here are 6 tips to ensure that your cauliflower is harvested at exactly the right time. Keep consistent attention on your cauliflower plants after young curds form to harvest at the largest possible size while curds are still of good quality. Cauliflower has a relatively short […]
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Harvesting Onions: GardenZeus Tips
Your onions have been growing slowly but surely. But how do you know when they are really ready for harvest? Leaves and roots of bulb onions can be harvested at any time after they reach a desired or reasonable size for eating, from baby scallions to mature bulbs. If harvesting before maturity, you may need […]
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Constructing a Mediterranean Herb Garden
Lavender, rosemary, thyme and common sage make ideal additions to Mediterranean-climate herb garden: they can survive and thrive without summer rain and in soils infertile and dry. Plant in full sun and well-draining soil with a neutral to slightly alkaline pH and poor to moderate fertility. All are drought tolerant; they thrive with little water […]
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