Propagating and Growing Lavender From Cuttings

Lavender has many wonderful uses. People use it for tea, essential oil and fragrance. I love the lavender plant for its shear beauty. The plant attracts lots of beneficial bugs to your garden. Propagating lavender is simple. Every gardener should give it a try.

In this video, I am growing cuttings from a plant I bought a while ago.

How To Make Your Own Home Made Butter

How To Make Your Own Home Made Butter
Did you ever want to know how to make butter? Well, it’s about the easiest thing to do. Starting with heavy whipping cream, I’ll show you how easy it is.

 

How To Build A Cold Frame For Growing Winter Vegetables

I finally went and did it. I decided to move some of my plants outside rather than let my indoor grow room overtake the house. So the kale, broccoli and lettuce are out the door.
Having made that decision brought up another challenge. Where to put them. The greenhouse is full. So I decided to build a cold frame to put them in. In this video I will take you through the step by step process in building your own.

 

Harbor Freight 10 x 12 Greenhouse Modifications

After purchasing the 10 x 12 Harbor Freight Greenhouse, It became evident there were other modifications that needed to be done.
Scouring the internet revealed a plethora of people complaining about how flimsy it was. I neglected to act right away, which became my worst nightmare.

After about 2 weeks, we had a slight wind and it knocked 2 of the panels off.
Not thinking this was a big deal, I put them back on and added a few extra clips. 1 month later, we had a fairly big wind storm.
The next morning I went out to find that half of my panels were blown off and two of them were snapped right in half.
I knew it was now time to act.
I order twice as many clips as the greenhouse came with.
I secured the panels using every clip I had thinking I was finished.
Well, I wasn’t. Just a few weeks later we had a major windstorm. I’m talking a blowout.
This time, not only did most of my panels blow off, It twisted the greenhouse sideways and collapsed it right to the ground.
I was furious.
So I set out on a mission to solve the problems.
This video will show my modifications.

 

 

Family Seed Planting Chart

What To Grow For A Family of 4
What a family of 4 needs to grow for a one year supply of food
The following chart is only an estimation.
Some would need more, others less. You must make your own adjustments.

Type of Vegetable/Fruit Amount of
Plants Needed
Spacing (if row)
Apple 3 Trees
Apricot 2 Trees
Asparagus 30 plants
Beans 100′ row 6″
Beets 100′ row 6″
Broccoli 25 Plants
Cabbage 15 Plants
Carrots 200 plants
Cauliflower 15 Plants
Celery 20 Plants
Cherry 2 Trees
Corn 200′ row 12″
Cucumber 10 Plants
Eggplant 10 Plants
Kohlrabi 20′ Row
Lettuce 30 Heads
Mustard 5 Plants
Onions (Green) 15′ Row 2″
Onions (Bulb) 30′ Row 8-12″
Parsley 3 Plants
Peaches 2 Trees
Pear 2 Trees
Peas 130′ Row 5″
Peppers (Green) 10 Plants
Peppers (Hot) 5 Plants
Plums 2 Trees
Popcorn 30′ Row 12″
Potatoes 60′ Row 36″
Pumpkins 5 Plants
Radishes 30′ Row 6″
Raspberry 100′ Row 12″
Sage 2 Plants
Spinach 20 Plants
Squash 5 Plants
Strawberry 100′ Row 24″
Tomatoes (Slicing) 10 Plants
Tomatoes (Paste) 20 Plants
Tomatoes (Salsa) 5 Plants
Turnips 10′ Row 8″
Watermelon 6 Plants

Seed Planting Depth

Vegetable Depth to plant
Asparagus 1’”
Beans (bush & pole) 1”
Beans (lima) 1”
Beets 1”
Broccoli 1/2”
Brussels Sprouts 1/2”
Cabbage 1/2”
Cantaloupe 1”
Carrot 1/2”
Cauliflower 1/2”
Cucumber 1/2”
Eggplant 1/2”
Kale 1/2”`
Kohlrabi 1/2”
Lettuce 1/2”
Okra 1”
Onion (seed) 1/2”
Parsley 1/8”
Pepper 1/2”
Potato 1-2”
Radish 1/2”
Spinach 1/2”
Swiss Chard 1”
Tomato 1/2”

 

Ph Needs For Vegetables

Vegetable Optimal pH
Artichoke 5.6-6.6
Asparagus 6.0-7.0
Beans 6.0-7.0
Beet 5.6-6.6
Broccoli 6.0-7.5
Brussels Sprouts 6.0-7.0
Cabbage 5.6-7.0
Cantaloupe 6.0-7.0
Carrot 5.0-6.0
Catnip 5.0-6.0
Cauliflower 6.0-7.0
Celery 6.0-7.0
Chard 6.0-7.0
Chili Pepper 5.0-6.0
Chives 5.0-6.0
Cucumber 5.0-6.0
Dill 5.0-6.0
Eggplant 5.0-6.0
Garlic 5.0-6.0
Kiwi 5.0-7.0
Leek 5.0-6.0
Lettuce 6.0-7.0
Mint 6.0-7.0
Mushroom 7.0-8.0
Okra 6.0-8.0
Onion 5.0-7.0
Parsley 6.0-8.0
Parsnip 5.0-7.0
Peas 5.6-6.6
Peanuts 5.0-6.0
Peppers 6.0-8.0
Potatoes 5.8-6.5
Pumpkins 5.5-7.0
Radish 6.0-7.0
Raspberry 5.0-7.0
Rhubarb 5.0-7.0
Rutabaga 5.0-7.0
Shallots 5.0-7.0
Soybeans 5.5-7.5
Spinach 5.0-7.0
Squash 6.0-7.0
Strawberries 6.0-7.0
Sunflower 6.0-7.0
Sweet Corn 6.0-7.0
Sweet Potatoes 5.0-7.0
Swiss Chard 6.0-7.0
Tobacco 5.0-7.0
Tomatoes 5.0-7.0
Turnips 5.0-7.0
Yam 6.0-8.0
Zucchini 6.0-7.0

 

Seed Viability Chart

The following chart will give you a guideline to saving your seeds. Many factors will affect the viability such as, the seed’s age, humidity, temperature and light.
Also, these numbers are minimum years. If the seeds are kept in optimal conditions you could expect much longer storage times. The germination rates usually starts to decline after that. I will say however, that I’ve germinated tomato seeds 25 years old that were only stored in a closet. I’m not suggesting you will have to same results, but under proper conditions the list below should be more than accurate.

Plant Years of Viability
Artichokes 5
Arugula 3
Asparagus 3
Basil 5
Beans (Bush & Pole) 3
Beets 2
Broccoli 3
Brussels Sprouts 4
Cabbage 4
Carrots 3
Cauliflower 4
Celery & Celeriac 3
Chard 4
Chicory 4
Chives 2
Cilantro 5
Collards 4
Corn 2-3
Cucumber 5
Dill 5
Eggplant 4
Endive 5
Fennel 4
Kale 4
Kohlrabi 5
Leeks 2
Lettuce 3
Marjoram 1
Muskmelon 5
Mustard 3
Okra 2
Onions (green & bulb) 1
Oregano 1
Parsley 2
Parsnip 1
Peas 3
Peppers (hot & sweet) 2
Pumpkins 4
Radishes 4
Rutabaga 5
Sage 2
Salsify 1
Sorghum 4
Soybean 2
Spinach 3
Squash 4
Strawberry 2
Sunflower 5
Tomatillo 3
Tomatoes 5
Turnips 4
Watercress 5
Watermelon 5