How to Build A PVC Greenhouse for Your Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

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The video shows you how to construct a 7x2 greenhouse/cold frame that stands 2-2/12 feet high. It is covered by .2 mil plastic paint drop cloth. You can use the directions to design a size that fits your garden bed needs.

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The Fall Garden Surives Hurricane Sandy

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We were very lucky only to lose power for a few hours. We had winds over 60 miles an hour and got our share of rain. The Rusted Garden survived. Here is an update of the fall garden. Don't forget you can get 2 seasons of cool weather crops.

Container Fall Greens - The Rusted Garden Blog

You can grow great greens in buckets or 5 gallon containers. I am also growing radishes which was an experiment. They are do fairly well but aren't getting to size like a raised bed planted radish. You see arugula, lettuces and cilantro in the picture.

The saran wrap green house was a video I made on my YouTube Garden Channel. I can safely say the design was sturdy but it can't withstand 60 plus mile per hour winds.

Saran Wrap Green House Hit by Hurricane - The Rusted Garden Blog

Kale Blown Over by Hurricane Sandy - The Rusted Garden

Kale will survive the winter here in Maryland and it will grow new leaves come spring. It is a biennial. It will also flower in the spring. You can eat the sweet yellow flowers in salads. Below is my Swiss Chard. It got knocked down but will continue to produce until a hard frost.

Swiss Chard Blown Down by Hurricane - The Rusted Garden Blog

Video of the garden and pictures if you would like to view it.

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My Last Tomatoes of the Season: October 15th!

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One of my goals was to keep the garden going. This is the latest, into fall, I have had tasty tomatoes. Some always survive but they are beat up and awful looking. The 'Sarah's Galapagos' are currant tomatoes. They are healthy looking and sweet tasting.

Fall Currant Type Tomatoes - The Rusted Garden Blog

The tomato vines were pulled and this section of my garden has been cleaned and winterized. The tomatoes were growing in the far 4x4 raised bed by the railing and house. They have moved on.

My Winterized Garden - The Rusted Garden Blog

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Update on Fall Garlic, Onions and Leeks: 3 Weeks of Growth

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Fall gardening is alive and well in Maryland. Some cool weather vegetables you plant to harvest in the fall and others you plant to over-winter and be ready come spring. On September 26th I did a video on planting garlic, onion seeds and leeks. His is the progress about 3 weeks later.

The vegetables will do their thing over the winter and be ready in various stages for spring and late spring harvesting.

Fall Planted Garlic - The Rusted Garden Blog

Fall Planted Onion Seeds - The Rusted Garden Blog

Notice the onions and leeks look almost the same. They are related. Onions make the round bulb you are familiar with and leeks grow more like cylindrical stalks. Both great additions to the garden. And you can start them in the fall.

Fall Planted Leeks - The Rusted Garden Blog

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Winterizing and Filling Your Raised Bed: Kill Slugs Too!

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Fall is a great time to winterize your vegetable garden raised beds (so to speak) and fill them up for next spring. You do the work now, to have ready to go planting beds come spring. Winterizing your beds is also a great way to cut down on slugs and snails. Kill them in the fall, so they aren't around in the spring.

Remove all the debris from this year's vegetables. Bag it and throw it away. That is the best way to remove over-wintering disease spores. The bed in the video is just filled with cheap topsoil, leaves and grass and a layer of newspaper. You are putting your bed to sleep for about 4 months. The goal is to fill up your bed, cut down on disease, reduce the snail and slug population and get the work done early.

When spring arrives you will add compost, manure and other organic matter to the top of the bed and then, come spring, you will turn it all under. Your beds will be ready for your spring cool weather vegetables. Winterize is not an exact process. It is a concept. The video gives you the basic idea of winterizing and a way to kill some slugs and snails.

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Fall Chard, Peas and Leeks: Cool Weather Gardening

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I ate these vegetables last week in a stir-fry. I feel pretty good about achieving a goal of eating into the fall. As of October 14th,  I can still eat out of the garden. I just built a plastic wrap mini greenhouse and hope to get greens into December. A new goal.

Fall gardening, as I mentioned, is well and good in Maryland Zone 7. Here is what I picked last week and a little bit of what they look like prepared to be cooked.

Fall Swiss Chard, Leeks & Peas - The Rusted Garden Blog

Cleaned-Up Swiss Chard in the Fall - The Rusted Garden Blog

Swiss Chard is a great garden vegetable. It is a cool favoring crop that grows through the summer and comes back like a monster in the fall. You prepare the stalks like celery. It has a different taste but a great similiar crunch without the celery string. It readily absorbs the seasonings of the dish.

Sliced Swiss Chard Stalks for Stir-Fry - The Rusted Garden Blog

Below are the vegetables prepared as going into my stir-fry. The swiss chard leaves were chopped. They can be used in salads. I didn't stir-fry them. I made a bed of greens out of them and put the stir-fry on top of them at plating.

Fall Garden Vegetable Stir-Fry - The Rusted Garden Blog

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Building A Mini Garden Greenhouse Out of 'Saran' Wrap: It Works!

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This video will show you how to use plastic cling wrap like 'Saran Wrap' to build a mini vegetable garden greenhouse. I am not demonstrating the exact way to construct it but I am offering an idea for you to adopt to your garden needs. Tonight the temperature will dip to 37 degrees which most likely means frost in my area.

Many cool weather crops can take frost and even freeze. I built this mini green house as a way to prolong my growing season by at least 4 weeks. You can use the idea in this video to extend your vegetable growing season in the fall and start your vegetable growing season earlier in the spring.

Be an artist and sculpt a mini greenhouse. Have fun with it.

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Planting Fall Container Greens and Lettuces

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Fall is a great time to plant lettuces and other greens. Don't forget peas and radishes too! As long as you get about 60 days before really heavy frosts, you can plant a whole new round of cool season vegetables. You can even plant leeks, onions and garlic for the following spring. The best time to start planting is mid August to mid September. Check out your weather and frost dates. October my work for in your area.

I grow a lot of lettuces and greens in containers. I over seed them and pick baby greens. I also transplant some of the container greens into my raised beds. This year I grew cilantro, arugula, spinach, and several varieties of green and red lettuces. I am even experimenting with radishes in containers.

Here is the video of my Fall container greens to give you a basic idea of how to do it. It is easy!

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How to Test Sprout/Germinate Your Garden Seeds

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There is nothing worse than planting bad seed. If you have left over seed or collect seed you want to test germinate it each year. It not only saves you time and frustration but also money. Seed can last quite a long time, even up to 5 years. The key to keeping your seed viable is to keep in an air tight container and store it in a cool place. This video shows you how to test germinate your garden seeds.

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CurbsideChaos and A Usefull Site For Gardeners!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done. for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There are a lot of garden sites around. I was interested in Curbside Chaos because of a $5,000 yard make-over they were giving away. $5000 would certainly rebuild my raised beds and buy me the stone I need for a stone patio and walk way through my garden. Too bad I didn't win! You can see what the home owner won in this video. What would you do with a yard make-over?

CurbsideChaos not only gave away a yard make-over but they are donating $1.00 to Rebuilding Together - a  national leading nonprofit that works to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities.  You can help Rebuilding Together by tweeting the hashtag #CurbsideChaos, "Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done."

One unique feature to this site is the Garden Guru Tool. All you have to do is enter the following information:

Your Country
Your Location (Planting Zone) in your Country
Choose the type of bulb you want to grow from their list
Check out the Planting Guide that shows you how to plant your bulbs

Fall is bulb planting time in my zone. I used the Garden Guru Tool to find out about bulb planting details based on bloom time while at  Curbside Chaos. Planting bulbs around you home and even in your vegetable garden is a great way to bring color to your home and yard. You don't have to be a seasoned gardener to plant bulbs.

Planting bulbs is an activity you can do with your children to teach them about Nature and care. They can see the rewards of their work come spring! Bulbs are easy to plant and really don't require more than dig, drop and bury (Done!). If you want help and information about bulbs, check out this site for your bulb needs: visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more.

While you are there you can meet three women... well a fun way to learn about planting bulbs. Each women represents a life style so to speak.  The videos are fun, very informative and a great way to learn about bulbs. I could relate to Eveyln, having deer and other 'neighbors' that enjoy munching on my bulbs! Plus there  are lots of tools there to find the bulbs you want for your planting needs. So go add some bulbs to your garden!

 

 

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Fall Cool Weather Container Lettuces, Greens and Radishes

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I mention I want to harvest into November.  Here are my bucket and container gardens. I planted several kinds of lettuce. The 'Black Seeded Simpson' is the fastest growing lettuce. The spinach is doing well. I also planted cilantro, arugula and two kinds of radishes.

I planted radishes to see if they would grow in containers in a useful way. I have standard round in one container and the other one holds 6-8 inch long tap radishes. So far so good.

The interesting thing about greens is many of them can freeze, so light frost is no big deal. Spinach often actually over-winters. The seeds in here were planted toward the end of August. Again, fall planting of cool weather vegetables works.

The other thing you can do and you can see my buckets are over-seeded, is transplant them. I will transplant a lot of the greens into a new 12 inch raised bed I made. It is my attempt to stop the rabbit that has taken up homestead in my garden. Damn rabbit! Gardens are for adults.

Fall Greens and Radishes Container Garden - The Rusted Garden Blog

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Fall Pea Success in Maryland Zone 7

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I hope you got a round of peas in for the fall. I know it is hard to keep planting sometimes but the rewards pay off. In my area (Zone 7), you get a cool weather fall planting season. It is Oct 2nd and my August planted peas have matured. I have been picking pods. The containers held cucumbers, tomatoes and basil. I removed the cucumbers and tomatoes in August and planted peas.

If you look closely you can see dozen vines climbing on the old cages. The basil is still alive, mixed in with the peas. The trellis on top of the cages was place there when I cut the grass. When I came back to move it, oh weeks later, the peas grow through it. So it stays!

You may have to click the photo to enlarge and see the peas. The 'Sarah's Galapagos' is a bit distracting. But it is still producing currant type tomatoes.

Fall Peas in Maryland Zone 7 - The Rusted Garden Blog

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Video: Making A Simple Jute (String) Trellis - Vertical Gardening

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Vertical gardening or also known as trellis gardening is a great way to add space to your garden. A 4x8 foot raised bed can also be trellised (if that's a word) to include another 4x8 vertical space or more. You can grow you cucumbers and other light vine crops up a trellis. Another video I did shows you how to create a chicken-wire trellis that measure 3x8 feet.

Jute is an organic fiber that is green friendly. I use it for everything in the garden. Although you missed the window to plant fall peas, a jute trellis is a great way to grow peas. You can set up your trellis now in the fall, so come spring, you can grow you peas vertically. Unlike cucumbers that can sprawl on the ground, peas are quite fragile and really do their best climbing. A jute trellis is nothing more than tieing off string. Who can't do that?

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LifeLock Helps Protect You From Identity Theft and Fraud

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LifeLock Facebook for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Over 11 million adults were victims of identity fraud in 2011. The odds are you know someone that has had their identity stolen, mail stolen or online information compromised. The average cost associated with identify fraud for someone that has to go through the process of dealing with identify thieves is about $1500. LifeLock offers you service and protection against identity theft. LifeLock's website is easy to use and understand and it clearly describes how they can help you from becoming a victim to identity theft.

I know several families that have had mail stolen. Lifelock in this case, would notify you of credit applications and usage of your personal information to open credit accounts or make large purchases. Fast notification, means less headaches. Sometimes this is the only way to know your personal information has been stolen.

Maybe it is not your mail that gets stolen. Maybe you have  had  your passwords stolen. How hack friendly is your password?  Using LifeLock and learning how to better protect your personal information will save you future headaches and hassles.  Did you know a 6 character password with no symbol can be hacked by a professional in under 1 second.  A 10 character password with 1 symbol can take up to 20 days to be hacked by a professional. They use tools to steal from you. You should use LifeLock to better protect your identity from them.

Want to see how LifeLock is doing, check out  LifeLock on Facebook.  You can find out about people's experiences with identity theft and what happened to them. Of the 11 million identity victims; 6.6% of victims are smartphone owners, 6.8% of them are social media users that click on the applications and 10.1% of the victims are LinkedIn users. Theft is out there. While no one can prevent your identity from being stolen, LifeLock can help better protect your identity from being stolen.  It can also help limit damages by notifying you of unauthorized credit use that is related to your information.

 

 

 

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A Full Meal From My October Garden: Just Garden Salad

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So one of my gardening goals was to get tomatoes come fall. Another goal was to eat a decent meal from my garden through November. October is officially checked off. This was a big goal because I typically lose my gardening stamina come August and my garden collapses.

This a salad of purple ruffle basil, tomatoes (large and cherry) (Oh and an heirloom 'Brandywine'), banana peppers, green peppers and white bunching onions. Topped off with sea salt and olive oil. 

An October Garden Salad - The Rusted Garden

Mozzarella Added to the Garden Salad - The Rusted Garden

All Vegetables From My October Garden - The Rusted Garden

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October 1st: What's Going On in The Rusted Garden?

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It's fall. The nights are hitting the 40's and the days are resting nicely in the mid 70's I achieved a lot of garden goals this year. The big goal was getting my videos done. The other big goal is cleaning up my garden this fall and building all the new beds that I want for spring. I actually have a plan this fall for my 2013 garden. Well... a general plan that is a bit more detailed than last year. Here is some of what is going in my garden.

The of 'Sarah's Galapagos': The Rusted Garden

My container gardens were quite successful this year. This is all that remains of the tomatoes. Below are clay pots I used to attract toads. I redesigned my herb garden this month and did a complete over-haul. The sage is all that remained of a large bush that died back.

My Renovated Herb Garden with Sage: The Rusted Garden

Lavender in A Box - The Rusted Garden

Lavender grows quite well in boxes. It is nice to have around the raised beds. It attract bees and good insects and it smell great when you brush against it. The tomatoes were another goal. I got large tomatoes into October. Be it only 1 day. I did it.

The Last of Large Tomatoes and Purple Basil- The Rusted Garden

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Video: Building A Cucumber & Vine Chicken-Wire Trellis

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The key to building a trellis is knowing where the sun sits in your garden. A lot of time people build a trellis and the afternoon sun casts a trellis vine shadow on their other vegetables. That is fine if you want a shade garden. It isn't fine if you are shading out crops that need full sun. This video shows you how to construct the trellis and it talks about some planning strategies.

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