Growing your own Vegetables

Good reasons for growing your own vegetables:

1.  Control what is used in the growing process, Most people do not like eating food grown with the use of chemicals

2.  Enjoy the planting from seed or small seedlings, watching them grow, satisfaction when the crop is a success, the picking, cooking and serving a vegetable ...yes I love it all!

3.  Life is about learning and everyday I learn something new about gardening - that makes me happy and hope it does you too.

4.  Save money, not having to buy vegetables is a huge saving in your food expenses

5. Fresh vegies do not go off as quickly and can be from garden to plate whenever you want them

Where to begin with your vegetable garden

The first thing to do when beginning your garden is to think about what you eat and how much of that particular vegetable you eat. Plan your gardening around that, make a list of what you and your family eat.  It is smart to grow what you want to eat and would normally buy from the supermarket or fresh vegie market.

Here is a list of the vegetables and herbs that we grow and eat:

• Beans
• Spinach/
• Broccoli
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Cucumber 
• Bock Choi
• Carrots
• Pumpkin
• Zucchini
• Corn
• Potatoes
• Chilli
• Curly Leaf Parsley
• Italian Parsley
• Curry Plant
• Mint
• Garlic Chives
• Fennel
• Thyme
• Basil
• Sweet Thai Basil
• Capsicum

Garden Design Options

You might prefer to plant your garden straight into the ground.  If you do, it would be a good idea to put a border for the garden to stop the grass from growing into the garden and help control weeds it will also be easier at mowing time with a defined border on your garden.
When preparing the garden for planting digging the ground can be hard work but it can be done a bit at a time or there are small digger machines you can buy and use to make the digging easier.

You might prefer to use above ground gardens.  Especially if you have limited space/live in an apartment.  We have plenty of ground space but decided to go for above ground gardens for a few different reasons:

1. Less digging
2. More control over weeds
3. Do not have to bend down as low  

Plan how to set your garden out for convenience

It is a good idea to take your time in the planning stage of your garden.  Here are some ideas you might be interested in.  Divide the garden into sections considering how often you will go to that part of the garden.  Plant the things you use most often, closest to the house for convenience.

Example

Herb garden close to kitchen to make it quick and easy to pick herbs when you are cooking.

Vegetable garden easy access but not as close as herb garden - you are likely to pick every second or third day but not every day with most vegetables, some prefer to just pick and use as they prepare meals and if this is what you like to do then it is a good idea not to have the vegie garden to far from the kitchen.

Orchard further away as it is likely not to be accessed as often, at times for pruning, spraying, checking the fruit and picking the crop

Green houses are usually situated in a position taking into consideration the sun and light and visual
appearance in relation to your house  

This post is still incomplete 
 Companion Planting

When to plant   

How to prune your roses

There is much written about why, when and how best to prune your roses. 

Why prune your roses
Pruning encourages new growth on a rose bush which leads to increasing the number of flowers you will get on the bush and also helps control disease by the removal of unwanted leaves in the centre of the bush that could create an opportunity for black-spot to grow and spread. It is necessary to do the pruning to keep your rose bushes looking healthy, vibrant and covered with flowers in the spring and summer.

When to prune your roses 
Roses should be heavily pruned in the winter July/August or in some areas after the frosts so the new growth is not damaged... however, I consider myself (to a certain extent) to be pruning each time a flower is cut for a vase or cut for removal from the bush once the flower is aging and no longer looks attractive in the garden. So even though the heavy pruning goes on before spring it does to some degree continue through the flowering period.
There are some roses that are late flowering and should not be pruned until they have finished flowering, they include  Old fashioned roses, Rambler roses, Climbing roses and Banksia roses.

How to prune your roses
Tools to use
Be sure to wear good thick gloves to avoid being spiked by the rose bushes, use clean sharp secateurs and a clean sharp saw for thicker stems  I do not use my rose secateurs on any other plant, only on the roses and keep them stored in a clean cover when they are not in use.  The tools you use should be sterilised with disinfectant before you start and after each bush is cut before moving on to the next bush to avoid transferring disease from one plant to another.  When you are pruning it is a good idea to have a large container or throw sheet to put all the off cuts into, so as not to let them get into the ground, they could spread disease to your healthy plants.

How much to cut
Cut about one third of each stem, remove any leaves and old flowers and new growth at the bottom of the plant, cut off any old dead and dying wood to the bottom of the plant, it will be easy to recognise the old wood - it will be brown/grey in colour.  The branches that are shaped outwards should be kept for next years growth and you should remove center branches to encourage the plant to have open central room for air to circulate.  Or as my sister says ' shape it like a wine glass'.

After the pruning treat the rose bush and ground around it
Some experts advise to use Lime sulphur to spray the plant and the ground around the plant to keep it healthy and free from pests and disease.  I have not used lime sulphur myself at this stage as my roses are in pots. I am not sure that I will use lime sulphur when the plants are in the ground, I am reluctant to use the lime sulphur as it will burn young growth on the bush so should only be done immediately after the pruning takes place before the new growth begins.  This is for you to consider whether you want to use it or not.

After the pruning remove all the off-cuts  
As you were pruning you should have been placing all of the off-cuts into a bin or on a throw sheet, gather up any leaves and bits and pieces that have fallen on the ground, dispose of all of the debris.  Do not use any of the off-cuts in mulching and composting - avoid disease going back into the ground.

Sterilise and store your tools
Be sure to sterilise and store your tools, I do find it handy to keep the rose secateurs in the vicinity of the rose garden for convenience.

Fertilise around your rose bushes
Place a 5 cm.-10 cm. layer of mulch around the rose bushes and water it in thoroughly.  I like to use organic pellets and sugar cane mulch on mine or Seasol liquid and sugar cane mulch but there are many fertilisers to choose from.