On this week's episode, Travis plants a bumper crop of squash and cucumbers in the garden area. The first step in planting a bumper crop is to mark off the rows and lay the drip irrigation in the desired area. Travis has a 30 by 35-foot wide subplot area and is going to lay six rows that have five-feet spacing. To lay...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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On this week's episode, Travis is growing a maximum carrot crop in a tight space in the vegetable garden. When planting a carrot crop on double rows with drip irrigation it has always worked well and we have received a bountiful harvest in the Spring garden for several years. Travis suggests planting carrots in the fall...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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On this week's episode, Travis is growing a productive okra crop in the vegetable garden. You can typically plant around two or three crops of okra from spring to fall. Throughout the warm growing season, it is best to succession plant okra to ensure you can get maximum yields for harvesting. In the Spring, Travis always...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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On this week's episode, Travis is explaining the key factors in growing winter squash in the vegetable garden. In the dream garden, he is going to plant one of his favorite crops to grow which is winter squash. The first major reason for growing winter squash is it can be easy to manage because it doesn't require a...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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On this week's episode, Travis explains one thing to consider before planting in the vegetable garden. The ultimate goal when growing your own vegetables is to produce the healthiest crops you can. One way to get a maximum crop of healthy plants is to grow cut flowers. For crops such as cucumbers, summer squash...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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On this week's episode, Travis shows off the finished dream vegetable garden. Travis has designed and laid out a new area on his homestead that is his ideal dream vegetable garden. He is going to go over every variety that he planted in the area today...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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There are a couple of different benefits behind interplanting cut flowers such as sunflowers in the vegetable garden. The first benefit is it will increase the presence of beneficial insects which helps control harmful pests from taking over the area. However, the most important reason for interplanting flowers is it...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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Every gardener imagines having a dream vegetable garden that is designed and laid out to fit your ideal gardening needs on the homestead. This past year, Travis has established a new area on his homestead that is designed as his dream vegetable garden. The dream garden is designed with six subplots...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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To have improved garden soils using cover crops can help replenish the area by increasing organic matter, suppress nematode populations, control weed germination, and improve overall soil tilth. When building up the garden soils you should supply the best cover crop that fulfills the characteristics you are wanting...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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On this week's episode, Travis is talking about how to plant and take care of sweet potatoes throughout the growing process. As a warm-weather crop, sweet potatoes are ideal for growing during the summer months because they love the hotter weather and don't mind when it is dry. In the South, summer planting...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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The reason behind attracting bees or other beneficial pollinators is the many different benefits they can provide the vegetable garden. The first benefit of attracting pollinators is the better production of plants. By transferring pollen from one flower to another flower can help plants produce healthy fruits...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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When it comes to trellising cucumbers, pole beans, or other vegetables there are several important reasons for doing this in the garden area. The first important reason for trellising plants is the ability to maximize space in smaller areas. For example, by trellising crops like pole beans you are able to plant on narrower...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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The many benefits of growing cover crops are the increase of organic matter, nematode suppression, weed control, reduce soil erosion, and increase yields in the vegetable garden soils. When building up your garden soils you have to supply the best cover crop that fulfills the characteristics you are wanting...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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On this week's episode, Travis is showing the difference between fertilized vs. unfertilized plants in the vegetable garden. When discussing whether you should fertilize plants or not, it has been experimentally proven that we need to fertilize plants in order to successfully grow crops. Fertilization plays a major role that...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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It is around the peak of warm temperatures for the summer growing season this year. With this kind of warm weather conditions, there's not a lot of vegetable crops that will produce in the garden area. However, some crops like okra, sweet potatoes, and zinnias can continue to grow in these temperatures. This is...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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When getting ready for a busy fall planting it's important to prepare the garden soil to the best of your ability before the future growing season. By using good compost manure to replenish the vegetable garden soil with the needed nutrients for crops you are able to ensure the soil is ready for fall planting...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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There are many aspects that factor into getting healthy garden soils in your desired planting area. When starting out the best way to see what type of pH level you have in your soil is by testing to see what nutrients need to be added and what does not. Another factor in achieving healthy garden soils is by adding...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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The meaning behind no-till gardening is the process of turning over around 6 to 10 inches of soil that will loosen and remove any plant matter for planting new crops in the area. While tilling sounds ideal it can actually harm the soil by striping the rich organic matter and insects that form healthy soil biology...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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The three most important factors when growing the best sweet corn are pollination, irrigation, and fertilization. When it comes to planting our Peaches and Cream sweet corn it should be planted in blocks or squares because corn is pollinated by the wind, therefore planting in blocks instead of long rows ensures...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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The main benefit of cover cropping the garden is the many beneficial nutrients that they can incorporate into the soils. Not only can they improve your garden soils but they can also control weeds, increase yields, and reduce soil erosion. Cover cropping soil also allows you to plant year-round keeping your garden...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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When it comes to planting fall sweet corn or any kind of corn variety it should be planted in blocks or squares for better pollination. Planting in blocks instead of long rows ensures that once the crop starts tasselling the wind can effectively pollinate the corn. Corn is a self-pollinating plant that produces a male flower...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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If you've ever heard the saying you win some you lose some that couldn't be any more true when growing in the vegetable garden. When losing plants in the garden it doesn't mean you should give up or quit taking chances when growing plants. Gardening is a variable thing because we have no control over...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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In the 30 by 35 garden plot, Travis has 11 rows that are ready for fall transplants. To prepare the garden for fall planting, he had to first clean the area from any previous crops. The next step is to add in some chicken manure and till it in to help improve the structure or tilth of the soil. Instead of adding in a new drip...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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In the most basic definition, a cover crop is a plant that covers the soil while you are not using it. Growing a cover crop is going to lead to healthier soil and a more productive garden. Because of its many benefits, some farmers/gardeners like to mix two cover crops in a field and call it a cover crop cocktail. Whether you...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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Nothing beats the taste of a potato that has been grown in your backyard. Though potatoes aren't that expensive, digging up the perfect potato straight from your garden to take inside to wash and throw in the pan is not only a great taste but a great memory and feeling of accomplishment. So how do you...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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Soil is the main ingredient in every great garden, and you have to understand the tillage of your soil to be able to help your garden. So what is good tillage? Tillage is the suitability of your soil to grow. Characteristics of good soil are that it will crumble in your hand while also having large pieces. It will have lots...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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Planting corn can be very intimidating to a beginner gardener, but with these few sweet corn tips, your garden will be popping up in rows in no time! Well, in no time, we mean at least 80 days. As always, the first step in planting anything is choosing which variety you want to work. There are many seeds out there...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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Everyone has their preference on which pea they prefer; if you are a northerner, you may like the English ones better. If you are raised in the south, black-eyed peas may be your favorite, either way, there is a type for everyone. What is even better is when they are fresh out of your garden instead of from the grocery...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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Potatoes are one of the easiest things to plant in your garden as they do not need much uptake to produce, but fertilizing potatoes is the way to go if you want to take your yield to the next level, and that can get a little tricky. As the days in South Georgia are getting longer, it is getting into tater time, and Hoss...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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The days are getting hotter and our tomatoes are growing taller we try to answer the question - what is the simplest cherry tomato trellis ...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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The term "GMO", which stands for genetically-modified organism, was originally coined to describe transgenic crop varieties. Transgenic varieties are genetically engineered by inserting a gene from an unrelated organism (usually bacteria) into the DNA of a plant species. The added gene gives the plant a certain...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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It's no secret that the plants in your vegetable garden need some combination of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK) to thrive and produce to their full potential. Adding compost as a soil amendment before planting can definitely provide most of these required nutrients, but some crops will need...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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Growing corn has always been a staple here in the south. We look forward to the time of year when tassels and silks form on the corn plants, because we know this means corn pollination is occurring and it won't be long until we have fresh corn on the table. Corn is a heavy-feeding crop that requires quite a bit of...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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There are many beneficial benefits when it comes to adding compost to the plants growing in the vegetable garden. The major reason for adding good compost to the vegetable garden is to improve our soil structures with nutrients. When we increase the nutrients we are able to improve the ability...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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If you are a gardener there is no doubt that you have thought about what your dream vegetable garden would look like that you would love to have on your homestead. On this week's episode, Travis is explaining what his dream garden would like and how he plans to lay it out. Travis has had an area...
Posted on August 18, 2023
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We absolutely love tomatoes and we love to grow an abundance of them every year. We eat them fresh off the vine on a tomato sandwich and we preserve them in many different ways including salsa, spaghetti sauce, chili sauce, and homemade ketchup. While growing, tomatoes, plants must be trellised in some way to...
Posted on August 17, 2023
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If you've never heard of vine okra, you need to hear this story. Back in August of last year a friend and I were on our way to Holmes County, Ohio, to visit with some Amish customers. We decided to stop in Jamestown, Tennessee, to spend the night with my friend’s Grandmother...
Posted on August 17, 2023
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Although we love the taste, texture and beauty of heirloom tomatoes, we unfortunately are lucky if 1 out of every 10 plants makes any tomatoes each year. Therefore we have settled to the point where we are happy if we simply get enough heirlooms for a couple of tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches...
Posted on August 17, 2023
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Are you planting potatoes in your vegetable garden? Potatoes are a great crop that are easy to grow and can be stored for many months. Around here the temperatures are warming and the dogwood trees are blooming. We have pepper and tomato plants galore in the greenhouse that are being stepped...
Posted on August 17, 2023
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