Gardening
Growing in pots
- Mint
- Broad beans
- Basil
- Oregano
- Peppers (chilli and snack)
- Tomato
- Rosemary
- Blackcurrent
Watering
If the top surface of the soil looks dark then it doesn't need watering. Otherwise stick your finger in the soil.
Soil
- Soil and compost should be 50:50
- Fork every few days to aerate
Best soil mixure
Equal parts
- Vermiculite
- Pete moss
- Mixture of composts
Raised beds
Good
- Herbs good, no need to crop rotate
- Rosemary, marjoram and lavender good for attracting pollinating insects
- Onions don't like drying out nor crowding from weeds
- Potatoes work in raised beds but easier in bags (tip the used bags into the raised beds for the following year.
Bad
- Multi layer planters for strawberries
- Basil best in the sun (greenhouse)
- Mint family should not planted be in the ground (invasive)
- Tomato's ripen with sun and heat
- Large vine crops too rambling for raised bed
No dig beds
Add mulch regularly, less for salad crops.
Square foot gardening
More efficient use of space than rows.
Pest control
- Nowhere to hide
- Natural predators
Weed control
Compost is sterilised.
Companion planting
Complementary crops.
- Corn / bean / squash
- Basil / tomato
- Onion / radish / carrot
Further reading
- Crop rotation
- Interplanting
- Succession planting
- Trap crops - Nasturtium are loved by aphids
- Vertical gardening
- Succession planting
- Mulch
- Overwintering
- Winter crops
- Lasagne Gardnering