Swiss Chard Vegetable – No Downside to the Swiss Chard

There is one food that has it all and that is the Swiss chard vegetable. It’s not often that you come across an all inclusive food that offers everything from having a great taste, healthy nutrients and healing qualities. On top of that, as a weight loss food, you’d be hard pressed to find better as one cup of boiled, chopped Swiss chard contains only about 35 calories.

This truly underrated vegetable is a cool season vegetable that is actually a beet that has been bred specifically to produce more leaves and less stems. The leaves are of course more popular in the USA rather than Europe where the stems are preferred. You can prepare and cook the Swiss chard in a variety of ways without losing too many of its vitamins. For example, it’s delicious sauteed simply with garlic and a little of a good extra virgin olive oil. If you prefer, you can also just steam it, perhaps with one or two of your favorite herbs and sliced lemon.

Speaking of vitamins, I don’t know of any other single vegetable that contains as many nutrients as the Swiss chard. If you’re thinking Vitamins A, B, C, E and K, you’d be right. It also contains calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron. This list is by no means exhaustive but does explain why it is consistently rated as one of the very best vegetables to include in your diet, whether you’re trying to lose weight or not.

The Swiss chard vegetable has a very high level of beta-carotene. Now, beta-carotene has been widely studied by medical researchers because of its potential to provide protection against certain types of cancer. In fact, researchers in Australia studied the diets of two groups of men: those who had had skin cancer and those without cancer. The researchers discovered that the men who were less likely to develop skin cancer were those who ate more food full of beta-carotene, like the Swiss chard vegetable.

Swiss chard is easy for the novice gardener to grow. All it needs is a well-drained soil, improved by the addition of aged compost. If you water regularly and keep it free from weeds, you should be able to harvest and enjoy your crop four to six weeks after planting. And, since the Swiss chard is relatively frost resistant, don’t be afraid to experiment and plant them two to three weeks before your last frost. You should have good results.

All in all, the Swiss chard vegetable will make a worthwhile addition to your vegetable garden. It is versatile, tastes great and is full of healthy nutrients. And, if you’re trying to lose some weight, this vegetable with its low calorie content should be the first one picked in your diet.

Swiss Chard Seeds
For a huge selection of swiss chard seeds, visit Amazon.com. Remember, it’s better to get the organic seeds.

Copyright © 2009 www.vegetablegardenplantingguide.com

Raised Bed Garden – How To Easily Choose The Right One

Whether you are building or buying a raised bed garden, you will need to spend some time thinking about what size will suit your garden best. In order to get exactly what you want, it’s important to select the right bed as a mistake can have unpleasant consequences in terms of cost not to mention the hassle if you had to disassemble and reassemble the bed again.

However, these guidelines will hopefully assist you to make the right decision and avoid costly mistakes.

Width

The popular width for a freestanding bed is 4 foot as this width makes it easy for most people to reach the middle of the bed and tend to the plants without straining too much.

However, if you’re fixing the bed to some kind of structure like the side of your garage, house or fence, then a width of 2 foot is ideal because you obviously cannot reach anything from the side that is attached to the structure.

These are not hard and fast rules, mind you. Some people have a longer reach than others and, so, they can most likely handle wider beds.

Length

As far as the length is concerned, it can be anything you’re comfortable with and depends clearly on how much space is available. Having said that, let me outline a couple of important things for you to take into account.

If you’re a beginner or watching the budget , choosing a smaller garden bed is a better option because it costs less not only to build or buy but also to fill with soil mix because you won’t need as much.

A beginner would also find it much easier to manage a smaller garden than a larger one. A good size for a beginner is 4 foot wide by 6 foot long which will provide 24 square feet of space in which to to grow your favorite vegetables.

Moreover, if the raised bed is too long and has been constructed from wood, the sides may buckle from the sheer weight of the soil. Therefore, you will need to brace them with metal spikes or some other method if you’re building your own bed. On the other hand, many vendors nowadays provide their own devices with their kits if you’re buying the bed.

Beds made from natural stone or bricks should not experience any bowing problems if they are built properly.

Height

The type of plants you intend to grow will determine the height of the sides of your raised bed garden. For example, vegetables like lettuce, herbs or spinach that have shallow roots will do fine in about 6 inches deep soil. On the other hand, vegetables such as squash, broccoli and tomatoes with their deep roots require about 20 inches deep soil. And then, you’ve got the “in-between” vegetables like carrots, peas and beets that need 8-12 inches deep soil.

So, as you can see, there is a wide range but there is no need to complicate things. Let’s say you decide to plant carrots, peas and lettuce for your first bed. In that case, the sides of your bed will be 12 inches (30cm) tall.

Again, these measurements are not etched in stone and, so, feel free to adjust them slightly if needed. More importantly, make sure that the vegetables that you plant together have compatible water and fertilizer needs. Believe me, it’s less hassle.

One last thing. Raised bed gardens can be just about any shape you want. They can be octagonal, square, rectangular or triangular. L-Shaped or T-Shaped. Just remember one of the key aspects of raised bed gardening and that is easy access to plants from all sides so that you don’t have to step into the bed and compact the soil.

Having a raised bed garden is extremely rewarding and. no doubt, it will serve you well for years to come. Basically, the only work you will have to do each season is to lightly turn over the soil of the bed and start planting. And you won’t have to weed as much as in a “conventional garden” either, saving you precious time and effort.

Copyright © 2009 www.vegetablegardenplantingguide.com

Raised Bed Vegetable Garden -The Perfect Fix to a Problem Yard

If you can’t grow your own vegetables because you’ve got poor soil, then a raised bed vegetable garden is one of the better options available to you.

A raised bed garden is literally a garden that is built on top of the natural ground. Instead of digging and building a garden as you would normally, you bring in the best soil you can get and lay it in position on top of your local soil to form your garden. A raised bed garden can be set up in a freestyle or structured fashion. In freestyle, the soil is not contained in any kind of structure whereas in structured, the soil is placed inside, for example, a wooden or brick frame.

In reality, though, the structured version is the preferred and more practical of the two versions. That’s because, after a few weeks or months, you may find that a combination of rain and soil erosion will reduce your freestyle version from a “raised” bed garden to a “flat” bed garden. Not quite what you want.

Either way, the raised bed garden is an ingenious method of gardening which allows you to plant and produce just about anything simply by modifying your existing growing landscape. It’s like performing cosmetic surgery on your garden. If you’re not happy with what you’ve got, change it!

Better Soil

This has to be the most brilliant aspect of a raised bed garden. It’s not important how bad the soil is in your garden. Since you bring your own, you can simply create the best soil mix to suit whatever type of plant you’re growing whether that’s herbs, flowers or, of course, all kinds of vegetables (which this article focuses on).

If you’re planting vegetables, the best soil mix is generally a mixture of good quality organic garden soil, well-decomposed manure and compost. Remember, every gardener will have their favorite but the important thing is to make certain that your vegetable plants will grow in whatever soil mix you choose and that means ensuring the pH level of the soil is right for the plants. Some vegetable plants like acidity, others alkalinity. So, use a pH soil test kit to get the correct balance.

Location

Imagine. One minute, you’re looking at a bare concrete backyard, the next, a brand new, thriving vegetable garden right where it used to be.

That’s because you can have a raised bed garden on virtually every surface you can think of: concrete or tiled driveway or other hard surfaces, lawn, patio and over poor soil in your garden.

A word of caution. If you lay the soil mix on a hard surface, like a tiled driveway or concreted area, you would need to make sure that you have adequate drainage. One way to do this is to put a sufficient layer of gravel at the bottom before pouring the soil mix over the top of the gravel.

And, just like normal vegetable gardens, you need to consider, among other things, the amount of sunshine it will get each day before deciding where to position your raised bed vegetable garden. For a checklist, please go to the second paragraph of Planting a Vegetable Garden for Beginners and Vegetable Garden Planting – How to Make Better Garden Soil.

There are many advantages of having a raised bed vegetable garden – like better drainage, less back strain, easier pest and weed control and so on. But its biggest benefit, I think, is that it allows people the satisfaction to have a garden when they didn’t think they could.

Copyright © 2009 www.vegetablegardenplantingguide.com

Planting a Vegetable Garden – Step by Step Guide

Planting a vegetable garden will never be easier after you’ve read ‘Organic Food Gardening Beginner’s Manual’ by Julie Villani.

Have you ever felt that you could be eating better quality garden vegetables? Better than the ones that are picked green and gas ripened and which are completely tasteless?

Believe me, I’m with you. But, if you’ve ever felt powerless to do anything about it, I have a simple solution for you: grow your own organic vegetables.

Too much work, you say? Right now, there is huge interest from ordinary folk, like you, who want to enjoy tasty and juicy tomatoes again. People who are rejecting the bland, commercially mass produced stuff. They obviously feel that a little effort is worth it and that their family deserve to eat healthier, organically-grown vegetables.

And, you know, it’s really quite easy to plant and grow your own vegetable garden when someone gives you step by step instructions and all you have to do is follow them and you’re there.

That’s exactly what Julie Villani has done with her Organic Food Gardening Beginner’s Manual which you can download immediately. No waiting.

But who is Julie Villani? Well, she is australian (like me) and absolutely passionate about organic food. She is totally qualified in horticulture and has previously operated a nursery. Therefore, she knows what she’s talking about.

This manual is aimed directly at the beginner and guides you smoothly through the process of planning your vegetable garden, feeding your soil, planting using organic seeds, watering, mulching, weeding, fertilizing right through to when to harvest your goodies. Follow the simple and precise steps and you will enjoy healthy and tasty vegetables and herbs in no time.

If you’re into city living, you’ll particularly like the part on Food Gardening in Small Spaces (p.77) where you’ll be introduced to container gardening, popular with those who live in apartments and have limited space.

The manual will set you back US$24 and comes with bonuses worth more than US$64. But it’s worth more than that, so you are getting an absolute bargain.

So, go here for more details and to grab your copy of one of the best guides on planting a vegetable garden for beginners I’ve come across recently.

Planting Vegetables from Seeds

Have you thought about planting vegetables from seeds instead of buying seedlings?

I’m sure you want to save yourself some cash just like most of us these days and so, if you compare how much it costs you to buy one seedling as opposed to how many seedlings you would get from one packet of seeds bought for $X, you will find that it’s much cheaper to grow your vegetables from seeds. It’s a no-brainer.

You will also derive much pleasure from “planting your own” and then have the satisfaction of seeing those seeds turn into healthy, vigourous seedlings. How rewarding is that!

The two things you need to consider here is whether you should start the seed directly in the garden or start it indoors. Some vegetables such as carrots, turnips, beetroot and other root crops do not like to be transplanted, so they are prime candidates for the direct method.. On the other hand, vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce and silverbeet should be planted as seedlings.

Starting Your Seed Directly in the Garden

When sowing directly into position in the garden, which you have already prepared for planting, give your seeds the best chance possible to germinate by following these simple guidelines:

1. Never sow seeds deeper than about twice their diameter.

2. Do not forget the birds. They are a joy but when they are hungry, they will go for those seeds. There are many ways to deter them: for example, you could try putting these empty supermarket bags to good use by tying them to the fence or to stakes.

3. Ensure that the temperature of your soil is right before you put seeds in the ground. Some vegetables can handle cooler soil but for most, the soil must be warm enough before planting. Fortunately, nowadays, seed packets carry instructions as to the best time to plant seeds, so just follow these instructions and you should have good results.

Starting Your Seed Indoors

If you start your seeds indoors, of course you want to make sure that they germinate. The process is fairly simple. All you need is seedling trays or some other suitable containers like cut-out milk cartons or cups, a specially formulated germinating mix or light potting mix (I’ll refer to this as soil from now on), water, some kind of lighting system if needed and, obviously, seeds.

Before going further, let me just say I prefer to transplant seedlings directly from their growing medium into the garden. In other words, I don’t first transfer them to a larger container to mature before transplant. You can choose whatever option suits you best. But if you decide to follow my method, you must make sure that the trays or containers you will use to sow the seeds in are deep enough to sustain the growth of the seedlings until they are ready to go in the ground. Personally, I find it easier to accomplish this task by using various boxes, pots and whatever happens to be handy rather than bother with seedling trays.

Ok, let”s start with the seedling trays and containers. Make sure that they have drainage holes and wash them with warm soapy water to sterilize them before use.

Next, fill the the tray or containers with soil. Put them in a larger pan or tray and fill with water to about halfway up the sides. Stand overnight to moisten the soil.

Sow your seeds to the depth recommended on the seed packet. You can cover the containers with plastic or glass to ensure there is enough humidity for germination and put them in an evenly warm spot, away from sunlight. Try the top of the refrigerator or laundry room. After that, keep the soil moist but not wet. You can use a misting spray bottle for that purpose.

And, finally, if you don’t have enough adequate sunlight, use a fluorescent light (gro-light) or greenhouse lamp about six inches above the containers and leave it on until the seeds germinate.

Keep checking and look for any sign of germination. As soon as the first seedlings sprout, remove any covering on the containers. and move them to where the seedlings will be exposed to sunlight. Don’t let them dry out. Stick your finger in the soil to check and use the misting spray bottle to keep them moist.

Then, watch for the second set of leaves to appear, at which point you should start feeding the seedlings about once a week with, say, a water soluble organic fertilizer at 1/4 the recommended strength. Now is also the time to give the seedlings more room by thinning them out. Check the recommended spacing on the seed packet.

In about 6-8 weeks from when you started, your seedlings should be ready for ‘hardening off” which simply means toughening them up before exposing them to the elements. Remember, they have never been outside, so for the next 10 days or so leave your seedlings in their containers outside in a shaded spot with indirect light for about 2 hours each day for about 3 days. After that, put them in the sun for about 2 hours each day, gradually increasing their exposure to the sun to around 3 hours the next day, and so on. Remember, this is a general guide. If it’s freezing or there is a storm, for example, bring your seedlings inside immediately.

By the end of the period, the seedlings should be used to sunlight and wind and should be thoroughly thriving, ready to be transplanted. to your garden.

Success

You have now successfully planted seeds either directly into your garden or indoors and produced strong and healthy seedlings. The next stage will be to grow these seedlings into tasty and tender vegetables that you will enjoy cooking and eating every day. Once that happens, you would have accomplished your goal of planting your vegetables from seeds.

Final tip

Try to sow your seeds at intervals. If you sow all your seeds at the same time, your vegetables will all be ready to harvest at roughly the same time. You don’t want that. You want your vegetables to be available throughout the season but not all at once.

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