So you have made the decision to begin growing tomatoes.   Good news – they are a hardy plant which is pretty simple to achieve good results with.   Bad news – there are a huge number of varieties to choose from which can make it hard to decide on which one to go with.  If you follow these quick steps you will be up and running quickly.  When growing tomatoes use a well known hybrid variety. Hybrid varieties have been especially bred to be disease resistance.

Traditional strains may in some peoples opinion taste better but they do need a lot more experience to grow them sucessfully. Luckily these days there are a number of good tasting Hybrids available so finding a variety that will be acceptable to your taste buds won`t be hard.

Seeds or Seedlings for Growing Tomatoes

Start off with seedlings: Growing tomatoes from seed is a more difficult way to go which the beginner gardener can avoid. Buying tomato seedlings from your local nursery makes the most sense. Let them know that you are starting out and ask their advice, you can always go back for more help later on if you need to.  the seedlings that you buy should be short and solid looking not long and straggely.   Which Variety to Choose when growing tomatoes   The tomato variety you choose when growing tomatoes depends on where you are going to be growing them. The choice is either outside in the garden or inside in pots or upside down baskets. In many ways it is easier to grow tomatoes in pots as you can then control your soil and location requirements far more easily. Good soil and a good location are the two most important factors to decide on when it comes to growing tomatoes. By growing them in containers you have more control over each aspect. Another important thing is to make sure the pot you choose is big enough, tomato polants have a fairly large root system and can grow a long way so don’t cramp them.   Whether inside or outside they require a suitable amount of sunlight. It is good if they have as much as 8-hours of sunlight every day.

These plants develop in temperate weather. You’ll need to wait till the outside temperature reaches 50 degrees or more every day before planting the seeds or the seedlings for growing tomatoes. You may use seeds or seedlings  to grow them in your garden. Remember it will be necessary to grow the seeds inside the house until they sprout and grow into strong seedlings.   The plants will react well to soil that has been well fertilised with compost and other organic material. The seedlings must be planted in holes that you have created approximately a foot in diameter and at least 2-3 feet apart. The plants need enough room to grow.

Tomato plants like well drained soil, they dont like having their roots sitting in saturated ground but they do need moist conditions.  Its a good idea to place mulch, straw or similar material around the areas where the seedlings are planted. It is also a good idea to feed the tomato plants with liquid fertiliser every few weeks. it is also important to give the plants enough water as they grow. Water them at the roots instead of on the leaves and never saturate the plants in too much water.  As the plants begin to grow, make sure that they are well supported by securing your plants to stakes driven into the ground.

Harvesting your Lovely Big Red Ripe Tomatoes

Be ruthless with pinching out side shoots on the tomato plants. Pinching out means squeezing the shoot between your thumb and index finger to break it off. Tomatoes growing outside in the ground only need pinching out once or twice to do well. I have learned this through trial and error. The plants in pots were pinched out once a week to ensure that the fruits I got were big and juicy. I never bother pinching out cherry tomatoes.   Once all the tomatoes are set on the plant remove any leaves that are hiding the fruit from the sun. Its best for the tomatoes to ripen on the plant as this helps speed up the ripening process. Removing the leaves also gives you slightly bigger tomatoes.  Grow some in pots and containers as well as in the ground. They are a lot of fun and be grown on any sunny spot you have.  Its not hard to know when your growing tomatoes are ready for harvesting. They have grown in size and changed colour from green to reddish orange.

Growing carrots is one of the easiest ways to start growing plants in the veggie patch.   Prepare the soil before planting, turn it over well with a fork to break it up and get rid of the weeds. you can use an organic weedkiller to get rid of the weeds or just pull them out by hand. Once the carrots start to grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to weed them as they are fragile little things at first, just take care to not pull out the growing carrots. When they get a bit bigger you will need to thin them out a bit to give them enough space to grow .   Carrots love light, well-drained, fertile soils even a bit on the sandy side, as stone-free as possible is ideal. Carrots are not particularly fussy growers. The ideal soil for growing carrots is rich, with well-rotted compost in it.

Growing Carrots from Seeds

Make a furrow in the soil of your vegetable garden then sow the seeds sparingly along the furrow and cover with about 5mm of top soil. If you mix the seeds with sand or sugar before sowing it makes it easier to spread the tiny seeds out in the furrows. Mulching over with straw or hay will help to keep the seeds moist, and this will also make it easier to water them without disturbing the seeds. The  plants don’t need much attention during their growth period, growing carrots  should be kept well watered though, give them some liquid fertiliser every ten days or so, if they don’t get enough water they will end up being tough and coarse with woody roots.   The seeds can be sown 2-3 weeks before the last frost. About a week before sowing your seeds, rake in a light dressing of general fertiliser, blood and bone is ideal. Carrot are cool temperature vegetables, but they will almost certainly not germinate when it is below 5 degrees Celsius. If the soil temperature is around 10 degrees Celsius they will take about 10 days to germinate.

Harvesting your Growing Carrots

Start harvesting your carrots as soon as they’re big enough to eat. When they are younger they are at their sweetest and juiciest. Harvest the larger ones first leaving the smaller ones to keep growing. With a bit of care and attention your carrot harvest should continue over quite a few weeks giving you a crop to be proud of.

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“Grow your own” has become a catchphrase these days with lots of people taking the plunge and starting to create their own vegetable gardens. It can be a very exciting experience to get stuck in and grow your own favorite vegetables for the first time. This is something the whole family can do together, get the kids involved from the start with the whole decision making process through to the building, chosing and planting and they will regard it as their project as well.

Steps to Follow

You have to follow a sequence of steps to create and grow your own beautiful vegetable garden, especially if you are starting from scratch. If you have the good fortune to have taken over an already established vegetable garden then your task is quite a bit easier. The process of growing a vegetable garden and nurturing the plants from seeds or seedlings to maturity gives you a real sense of fulfillment and provides you with so many benefits as well, such as providing fresh organic chemical free vegetables and reducing the household food costs.

What A Vegetable Garden Requires

When establishing a garden to grow your own vegetables one thing to keep in mind is that gardening requires quite a lot of water so that your vegetables will grow properly, this means locating the garden in a place where water access is not an issue. The soil should be deep, fertile and well-drained to be ideal for any kind of gardening. If  it is heavy clay or very stony it would be a better idea to use raised beds and bring in fresh soil. Adding compost  and fertilizers like blood and bone to the soil will definately pay off in the long run when you grow your own vegies.

Select the vegetables you want to grow

Deciding which vegetables to grow is very much a personal preference thing. There are lots of different types of vegetables to choose from, some of the easier ones to start off with are carrots, radishes, tomatoes, zucchini, peas, squash, beets, beans, onions,  spinach and tomatoes which are all able to be grown in a small area while others like cantaloupes, watermelons, cucumbers and squash need large spaces to grow. Plantings can be chosen as per the family needs, but try not to over crowd the garden plot.
You will need to research these vegetables first to discover the particular type of soil they are suited to.

Examine the quality of the soil

Once you identify which types of grow your own vegetables you want to plant its a case of checking the soil pH level. The soil acts as the lifeline of the garden. You must make sure that the soil and your vegetables are a good match. The pH level that is needed for your soil is 6.5. The pH level of your

soil determines how many nutrients your vegetables will be able to extract from the soil.

Choose a good spot to grow your own vegies

Once you know the soil quality, examine the location to ensure that your garden will have enough sunlight to sucessfully grow your own vegetables, not too many overhanging trees providing a lot of shade. A successful garden requires 8 hours of sunlight a day, half of this can be broken sunlight. Make sure that there is adequate shelter from the wind since too much wind will damage the plants. Also, make sure that you have some form of fenceing available to protect your garden from marauding possums or rabbits or other little critters who will look upon your plants as a very tasty snack.

Tips to help you grow your own vegetable patch

Another useful tip is to provide the plants with enough water at their roots for it to be able to penetrate the soil to a depth of six inches. To get rid of unwanted weeds when you grow your own vegies, use a long handled hoe. Avoid using chemical sprays for weed control, as it is not necessary in smaller areas. Mulching is a very good tip to help you grow your own vegetables, it helps to keep the weeds down as well as reducing evaporation thus keeping the moisture in the ground for your plants to use. This will increase the yield from your home vegetable garden.