http://www.articlealley.com en-us editorial@articlealley.com "When I was a teenager, my father always had a garden," Herman said. "There was no cheaper better way to feed the family. Those were tough times. Our garden for many of those years in the was a 'Victory Garden.' "It was the government's way of encouragin... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/gardening-for-victory-1703721.html 16th August 2010 As a young gardener, so many mistakes are made. Mistakes tend to cost you, whether it be time, money, your crop, life and limb, sweat, or your sanity. Sometimes your failures are to serve as Public Service Announcement warning to others, or so entertainin... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/adventures-in-rototillers-1699591.html 13th August 2010 Typically, one plants in the spring and harvests in the summer and fall. But what you may not know is that you can extend your growing season (and your harvest) by planting crops in mid to late summer. For your late summer sowing to succeed, consider p... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/to-extend-the-growing-season-1691559.html 10th August 2010 Homegrown onions can be useful in a variety of dishes, from salsas and stews to Thanksgiving stuffing and burger toppings, and with only one square foot of space needed to grow two onions, even gardeners with small plots can fit in a few. While seeds... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/growing-onions-in-the-summer-season-1687837.html 09th August 2010 Composting can seem like a daunting task; the price of a specialized composting bin alone can deter even the most fervent gardener. And once you start considering the benefits of compost you start to wonder if that $80 bin from your local hardware store ... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/creative-composting-1668304.html 27th July 2010 I stopped to grab some gladiolas from my old friend Herman's roadside stand. It's the thought that counts, and three stalks for $5 was a great bargain for a happy wife. There, on the table next to the stand rested fresh garlic. I had never seen such beaut... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/the-stinking-orchid-1663260.html 19th July 2010 There is an aged old saying that reads, "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade." Meaning to me that if you are dealt a bad situation, you and only you can make it better. Makes sense right? Home vegetable gardening is not all that different... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/when-life-deals-you-garbage-then-you-make-compost-1660836.html 19th July 2010 I first encountered Herman when I stopped to ask him about his garden in North Tonawanda, N.Y. I was working as a newspaper reporter and saw his bountiful half-acre patch as incredible. A few times I had stopped and purchased gladiolas or sunflowers fo... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/the-secret-is-in-the-soil-1653237.html 13th July 2010 Gardening can have many significant benefits; whether it is for self-gratification; off-setting grocery bills; fresh herbs for dinner; or lending a helping hand to the environment. However, in this economic climate many have had to rethink their living si... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/gardening-in-any-economic-climate-1633224.html 05th July 2010 One of my favorite gardening strategies is using mulch. It serves so many good purposes, both short- and long-term: 1. Mulch keeps the ground moist, so that less evaporation takes place and less watering is needed. 2. Mulch breaks down, adding... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/in-praise-of-mulch-1627419.html 30th June 2010 I am a newbie to the vegetable gardening scene. After years and years of growing flowers I finally decided to get serious and become a "real" gardener. That said I decided to start with raised bed gardening due to the fact that then I would not have to p... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/vegetable-gardening-101-1623207.html 28th June 2010 Every day I inspect my garden, only to find pests are enjoying it more than me. One especially sore spot for me is my corn. They have not grown well and I believe the lack of proper fertilizing was on my part. But what remains is being attacked by these n... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-rid-yourself-of-corn-pests-1621053.html 25th June 2010 Kohlrabi is in the same family as cabbage and is one of those vegetables that most people neither know about nor want to grow. However, because of its tolerance to cooler temperatures and its ability to grow fairly quickly, kohlrabi can make a nice addit... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/grow-kohlrabi-when-space-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-starts-to-open-1615891.html 23rd June 2010 Do you think you could build a skyscraper that stood four football fields tall if the foundation to that building was made from some cheap lumber and dirt? Probably not, and even if you could build it, would you want to go in it? I certainly would not. ... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/good-soil-is-the-foundation-of-your-home-vegetable-garden-1611558.html 21st June 2010 I love the scene in the television show Seinfeld where character George Costanza, played by actor Jason Alexander, is talking to a female named Kelly, played by actress Tracy Kolis, about his love of the word manure. The funny line is, "when you consider... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/understanding-manure-for-your-home-vegetable-garden-1603598.html 16th June 2010 I read in a book once that your pH level does not matter when you grow vegetables and that you should really ignore it. The problem is if you have soil that is too alkaline and try to plant tomatoes, they will taste terrible or even worse not grow at all... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/adjust-your-home-vegetable-gardens-ph-level-1599237.html 14th June 2010 I recently taught an introduction to home vegetable gardening class at our local library here in Burlington, NJ. It was fun to not only pass along what I know, but bounce off some ideas that other local home vegetable gardeners have had success with. ... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/three-watering-tools-for-your-home-vegetable-garden-1591050.html 08th June 2010 Cucumbers are the second most popular vegetable grown in a home vegetable garden according the United States Department of Agriculture. Who can argue? They are a great vegetable to eat and easy to grow. They have but one drawback. They require a lot o... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/secure-those-cucumbers-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-with-these-four-methods-1587489.html 04th June 2010 I recently watched the Disney Pixar movie 'A Bugs Life' with my son and if you haven't seen it yet (yes I know it has been out on video for a while now), it is very entertaining. In the movie a colony of ants has to work to gather food for grasshoppers w... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/three-safe-methods-to-get-rid-of-ants-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-1580685.html 02nd June 2010 Last Thursday I posted a simple question on our vegetable gardening Facebook page. I asked, do you use one crop to support another in your home vegetable garden? The comments and feedback were tremendous. Many people use this simple technique to take a... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/companion-planting-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-1567810.html 25th May 2010 On our vegetable gardening Facebook page, one of our members posted a great question and that was how they could compost without spending any, or very little, money. I gave it some thought and came to realize that how can anyone "spend" a lot of money on... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-compost-inexpensively-for-your-home-vegetable-garden-1563383.html 23rd May 2010 I am a very routine type of person. I try to wake up every morning at the same, albeit via the very annoying sound of the alarm clock my mother in law gave me as a Christmas gift. Maybe she is trying to tell me something, who knows. I am, however very ... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/three-tips-to-use-that-extra-space-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-1530705.html 04th May 2010 Vegetable gardeners have been going green long before it was main stream to do so, and no I am talking about making the plants greener in color or your neighbors green with envy. I can remember way back in the 70s when I would help my dad with his soil a... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/four-tips-to-make-your-garden-more-green-1520874.html 27th April 2010 For many years the tomato was classified as a vegetable. Not for scientific reasons, but for reasons that simply made sense. Most fruits you simply pick up and eat, such as an apple or an orange, but as for the tomato, not many pick up a beefsteak or bi... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/10-things-you-may-not-have-known-about-tomatoes-1518299.html 26th April 2010 By itself, I believe celery is very bland and tasteless, but throw some peanut butter on it and all of a sudden you get a crispy, crunchy, healthy snack. Celery is so versatile because it can be added to a variety of dishes, such as soups and salads, to ... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/tips-for-growing-celery-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-1510495.html 21st April 2010 Continuing our series on annoying animals in the vegetable garden, we move on to those lovely of lovely rodents the squirrel. Forget about a fence and aluminum pie tins for these animals. They will climb over the fence and probably use the aluminum pie ... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-do-i-get-rid-of-squirrels-in-my-vegetable-garden-1508778.html 20th April 2010 The word armadillo comes from the Spanish meaning, "armored one". They are placental mammals and have a leathery armor like shell. There are about 20 different species of armadillos and vary in size including giant armadillos which can weigh as much as ... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/armadillo-free-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-1508322.html 19th April 2010 We live in a society now where more vegetable gardeners then not look for natural means to grow safe and healthy food. Long gone are the days of using chemicals in the backyard vegetable garden to produce the food you want to put on the table for your fa... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/what-can-i-plant-to-attract-bees-and-other-beneficial-insects-to-my-home-vegetable-garden-1493462.html 09th April 2010 When you mention the word kohlrabi to novice home vegetable gardeners they are not one hundred percent sure what you are talking about. That is because kohlrabi is not a very popular vegetable to grow. I am not sure why though, because this cousin to th... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/tips-to-successfully-growing-kohlrabi-your-home-vegetable-garden-1493104.html 08th April 2010 There is no more popular vegetable (actually a fruit) to grown in the home vegetable garden today then the tomato. With over 2,000 varieties to choose from the tomato gives you many options on size, taste, color, texture, you name it. For those of you... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-do-i-grow-tomatoes-with-limited-space-1491168.html 08th April 2010 Vegetable gardening, just like anything else in life, is comprised of people from all walks of life and culture and because it is so vast, we wanted to get a better handle on what people grow and more importantly what they don't grow. So we went ahead an... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/the-least-favorite-vegetables-to-grow-in-the-garden-1491100.html 08th April 2010 When most people hear the word flea they readily think of the small insect that affects their dogs and cats. What a lot of people may not know is that there are a variety of insects labeled fleas for similar characteristics such as jumping. One such ins... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-control-flea-beetles-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-1487701.html 07th April 2010 Although, according to the USDA, corn ranks four spots behind tomatoes as the most popular vegetable to grow in a home vegetable garden, it still is a very popular item because of its taste, texture and availability. You may not have the budget of a comm... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/preparing-your-home-vegetable-garden-to-grow-corn-1487655.html 06th April 2010 The bush bean family has a lot of options to choose from. They range in different shapes, sizes and yes, even color. They make for a nice addition to the home vegetable garden because they are fairly easy to grow, do not take up that much space and are ... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-grow-bush-beans-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-1487618.html 06th April 2010 I love potatoes and who can argue. You can take a potato and make an unlimited number of great food recipes that can be found anywhere over the Internet. I recently posted this question on my Vegetable Gardening Facebook page, "what do you make with pot... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-your-home-vegetable-garden-1486475.html 06th April 2010 They can be as sweet as sugar or as hot as lava and are used for everything from salads to the sauce you spread over your buffalo wings. They are called peppers. Peppers are what are known as cultivar plants which mean that they can be grown in a variet... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-prepare-your-soil-to-grow-peppers-for-your-home-vegetable-garden-1486302.html 06th April 2010 Your home vegetable garden requires lots of nutrients in order to provide a season's worth of bountiful fruits and vegetables. The best way to ensure that your soil is filled with those nutrients is to continually add plenty of compost. One such great c... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-make-leaf-mold-1486227.html 06th April 2010 They are one of those creatures for home vegetable gardeners that you love to have them around, but at the same time wish they would leave your home vegetable garden alone. They are birds. They come in all shapes, sizes, colors and of course eating habi... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-do-i-stop-birds-from-eating-my-vegetable-seeds-1486097.html 01st April 2010 If you love growing great tasting vegetables in your home vegetable garden then by now you should know that in order to maintain that yearly success your soil needs to be rich in nutrients. There are a number of ways you can add these nutrients to your s... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-add-manure-to-your-home-vegetable-garden-1485985.html 01st April 2010 I have been vegetable gardening for over 30 years. I was taught the skill form my dad who learned it from his. You probably are not too different from me, my dad or grandfather as to the reasons why you have a vegetable garden in the first place. My gr... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/vegetable-gardening-success-from-gardeners-just-like-you-1484341.html 01st April 2010 Tomatoes rank first as the most popular item to grow in a home vegetable garden. Although botanically they are classified as a fruit, most people refer to them as vegetables. Regardless of what you call them, there are literally thousands of varieties t... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/home-vegetable-gardening-support-your-tomatoes-with-these-ideas-1484275.html 01st April 2010 What a better way to see the fruits of your labor then to grow a vegetable garden, right? You spend countless hours making sure you do everything right so that the fruit and vegetables you harvest are the best tasting you have ever grown. However, loo... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/keeping-cats-out-of-your-home-vegetable-garden-1484057.html 01st April 2010 Last vegetable gardening season marked one of the wettest we have had on record here in the northeast part of the United States. It seemed to rain nearly every day and when the rain fell it was not a light drizzle but constant down pours. Your vegetable... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/solving-your-vegetable-gardens-water-problem-1484012.html 01st April 2010 I love the commercial on TV where a lady is at her back door and she is calling for her cat that she had let out. Using the normal calls for domesticated cats she tries fervently to retrieve her pet. Unbeknownst to her, due to her poor eye sight, she th... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/how-to-keep-raccoons-out-of-your-home-vegetable-garden-1483825.html 01st April 2010 Vegetable gardening, just like anything else in life, is comprised of people from all walks of life and culture and because it is so vast, we wanted to get a better handle on what people grow and more importantly what they don't grow. So we went ahead an... http://mikepodlesny.articlealley.com/the-least-favorite-vegetables-to-grow-in-the-garden-1411170.html 23rd February 2010