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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 plow and till my yard. Granted I am starting out slow, but I am steady. Think turtle.

I have three tomato plants, ten pepper plants and one cucumber plant and probably ten basil plants. Then I must confess, I filled the rest of the dirt up with flowers. Zinnia's and Cosmos. Oh I almost forgot - just yesterday I bought a pack of 'Jack Be Little' pumpkins that I'm going to plant as soon as the ground dries out. We have been having storms almost everyday here in the midwest which is super for the garden.

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I was watching a rerun of an episode of the television show, Friends the other night and in the episode Phoebe accuses Monica of using way too much garlic when she cooks food at her restaurant. That led me to thinking is too much garlic a bad thing? Me personally, I don't think so.

Beyond warding away vampires in horror films, garlic is a great addition to a lot of wonderful recipes you can prepare right at home. To make those recipes even better you can user garlic grown right in your own backyard.

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Endive makes for a great vegetable to be planted in the early spring soon after the last frost occurs in your area. It is a great addition to a salad or garnishes for many other dishes. Here is how you can add great tasting endive to your home vegetable garden.

To make life easier for yourself and take advantage of gardening as soon as the frost season passes you by for the warmer spring months, start your endive seeds in doors. A portable small greenhouse, also known in some parts as a humidity dome, is available at your local home or garden center for less than five bucks. This will help speed up the germination process. If you do start your seeds in pots, make sure you give your endive eight weeks before moving them outdoors and do not plant the seed any deeper than 1/4″.

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Compost is the process of organic material breaking down into a rich dark black soil through the process of aerobic decomposition. Bacteria and other microorganisms feed on this organic material which breaks it down. Then as you move up the food chain other creatures such as the earthworm and nematodes, either eat the bacteria or the decomposed material creating even better compost.

The underlying environment is so advanced that it can take your left over food scraps, grass clippings, twigs and leaves and turn them into every nutrient your vegetable plants will ever need. The best part of this ecosystem is that it is already there and the only thing you need to do is supply it with an organic food source (more on that in a moment).

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Powdery mildew affects such a wide range of plants but most notably those that are in the broadleaf category such as squash and different varieties of plants in the pea families.

If your plants currently have them, do not worry it is a very common occurrence and even better yet this pesky problem is easily treatable.

If left untreated by doing nothing however, your plants can become weak, look deformed and reduce yields of your harvest.

Here are some steps you can take today that could reduce and/or eliminate powdery mildew from your vegetable garden.

The first step is to avoid planting species of plants, such as phlox or bee balm, anywhere near your vegetable plants. This simply invites trouble into your garden, making it easier for it to infect and spread.

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I think of lettuce as one of those “staple” vegetables. In other words it can be used in a variety of recipes, from salads, to sandwiches.

Because lettuce thrives in cooler temperatures, it is best to grow it in early spring or fall.

Here are some steps you can take to improve the conditions where your lettuce will grow to optimize and increase your harvest.

As stated earlier lettuce is a cooler temperature vegetable. The seeds will germinate best when the temperature of the soil is between 40 to 60 degrees F (4 to 16 C). Once the seeds have germinated they thrive best when the soil temperature is 55 to 65 F (13 to 18 C).

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Cucumbers are a great vegetable to grow in any garden. They are excellent for salads, or to simply dip in some ranch dressing (or your favorite flavor).

There are a variety of great dishes you can make with cucumbers and if you have time to learn it, the skill of “pickling” can take your cucumber even further.

More importantly though, is, all of that is for naught if your vegetable garden does not produce plenty of healthy cucumbers.

Here are some steps you can take to increase your chances of healthy and more abundant harvest in your home vegetable garden.

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Earworms are also referred sometimes as the fruit worm. They look like caterpillars and can grow over an inch in length. Their color range can be green, brown, yellow or tan and have black or brown stripes on their sides. They lay their eggs in the spring then continue to eat the silk of corn before it gets to the actual ear. However, this pesky insect does not just limit itself to corn. It also goes after beans, peas, peppers, potatoes, squash and tomatoes.

Spray the affected plants with Btn which is bacillus thuringiensis in the spring just before the eggs begin to hatch. Bacillus thuringiensis is a soil dwelling bacterium that is commonly used as a natural pesticide. It occurs naturally in caterpillars as well as moths, butterflies and on the surface of dark plants.

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Arugula is a very popular green to add to any salad or as a stand alone side to your dinner or lunch. And who can resist, it is enriched with plenty of Vitamins A, C, K and Folate as well as the nutritional minerals Calcium and Potassium. Its rich peppery taste also makes arugula a good choice to use in pasta dishes. Here is how you can grow some great tasting arugula in your home vegetable garden.

Arugula is a colder weather crop and germinates best in a soil temperature in the range of forty to fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit. As soon as you work the soil (after the freeze is over) you can begin planting arugula.

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What does it mean to concentrate? By definition it means to focus in on something and ignore the surroundings. In home vegetable gardening the definition is fairly similar, except we do not ignore anything.

Think for a moment the last time you packed for that long vacation to the Caribbean to lay out on the sunny beaches to work on that tan. With all the travel restrictions these days, waiting in long lines at the airport, extra fees for that large red hard suitcase that you have, you make the most of every inch of space in your luggage so you can get through the airport experience rather quickly and without extra cost.

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