Garden Book Reviews

The potato today is very popular and a normal staple in most countries. This vegetable is now a common staple in most homes, with a very wide variety being added over the years, it is hard to believe it has only been with us for only a few hundred years. The potato has been grown in South America more than a few thousands of years in the past and was only brought over to Europe in the 16th century by Spanish explorers. It was not until the 18th century that it began to become widely accepted as a nutritious food. After that, people began to learn how to grow potatoes.

The potato many years in the past had to face various unfair prejudices – it was not eaten by some because it was not mentioned, not even once, in the Bible. People in medieval times blamed potatoes for causing leprosy and tuberculosis. The English in old times even thought it was the reason why people became lustful. Even in modern times, countless people from all walks of life still blame this vegetable for causing obesity. Can I mention large French fries to go please?

Families all over the world desire potatoes enough to grow them in their own backyards and most of the time without using harmful chemicals to produce them. Common questions that most potato growers would ask before they begin their potato growing hobby would be: “which type of potato should I grow?” The choices would be between ‘earlies’ and ‘maincrops’. The early variety will provide new potatoes during the summer season while the maincrop will provide tubers during the winter season.

The generally accepted rule would be, if planting space is limited then plant the Earlies variety of potato for summer consumption. If there is a larger planting space then the maincrop varieties are used for summer eating and winter storage.

Knowing when to make adjustments is all part of the process of learning how to grow your potatoes or any vegetable for that matter. Try to get the best from the ground by selecting a sunny position with as little shade as possible. The soil should also be free from frost pockets. Most types of potatoes can be grown in virtually all soil types. Plough in plenty of well rotted compost or manure in the autumn if none has been added for a previous crop. This will enable the lightening of heavy soils and give body to lighter ones to help prevent the leakage of nutrients.

Mix a general fertilizer on the soil 2 weeks before the potato planting season. Do not add lime, the newly grown potatoes prefer slightly acidic soils with pH of just under 6. Seasoned gardeners who know how to grow potatoes normally don’t plant them in the same ground in successive years but leave 2-3 seasons before planting potatoes again. This technique prevents the build-up of diseases and which can hinder the crop growth drastically.

One of the most important things that you need to consider when gardening would be the soil you are using and its alkalinity or acidity or its pH. Soil pH is generally measured using a scale of 1 through 14, with 7 being the neutral mark. If the soil is below 7, it is considered acidic and if it is above 7, it is alkaline.

Soil pH basically serves as a gauge or measurement of the soil’s hydrogen-ion concentration. It is important to know this as there are some nutrients which could only be accessed by plant if the soil pH is suitable for its growth. Soil pH can be determined using home testing kits or through sending samples to laboratories which provide such services.

Most plants grow best in slightly acidic soil which has a pH of about 6 to 6.8, as this is the pH range which makes sure that the soil nutrients are readily available. Some plants which would thrive best in acidic soil include potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, peas, onions, beans, blueberries, blackberries and most flowering plants, garden plants and evergreens.

There are plenty of things that you can do to make soil more acidic. Most people add sulfur, wood chips, saw dust, leaf mold or leaf compost to soil. If you would be using sulfur, make sure that you would be using an adequate amount. For every square foot, you need about 1.2 ounces; however, if you have sandy soil, you could use just 0.4 ounce of sulfur for every square foot. Spread it evenly through mixing the soil and sulfur using a hoe. Lastly, cover it with some peat moss and water it to help the soil absorb the nutrients from the sulfur and peat moss better.

Alkaline soil, on the other hand, is less soluble compared to acidic soil and has large amounts of sodium, magnesium and calcium. Some gardeners refer to is as “sweet soil”. Most plants do not grow well in alkaline soil, as water and other essential nutrients are unable to easily penetrate it. Studies have shown that alkaline soil could cause stunted growth and nutrient deficiency in plants. However, there are some plants which grow well in slightly alkaline soil including asparagus and lilacs. If you want to make your soil more alkaline, you could try adding hydrated lime or wood ash.

A lot of gardeners usually progress from growing annuals to tending perennials. As a matter of fact, you can actually try to grow both at the same time, making your garden beautifully diverse. Looking after these two types of plants can actually be quite easy, as long as you know how to properly care for them. If you have annuals in your garden now but would like to explore perennials, here are some essentials about perennial plants that could help you get started.

Perennials are plants that keep on growing year after year instead of dying after a season or after a year like annuals. Gardeners define perennials as plants which live for over two years. There are some which live for as long as they are properly cared for and there are some which will start to wither away within a couple of years.

Perennials can be used to: create a colorful border or bed; filling an isolated and self-contained garden in the middle or a specific area in your garden; serve as beautiful edging for a patio, walkway, deck or pool area; add more color to a garden that has plenty of annuals; and to dress up an area which was just a lawn.

There are many types of perennial plants that you can consider planting in your garden or yard. You can choose to plant: evergreen perennials like banana plants and Begonia; monocarpic perennials such as Agave; herbaceous perennials such as alfalfa, red clover, basil, dill and fennel; woody perennials such as pine, maple and apple trees; and deciduous perennials which would include mint and goldenrod.

Most gardeners today choose to plant perennial flowering plants. If you are looking to have a perennial flower garden, make sure that you would be choosing a wide variety of perennials in terms of height, color, flowering season and length of bloom to make sure that your garden would always have beautiful blossoms year round. Some good choices would be lavender, garden phlox, bee balm, peony, hyssop and carnation.