Vegetable Gardening Basics Blog

Welcome to my blog Vegetable Gardening Basics. I will try to keep you in the loop regarding any changes and additions to my web site as soon as they happen.

A no dig garden. The easy way to start growing vegetables tomorrow!

A no dig garden lets you create a vegetable garden any where, even if you don’t have a location for a traditional garden. You can even complete one in a day and plant your veggies that afternoon!

Greenhouses are one option in insuring early planting success

Greenhouses, hot houses, and cold frames are just three options in determining the type of equipment for starting your early or year-round planting.

Hydroponics, exactly what does the term hydroponics mean?

Hydroponics is a fancy name for growing vegetables without soil. Remember those avocados seeds that you placed in a glass of water, hoping they would root? That is hydroponics at its most basic.

Vertical Gardening, An Incredible Method of Maximizing Your Garden Space

Vertical gardening is an incredible method of increasing your crop yield without actually making your garden area bigger.

Vegetable Gardening Basics Site Map

A site map with all the information in Vegetable Gardening Basics in one place

Pest control of animals is needed, but how do you implement pest control?

Pest control is something that some gardeners practice with a passion while others take a more casual approach especially when dealing with animals. Here is some information that may help.

Transplanting gives your plants room to grow and flourish

Now that your seedlings are hardened, it’s time for transplanting them out of the house and into the fresh air with more room so they can flourish and produce.

Yams and sweet potatoes, What is the difference?

Sweet potatoes and yams are traditionally thought of a Southern crop that we consume during the holiday season; however it they are vegetables that are gaining in popularity quite rapidly

Square Foot Gardening is an ideal system for the average home gardener

Learn how to get started with square foot gardening. Harvesting amazing crop yields from a few square feet of garden space are possible with much less effort than you would think!

Insect pests – control insect pests with natural methods – other insects!

There are many types of insect pests in your garden, some of which can be utilized to control the destructive varieties with out the use of chemical

Peppers and Eggplants, two versatile and delicious additions to your garden!

Peppers and eggplants are two formerly “exotic” vegetables that are now commonly used by everyday gardeners with delicious results.

Walmart and Organic Produce

In the first three months of 2007, United Sates imports of fresh vegetables from China grew by an annual rate of 66 percent, juice imports grew by 98%, and fresh fruit imports grew by an astonishing 279%. (Business Week May 23, 2007). A similar trend has been occurring in the markets for strawberries and other foods.

The organic food industry has ballooned into a gigantic business with $14 billion in sales back in 2005 and with an annual growth of 20 % per year

With figures like these, it is no surprise that Wal-Mart has decided to go into the organic food business and since has become the nation's largest organic retailer by volume in the United States. Having captured 29 percent of organic-food shoppers, they have shown that they are serious.

Wal-Mart is to be congratulated for making organic food available to more people at more reasonable pricing.

There is a great deal of controversy however, with activists concerned as to whether Wal-Mart will drive local small farmers even further out of business or can Wal-Mart even be trusted? Wal-Mart is currently China's eighth largest trading partner. China is a country that certifies food as organic, but I think we all know from recent events that the Chinese government’s certification must be rather dubious at best. Wal-Mart has also run afoul of watchdog groups in this country for mislabeling some of the products on their shelves. Remember just because a product has an organic label on the packaging does not necessarily mean it is truly organic. Many of the products Wal-Mart carries are in fact organic, but always be sure to read the label for country of origin and the list of ingredients. If it doesn’t look right, be careful1!

Government agencies are also under constant pressure to weaken or nullify organic standards in order for the factory farms to gain strength in their strangle hold on our country’s food production.

This may come as a surprise, but local food is often preferable to organic! This is due to the fact that your food will be much fresher if you buy locally; and because it is not shipped halfway around the world the strain on the environment is eased. Many small local farmers use organic methods but due to the high cost of obtaining an “organic” certification, it is not affordable for many of them to get certified.

Hopefully as readers of my blog,you are concerned enough to rectify this situation by growing and preserving your own produce. Other methods of protecting the health of your family are to buy from local farmers, get to know these producers and their methods of farming and buy as much as possible the fruits and vegetables that are currently in season locally.

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