The Vegetable Patch

Advice on how to grow vegetables from seed to harvest, care for them, protect them from diseases, and boost harvests. Natural treatments only!

Mini-greenhouses & tunnels, extend the growing season!

Sheltered from unpredictable weather and snugly warm, greenhouse veggies can truly reach peak growth. Big greenhouses can’t fit in smaller gardens, so we’ll also look at easier, smaller greenhouse options to set up.
Greenhouse vegetables

Preserve root vegetables in a DIY silo

Most root vegetables could stay in the ground until their consumption during winter. However, they are often harvested in fall because soil is still loose. Freezing indeed makes harvesting difficult, and in the ground, root crops often perish from excess cold, moisture, or are nibbled on by hungry animals.
Build a simple silo to store vegetables in winter

Rotate crops in the vegetable patch

Crop rotation helps generate abundant harvests. It’s also very effective at reducing crop diseases and maximizing nutrient availability for plants.
Crop rotation in a vegetable patch

Which vegetables to grow in winter?

There are several different vegetables that are hardy enough to the cold that you can still make the vegetable patch an enchanting place to be. Zoom in on kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, winter lettuce…
Winter vegetables

Goosefoot, more than a weed: a leaf vegetable!

Goosefoot is a fast-spreading weed, true, but its leaves make for great greens! Goosefoot key facts: Botanical name: Chenopodium Common name: goosefoot Family: Amaranthaceae Type: leaf vegetable
Goosefoot leaves, young ones are purple

Growing mushrooms on coffee grounds

Mushroom lovers, great news! For one, they are a good source of nutrients for our bodies. For the other, you can grow your own in the comfort of your homes – on recycled coffee grounds! Growing mushrooms is easy with a little guidance. Although you cannot use a normal garden soil, you can use spent […]
How to grow mushrooms on coffee grounds

Permaculture fertilizers and compost

Underlying the success of every garden is the health of its soil – this is particularly true in permaculture. Fertilize it with fresh nutrients like compost, maintain it, disturb it only when absolutely necessary. Your soil will stay healthy and fertile, and its quality will increase
Permaculture gardens require fertilizer and compost

25 Vegetables that resist drought and dry spells

“Climate change”. Hard to have a day go by when this phrase isn’t heard in a conversation. And, like it or not, seasons are changing: frost dates are shifting, winters get milder, summer heat waves strike stronger, drought becomes a thing where it previously never was…
Drought-resistant vegetables

New Zealand spinach, grow Tetragonia in your garden

New Zealand spinach is a vegetable that loves full sun. Key Tetragonia facts: Latin Names: Tetragonia expansa, Tetragonia tetragonoĂŻdes Common: tetragonia, New Zealand Spinach Family: Aizoaceae Type: Leafy vegetable Height: about 3.3 feet (environ 1 m) Planting Distance: 32 inches (80 cm) Exposure: Sunny Soil: limestone to neutral, light, rich in humus Planting: April-May – […]
New Zealand spinach

Pattypan squash, how to grow flat patisson squash

Patty pan squash, or patisson, is a tasty and cute flat squash variety. Key pattypan squash facts: Latin name: Cucurbita pepo var. ovifera Common name: patty pan, patisson Family: Cucurbitaceae Type: vegetable plant
Pattypan squash, patisson

Mashua, the tuber nasturtium

Mashua is a nasturtium root crop selected by ancient Incas. Key mashua facts Name: Tropaeolum tuberosum Common: mashua, tuber nasturtium Family: Tropaeolaceae, tuber veggie Height: 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 m) Exposure: sun, part shade eventually Planting distance: 20 inches (50 cm) Soil: light, humiferous, well-draining  –  Planting: spring’s end –  Harvest: fall […]
Mashua

Germinating potatoes at the right time

Germinating potato tubers before planting them helps increase growth of your young plants. It brings the harvest a few days or weeks earlier, and increases harvest size and quality.
Germinated potatoes chopped up in quarters for more plants.

Container pea, how to grow green peas in containers

Green pea, a veggie plant from the Fabaceae family, definitely gets a lot of love for its round, smooth (and sometimes wrinkled) peas. Typically, it’s eaten cooked, and they’re delicious – but there’s lots more to know about them!
How to grow green peas in pots
Any questions? Ask them on the forum!