The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady's fans. The oyster mushroom has...

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Vegetable Garden Location

There are a few basic requirements for creating a productive and enjoyable vegetable garden: convenience, sunlight, good and well-drained soil, and easy access to water are foremost. Here is a run down of these basic requirements and a couple of additional considerations for making a vegetable garden.

Convenience. Select a spot near at hand, easy and quick to get to. Choose, as you can a spot, close to the kitchen. A garden close by will capture your spare moments for tending and for watching the garden. And a garden close by will be greatly appreciated once you have made a dozen time-wasting trips for forgotten seeds or tools, or gotten your feet soaking wet by going out through the dew-drenched grass.

Exposure. A yield of delicious vegetables is greatly beholden to exposure. Site your garden in an "early" spot--a plot facing or sloping a little to the south or east that seems to catch sunshine early and hold it late--eight hours of sunlight each day is optimal. Make a "sun map" of your yard tracking the sun across the property in the course of a day. Avoid situating your vegetable garden in the shadows of buildings, trees, and fences. Choose a spot that is out of the direct path of chilling north and northeast winds. A building, a fence, or a hedge to the north of your plot can protect your garden from chilling winds. Even low-growing shrubs or young evergreens can protect vulnerable tender vegetables.

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Symptoms of Vegetable Nutrient Deficiencies

When vegetables and other plants lack essential nutrients or elements they will not look themselves; they will look unhealthy and they may even die. The symptom of a nutrient deficiency can range from yellowing and poor growth to flower and fruit failure.

Nutrient deficiency symptoms in plants can be confusing. Many plant nutrient deficiencies share the same or very similar symptoms. Whatismore, symptoms of nutrient deficiency can be similar to symptoms of many plant diseases.

A certain way to know if a plant or crop is suffering from a nutrient deficiency is to have a soil test. Ask the tester to recommend the nutrients and amount necessary to rectify the deficiency.

Here are important mineral plant nutrients, their function, symptoms of deficiency, and fertilizers to help correct deficiencies:

Guide to Plant Nutrients and Deficiencies:

■ Nitrogen (N)

• Function: Necessary for rapid green, leafy growth; part of chlorophyll necessary for photosynthesis; part of protein.

• Sign of deficiency: Lower leaves pale green or bluish then turn yellow (chlorosis); leaves drop, the oldest leaves fall first; leaves are small; stems thin; plant lacks vigor; growth is spindly or stunted.

• Sign of excess: Leaves dark green; plant has excessive leaf growth at the expense of buds and fruits.

• Source: Manure, bonemeal, blood meal (dried blood), fish meal, fish emulsion (also contain phosphorus and potassium, in small amounts), conttonseed meal (also contains small amount of phosphorus and even smaller amount of potassium), coffee grounds (also contains very small amounts of phosphorus and potassium), soybean meal (also contains small amount of potassium and even smaller amount of phosphorus), composted legumes (peas, beans, peanuts), ammonium sulfate or nitrate.

■ Phosphorus (P)

• Function: Essential to photosynthesis; enables strong growth; encourages blooming and root development, cell wall structure development; moisture conservation; necessary for photosynthesis.

• Sign of deficiency: Lower leaves and stem look reddish or purplish; young leaves look pale; shoots are thin; plants don't flower or form fruits; premature fruit drop; roots are stunted; cell division is slowed.

• Sign of excess: Essential elements may be tied up.

• Sources: Bonemeal, colloidal phosphate, rock phosphate (contains slightly more phosphorus than colloidal phosphate, breaks down more slowly), New Jersey greensand, superphosphate.

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Plant Nutrients

Sixteen chemical elements are necessary for plant growth. Three are non-mineral elements that come from air and water; thirteen are mineral elements that come from the soil. All of these elements are used as plant nutrients or to make plant nutrients.

Being familiar with the elements necessary for plant growth will help you diagnosis many plant problems and aid you in the selection of plant foods and fertilizers and soil amendments.

Here is a primer on elements necessary for plant growth, the basic plant nutrients.

Non-mineral nutrients: elements from air and water:

Carbon (C)

Hydrogen (H)

Oxygen (O)

Plant photosynthesis coverts carbon dioxide (CO2--carbon and water) and water (H2O --hydrogen and oxygen) into starches and sugars that plants use as food.

Mineral nutrients:

Elements from air and soil:

Nitrogen (N)

Elements from soil and fertilizers:

Phosphorus (P)

Potassium (K)

Calcium (Ca)

Magnesium (Mg)

Sulfur (S)

Boron (B)

Chlorine (Cl)

Copper (Cu)

Iron (Fe)

Manganese (Mn)

Molybdenum (Mo)

Zinc (Zn)

Mineral nutrients from the soil are dissolved in water and absorbed through plant roots. These elements are responsible for plant growth, plant functioning, leaf, flower, and fruit production, and plant health. When soil does not contain all of these elements or nutrients, gardeners add natural soil amendments or fertilizers to make up for the deficiency.

Mineral macronutrients and micronutrients:

Mineral nutrients are divided into major or macronutrients and minor or micronutrients. Macronutrients are further divided into primary macronutrients and secondary macronutrients.

The primary macronutrients are:

Nitrogen (N)

Phosphorus (P)

Potassium (K)

These nutrients are usually in the soil in some amount unless plants have already used them. When the soil lacks these nutrients, they can be added with natural soil amendments--such as aged compost or aged manure--or specific natural or synthetic fertilizers.

The secondary macronutrients are:

Calcium (Ca)

Magnesium (Mg)

Sulfur (S)

These nutrients are usually in the soil. When they are lacking, they can be added with natural soil amendments--such as aged compost--or specific natural or synthetic fertilizers.

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Autumn Soil Care

Autumn is a good time to begin preparing the kitchen garden for spring planting.

Remove woody and diseased plant debris from the garden as soon as the harvest is complete--pull up tomato vines and beans and remove late cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli stalks. Plant debris that is not diseased can be finely chopped and added to the compost pile or turned under to decompose in the garden during winter. Diseased plant refuse should be disposed of or burned.

If you are planning a new garden for spring, autumn is the time to remove sod and perennial weeds and turn the soil where the new garden will grow.

Spading, forking, and double digging will be easier in autumn while the ground is relatively dry and before winter snows and spring rains waterlog the soil. The best time to cultivate is when the soil is damp but not soggy. An ideal soil has crumbly texture. Soil worked too soon in spring can become compacted. Heavy, clay soil and hard clods exposed to winter freezes and thaws will break apart more easily.

Read about Making a Winter Vegetable Garden.

Read about Composting.

There are clear advantages to preparing the garden for spring planting in autumn:

• Compost and manure added in autumn has added time to decompose and release nutrients to the soil. Fertility and soil structure is improved.

Continue reading "Autumn Soil Care" »

Your Soil: Making the Kitchen Garden

The soil in your garden was created over thousands of years through the disintegration and decomposition of rock and organic matter. Temperature and rainfall, the life and death of plants, animals and bacteria and fungi, and the rocks that were there to begin with: all contributed to the soil you find in your garden today.

The principal components of soil are minerals, organic matter, air, and water. Soil minerals and organic matter make up the solid part of your soil. Air and water occupy the pore spaces between your soil’s solid particles. All of these provide nutrients, moisture, and anchorage for plants. Depending upon where you stand in your garden, these components are present in varying amounts.

The particles in your soil are many sizes and shapes. Coarse particles such as gravel and stones are not conducive to plant growth. Your garden can do without them. The soil particles that support plant growth are divided into three sizes: sand, silt, and clay. Sand particles are the largest of these three; the clay particles are the smallest.

The combination of sand, silt, and clay in your soil is called soil texture. Soil texture affects your soil’s fitness for growing plants, sometimes called tilth.

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