Thursday, October 17, 2013

5 Tips to Increase Garden Yield

How was your 2013 harvest?  Was it everything you hoped for?  This year I definitely could have used a bit more "help" in the garden so I have a few tips to share.  Enjoy!

5 Tips to Increase Your Yields

1. The 3 Sister's Method & Companion Planting
Companion planting is the ultimate organic pest management, you may keep away unwanted pests that may be attracted to one crop but repelled by the other and this will assist in protecting the otherwise attractive prey, this is referred to as trap cropping.
2. Encourage the Bees to stick around
Some of the most healthful foods you can think of - blueberries, cranberries, apples, almonds and squash - would never get to your plate without the help of insects. No insects, no pollination. No pollination, no fruit.       Source
Plant bee-friendly Wildflowers and Herbs to attract bees and other pollinators!

3. Mulch
Using mulch will not only cut down on the amount of water used for crop production but it is also effective at reducing weed growth.  This means less time weeding, less money watering and happy plants!

4. Fertilizer
Compost is key to healthy and organic soil.  I stay away from heavily processed, non organic fertilizers and instead prefer to make my own or use Supreme Growers natural soil amendments.
Using natural and organic Soil Amendments improves the health of your soil and can increase the productivity of veggies.
5. Transplant
Growing your own transplants from seeds is a big money saver.  Most vegetables are ready to set in the garden when they are 4-6 weeks old. Set only the best plants that are strong, stocky, vigorous and disease free.
Tomato plants 4-5 weeks old grow and yield better than older transplants.


High Yield Varieties

While it is not a veggie, BASIL is an amazing producer in the garden!
This list was compiled based on the amount of space required as well as crop output.


Upcoming Event Sponsored by Mary's Heirloom Seeds!

Workshop:

Grow Your Own and Make Your Own Herbal Remedies

Tuesday, October 29th @ 6:30pm   
Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies!
Can't grow them? Use Organic dried herbs!
Health benefits of garden herbs and how to use them. 

*Workshop includes detailed recipes*
$10.00 Workshop fee

2104 Tyler Street
Hollywood, FL 33020
(954) 364-8841 
Space is limited. Early reservation recommended.

 


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2 comments:

Karina said...

Hi Mary,
I love this post. I got some great information from it. We planted our first garden this past summer. We expanded it and the tomatoes did not transplant well but are coming back. I hadn't thought about companion planting. That makes sense, though. We've used coffee grounds as fertilizer and it actually works. We're in shock. I have a question though, if you have the time: Even in a small planter garden, should we use mulch? It's a (~) 4'x4' box that we have our garden in.
Thank you for adding this to the Thumping Thursdays Blog Hop.

Sincerely,
Karina
http://www.momintheusa.net

Nancy Jane said...

Mary, I mulch all the time. now is the time to mix you mulch in, add some lime to sweeten the soil. 4x4 won't need much, what ever is left over from you yard.