Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is native to tropical areas in Mexico, and Central and South America. The Aztecs and Mayas widely cultivated cacao for ceremonial as well as culinary purposes. Please see Aztec Gardens for more information on the pre-Hispanic foods of the Americas.

Most people interested in growing cacao in the United States have to do so in a greenhouse. However, it is suitable for growing in USDA zones 9B—11. Plant the tree in partial shade. Make sure your soil is moist and high in organic materials. Adding compost will also insure that your soil drains well. Cacao requires frequent watering. Your tree should grow to around 20 feet or more when mature.

Please see this site from Purdue University for more information on growing cacao .

Share/Bookmark

Amaranth provides a burst of color in your garden, and also has edible seeds and leaves that are very good sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals. The vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus gangeticus (syn.A.tricolor) actually has three times as much iron as spinach.

Amaranth is an annual that is native central Mexico and has its origins in the traditional cultures of Mesoamerica.

This is a sun loving plant that does well in the heat. Plant your seeds about 1 ½ inches apart. Well draining soil is critical for proper growth. Soil temperatures should be at least 65 degrees F for proper germination. As the seeds are small, a fine mulch, such as straw, can help keep the soil in place. Amaranth does well in sandy soils, but adding a good dose of organic compost is recommended.

Regular watering is necessary to grow amaranth, but don’t over do it. It is a good idea to trim back your plant to encourage growth and produce seed heads.

See this site from Purdue University http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-211.html for more information on amaranth.

Share/Bookmark

Pumpkins are a great fall crop with many uses. They were originally cultivated in South America and Mexico, and were mostly enjoyed for their edible seeds.

Pumpkins are delicious in a variety of dishes, and no home should be without a pumpkin come October 31st! Growing pumpkins is fairly simple. Keep reading for more details!

First, select a sunny spot to plant your pumpkins. Before you plant, you’ll also want to test your soil pH and temperature. A soil pH of around 6.0 will work fine and soil temperatures should be about 60 degrees.

Make sure to grow your pumpkins in well-draining soil with plenty of organic material mixed in. Adding organic compost to your soil will also guarantee healthy, well-draining soil. If you don’t already have a compost pile, you should start one as soon as possible. This site can help: Compost Guide.

Check out this site from Colorado State University for some excellent pumpkin planting tips: Colorado State University Pumpkin Guide

Pumpkins can be planted directly into your garden by seed, and can be grow in mounds or rows. If you’re growing your pumpkins in mounds, plant the seeds about 1 or 2 inches deep, in groups of 5. With rows, plant 2 seeds per hole with about 2 to 3 feet between each hole. Give your pumpkins plenty of space to spread out. Don’t grow your other crops too close by. Also note that you should avoid planting pumpkins where you’ve recently had other vine crops such melons. It’s a good idea to wait at least two years before planting pumpkins in these areas. Plant your seeds by May or June in time for a Halloween harvest.

Water your pumpkins infrequently with a good, deep soaking. Drip irrigation is an ideal way to water your pumpkins and will help you avoid common diseases such as powdery mildew. As the pumpkin fruit starts to develop, reduce watering.

Plastic and organic mulches are useful when growing pumpkins to reduce weeds and to make full use of water. Mulches are also useful if you want to plant your pumpkins earlier in the season as they warm the soil. Place a black plastic mulch over the soil and cut out hole where you want to plant the seeds or transplants. You can use extra soil to weigh down the plastic at the edges. Organic mulches such as bark or straw work great but must be used when the soil is warm enough, around 75 degrees.

As your pumpkins develop, the foliage will help to protect them from the sun. However, an extra layer of shading maybe useful to help the pumpkin achieve its maximum size. Try using a shade structure made of burlap to shade your pumpkins.

If you have a specific question about your pumpkins, you should contact your local extension agent. This website can help: Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).http://www.csrees.usda.gov/ local Universities also have websites devoted to horticulture tips.

Utah State University also has a great PDF file with excellent tips on how to grow pumpkins: Utah State University Pumpkin Guide.

Pumpkin Growing Tips is also a great site.

Share/Bookmark

Tomatoes are ideal to grow vertically as they are plants that get rather unwieldy if left to grow on the ground. Thus, they grow best when trained to grow in a tomato cage or on some sort of support structure. When you grow tomatoes vertically, they take up less space and are less susceptible to soil-borne diseases. Remember, tomatoes also glow great in this Topsy Turvy planter .

Some varieties of cucumbers work well as vertical plants. Cucumbers that have a tendency to climb and grow as vines work well on arbors, trellises or other gardening structures.

Corn is a vegetable that needs abundant vertical space to grow well. Moreover, you can actually use your stalks of corn to grow other vertically oriented vegetables, especially beans. Beans also fix nitrogen in the soil, so if you plant them along with your corn, all the plants in your garden will benefit.

Beans grow as both bushes or as vertically climbing plants. Pole beans can climb quite tall and in some cases may need a large structure to grow on. Try them out on one of these beautiful garden trellises .

There are a number of fruits that you can grow in your vertical garden as well. Small melons and passion fruit are examples of fruits you can grow on vertical structures such as arbors and trellises

Grape vines make a great plant to grow vertically on larger garden arbors, as you can train them to grow in several directions and they will take up a decent amount of space.

Share/Bookmark

Corn has its origins in the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica. It was domesticated from the wild annual grass teosinte (Zea mexicana). See Aztec Gardens for more information on common garden plants that have their origins in Mesoamerica.

Sweet corn comes in three different varieties, Sh2, (supersweet), SUSU (normal sugary), and SESE (sugary enhancer). Supersweet corn is firm and very sweet. Normal sugary corns have a creamy flavor and are mildly sweet. Sugary enhancer varieties are often the most popular with gardeners because of their smooth texture and sweet flavor.

The Soil:

Corn needs to be planted in well-draining soils to avoid rot. Adding compost to the soil is always a good idea. Compost can help achieve a proper pH and better drainage. See this site for more info: Compost Guide.

Plant your seeds about one inch deep and a foot apart in each row. Soil temperatures should be about 60 degrees F for proper germination, and slightly higher for the supersweet varieties. With sandy soils, you should plant your corn a little deeper. Groups of four to five rows will help stimulate pollination, with a distance of about two and a half feet between rows.

Sweet Corn Growing Conditions:

Corn needs full sun to grow well, with about eight hours of sunlight a day.

When planting your corn, take into account that different corn cultivars can easily cross pollinate. If you want to grow different kinds of corn, separate them by at least 250 meters. Also, look out for other people close by who are growing corn.

Caring for your corn plants:

Corn requires regular, consistent watering, with plenty of water. The soil shouldn’t dry out too much, so water more frequently if the weather gets hot and dry.

Weeding is very important for gardeners growing corn in the home garden, as common pests and diseases often make their home in weeds and garden debris. Use a hand cultivator to remove the weeds. If you’re growing a large amount of corn, you can consider a handheld electric cultivator.

This site from New Mexico State University has lots more great tips on growing sweet corn .

Share/Bookmark

If you’re thinking about planting tomatoes, it’s very important to know that they are divided into two different types: determinates and indeterminates. Determinates grow from vines that stop growing at a certain point. They are typically smaller and more compact plants. Indeterminates have vines that continue growing. Indeterminates often need added support to grow well such as cages, trellises or stakes. Determinates will work well in containers and in a small garden space.

If you’re growing tomatoes for the first time, you should know that tomatoes can be challenging to start from seeds, as they need to be started indoors before the growing season at high temperatures. For this reason, we recommend that you go ahead and buy starters to plant directly in your garden. Starter plants in your nursery will appear with certain codes that will help you determine their resistance to common diseases.

• N for resistance to Nematodes
• V for resistance to Verticilium wilt
• A for resistance to Alternaria leaf spot
• F for resistance to Fusarium wilt
• FF for resistance to Race 1 & Race 2 Fusarium
• L for resistance to Septoria leaf spot
• T for resistance to Tobacco mosaic virus

Make sure you buy a plant that has nice dark green leaves without any yellow speckling. Starters with yellow spots may already have problems with disease. When you purchase starter plants from your local nursery, make sure to choose healthy plants that haven’t been in their containers for a long time. Ideal starter plants for transplanting into your garden are around 5 to 7 weeks old. You’ll notice that the roots should just about fill a four-inch container. Look at the bottom of the container. If you see that the roots are growing out of the drain holes of a four-inch container, the plant has probably been in the container too long and may be severely stressed when transplanted. In addition, avoid buying starter tomatoes that already have fruits. These plants will generally produce fewer tomatoes during the year and may not grow fully.

Also, another good bit of advice is to avoid buying your starter plants from larger chain stores. Local, family-owned nurseries carry better quality plants and actually care about gardening. Their staff will generally know more about the plants you’d like to grow as well. Support local businesses and avoid shopping at any store with “Mart” in the name.

For more info on tomato gardening the natural way, check out this site:  Tomato Gardening Tips

Share/Bookmark

If you haven’t already begun to compost garden materials and green kitchen wastes at home, you should start as soon as you can. Composting at home is one of the best ways to improve your soil and grow great tomatoes. Compost improves soil texture, adds valuable soil nutrients, improves drainage, and attracts and supports beneficial soil organisms. Even if you’ve already planted your tomato garden, you can start composting today so that you can improve the soil for next growing season.

Composting is a very easy and ecologically responsible way to recycle green waste. Home composting requires collecting green kitchen scraps and garden wastes and placing the waste in a compost bin or compost pile. Allowing the material to decompose creates a rich, dark, earthy material to add to your soil. For effective composting, you should consider buying or constructing a compost bin if you don’t already have one. A compost pail is also useful to collect kitchen scraps. Good quality compost bins and pails will increase the quality of your compost and make the process easier. They are available at your local nursery and on-line.

The type of material you add to your compost pile is very important. Meats, dairy products, and animal bones are not recommended for composting. Only garden and kitchen wastes such as grass clippings, leaves, washed egg shells, coffee grounds, and fruit and vegetable peels will work for composting. For complete instructions on composting, see this excellent Guide to Composting http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/horticulture/g810.htm offered by the University of Nebraska.

Composting at home is of course the ideal way to improve your garden soil, but if you choose to buy pre-composted material to add immediately to your garden, be aware that some commercially available organic composts haven’t completed the process and can be of poor quality. If you think that the compost you’ve purchased is of low quality, you can add liquid humic acid or compost tea to improve it.

Another important factor in growing healthy tomatoes is maintaining the correct soil pH. pH is defined as the measure of acid-base balance. pH levels are read on a scale from 1 to 14. 1 is defined as extremely acid; 7 is neutral; and 14 is extremely basic (alkaline). Because pH works on a logarithmic scale, a pH of 6 is defined as 10 times more acidic than 7, and 5 is 100 times more acidic than 7. Therefore, 8 is 10 times more alkaline than 7 and 9 is 100 times more alkaline than 7.

Soil pH can often be the determining factor in what kinds of plants will or won’t grow in your garden. If you plant an acid-loving plant in alkaline soil or vice versa, the plant may grow, but may end up being weaker and more susceptible to attack by pests and disease. Tomatoes will grow within a soil pH range of 5.8 to 7. Although they are adapted to slightly acidic soil, they will grow best near the 6.5 pH mark. Tomato gardening in soil with the proper pH will insure healthy plants with strong immune systems that can resist pests and disease.

Check the pH of your soil before you decide to add any soil amendments. This will help you choose what amendments to add. Inexpensive soil pH test kits are available from most garden centers and on the Internet. If you check your soil pH and find it extremely acidic or extremely alkaline, you can add amendments to bring the soil closer to the desired level.

For instance, if your soil is very acid, you can add lime to neutralize the pH. If you test your soil and find it very alkaline, you can add an agricultural sulfur to help neutralize the pH. In both cases, you should add enough amendment to reach a pH level of 6.5 to 7. The addition of organic compost will help balance out both kinds of soil. Adding compost is a good idea, even if your soil is near neutral.

Soil texture is also important to growing tomatoes. Clay soils don’t drain well and are difficult for roots to penetrate. Sandy soils drain well but don’t retain nutrients. The “Ribbon Test” is a basic soil test you can do without special equipment. Take a small soil sample with a trowel, and roll it back and forth in your hand. If the soil is tacky, it is probably high in clay. If it falls apart, it is probably has a lot of sand. Adding organic compost helps to improve both sandy and clay soils.

The best overall way to determine if your soil is ready to plant is with a basic soil tester. An electronic soil tester will test both the pH and fertility of the soil. There are also more complete testers available on-lone that measure light levels, moisture, etc.

During the growing season, you’ll need to add organic fertilizers to the soil to keep the soil nitrogen levels up for your tomatoes. Fish emulsions or compost teas added about every two or three weeks are a great way to keep the soil healthy without chemical fertilizers.

Mulching your tomatoes plants is also recommendable. The mulch will help to keep weeds from growing and keeps moisture in the soil longer. Through the course of the growing season, mulch also adds nutrients to the soil as it decomposes.

Add more mulch each year to your tomatoes as it decomposes. The mulch will keep the soil healthy and productive. You can further support your soil by adding an organic fertilizer product. Your mulch will work best when you add a natural fertilizer over the entire garden bed so that the whole area will gradually become healthier.

This Complete Guide To Composting is also a great resource worth checking out.

For more info on tomato gardening the natural way, see here: Tomato Gardening Tips

Share/Bookmark

Chiles are botanically classified as “nightshades” (Solanaceae) and belong to the genus Capsicum. Chiles are related to the tomato, eggplant, and potato, which are all from the nightshade family. The nightshades are a fascinating and diverse family which contains a number of poisonous plants including Belladonna (Atropa belladonna), Jimpson weed (D. stramonium), Henbane (H. niger), and Mandrake ( P. Peltatum).

Many botanists theorize that chiles originated in South America. Their migration is probably due to both animal and human influence. Birds are especially attracted to chiles and have helped them spread throughout the Americas. Birds do not fully digest chile seeds and don’t feel the heat of spicy chiles like we mammals do, making them perfect animals for carrying and spreading chile seeds. The ethno-botanist Gary Nabhan has written some excellent articles on the chile/bird connection.

Also see Aztec Gardens http://www.aztecgardens.com/ for more info on the origins of chiles and many other common crops.

Check out this great ebook with recipes using a variety of chiles. http://www.aztecgardens.com/ebook.html

Chile seeds need rather warm conditions to germinate successfully. If you live in a colder climate, you should consider starting your chile peppers indoors several weeks before spring begins. Before transplanting the seedlings, it’s a good idea to gradually expose them to the outdoors by setting them outside for a few hours each day, and slowly increasing the time until daytime temperatures average about 70 degrees F. Nighttime temperatures shouldn’t drop lower than 55 degrees when you plant your chiles. If your nighttime temperatures reach above 85 degrees, your plants may have trouble setting fruit.

If you buy your chiles as starter plants, you should plant them spaced out around 18 inches between each plant. If you’re planting several rows, you should space the rows about 2 feet apart. If you have limited space in your home, chiles also grow very well in raised beds and containers.

Chiles require full sun and soil with a high content of organic compost worked in. Home composting is an easy way to get a good source of organic material for your soil. Chiles won’t do well in extremely sandy or high clay soils. Adding compost will also help improve soil texture. If you don’t know much about composting, you should check out this great Guide to Composting. http://www.compostguide.com/ If you haven’t started a home composting system, you should begin today. You should also check your soil pH before you plant your chiles. The pH should be around 6.5.

Your chiles should be watered daily during the hottest months of the summer, at least 20 minutes will do. Chiles are quite sensitive to getting their flowers wet. For this reason, they are ideal for a soaker hose or a drip irrigation system.

There are a lot of chiles out there, literally dozens of varieties. You can try growing something as common as the Jalapeño, Anaheim, or Serrano, or experiment with something more exotic like the Thai Dragon Pepper. Depending on the region, some chiles of course grow better than others. You should talk to your local nursery to see which kind of chiles will grow in your state and microclimate. Chile varieties vary in the time they take to mature, and some chiles will take as long as 130 days to produce fruit. Plan and plant accordingly.

These two sites are great resources for learning more about growing hot chiles:

* Chile Pepper Institute http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/
* UCSC Garden Ideas for Chile Peppers

Share/Bookmark

If you’re new to growing pumpkins, you may be overwhelmed by the dozens of varieties out there to try. The key to choosing which pumpkin you want to grow is to decide what you want your pumpkins for. You can grow a big batch of Jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, or you might want to grow pumpkins for making pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup.

Other gardeners like to try and grow record-breaking giant pumpkins. There are also a number of unusual pumpkins for the home gardener, including miniature pumpkins, or pumpkins with strange colors, including blue, red, and white.

Pumpkins suitable for Jack-o-lanterns come in a variety of sizes and are generally grown because of their color and shape and because they are easy to carve. There are small pumpkins suitable for carving that will grow to around 5 pounds. They include Trickster, Baby Bear, Spookie, Winter Luxury, Spooktacular, Sugar Treat, and Triple Treat. For a medium to large Jack-o-lantern (up to 25 pounds) try Jack-o-Lantern, Harvest Moon, Aspen, Autumn Gold, Frosty, Howden Field (one of the most popular), Trick or Treat, or Connecticut Field.

There are many excellent pumpkins for baking or cooking. These pumpkins are good for cooking because they are meatier and have less stringy fibers than carving pumpkins. They also have better flavor and are smaller than most carving pumpkins. You should try out one of the following varieties if you want pumpkins with rich flavor for cooking: Dickinson Field, Buckskin (a hybrid), Chelsey (also a hybrid), Peek a Boo, Sugar Treat, Baby Pam, Triple Treat, Kentucky Field.

There are varieties of pumpkins that will work both for cooking and for great Jack-o-lanterns. Connecticut Field makes a good pumpkin for canning or as a Jack-o-lantern. Trick or Treat and Winter Luxury are varieties that will work both for decoration and for cooking. Spirit Hybrid, Connecticut Field, and Autumn Gold are great pumpkins that can be used for carving and pumpkin pies.

If you want to grow giant pumpkins, there are specific varieties that will grow to very large sizes. If you’re interested in trying your hand at growing monster pumpkins, you should check out Atlantic Giant, Gold Rush PVP, Big Max, Big Moon PVP, Prizewinner, Jumpin’ Jack and Mammoth Gold. These pumpkins can grow to be very large, often over 100 pounds!

Miniature pumpkins are another option for the home gardener, and are mostly used as decoration. You can try one of the following varieties, all of which have an attractive shape and color: Jack-Be-Little, Munchkin, Baby Bear, Sweetie Pie, and Jack-Be-Quick. Another option for a miniature pumpkin is Baby Boo, a beautiful white miniature variety.

If you’re looking to plant something beyond the typical pumpkin, there are several varieties of strange pumpkins out there. There is actually a blue pumpkin called Blue Lakota which has a bluish-grey color. The Japanese Pumpkin, or Kabocha, is an excellent option for the chef. Lil Pump Ke Mon, a miniature white pumpkin with green and orange stripes, makes an attractive ornament for the home during the Fall.

There are a number of popular white pumpkins as well. Try out White Ghost, Casper, Lumina, or Snowball. Lumina is also know to have a rich flavor and is also a good carving pumpkin for your Jack-o-lantern.

For something truly unusual, try Red Warty or Cinderella, which are red pumpkins with unusual textures. These red pumpkins also make good cooking pumpkins.

See this site from the University of Illinois for more pumpkin varieties: University of Illinois http://urbanext.illinois.edu/pumpkins/varieties.cfm

This site from Purdue University has lots of information on pumpkins plus excellent pumpkin growing tips:
Purdue University Pumpkin Guide http://www.hort.purdue.edu/fruitveg/veg/pumpkin.shtml

Check out this great ebook with recipes using squash, pumpkins and other unique plants. http://www.aztecgardens.com/ebook.html

Pumpkin Growing Tips is also a great site.

Share/Bookmark

Growing Asparagus

A perennial herb, cultivated for the succulent young shoots that arise from the crown in the spring. Asparagus is native to Europe. It has been cultivated 2000 years and more. It was known to the Greeks and Romans. The so-called leaves of asparagus are really leaflike branches.

Being a rugged plant, asparagus will live and thrive on almost any kind of soil, even under adverse circumstances and went entirely neglected. Occasionally, one may find apparently thrifty plants in fence rows, or strong stalks pushing up through stone heaps or other things piled on an old abandoned asparagus bed. Plants on good soil will get so large, and the immense network of roots so well anchored into the soil, that all the strength of a good team may be insufficient to pull them out, and sometimes several years worth of persistent efforts may be required to clear them out of a piece of ground once used as an asparagus patch.

The stalks that the discriminating growers and fastidious consumers want or those an inch in diameter and lusciously tender and succulent, and these can be grown only a good plant set far enough apart on well-drained, well composted, and well tilled soil.

To secure the choice early stalks that bring high prices and delicious eating, the land selected for an asparagus patch should be a warm a rich loam, preferably exposed to East or South. Manure and organic fertilizer should be used lavishly. In this respect, many growers fail to obtain best results by not using enough. Unless the soil is already well supplied with vegetable matter, and loose loamy soil, it is important add large amounts of compost or rotted, stable manure before you even start. A heavy dressing is to be plowed under, and should be well and deeply mixed with the soil by replowing and reworking the land.

Afterwards, concentrated manures that are rich in nitrogen will do very well for loose soils, and may be broadcast on top of the soil to provide a nitrogen rich organic environment.

To grow your own supply of asparagus, it is helpful to start with a selection of good strong one-year-old plants. They are usually preferable to the ordinary two-year-old plants. The mail, or pollen bearing plants, are often more vigorous and more productive of good stalks than the female, or seed bearing plants. But it is not easy to tell one from the other unless they bloom, long after they are well established in your garden and it would be impractical to tear them out and replace them.

Asparagus seeds are rather hard shelled and sometimes slow to germinate. It is important to give the seedling plants the longest possible period of growth so you can secure the strongest possible plants. You should soak the seeds before planting them, and you should plant and early in the spring.

Asparagus rows should be planted about a foot apart, with seeds planted rather thinly. Asparagus plants should be thinned to 3 inches apart at an early age, and weeds should be kept carefully away from the very beginning.

Share/Bookmark