The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

How to save pumpkin seeds

14.9 years ago harvest, pumpkin, seed saving, seeds 16 Comments

The kids and I carved several pumpkins this year but we waited carve the three pumpkins we grew in our backyard until Halloween since these were the seeds I wanted to save for planting next year.  First, I know exactly how these pumpkins were grow, organically and free of any pesticides.  Second, I was able to let these pumpkins grow undisturbed until the day I picked the seeds, so the seeds should definitely be mature.

The process is very simple, while getting the “goo” as my 5-year-old would say out of the pumpkin set the seeds aside and add to a colander.  Give them a good rinse and remove any orange “goo” that may have snuck in.  Pat dry with a towel and let the seeds dry on wax or parchment paper for a couple days.  Once they are dry to touch put them layered on a paper sack and let them dry for a few weeks until putting them in homemade seed packets until the are ready for next year.

If you have way too many seeds than you need (I know I do) you can also use the great recipe to roast some of you extra seeds as a snack:

CVG’s Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

• Extra pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp of Worchester sauce
• 1/4 tsp of seasoning salt

Directions: Add ingredients to bowl and mix well.  Lay on a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for about 25 minutes being sure to flip the seeds after about 10 minutes.  Eat as soon as you can without burning your mouth.

Tips to choose plants for indoor gardening

11.5 years ago guest post, planter Leave a comment

Indoor gardening is one of the best ways to decorate your home. These are simple to maintain provided you give a good amount of attention and care to the indoor plants. Even people having limited space could work wonders and end up getting a rewarding experience. Choosing the right set of plants for your indoor garden could give you some of the best enjoying experience. However, choosing these plants for your indoor garden for your home or office is always a complex affair. At times, even the people from the nursery staff are seen struggling for choosing the plants if you fail to give the right picture of indoor garden or the things you want in the garden. If you select wrong plants for your indoor garden, you may end up creating a mess at your space. Hence it is always recommended to research about the same. The below is the list of helpful tips to choose proper plants for your indoor gardening mission. Let’s check them out:

Check your space size

There are number of plants fit for indoor gardening but each one has its own space requirement. Hence before you choose any check its exact space requirements. Select the right plant for your space, which you are supposed to be filled. Always keep in mind that most of the indoor space doesn’t need any light for plants to blossom and that the flowering the plants and the ones having the variegated leaves simply need higher amounts of light levels as compared to the other plants. The plants, which are seen doing good with the full or partial amount of shade are best suited to live inside the gardens and can move anywhere inside your home or office.

Consider the weather conditions

Another factor that you need to consider is the weather conditions. You are supposed to select a plant as per the weather conditions you have at your space and its surroundings. If you choose flowering plants then make sure you understand very well that these require good amount of light levels but the plants including the gorgeous Phalaenopsis orchid are seen doing good at spaces where you have high humidity levels like the bathrooms and kitchens. Also, the Phalaenopsis orchid does not require direct sunlight or being placed over any draft, hence the areas that are overly air conditioned are certainly not the appropriate for such delicate kinds of plants.

Check the size

Once you have considered the above two factors, it’s time to consider the element of size. The small size flowering plants including the bamboo and cacti could be a good option for placing them over the coffee table or at the spaces with limited amount of space. The herbs are often considered as the ideal option for small size window boxes and palms including thatch palm or the love palm plants. These appear good in the different free standing pots seen over your room’s corner wherein you want to put some little larger plant.

Consider the factor of time

While choosing plants, you need to consider your attentiveness and active participation time as well. The evergreen and Cacti plants would hardly require any effort whereas the violets and several other exotic plants are called as temperamental and demanding in terms of time. Avoid going for a plant, which demands careful controlled amount of water feeding when you know you hardly have time to do so where there is a possibility of forgetting to the feet the water as well. The fact is, most of the indoor plants die down due to over watering hence you are supposed to check the moisture levels of the soil before you start watering your plants abruptly. This will help you in preventing things like the water logging. If you use the sub irrigation over the decorative pots, then make sure the plants would require more amount of water at the roots.

Know the good performing indoor plant options

There is a wide range of indoor plants, which you could choose for your indoor garden. A few of these could be chosen as per the above considerations, while there are few specific high performing indoor plants. These plants could be planted inside any and every indoor garden as they are among the high performing plants. These include Cast iron plant, Dragon tree, Love Palm, Thatch Palm, Hearth Leaf Philodendron, Devil’s Ivy, Mahogany tree, Peace lily, Aroid palm and Mother in law’s Tongue.

Final word

A good array of plants inside your indoor garden could do wonders provided you choose the right amount of plants for your space. However, choosing your indoor plants for your indoor space is always a complicated thing. When it comes to choosing them, consider the above tips.

About The Author: Alia is a writer/blogger. She loves writing travelling and reading books. She contributes to Gamification

Building a Pea Garden Trellis

14.3 years ago cheap, fall crops, peas 6 Comments

When building a pea trellis it is actually pretty hard to do it wrong.  All that is needed is a little stability and once the plants grab hold they will make the structure even more stable.  My typical strategy when making a pea trellis is to use whatever I happen to find closest to me.  Here are a few examples from past and current years of building

	Bamboo Pole Structure Pea Trellis Here is a classic structure made from a couple pieces of bamboo poles scavenged from a couple of rotting scarecrows purchased a few years back at a craft store.  I used a stick I am pretty sure one of my daughters picked up on a nature hike across the top bound with a few inches of twine.  Lastly I attached a line of twine at 1 foot and 2 feet above the ground which gives the plant plenty of leverage to climb up the structure. Click on the picture to the left or below for a larger view.
	Branches Pea Trellis Here is probably the simplest technique out there.  If you have some old branches left over from pruning?  Just stick them in the ground and let the peas grow up the branch.  This gives a nice natural look but also a variety of paths for the peas to naturally sprawl while given each plant plenty of personal space.
	Vertical Stick or Pole Pea Trellis Another simple option is just by simply driving a few straight sticks or bamboo or metal poles in the ground with a little assistance the peas will climb their way up the trellis
	Hybrid A-Frame Pole Structure and Branch Pea Trellis Do you like more than one technique?  Feel free to combine them like this where I used bamboo poles as additional support for branch pea trellis (though in the end the branches proved to do just fine by themselves, I sometimes over engineer things…)

As you can see when it comes to making your own pea trellis it is very difficult to do it wrong.  So do a quick scan around your yard and you should find exactly the materials you need.  Though if you want something a little more professional looking there is always the commercial options (click images below for more info) which I would definitely recommend as well.

Saving some more pumpkin puree

12.9 years ago pie, pumpkin, recipe 3 Comments

I cooked up another pumpkin to make some more puree to last be though the rest of the year.  This time I used silicon liners which made the removal of the frozen pumpkin pucks a piece of cake.

Last year I made a delicious pumpkin pie with some of this puree, this year I decided to be a little more health conscious and used this recipe for a low carb, gluten free pumpkin pie.  Just as delicious, but with almost half the calories and none of the sugar/carb rush/

How to make your own sauerkraut

12.7 years ago cabbage, cheap, sauerkraut 7 Comments

Sauerkraut is not only a tasty condiment to add to a hot dog or various German dishes but also is loaded with tons of beneficial bacteria which can help enhance your gut flora to make you more regular but also aid in allowing your body to absorb more nutrients from the foods you eat leading to higher satiety.  So in simple terms sauerkraut can actually help you lose weight.

Now before you head off to the grocery store to buy yourself a tub of sauerkraut, if it comes in a jar most likely it has been cooked killing all the beneficial bacteria…assuming it was actually fermented to begin with.  Some sauerkraut is sold as basically cabbage soaked in vinegar, though it may taste similar it does not have the added health benefits.  Though you probably can find some fresh sauerkraut at a specialty store in your area it is actually very easy to make with only two ingredients required.

Step 1: Slice the cabbage.  Start with with 2 heads of cabbage (for pink sauerkraut like mine above use equal amounts of red and green cabbage) and cut into each one into quarters.  Remove the hearts (the non leafy part in the middle) and either discard or even better set aside to create some tasty pickled cabbage hearts.  Use a nice big/sharp knife and slice the cabbage as thin as you can.  If you have a cabbage shredder or mandoline slicer go ahead and take advantage of these.  If you find any pieces that seem a little large go ahead and give them an extra chop.

Step 2: Layer with salt.  Portion out 3 tablespoons of non-iodized salt (kosher, pickling, or sea salt are great choices) this is because iodine many times is used to kill bacteria in water and in the case we want to keep those little buggers alive and kicking.  Take a couple handfuls of sliced cabbaged and lay as a layer into a kraut pot, food grade plastic bucket, or any other non-reactive container that will easily hold your pile of cabbage.  Over each layer apply a sprinkling of salt and repeat until all of your cabbage and salt are in your container.

Step 3: Mash the cabbage.  Now there are official tools for this job but any sort of blunt object will do.  Some ideas (end of a baseball bat, mason jar, large piece of dowel, you get the idea)  All you do is beat the crap out of the cabbage to help get the water to begin leaching out.  At the end of the process you should have enough liquid to cover the cabbage.  If you do not have enough let it sit for up to 24 hours and see if the salt draws some remaining water out of the cabbage.  If you still do not have enough water to cover add some distilled water (tap water has chlorine and will kill our bacteria friends) along with 1 teaspoon of non-iodized salt for each cut of water.

Step 4:  Drown the cabbage.  Now it is time for some fermentation, this chemical process needs to be completed in an environment free from oxygen otherwise again out little friends will bite the bullet.  Cabbage floats in water so we need to drown the stuff, this is pretty easy by taking an object approximately the diameter of your container and weight it down with container filled with water for example.  Cover this with plastic grocery bag, secure with rubber bands or string in you have fruit fry problems in your area.

Step 5: Let the fermentation process do its thing.  After about a week the liquid will change from smelling like the salty ocean to more like vinegar.  At this point you can eat some, but for the full benefits and bolder taste give it 3-4 weeks to fully ferment.

Once your batch is done you can store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months, if you find yourself going through the stuff well before its 6 month time is up you can scale up your quantities or maybe even invest in an official German Sauerkraut Pot which is a little expensive for me, but would look better than the bucket sitting on my counter with a plastic grocery bag cover and comes with a ceramic weight that fits perfectly to the diameter of the kraut pot…

Frugal way to grow a garden with bird seed for temporary spaces

12.7 years ago birds, seed saving 3 Comments

Many people love bird watching. It is the favorite pastime of many gardeners too. For drawing the birds to the garden, you need to use the feeders. Instead of buying and storing the feeders every season, you can as well consider turning a special part of your garden exclusively for attracting birds. If the feeders are able to sprout, you can use them for growing the plants. Once the plants grow and mature, the birds can eat the seeds from the plants directly. Apart from that, you can pick the best seeds and store them away for the next season. If this interests you, here is how to grow bird seed.

1. Find a special spot

If you have a large garden, you can make use of the space effectively. Divide it into many parts. One special spot can be left for the birdseeds. The first thing to do is to find the best spot in your garden to attract the birds. The best thing is to consider an area away from your main garden. The birds will not disturb your garden and other useful items there.

2. Choose a good mixture of seeds

Choose a good mixture of seeds that can produce a wide variety of flowers. This can add a lot of color to the area and attract a lot of different types of birds. When the plants grow and produce different kinds of plants and flowers, various birds come to your garden automatically. In order to make the seeds grow well, you have to take the necessary steps.

3. Growing the plants

The soil should be well suited for growing the type of garden and plants you are looking for. First, begin with loosening the soil with a garden hoe. This will make it easy for planting the seeds. When the soil is ready, take a handful of seeds and scatter them on the loosened soil. Rake some topsoil over the scattered seeds. Sprinkle some water lightly over the topsoil to provide enough moisture for the sprouting.

4. Harvest the seeds

After the plants grow well, they start producing the seeds. Harvest these seeds at the end of the season. Store them properly in an airtight container. They can be used for feeding the birds during the winter season. Or, you can also leave them on the plants so that the birds eat them directly from the plants.

The best thing about these plants is that they will produce different kinds of colorful flowers before producing the seeds. So you will be able to enjoy different kinds of flowers and plants in your garden. At the same time, you can get a large amount of seeds for the next season. This is one of the best ways to produce healthy bird seeds in your own garden without spending money too often. Once you get used to the procedures, it will be easy to maintain the garden and follow the different procedures for taking care of the things. Choose an ideal location in your garden and spend some time with the birds daily. Children can also learn a lot of things from your garden.

About the author: Alia Haley is a blogger and writer. She loves writing on technology and luxury. Beside this she loves gardening in free time. She recently bought a book on Japanese Garden. These days she is busy in writing an article on patio umbrellas.