The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

EcoSmart Garden Insect Giveaway: Winner

15 years ago giveaway Leave a comment

Using the “CVG’s Contest Winner Pickorama” it has determined that =*N*= is the winner of their choice of an earth friendly product from EcoSmart.  Please contact my using the link in the header with the product you want and you contact information and I will pass the info to EcoSmart.  Thanks for everyone that entered and for those who didn’t win check in the next couple hours for another exciting CVG giveaway.

Hometown Seeds giveaway, and the winners are…

15 years ago giveaway, seeds 5 Comments

I believe Plato was credited with the quote, “Necessity, who is the mother of invention.”  As the Cheap Vegetable Gardener I prefer, “Laziness, who is the mother of invention.”  With laziness and some boredom on the bus while riding to work with my laptop this motivated me to create “CVG’s Contest Winner Pickorama.”  Basically I pass in the comment RSS feed and it extracts any duplicates (or my name if it exists) and by using some complex super top secret logic to pick the winner(s).
Now you can see it in action now and see if you were a winner:

For those without Superman vision the winners are: Trailshome, Red Icculus, and David (There were two David’s so be sure to click the link to make sure you were the right one)
If you are a winner please click on the “Contact” link at the top of the page with your name/mailing address and your seeds will be sent out shortly.  For those who did not win this time, no worries I have at least one more seed giveaway coming up.

EcoSmart Garden Insect Control Review and Giveaway

15 years ago aphids, giveaway, peppermint 15 Comments

One of the major disadvantages to growing plants indoors is the lack of beneficial insects.  In a larger environment like a greenhouse you could release some ladybugs to initiate an aphid slaughter though the thought of 1500+ ladybugs investing my garage where my grow box resides does not seem like a good idea.  I am always open to trying out new products so when EcoSmart contacted me if I was interested in trying out their garden insect control products I jumped at the opportunity.

I explained the problems I have with pests in my indoor growing and they suggested “Garden Insect Killer” Their documentation states, “Kills and repels garden insects and mites. Kills exposed eggs, larvae and adult stages.”  This seemed to be exactly what I was looking for so once the first onset of pests arrived I applied liberally to tops and bottoms of leaves and so far the results are great.  Not only were this effective on the little buggers, given the selection of Rosemary, Peppermint, Thyme, Clove oils it actually makes the garage smell pretty nice as an added bonus.

Want to try this out for yourself the great people at EcoSmart have offered to give away a bottle of any of their products.  So under normal rules, enter a comment and a winner will randomly be selected and sent a bottle of their choice.  Comment must be submitted by Friday, December 18th 2009 at midnight (Pacific) to be considered for the drawing.  Good luck.

Heating row tunnels and grow box with Christmas lights

15 years ago cheap, indoor growbox 11 Comments

Currently it is 16 degrees outside and given my grow box containing jalapeno peppers is in my unheated detached garage, which can bring some challenges.  Like most plants, peppers will continue to grow in the range of 60 to 90 degrees, but thrive in 70 to 90 degrees.  With the lights on the grow box gets to about 60 degrees but drips to the 50’s at night.  This will result in plants having stunted growth and begin dropping blossoms before they can start bearing fruit.

My solution, a string of green mini Christmas lights.  Just to clarify these are your typical small bulb Christmas lights not LEDs, given the efficiency of LEDs they do not product much extra heat which is what I am going for here. I also chose green Christmas lights because plants do not absorb this wavelength very well so they can be left on at night to keep heating while still letting the plants “sleep”. 

Of course results will vary depending on the size of your grow box or outside row tunnel, insulation, and exterior temperature, but I am seeing 8-10 degree increase in temperature with a single string (50 bulbs)

I am always open to new ideas to safely, cheaply and efficiently heat my grow box or row tunnel so if anyone has any other suggestions please add a comment.

My new blog “ Going Homemade

15 years ago Uncategorized 3 Comments

Along with gardening, I also have a passion for cooking/baking.  I have had many adventures I wanted to share but didn’t exactly fit under “The Cheap Vegetable Gardener” so I have started Going Homemade. 

Though I have been spending much of my life eating most of my meals from bags and boxes, I am making a commitment to bravely try homemade versions of my personal favorites as well as teach my daughters that not all meals come from Costco/Trader Joe’s.  So far, everything tastes much better, healthier, and I am even saving a little money according to my calculations.

Hometown Seeds – variety pack give away

15 years ago giveaway, seed saving, seeds 43 Comments

Recently I was approached by Hometown seeds if I would be interested in receiving a variety pack of their top selling seeds, my first instinct was “woohoo free stuff.”  Though instead I decided it would offer the seeds to my awesome readers.  Well that and with all the seed saving I have been doing this year I have more seeds than I know what to do with.

Hometown Seeds loved the idea so much that they have graciously increased the offering to three sets of garden seeds variety pack, so in normal fashion enter a comment and after a week I will somehow randomly pick three winners and the seeds will be sent out to you.

The variety pack includes (1) packet of each of the following:

• Slow Bolt Cilantro
• Alaska Shasta Daisy
• Giant Tetra Snapdragon
• Elite Mix Wildflower
• Marvel of Peru Four O’clock
• Yellow Pear Tomato
• Purple Haze Carrot
• Waltham Broccoli
• Casaba Mellon
• Gourmet Mix Lettuce

The total value of this package is $19.80 so good luck everyone!

Winner will be chosen at Midnight 12/9/2009 (Pacific)