Seasonal Free Tips

Tips on Gardening In most of the country, the outdoor gardening season gets into full swing just after the last frost of spring, and ends with the first frost of fall.   Vegetable gardeners - Get a jump on the season by planting certain seeds in the garden two weeks before the last frost of spring. Among the seeds that can be planted before the last frost are peas, lettuce, onion sets, spinach, garlic, cabbage, potatoes, and radishes.   Getting Rid Of The Bitterness In Cucumbers - With a harvested cucumber, slice of one end. Rub the cut end against the cucumber in a circular motion gently squeezing the cucumber until white milk comes out of the skin around the cut edge. Cut another ¼ inch off the end of the cucumber and discard. Repeat this on the other end, then peal the cucumber and use as you would normally would. This will take the cucumbers bitterness out and leave the cucumber tasting succulent and fresh.   Storing Green Tomatoes To Ripen To Red - Harvest tomatoes free of blemishes and wash and dry them. Place in a box with 4 ripe apples. Keep in a cool place with a temperature of 50-60 degrees. The Ethylene gas produced will help ripen the fruit.   Planting Bulbs - Planting bulbs in fall for spring bloom can be a bit of a chore, even if the results are well worth the effort. Rather than dig individual holes for each bulb dig out the entire area that you want to plant. Dig it to the required depth of the largest bulb (bulbs should be planted three times as deep as they are tall). If you have smaller bulbs create little mounds of soil for them to sit on that will bring them up to the proper planting depth. Ten add the bulb food, cover the bulbs with a layer of chicken wire and refill with soil. The chicken wire will help prevent squirrels, raccoons and other neighborhood creatures from getting to the bulbs.   Dividing Perennials - Fall is the best time to divide most spring and summer blooming perennials. This should be done 6 weeks before the first hard freeze occurs in your garden to allow the plants to become established. Not all plants appreciate dividing. However, here are a few that do: hosta, phlox, peonies, daylilies, black-eyed Susan, monarda and astilbe.   Hay Bale Compost Bin - The opportunity to compost fall's leaves is one that shouldn't be passed and building a compost bin doesn't have to be difficult. One easy way to do it involves six bales of straw and about twenty minutes of your time. Use wheat straw because it seems to be cleaner than hay, and all you do is stand the bales on their ends, one on each end and two on each side, so that you form a square. This creates a well to compost and contain all those garden clippings and leaves out of in the garden instead of sending it to the landfill.