Fresh homegrown vegetables during the cold winter months might seem impossible, but it's not. Set up a small greenhouse next to your garage or house and you're halfway home to having crunchy cucumbers, tangy tomatoes and fresh lettuces for your salads.
Choose vegetables that don't up a lot of space, taste considerably better homegrown than store bought and you like. Squash isn't a good choice because they are space hogs. Tomatoes are a good choice because they can be tied to a support to keep them neat and tidy and store-bought tomatoes don't taste nearly as good as homegrown. Lettuce works well because it can be harvested when only 4 inches tall.
Fill the peat pots with new potting soil. Mix in slow release fertilizer as the package directs. Water thoroughly. Place the seeds on top of the soil, two per pot and cover with 1/4 inch of soil. Press down lightly and mist the top.
Place the pots under the grow lights in the greenhouse to get them started. When they have sprouted and are about 4-inches tall thin to the strongest seedlings.
Transplant to the 1-gallon pot when the seedlings are 6-inches tall. Replace under the grow lights. Move the grow lights up as the plant grows. Outside vegetables need eight hours of sunlight. If the day is cloudy and sun isn't reaching inside the greenhouse keep the grow lights on longer.
Check the plants for bugs. Mist them off or use a non toxic home and garden spray meant for vegetables.
Fertilize with half strength water soluble fertilizer every two weeks or every fourth watering.
Harvest lettuce or leafy greens like spinach when the leaves are 4-inches long by cutting individual leaves off with the scissors. Trim from the outside. The plant will consider to grow and produce.
Brush the flowers of vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers with a soft brush so you move the pollen from one flower to another to fertilize them. Another alternative is to use a commercial blossom set product.
Keep ripe vegetables picked so the plant keeps producing.
Beans and peas take up a lot of space for the amount of produce they grow.
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