Grow Your Own Vegetables

  I have been growing a few different types of nutritious vegetables like peas, beans, lettuce, spinach, eggplant and tomatoes. I have found that the soil and climate here is favouring the growth of these plants very much. The area I had in my backyard is divided into different sections and I have planted the vegetables row wise. Lack of space has forced me to plant the vegetables next to each other.

Climate and soil do matter a lot for vegetable farming. Different vegetables require different climatic conditions. Some vegetables like tomatoes and onions thrive in full sunlight. Leafy green vegetables and cabbages can do well in partial shade. We have to choose vegetables that will sustain our climatic changes. https://www.agrifarming.in/ Those who are interested in growing green house plants need not bother about it. It is important to buy fresh and organic seeds. It is better to line your garden with mondograss. It is better to add compost, manure and bio-pesticides to protect your plant from pests.

We should not forget to water plants especially during summer as your slight carelessness will dry up your garden. Growing herbs like basil, chives, or parsley have many advantages. It provides antioxidants and helps to boost up the immune system. It can also be used in cooking. If you have a greenhouse garden you can get vegetables for your daily needs. It faces less pest damage. Involving children in gardening can inculcate responsibility and caring mentality in them. Always keep in mind the above mentioned points while growing vegetables.

4 Easy Ways to Help You Eat More Vegetables - It's Not As Hard As You Think!

We all know that we should eat more veggies, but sometimes it can be really hard to want to. This is just psychological. Veggies are tasty. We just need a little imagination and a little inspiration! I like veggies, I work on an organic vegetable farm, for goodness' sake and I still find it hard to get the lead out of my pants and get the veggies onto my plate. Maybe there are some lucky folks out there who don't suffer from this malady, but for the rest of us who find it hard to get enough tasty veggies, I'm here to say that there is hope!

Inspired by Blacksburg Belle's post (that was inspired by Kris Karr) where she says that one of the keys to good health and cancer prevention is filling half your plate with veggies at every meal, this started me really thinking about whether I was eating enough vegetables (which I suspected I wasn't). I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I do tend to eat more veggies that I thought I did, and that it was a pretty easy, tasty and painless step to bump it up to a half plate of veggies at every meal (even when ordering Chinese take-out!) Here are some tips to help you get up to your half-plate quotient without sacrificing tastiness or easiness:

Beans are a vegetable! My husband is Mexican, and I've been eating refried beans so long, that I couldn't see the veggies for the beans on my plate. If I'm eating a meal with corn tortillas (a whole grain), a small piece of meat, salsa (a veggie!) and beans (another veggie!!) then I've got a half-plate of veggies with no change to my usual habits. Refried beans are really easy to make, too! Keep cans of whole pinto beans in the pantry (you can find brands that are organic or salt-free, whatever best suits your dietary needs). Heat a little oil in a small, stainless steel frying pan (1 tsp is enough, a TBS is tastier. I've been using olive oil and haven't had any complaints from my Mexican food expert, I use stainless steel because moist refried beans really do a number on cast iron and non-stick surfaces) When a drop of bean water sizzles in the oil, it's hot enough. Scoop as many beans and bean liquid into the pan as you want, half a can of beans is good for two people, and let sizzle until the whole pan is gently simmering, then use a potato masher or a fork to smoosh the beans. The bean paste will thicken naturally. Just cook 'till it's all bubbly and squished. Heat tortillas in a hot, dry griddle, turning frequently until they're as soft or crispy as you like. Serve with a little lean meat (or not) and whatever diced veggies you like. A tasty side dish can be diced cucumber, onion, tomato, jalapeno and avocado sprinkled liberally with lime juice and a dash or two of salt. Yum, yum!

Salads can be exciting! In addition to lettuce, it's nice to have a few other tasty vegetables, such as avocado, sweet pepper, sweet onion, cherry tomatoes, or whatever you like. Then toss in something savory and irresistible like refried beans, or whole beans, lentils, tuna, sliced turkey, hard boiled eggs, etc. Don't drown it in salad dressing, that just makes it slimy and gross, dribble some on for tastiness, and then go ahead and eat it with your fingers, that's more fun than using a fork! Salads, in fact, don't even need to have lettuce in them! Toss out that lettuce and cut up some carrots, get out some cherry tomatoes, some cheese chunks, cauliflower, cucumbers, olives and red sweet peppers, and a little ranch dressing for dunking. Tasty, easy and fun!

Try to keep the idea of Vegetables in the front of the meal-making part of your brain! When I ordered Chinese food the other day, I went ahead and got General Tso's Chicken (a must), hubs got some tasty fried shrimp and, of course, that included rice. But then I also ordered some tofu, stir fried with vegetables and asked for the garlic sauce on the side. (we also got egg rolls, which are tasty fried things, I know, but they have veggies in them, none the less!). Well, the veggies with tofu were very tasty and all vegetable-y, and kept my General Tso's Chicken craving under control. We ate 3 meals from those little paper cartons and every one of them consisted of half a plate of veggies!

Soup doesn't have to be a big, difficult deal! Another easy dish that can fill half of your plate with veggies is soup, which can be fast, easy and tasty when done very simply like my Mexican in-laws make it. Start with a pan of water and some lean meat (chicken's my fave), half an onion, a garlic clove, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns and salt to taste. Cook the meat until tender (which may take up to an hour) and then add large chunks of veggies (In Mexico, they use potatoes, carrots, cabbage, summer squash and chayote (which you can find in a lot of grocery stores, or in Mexican grocery stores, or leave it out. Really you can just toss in whatever veggie combination appeals to you!) When the veggies are tender (after about 20 min.), check for salt and serve with a nice, crusty whole wheat loaf (as an alternative to meat, use some beans - see bullet point number 1! If making bean soup, you can either add a can of undrained beans when you add the veggies, or soak some dry beans overnight and then cook them in their soaking water plus more until tender, 20 minutes or so, and then add your veggies.) Try these tasty veggie-filled combos: Winter squash, white beans, tomatoes, onions, rosemary or sage (you can fry the onions first with some garlic). Broccoli, cauliflower, chicken, carrots (serve with the crusty loaf of bread and some cheddar!). Red sweet peppers, corn on the cob chunks, black beans (drained and rinsed) and summer squash.

Deciding Between Organic And Inorganic Farming

If you are planning a life in the countryside, you will find farming a productive way to spend your time. Whether you're thinking of livestock or fruit and vegetable farming, you will end the day with fulfillment because you know, at one point, it will be time for harvest. Some people farm to make an income while others just do it as a form of exercise or even as a hobby. Whatever your reasons for farming, you'll do best if you first research on this activity and how you can make the most use of that piece of land or how to grow those plants and animals.

One of the most basic things you need to do before you start is to decide whether you'll go for organic or inorganic farming. Organic farming is when you do not use any artificial agents at any point while working on your produce. This means, you cannot spray chemical pesticides and fertilizers for your plants and you cannot use growth hormones for your livestock. There is a government branch tasked to regularly inspect organic farms and see whether or not they are actually run on purely organic means. When your organic farm passes government standards, your produce will be labeled organic.

On the other hand, inorganic farming is one that makes use of chemical agents in order to protect the drops or livestock from pests and insects. For plants, chemical fertilizers may be applied in order to hasten the growth process and to have more produce harvested over a period of time. Back then, people always farmed organically, but because of the growing population and demand for food, scholars experimented with ways that would allow farmers to harvest more produce over a certain period of time so the demand for food could be met. This led to the rise of chemical fertilizers and pesticides which, to this day, are still being used.

Inorganic farming is good because it ensure protection for crops and the fast growth of animals. However, we know that the chemical agents used for this kind of farming can easily damage the environment. Although you may have the best of intentions to grow more produce over a period of time, the greater impact of these chemicals on the environment should also be considered.

You may have a hard time deciding between organic and inorganic farming, but the best solution, perhaps, is simply to balance your needs and those of your environment.