From soil to eggs
Start with the soil test, then pick the projects your space allows.
Test your soil first
A lab test tells you what to add before you plant anything.
- Take 15 to 20 plugs from the top 4 to 6 inches across one area
- Clear off plants or turf, then mix the plugs in a clean plastic bucket
- Send about a quart, 3 to 6 months before planting so lime has time to work
- Repeat at least every 3 years, or when you change crops
Grow vegetables in pots
A balcony or a patio is enough if the pot is big and it drains.
- One tomato needs a pot at least 20 inches wide. Peppers and eggplant manage in 14
- Use soilless potting mix with up to half finished compost, and no garden soil
- Tomatoes and peppers need 6 hours of sun or more, while lettuce and kale take some shade
- Water at least once a day in summer and feed every 2 to 4 weeks
Make compost
UNH Extension's minimum pile is one cubic yard, 3 feet wide, tall and long. Expect finished compost in 6 months to 2 years.
- Use far more browns (leaves, straw) than greens (kitchen scraps, fresh grass)
- Keep it damp: a squeezed handful should give a drop or two of liquid
- Turn or mix it each time you're out there
- Leave out meat, bones, pet waste and diseased plants
Build a cold frame from an old window
It adds two to four weeks to both ends of the season for lettuce, spinach and radishes.
- Face it south over well-drained soil, its back against a wall or fence
- Make it about 12 inches high at the front, 18 at the back, and no more than 3 feet deep
- Prop the lid open above 85°F inside, and close it before sunset
- Harden off tomato and pepper seedlings in it before they go out
Save seed from your best plants
Save from open-pollinated varieties only, because hybrids don't pass their traits on reliably.
- Start with beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers and lettuce
- Ferment tomato seed in water for 2 to 3 days and keep the ones that sink
- Dry until a fingernail can't dent the seed
- Store cool, dry and dark, labelled with the variety and date
Keep hens and handle eggs cleanly
CDC's backyard poultry rules come down to hands, kids and eggs.
- Wash with soap and running water after touching birds or anything in the coop
- Keep children under 5 from handling chicks and other poultry
- Keep the birds out of the house, and clean feeders and waterers outdoors
- Collect eggs often, refrigerate them, and throw out cracked ones
