Table of Contents

Book One: How to Grow Beautiful Tomatoes, Bell Peppers & Avocados at Home

Chapter 1:  Starting your Indoor Garden

Chapter 2: The Crops

Chapter 3:  Let’s Grow!

Chapter 4:  Enjoying the Fruits of your labor

Conclusion

Book Two: How to Grow Delicious Peaches, Grapes & Strawberries at Home

Introduction

Chapter 1:  Health Benefits

Chapter 2: Indoor Gardening Basics

Chapter 3:  How to Grow Strawberries Indoors

Chapter 4:  How to Grow Grapes Indoors

Chapter 5: How to Grow Peaches Indoors

Chapter 6: Harvesting Crops

Chapter 7: Meal Ideas

Conclusion

Indoor Gardening

How to grow beautiful tomatoes, bell peppers and avocados at home

By

LAKEYSHA-MARIE GREEN

Copyright © 2014 BeautyBodyStyle, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews – without the permission in writing from its publisher.

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

Book One: How to Grow Beautiful Tomatoes, Bell Peppers & Avocados at Home

Introduction

Chapter 1:  Starting your Indoor Garden

Chapter 2: The Crops

Chapter 3:  Let’s Grow!

Chapter 4:  Enjoying the Fruits of your labor

Conclusion

Introduction

The outdoors.  It is hot, full of bugs, and open to all sorts of accidental mishaps.  Also, depending on where you live it is often not quite accessible or at least in large enough quantities that you can turn into your own personal garden.

But, thanks to the miracle of technology, it is now possible to accomplish many of the same things that used to be purely the dominion of the treacherous outdoors right from the safety and comfort of your own house!  Just imagine, juicy tomatoes, zesty bell peppers, and nutritious avocadoes grown and harvested by you!  And even better, you will not have to worry about all the dangers and risks of outdoor gardening such as weeds, rodents and insects enjoying the fruits of your hard work before you get a chance.

People have many misconceptions about indoor gardening, and one of the most pervasive is that it is a difficult, expensive, and time consuming process.  This could not be any further from the truth.  In this book we will illustrate the ways you can conveniently and affordably grow these plants from the comfort of your own home.  And like everything else, indoor gardening can be expensive.  But it can also be very inexpensive.  It really all depends on your approach, and you can find an indoor set up to match almost any budget! 

This e-book is designed to be a beginner’s guide to growing tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocados indoors.  The set-ups will be basic, inexpensive, easy to set-up and time-tested in order to increase your chances of a successful first crop.  After you sit down and enjoy the first fruits of your labor and effort you will see why millions of people globally have begun to prefer indoor gardening when possible rather than the traditional methods of growing produce.

Although there is an extremely wide variety of fruits and vegetable that can be grown inside, this guide will focus on three specific ones: tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocados.  Since the set-up and growing method for each of these does have some variance then you will find a section for each under each chapter, handily split up when appropriate in order to keep you from confusing methodologies.  Above all, remember, do not despair!  Like anything worth doing, there can be some complicated elements to indoor gardening, and if one of the steps does not go quite right there is a chance that your crop might not produce the first go around.  This will happen to everyone on occasion, even experienced gardeners, as coaxing living things can never quite be an exact science.  Just try again!  With that warning out of the way however, I have little doubt that if you follow the steps outlined in this guide that you will achieve a fantastic amount of success with your project, and be feasting on your hard labor in no time (well, as close to no time as waiting for plants to grow can be!)

Chapter 1:  Starting your Indoor Garden

So, I bet you are excited and ready to get your hands dirty, right?  Well, we are not quite there yet.  I know, I know, you’re disappointed, but bear with me, as I want to ensure that you have everything necessary for your success before we get started.  So, at the very beginning we are going to define some terms and cover the basics that are going to be key elements of your gardening process.  Any of the items covered can be picked up at a local hardware or gardening specialty store, and can also be ordered off of the internet at any number of sites.

Lighting your Garden

The single most important factor to weigh before beginning your indoor garden is what manner of lighting you wish to use for your garden.  Light, whether natural or artificial, is an absolute necessity when it comes to growing plants, due to the vital process of photosynthesis.  Very briefly, photosynthesis is a chemical process that allows plants to convert light energy into a form of organic energy that is used to fuel the plant’s necessary processes.  Or, to put it even more simply: no light, no plant.   

So what does this mean for you, the aspiring indoor gardener, besides the fact that you are beginning to realize just how important light is going to be to your process?  Well, it means that you have some decisions to make, and even more decisions to make based upon which plant you are attempting to grow.  So before we get into specifics for tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocados, let us look at one of the most prevalent options for artificial light, indoor fluorescent lighting.

Fluorescent Lighting

If you are going to use artificial lights for your garden, then you need to be sure to use the proper type of lighting.  Fluorescent lights have been the standard source of light energy for professional indoor gardeners for generations now, and should be your first choice as well, due to their inexpensive pricing and wide availability.   As opposed to a traditional light bulb, which produces light by passing an electrical current through a tungsten filament, (and loses 90% of its energy to heat in the process), fluorescents produce light through the much more efficient manner of passing ultraviolet radiation through a chemical vapor, therefore losing only 10 percent of their energy to heat and producing 90 percent of it as light!  The UV radiation is 100 percent harmless as well, so don’t let that concern you in the slightest.

Another reason that fluorescent lights are a key element for artificial lighting in an indoor garden is the range of light they emit on the light spectrum.  If you have ever held a prism up to the sun, you have seen that there is veritable rainbow of colors that you can see as a result.  This is called the light spectrum, and the colors represent different kinds of light that filters down to earth from the sun, including orange, yellow, green, blue, red, and UV at the far end of the spectrum.  Plants generally disregard the orange, yellow, and green light, but thrive on blue, red and UV light.

Even the most basic models of fluorescent lights that you can pick up at hardware stores rather than gardening specialty stores are extremely rich in the beneficial blue light, and if you go with a variety specially made for gardening then you can get lighting that is rich in blues, reds, far reds, and even the extremely beneficial UV light!  With this arsenal of energy producing light you can create an artificial, regulated environment that is even better than growing outside.

Most fluorescent lights are of the long, tubular variety, so you need to be sure to purchase a fixture you can place them in, preferably one that can hold at least two lights.  Portable fixtures are available, as well as fixtures mounted into shelves, so you should not have to wire one directly into your house, just place or hang the light fixture where you need it, plug in, and go. 

As a beginner, don’t go overboard with specialty lighting until you have a bit more experience under your belt.  For your purposes you should be fine with two lights (or more, depending on how many plants you are starting out with.) one Cool White (3500k) and one Warm White (4100K), both placed in the same light fixture.  The two varieties will balance each other out, as the cool white will provide a baseline of blue light while the Warm White will boost the blue light and also provide some highly beneficial light from the red part of the spectrum as well.  This should be adequate for starting off, although as you gain experience you should consider some of the specialty lights that emit a wider variety of beneficial rays, especially for the later parts of the growing cycle.

Also, remember that different plants need different amounts of exposure to light, meaning that while one plant might need  10-12 hours of light per day, another may need 14-18 hours of light, and the more consistent you are with this the better.  In the chapter that gives the step by step description of the procedure for each of our plants we’ll cover their ideal light cycle, but while you are gathering supplies put some serious thought into picking up an automatic timer you can hook up to your light fixture as well, it can work wonders with ensuring you have a consistent light cycle environment for your plants.

So, to recap the bare minimum of supplies necessary for using artificial light with your indoor garden, you will need:

-A light fixture with two slots for fluorescent lights

-Two fluorescent lights, 1 Cool White (3500k) and one Warm White (4100lk)

-One automatic timer for the lights (optional but highly recommended)

Soil and Containers:

This can be a bit of a tricky subject, and if you go ask a hundred different people you’ll likely get about a hundred different opinions.  So instead of going into an incredible amount of depth on the subject, I’ll give you the basics, as well as some additional information on popular alternatives when it comes to soil vs non-soil indoor growing.

As far as containers are concerned it is really more of a personal decision than anything set in stone.  People successfully use anything from pots, hanging baskets, planters, milk cartons that have been cut in half, etc.  Essentially you are free to either make something yourself or buy pots at your local gardening or hardware store.  Please note though, with plants the larger the size of the container they are grown in, the larger the plant is capable of growing.  And larger plants generally have bigger fruit than their smaller counterparts.  So ideally you want to strike a compromise between the size of the space you have available for your garden and the size of your containers.  Too many small containers jammed into the same space will not yield fruit of any reasonable size, and if the containers are too large than you might not be able to grow enough plants at the same time to justify your effort.  So measure your space well and take these factors into consideration before making any decisions.

Soil can be a bit more complicated as it is often best to make your own rather than purchasing commercial soil.  The problems with commercial potting soil tend to arise after a long period of time however, as after about a year all of the nutrients are depleted and begin to decompose.  Garden soil isn’t great for indoor plants because it is meant for outdoor use, and inside it tends to get very dried out and compacted.  Instead, try and use one of the below methods that involve mixing up your own batch of indoor gardening soil:

Method 1:  Potting Soil Mix – Mix together in equal parts composted bark, coconut coir, peat moss, perlite, and pumice.  Worm casings are also a great addition to the mix.  You should be able to find all of these supplies at your local gardening supply store. 

Method 2:  Garden Soil Mix – This method will require you to have access to both compost and an outdoor garden.  If you do then mix together equal parts compost or leaf mold, garden topsoil, and coarse sand.  Be sure to filter the compost or leaf mold in order to remove the large material.  Mix everything together well in order to avoid layering and then place it in your indoor gardening containers.

Method 3:  Potting Soil/Compost Mix – This method is something of a combination of the first two methods, and will require access to compost and gardening soil as well.  For this method, mix together equal parts commercial potting soil, garden soil, compost, and sand.

Adding some compost to your soil mix is really going to up your success rates and the quality of your plants, so try and secure access to some, or start your own heap! 

I’m going to briefly touch on one more option, hydroponics.  For those unfamiliar with the term, hydroponics (which literally means “water-working” in Greek) involves growing plants in a water and nutrient solution rather than using soil.  The techniques involve are based on the fact that soil is actually not necessary for growing plants, as it really just serves as a placeholder for all the essential nutrients that a plant needs.  So by removing the soil from the equation you can directly feed the plant nutrients from the root base.  It is a great way to product high quality produce, but the methods can be a bit more advanced than the scope of this book.  What I advise is for you to start out by using these beginner methods, and then as your level of comfort with indoor gardening grows move on and experiment with hydroponics.

Water:

It’s what plants crave.  So you are going to need it.

In all seriousness, water will be a vital ingredient to growing plants, and if they do not have enough, they will not grow.  However, the reverse is also true, as it is very possible to accidentally water your plants too much.  In later chapters we will discuss the specific water needs of each variety of plant covered in this book, so if you follow our guidelines than your garden should turn out just fine!

Well, that covers the basics on supplies and terminology that you will need to get started on your indoor garden.  In the following chapter we will delve into a bit more detail on our three target crops, tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocadoes.  Don’t worry; we’ll have you starting your garden in no time!

Chapter 2: The Crops

So, out of all the possible options of different plants for your indoor garden, why is the focus of the book solely on tomatoes, bell peppers, and avocadoes?  And the honest answer is that this is looking to be an introductory guide, not an encyclopedia!  But additionally, these three plants all grow incredibly healthy and tasty produce, and are all well-suited for an indoor garden. In this chapter we will give you a brief overview of each of these plants in order to arm you with as much knowledge as possible before you begin your gardening adventure.

Tomatoes:

Tomatoes are a new world fruit, a member of the nightshade family Solanaceae originating in the Andes Mountains of South America.  As far as archaeology can tell, it was likely originally domesticated sometime close to the year 500 BCE by Mesoamerican cultures.  When the Spanish arrived in Mexico by the 16th century they began exporting the tomato out of the Americas, and it wasn’t too much later that the plant became a global phenomenon, renowned for its taste and versatility in cooking.

Nowadays there are about 7500 different varieties of tomatoes grown worldwide, and each one has a slightly different purpose.  If you go into any local supermarket you’ll be guaranteed to see several different types out in the produce section.  For instance, Beefsteak tomatoes are generally quite large, and often used for sandwiches and similar applications, while plum tomatoes (also known as paste tomatoes) are bred with higher solids content for use in tomato sauce and paste.  Then there are the smaller varieties, such as Cherry and Grape tomatoes, which are generally eaten whole in salads.  The Campari category of tomatoes are on the smaller end of the size scale, and are known for their sweetness, juiciness, and low acidity.  Due to the size of their fruit, tomatoes in the Campari, Grape, and Cherry category would all be good options for indoor gardening.

One of the reasons for the worldwide growth in tomato consumption is the host of health benefits associated with the plant.  One of their most prominent nutrients is the carotene lycopene, an extremely powerful antioxidant.  Lycopene has been found to help prevent prostate cancer, as well as assist the skin in protecting itself from harmful UV rays.  And that’s not all!  Higher levels of tomato consumption has been shown to decrease the risk of breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and can also help with lower urinary tract symptoms.

Bell Peppers:

Bell peppers, also known as sweet peppers, belong to the Capsicum genus and are also native to the new world, specifically from Mexico, Central America, and the northern areas of South America.  Like the tomato, the bell pepper was spread to the rest of the world by Spanish explorers, spreading from Spain to the rest of Europe, Africa, and eventually Asia.

Bell peppers are generally categorized by their color, which can vary over a wide range, with different taste characteristics for each type.  The most common colors of bell pepper available are green, red, yellow and orange.  Generally green bell peppers are less sweet than the others, likely stemming from the fact that often they are unripened red peppers.  Red bell peppers are the sweetest varietal. 

Bell peppers are very rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, and they also contain the carotene lycopene like tomatoes.  For the greatest health benefits you will want to grow the red bell pepper over the other varietals, as they are nine times higher in antioxidants and contain twice as much vitamin C as other types.

Avocados:

Well, when you find a theme, it is best to stick with it.  Like our other selections, the avocado is also native to the new world, and is a tree native to Central America, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae.  Its use in Mexico and Central America has been traced back to 10,000 BCE, giving this plant quite the pedigree!  Like the tomato and bell pepper, the Spanish were responsible for spreading the avocado to Europe, where it slowly gained in popularity to the status it now has today. 

There are many different cultivars of the avocado, the most common one that you find in supermarkets today being the Hass avocado since it produces fruit year round.  Another good option for home use is the Gwen avocado cultivar, as it is slightly smaller than the Hass and is known to have a higher yield as well.  Avocados take very well to grafting, and it is possible to either graft several different trees together yourself, or purchase them pregrafted.  The grafting process could help ensure that you have a tree that is healthy and capable of producing fruit year round, preventing you from wasting valuable energy keeping a dormant tree that only produces fruit seasonally alive.

The health benefits of avocados have begun to be studied in more detail over the past few years, and the findings have been extremely positive.  By weight the avocado has at least 35 percent more potassium than bananas, and are also rich in folic acid and vitamin K, which is extremely important for blood clotting, building strong bones, and preventing heart disease.  It can also play an important role in lowering high cholesterol, and multiple studies have shown that people who have a diet high in avocado are generally at a much lower risk of dietary ill health.

And with that brief overview of our selections, I hope that you feel comfortable with the produce you are about to learn to grow.  I know I do!  In the next chapter we will get down to the very meat of our book, a step by step guide to growing and harvesting these three delicious plants from the comfort of your own home!

Chapter 3:  Let’s Grow!

So, you made it!  Take a deep breath, because now we are going to dive into growing these bad boys (or girls, whatever, this is an equal opportunity growing guide that accepts all genders of plant life).  Before starting on any of the steps, be sure to select a location in your home that you can use as a dedicated area for gardening.  If you are planning on using outdoor light then it is best to have floor to ceiling windows, preferably facing south, although east can also work.  Outdoor light is best only used as a supplementary light source however, as an indoor fluorescent light system on an automatic timer will give you much greater control over the growing process.  After you have chosen your room, you will be ready to dive right in! 

Since there are some key variations in how you should grow each of our target plants there will be a separate section for all three.  The first one we cover will be tomatoes, as it is also the easiest of the three to grow indoors.

Please note, all temperatures used are in Fahrenheit.  Please don’t get confused and burn your house down!

Tomatoes

Step One:  Your first step will be determining what type of tomato you wish to grow and purchasing the seeds.  Remember that for indoor gardening it is best to grow a smaller type of tomato, so make sure you do not select anything larger than plum size.  Cherry, Grape, or Campari tomatoes should be the ideal size.  Additionally, check and make sure that the variety of tomato you choose is self-pollinating, otherwise you will not get any fruit.

Step Two:  Ensure that the lights are set-up correctly.  You will want the light to hang about 6 to 8 feet above your plants, with an automatic timer that should provide them light for about 10-12 hours per day.  The temperature in the room should not go below 70 degrees, and the ideal temperature should be somewhere around 75-80 when the plants are first growing.  After the plants are rooted then they will be able to handle temperatures as low as 55 during their off light hours.

Step Three:  Mix your soil together, making sure you have something to provide the plants with nutrients as well in the mix.  Place the soil in the containers.  Remember, the larger the container, the larger the plant will be capable of growing.  For maximum indoor plant growth and yield a 5 gallon bucket per plant is often suggested, although it is also possible to grow several seedlings closer together and then transplant them into larger containers as the seedlings grow.

Step Four:  Make a shallow hole in the soil, about ¼ of an inch deep and place the seed inside.  It might help to tag the location of the seed in your container as well. 

Step Five: Water the seeds gently daily.  By day 7 they should begin to sprout, and by day 15 you should see bright green baby leaves.  The bright green color of the leaves will indicate they are getting enough bright light.  Be sure to continue watering daily         

Step Six: By day 30 you should begin to see the first set of true tomato leaves begin to appear!  Consider watering more frequently at this point.  A common mistake many gardeners make is not keeping their plant hydrated, so you should make sure that the soil is always moist.  After all, you would hate to come home to dry soil and dead plants, right?

*Protip – In order for your plants to produce fruit, they must be pollinated.  It is a good idea to place a small fan in your grow room, as it will simulate a breeze and help the plants pollinate.

Step Seven:  From day 30 it is a matter of continuing your light cycle, watering, and pollination process.  You might want to consider putting a stake next to your plants and tying them to it in order to keep them growing upwards. 

Step Eight: From day 30 to day 60  the fruit should begin to grow, and it usually takes from day 60 to day 90 for the tomatoes to ripen on the vine.  Always remember, gardening is a slow process, so be patient!

Step Nine:  And now for the part you have all been waiting for, the harvest!  When your tomatoes are a nice, healthy red in color they should be ready to be plucked.  Be sure to be gentle with taking them off the vine, as you do not want to damage the plant. It might be best to use a pair of scissors or shears. Your plant, once fully grown, should continue to produce fresh tomatoes for your enjoyment as long as you keep it healthy and hydrated.

Step Ten:  About once every 6 months or so you might want to carefully transplant the tomato plant into fresh soil in order to ensure it continues receiving all the necessary nutrients.

Bell Peppers

Step One:  First, select your seeds.  For the sweetest peppers with the best health attributes and taste you will want to look for red bell pepper seeds.  After purchasing the seeds it is usually best to soak them in warm water for anywhere from two to eight hours.  Soaking the seeds will speed up their germination process.

Step Two:  It is best to allow bell pepper seeds to germinate in a seed tray, although an egg carton will do just as well in a pinch.  Fill each space with loose draining soil, poke a ¼ hole in each location, place a soaked bell pepper seed inside, and then cover.  This tray needs to be kept in a very warm location, at least 80 degrees, so if possible place it on a seedling heat mat.  If not, then a warm window sill should do the trick, although not as quickly.  Always be sure to keep the seeds moist as well.  Do not drench the soil, but do not allow it to dry out either. 

Step Three:  Your pots for bell peppers do not need to be nearly as large as they are for tomatoes.  If you plan on keeping each plant separate than a 4 inch pot should suffice.  You can also use a larger pot or planter and keep several plants inside.  Fill the pot with your chosen soil mixture. 

Step Four: Once the seedlings have grown leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into your pots.  Dig a small hole in the dirt where you would like to place each seedling, roughly the same size and depth as the seedling tray.  If you are putting multiple plants in one pot then try and keep them at least 2 inches apart.  Very gently and carefully, wiggle the seedling out of the tray and place the entire thing, soil, roots and all, into the hole you’ve made in the pot.  Be sure to pack a bit of extra soil around the base of the seedling so that it remains steady.

*Protip:  Bell Peppers love warm, moist environments with plenty of light, similar to the environment they evolved in.  If you want happy plants, do your best to duplicate that environment in your grow room!

Step Five:  After the transplant, it is extremely important that you keep your plants in the ideal temperature range, somewhere between 70-80 degrees, and make sure that they receive plenty of light.  While a window in a room with lots of natural light might work, your best option will, as usual, be the fluorescents.  Keep the lights very close to the plants, around 3 inches from their top, for around 14-16 hours per day.

Step Six:  Water. Water. Water. Water.  It is going to be crucial to making sure your plants grow.  Soak the soil completely every few days, and allow the top of the soil to just barely become dry in between watering sessions.  Bell peppers evolved in a more tropical climate which has to be simulated for them to grow well.

Step Seven:  Bell peppers do not pollinate quite as easily as tomatoes, but a fan stimulating a breeze will still help to a degree.  If you want to increase your chances of pollination, then when you see the plants begin to flower take a cotton swab and gently collect pollen from the male flowers.  Apply the pollen to the center stalk of the female flower.  By doing this you will greatly increase your yield.

Step Eight: The process of growing your own bell peppers will take roughly as long as tomatoes, anywhere from 70 to 90 days.  When your bell peppers are ready to be plucked then they will be the final color of the type you planted.  For instance, red peppers will be red, and orange peppers will be orange.  Use shears or scissors to cut the pepper from the stalk.

*Protip:  Regularly harvesting your crop will encourage the plant to continue to grow and have more of a continuous production.  So the more you take, the more you get!

Avocados

Avocados are much different from our other selections, and require a different approach.  Since they come from a tree rather than a plant, you will need a fair amount of room to grow one large enough, as even the dwarf varieties can grow to 10 feet tall!

Step One:  Be sure to select a type of avocado that is conducive to indoor growing, generally the Gwen cultivar will work quite well.  Secure yourself a pit of the avocado of your choice.

Step Two:  Once you have a pit of your chosen cultivar, you will need to pre-root it before planting it.  For this you will need toothpicks, a bowl or jar, and water.  Take about four toothpicks and gently push them into the avocado pit with equal spacing, slightly below center mass.  You will then take the pit and suspend it over the mouth of a jar or bowl, using the toothpicks to support the pit.  Fill the container up with enough water that about half the avocado pit is submerged.

Step Three:  Place the pit-in-a-jar on a sunny windowsill, and be sure to change out the water every few days.  Now, prepare to wait.  And wait.  Remember how I said that patience is a virtue when gardening?  Well, that goes double for avocados.  The pit is going to sit on that windowsill for about three weeks (although it could be closer to six) when the top of the pit will finally begin to split open, and the first leaves will begin to sprout.  Hurray!  Now wait some more.  Soon you should see roots begin to force their way out of the bottom of the pit.

*Protip:  When your tree starts to get around the 6-8 inch tall range, snip off the top few leaves.  This encourages growth!

Step Four:  You will know that your tree is ready to plant when it is around 7-8 inches tall.  From pit to sapling this process will take close to three months.  Once you have a tall enough sapling you will need a 10 inch pot with a drain and a saucer.  For avocados regular potting soil should be fine, use it to fill the pot up until about an inch from the top.

Step Five:  Dig a shallow hole in the exact center of the pot you have filled, and place your sapling inside, root first.  Then cover the pit halfway up with soil, being sure to leave about half of it exposed still.  Tamp down the soil around the pit so that the tree has support. 

Step Six:  Congratulations, you have planted your tree!  Now you just need to maintain it.  Avocado trees like warm, sunny spots, so be sure to either place it in front of a window or under fluorescent lights.  If you live in a sunny place then feel free to take the pot outside so your tree can occasionally enjoy its natural habitat!  Don’t ever let the temperature of the tree get below 45 degrees.  Avocados require a fair amount of watering, so be sure that the soil stays fairly moist.  DO NOT OVERWATER HOWEVER.  If you see that the leaves are beginning to turn yellow then your tree has likely been overwatered.  Let it dry out for a few days before watering again.

Step Seven:  Knowing when to harvest the fruit from your tree depends on the avocado cultivar you used.  The green varieties are ready to pick when their skin turns slightly yellow, and the dark varieties when they have turned almost black.  Remember, avocados are not ready to eat right off of the tree, they then require several weeks of ripening.  After you pick your avocados let them sit in a bowl until they are firm but slightly soft to the touch.

*Protip:  Often avocado trees can take some time before they are ready to yield.  If you would like to hasten this process it might be useful to graft a fruit-bearing branch to your tree.

And that covers growing and harvesting all of our produce!  In the next chapter we will touch on the best part of this process, meal ideas!

Chapter 4:  Enjoying the Fruits of your labor

All of your hard work, patience, dedication and occasional frustration has led to this moment, that bit of sublimity where you get to eat your produce.  Before you start getting fancy and cooking though, be sure to try and eat at least one piece of your crop raw first.  Really savor the taste, and relish the fact that without you it wouldn’t exist.  So congratulations!

Now, let’s look at some of the other options you have besides eating your yield raw.  After all, homegrown fruits and vegetables can really add a lot of extra flavor to a dish.

For instance, take the tomato.  Of course, you could always toss it in a salad and enjoy its juicy freshness.  But, have you thought about using them to make fresh Bloody Marys?  If you’ve never had a Bloody Mary using a homemade mixer than you are truly missing out.  Small grape tomatoes are also great as part of a shishkabob, just impale them with the rest of your ingredients and toss it on the grill.  Tomatoes are also a primary ingredient in many salsas, so try making a homemade spicy dip for your chips.  To add a delicious bit of decoration to a salmon dish garnish the meal with roasted cherry tomatoes.  Last but not least, any omelet can be improved with a little tomato goodness.  Just mince a tomato and toss it in the mix!

How about that sweet, sweet red bell pepper?  Well, remember that omelet we discussed earlier?  Bell peppers go great in those too!  Another favorite for a snack is cutting them in half and grilling them with some goat cheese.  You can also stuff them with just about anything, for instance try them out stuffed with ground beef and rice.  Or cut them into slices and use them in a Philly cheesesteak for lunch.  Bell peppers work great as a side item as well, try caramelizing them with some onions sometime for a treat.

And last but not least, the avocado.  Of course there is the ubiquitous guacamole, but you should really get out and experiment with this versatile produce.  For instance, try using them as a replacement for the bacon in a BLT.  The ALT will fill you up with creamy avocado while helping you avoid the cholesterol that usually comes with bacon.  For a delicious and light summer salad you cannot go wrong with a grilled chicken salad mixed with avocado and mango.  For breakfast try out an avocado smoothie sometime!  It sounds unusual, but avocado smoothies are extremely popular in many parts of the world.  Avocado also works great as a spread for toast and crackers.

Here are some additional recipes for you to try:

Chicken Avocado Wrap

Ingredient List:

¼ peeled onion

1 medium tomato, quartered (about ¾ cup)

½ ripe avocado, peeled and seed removed (about ½ cup)

½ tbsp lemon or lime juice

several drops hot pepper sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 (8-inch) flour tortillas

2 tbsp pine nuts

6 oz roasted boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips about 2 inches long and ¼-inch wide, or roasted ready-to-eat chicken strips (1½ cups)

Directions:

Begin by chopping the fresh onion in a food processor. Add tomato, avocado, lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. The result should be a coarse chop, leaving chunks of avocado.

Next, spread mixture on the two tortillas and sprinkle pine nuts and chicken pieces on top. Roll up each tortilla, cut in half, and serve.

Recipe courtesy of Mix 'n Match Meals in Minutes for People with Diabetes

Sunburst Avocado Salad

Ingredient List:

4 tortilla bowls (or follow instructions to make your own)

1/2 lb. grilled chicken

1 1/2 tbsp. cocktail or chile sauce

1 sectioned, Pink grapefruit peeled

1 skinned avocado seeded and diced

1/8 cup toasted pecans chopped

1 bag of packaged salad mix

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

To make tortilla bowls begin by spraying  both sides of tortillas with vegetable spray, then press each into large muffin tins or custard cups. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden in oven preheated to 400 degrees F. Remove from heat and cool.

In a medium bowl, combine Chicken, dressing and cocktail sauce. Cover and chill for 20 minutes. Stir in grapefruit, avocado and pecans.

To serve, arrange salad greens in tortilla cups and spoon salad on top.

Vegetable Vinaigrette

Ingredient List:

½ red bell pepper

½ green bell pepper

1 stalk celery

1 small carrot

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp kalamata olives

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp fresh garlic, mined

1 large shallot, finely minced

Directions:

Combine above ingredients and let marinate while cutting the bell peppers, celery and carrot into a fine, even dice.

Add all the above ingredients to the extra virgin olive oil, then add 2 tbsp chopped kalamata olives to complete the vinaigrette.

Scallops Sautéed in Garlic and Tomatoes

Ingredient List:

1 lb scallops

4 tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

¼ cup minced parsley

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

Directions:

Pat dry scallops on paper towels, then dust lightly with flour. Heat butter in a skillet, add garlic and mix. Add scallops and sauté until they are lightly brown.

Stir in tomatoes, parsley and lemon juice.

Season with salt and pepper.

Recipe courtesy of Cat’s recipes

Tomato Basil Risotto

Ingredient List:

½ cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup uncooked arborio or medium-grain rice

½ cup dry white wine

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

½ cup heavy cream

Directions

Cook onion and garlic in butter in large skillet over medium-high heat until soft. Add rice; stir 2 to 3 minutes. Next, add wine and stir until absorbed. Then, stir in 1 cup broth. Cook, uncovered, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed.

Continue stirring and adding broth and water, one cup at a time; each cup to be absorbed before adding another, until rice is tender and mixture has a creamy consistency, 20 to 25 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, basil, cheese, pepper and cream. Stir until creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve immediately and enjoy.

Conclusion

You should now have all the tools and knowledge you need to embark on your indoor gardening adventure.  Just remember that patience is the key to successful gardening, and that there is a good chance some of your initial attempts might not turn out the way you hope.  Relax, it happens to the best of us!  Don’t be afraid to ask for extra help or do some more research, many of the employees at your local gardening stores can be very knowledgeable, so take advantage of their expertise if you get the opportunity. 

Best of luck, and happy gardening!

Indoor Gardening

How to grow delicious peaches, grapes and strawberries at home

By

LAKEYSHA-MARIE GREEN

Copyright © 2014 BeautyBodyStyle, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews – without the permission in writing from its publisher.

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

Book Two: How to Grow Delicious Peaches, Grapes & Strawberries at Home

Introduction

Chapter 1:  Health Benefits

Chapter 2: Indoor Gardening Basics

Chapter 3:  How to Grow Strawberries Indoors

Chapter 4:  How to Grow Grapes Indoors

Chapter 5: How to Grow Peaches Indoors

Chapter 6: Harvesting Crops

Chapter 7: Meal Ideas

Conclusion

One Last Thing…

Introduction

Growing your own fruit is a fun and rewarding experience. It is exciting to pluck plump strawberries right off the vine. The fruit seems to taste better and it is essentially free. Unfortunately, not everybody has the space to grow an outdoor garden that will accommodate fruits like strawberries, grapes and peaches. That doesn’t mean those folks cannot enjoy fresh fruit they have grown. There is an option—indoor gardening.

You are probably balking at the idea. How can strawberries that are notorious for shooting out runners, large grape bushes and peach trees all be grown indoors? It seems like a ridiculous notion, but it isn’t!

You can grow all these things inside and enjoy fresh fruit all year round. You don’t need a greenhouse to do this. You can set your plants in your living room, a sun porch or any other area where there is plenty of southern exposure.

There are some serious benefits to growing fruit indoors. You won’t have to worry about weeds taking over your plants. No more long hours of weeding to return the next day and discover more weeds are threatening to overtake your gardening space.

Another major benefit is pest control. You won’t have to worry about birds, ants and other bugs munching on your fruit before you get a chance to enjoy it.

Isn’t this exciting? Let’s get started so you can reap the benefits of having your own fresh fruit right in your house.

Chapter 1:  Health Benefits

Before we jump right into the planting and growing, let’s talk about why you would want to go through the trouble of growing plants inside your house. We all know fruit is good for us. We are told we should eat at the very minimum one serving a day of fresh fruit. That can be tough when you can’t run to the store every day. There is also the cost of fresh fruit to consider. When a fruit is out of season, it can be almost impossible to get and if you do find it, it is incredibly expensive. Despite the difficulty in obtaining certain fruits, the health benefits make it all worth it.

Strawberries

Those little red berries that are so juicy and sweet are packed full of valuable vitamins and minerals and something known as antioxidants. A handful of strawberries (about 8) everyday contains 160 percent of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C. However, in order to get the most out of a strawberry plant, it needs to be fresh. Strawberries are also high in fiber. The body needs fiber to keep the digestive system healthy and regular.

Research shows after two days of being plucked from the vine, strawberries start to lose some of the health benefits they would normally have.

The antioxidants packed into a single berry make strawberries the number 4 fruit with the highest level of antioxidants. Antioxidants are tiny molecules that infiltrate our bodies when we eat foods rich in the disease-fighting organisms. They are proven to help prevent against some diseases, like cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants are just like the name infers—they rid the body of nasty toxins that make us ill.

Some things strawberries are great at combating are as follows:

Heart disease

Cancer

Allergies

Asthma

Constipation

High blood pressure

Stroke

Grapes

Much like their berry counterpart (yes, they are technically a berry) grapes are high in vitamin C along with vitamins A and B6. They are also rich in antioxidants that help flush out the free radicals and toxins that our bodies are subjected to every day. By ridding the body of free radicals, we can help slow down the aging process. The body ages much quicker when environmental toxins are allowed to build up inside our systems and slowly deteriorate our bodies.

Grapes are also an excellent way to stay hydrated because of their high water content. On a hot summer day, munching on grapes will help keep your body hydrated and healthy. They are a delicious sweet snack that is low in calories. You can munch on grapes without worrying about blowing your diet.

Some of the conditions grapes are known to help fight are as follows:

Cancer

High blood pressure

Heart disease

Migraine

Constipation

Kidney disorder

High cholesterol

Alzheimer’s disease

Macular degeneration

Peaches

Peaches are one of the signature fruits of summer. When the warm weather hits, peaches flood farmer’s markets and supermarket produce departments. The small fruit is juicy and sweet and has less than 70 calories. It is the perfect snack on a hot summer day that will satisfy your craving for something sweet and juicy. Peaches are packed with 10 different vitamins. They are rich in fiber and potassium as well.

Peaches are often a staple for anybody who is on a diet hoping to lose a few pounds. Because of their low calories and satisfying taste, they are a go-to food when you are dieting and hoping to quell a craving.

Some other health benefits of peaches include:

Anti-aging properties

Eye health

Promotes kidney health

Good for the skin

Chapter 2: Indoor Gardening Basics

Growing plants indoors requires you to make a few adjustments to ensure a plant gets everything it needs to thrive. Normally, this would be taken care of by nature if the plant were grown outdoors.

The three basics for any plant are:

Lighting (Sunlight and/or Artificial)

Oxygen

Water

Sunlight

Doesn’t sound too difficult, right? A window that gets plenty of southern exposure (about 6 hours a day) will be needed to make sure the plant gets plenty of light. In total, your plant will need anywhere from 10 to 18 hours of light to thrive. If you are dealing with particularly cloudy days or don’t have a window that will provide adequate light, you can invest in grow lights. These will provide warmth and light to help promote growth in your plant.

Artificial Lighting

If you are going to use artificial lights for your garden, then you need to be sure to use the proper type of lighting.  Fluorescent lights have been the standard source of light energy for professional indoor gardeners for generations now, and should be your first choice as well, due to their inexpensive pricing and wide availability.   As opposed to a traditional light bulb, which produces light by passing an electrical current through a tungsten filament, (and loses 90% of its energy to heat in the process), fluorescents produce light through the much more efficient manner of passing ultraviolet radiation through a chemical vapor, therefore losing only 10 percent of their energy to heat and producing 90 percent of it as light!  The UV radiation is 100 percent harmless as well, so don’t let that concern you in the slightest.

Another reason that fluorescent lights are a key element for artificial lighting in an indoor garden is the range of light they emit on the light spectrum.  If you have ever held a prism up to the sun, you have seen that there is veritable rainbow of colors that you can see as a result.  This is called the light spectrum, and the colors represent different kinds of light that filters down to earth from the sun, including orange, yellow, green, blue, red, and UV at the far end of the spectrum.  Plants generally disregard the orange, yellow, and green light, but thrive on blue, red and UV light.

Even the most basic models of fluorescent lights that you can pick up at hardware stores rather than gardening specialty stores are extremely rich in the beneficial blue light, and if you go with a variety specially made for gardening then you can get lighting that is rich in blues, reds, far reds, and even the extremely beneficial UV light!  With this arsenal of energy producing light you can create an artificial, regulated environment that is even better than growing outside.

Most fluorescent lights are of the long, tubular variety, so you need to be sure to purchase a fixture you can place them in, preferably one that can hold at least two lights.  Portable fixtures are available, as well as fixtures mounted into shelves, so you should not have to wire one directly into your house, just place or hang the light fixture where you need it, plug in, and go. 

As a beginner, don’t go overboard with specialty lighting until you have a bit more experience under your belt.  For your purposes you should be fine with two lights (or more, depending on how many plants you are starting out with.) one Cool White (3500k) and one Warm White (4100K), both placed in the same light fixture.  The two varieties will balance each other out, as the cool white will provide a baseline of blue light while the Warm White will boost the blue light and also provide some highly beneficial light from the red part of the spectrum as well.  This should be adequate for starting off, although as you gain experience you should consider some of the specialty lights that emit a wider variety of beneficial rays, especially for the later parts of the growing cycle.

Also, remember that different plants need different amounts of exposure to light, meaning that while one plant might need  10-12 hours of light per day, another may need 14-18 hours of light, and the more consistent you are with this the better. While you are gathering supplies, put some serious thought into picking up an automatic timer you can hook up to your light fixture as well, it can work wonders with ensuring you have a consistent light cycle environment for your plants.

So, to recap the bare minimum of supplies necessary for using artificial light with your indoor garden, you will need:

-A light fixture with two slots for fluorescent lights

-Two fluorescent lights, 1 Cool White (3500k) and one Warm White (4100lk)

-One automatic timer for the lights (optional but highly recommended)

Oxygen

Oxygen is pretty easy and requires absolutely nothing on your part. However, you will need to make sure the plant has plenty of room to breathe. As your plant grows and thrives, you will need to make sure there is plenty of air circulation to prevent fungus and disease. Proper pruning and space between plants is essential.

Water

Water seems like a pretty straightforward element, but it isn’t only about watering your plants. There needs to be proper drainage to prevent against root rot and other diseases. You will need to create a system that allows the water to drain from the soil. At your local home improvement or gardening store you will find specially designed containers that will allow for this.

A word on containers; with plants the larger the size of the container they are grown in, the larger the plant is capable of growing.  And larger plants generally have bigger fruit than their smaller counterparts.  So ideally you want to strike a compromise between the size of the space you have available for your garden and the size of your containers.  Too many small containers jammed into the same space will not yield fruit of any reasonable size, and if the containers are too large than you might not be able to grow enough plants at the same time to justify your effort.  So measure your space well and take these factors into consideration before making any decisions.

Your plant will also need soil and nutrients. This is easy to find at any home improvement store. You will want to feed your plant once a week or so with a fertilizer to help balance out the nutrients in the soil.  This will be covered more in detail in the chapters that follow.

Chapter 3:  How to Grow Strawberries Indoors

Strawberries are extremely easy to grow and tend to be prolific fruit producers. It takes very little effort to grow strawberries indoors. Many people are surprised by how easy it is. You will be wondering why you never tried it before after you get to snack on your homegrown fruit in the middle of winter!

Planters

Strawberries can be grown in a standard strawberry pot or in planters. The strawberry pots are about 24 inches tall and made of clay. The pot has several openings up the length of the pot.

Each space holds a single plant with the top of the pot holding several plants. You can feasibly grow about 6 to 10 plants in one of these handy, gorgeous pots. You can also save space by growing your strawberries in hanging baskets. This is a great way to have fresh strawberries all year round without taking up space in a window.

Soil

Strawberries have an extremely shallow root system. They don’t require much soil at all, but what they do need should be slightly acidic.

You usually won’t need to do much to create a healthy growing environment for your strawberries. However you will need to buy soil designed for house plants. Be careful not to buy the cheapest soil that is not designed to sustain plant life and is mainly a mix to be added to your outdoor garden soil.

Seeds or Plants

You can opt to buy indoor strawberry growing kits that come with seeds or opt to buy plants. If you have a garden that already has strawberries growing, you can use the runners from your existing plants.

Runners are the long leafless stems that sprout from the main strawberry plant. With time the stems produce little nodes that eventually grow into roots. Its Nature’s way of allowing these little gems to find better areas to grow in that may have richer soil, more water or sunlight. These runners can be re-planted into the correct soil to yield a new strawberry plant.

If you are using seeds, simply follow the manufacturer’s instruction. Please note this method takes some time before you will get to harvest any strawberries.

If you are buying plants or using your runners, make sure you clip off any new runners that grow. Why? Runners are nothing more than a new plant trying to grow.  Your plant will need to put all of its energy in producing fruit not growing a new strawberry plant. Clip off any dead or yellowed leaves as well.

Planting

Prior to planting, soak the roots of the plants in water for a few hours or overnight.

Plant your strawberries in the designated areas of your pot or in the soil of a hanging basket.

Make sure the crown is not covered by soil.

Water the plants being careful not to soak the soil. Overwatering promotes disease.

It is also important you don’t plant too many plants in the pot. Even if the strawberry plant only has a single leaf right now, it will grow. There needs to be plenty of air circulation between the leaves and fruit to keep the plants from developing disease.

Once you have planted your strawberries, it is a waiting game. You will likely see little white flowers in about 4 to 6 weeks. Your plants will need a minimum of 6 hours of light every day. If it is a cloudy, dreary day, you may need to supplement with artificial lights. It certainly doesn’t hurt your plants if it is a sunny day and they are exposed to 10 or 12 hours of light.

When the flowers do blossom, you will have to take on the job of the bees. Use a Q-tip or fine paint brush to gently dust the flowers to pollinate them. You will need to do this several days in a row until the fruit sets. You will see tiny green bulbs where the flowers were. This means the fruit has set and you will have plump strawberries in about 4 weeks.

Although it isn’t typically required, you can add a mild fertilizer after the fruit has set to promote healthy plants. This isn’t usually necessary per se, but a little feeding of the soil promotes growth.

Strawberries do not require a lot of heat to thrive. In fact, they prefer mild temperatures. Room temperature in your home is just fine. You won’t need to provide any extra heat source for the plants. However, if the plants are in a window and it is very cold outside, you need to make sure the window is not too cold (below about 50 degrees).

Chapter 4:  How to Grow Grapes Indoors

Growing grapes is not restricted to sunny, warm valleys in California or France. You can enjoy grapes in your home without ever going to the grocery store. Your home is an excellent place for you to create the Mediterranean climate that grapes love.

Choosing a Plant

There is a trick to growing grapes indoors—you need to choose plants designed to grow in containers. Dessert grapes, not the kind of grapes needed to produce wine, are best grown indoors. One grape plant will produce about 10 to 15 clusters of grapes. Black Hamburgh or Muscat of Alexandria varieties are your best bet for growing indoors. Grapes grow best in warm climates, which make them an ideal plant for growing inside.

Potting        

Grapes will require at the minimum a 5-gallon container to be grown in. The roots of a grapevine run deep. You can use old 5-gallon buckets or buy household planters. The key to growing healthy, fruiting vines is proper drainage. If you are going to use old buckets, you need to drill holes in the bottom to allow water to drain out the bottom. Of course you will need a catchment system to avoid making a mess on your floor. If you are buying a pot for the indoors, make sure it is the kind that allows for drainage and not a sealed ceramic pot.

You can aid the drainage by putting a fine layer of gravel on the bottom of the pot before adding the soil. Your grape vine will need to be watered thoroughly about once a week to 10 days. Check during the week to ensure that the soil remains moist during the growing period.

While you are preparing the pot, soak the vine’s roots in water, preferably overnight. Be sure to cut away damaged or diseased roots.

Lighting

Grapes require a great deal of light. This is crucial to their health and productivity. If the window in which you will place your container only gets a few hours of sunlight, you are going to need to supplement the light. Really, you can add a little more light even if your window gets plenty of light. Grapes thrive in arid, sunny conditions. Your grape vine may grow leaves with a little light, but in order for it to produce juicy grapes; it needs a seven to eight hours of sunlight.

Grapes also do best when the temperature stays above 61 degrees. However, placing a heater next to the grapevine isn’t healthy for the plant. It will only serve to dry it out and you risk the plant dying.

Grapes need some time to rest, which means they will need to go dormant for a couple of months. After harvesting your grapes, you will need to give your grapevine some time to rest. You can put the plant outdoors and allow it to go dormant.  The dormant phase is also an ideal time to prune the vines & leaves of your grape plant.

Fertilizing

Grapes are sensitive and need a little more care than other indoor plants. You will need to fertilize your vine with a fertilizer high in potassium. Ironically, tomato fertilizer will do just fine. You don’t have to scour the shelves at the home improvement store to try and find grapevine fertilizer. You probably wouldn’t find it. Grapes like potassium, as do tomatoes. You will need to add the fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks.

*Stake the vine to support it. A trellis works great and adds a little beauty to your vine. You will need to prune back the vine from time to time to keep it manageable indoors. A single vine can easily cover a 6-foot space. Keep this in mind when you consider placing the vine in a busy area.

*A fan directed at the grapevine will help circulate the air throughout the leaves. This can help reduce the risk of mildew and pests attacking your plant.

*Limit the number of clusters that you allow to grow per stem. The more room the cluster has to grow, the larger and juicier grapes it will produce.

Chapter 5: How to Grow Peaches Indoors

Peaches are not only grown in Georgia! You can enjoy a succulent peach picked fresh from your own tree. Peaches love warmth and you can create an ideal environment for a peach tree even if you live somewhere that isn’t conducive to Mediterranean-loving plants and trees. A sunny, southern-facing window is perfect for creating the perfect climate for a peach tree. The El Dorado or Honey Babe varieties are ideal for growing in containers indoors.

Potting

Growing a peach tree indoors does require a great deal more space than your average houseplant. Even though the tree will be a dwarf variety, at maturity, the tree will stand around 4 to 5 feet tall. It is important the tree has plenty of ventilation and room to grow. Do take this into consideration when you are considering growing a peach tree indoors.

You will need a 5-gallon pot at the minimum for your peach tree to grow in. Ideally, for a 5-foot high tree, you will want a 10 to 15 gallon container. As with all plants, proper drainage is very important. The pot should have several holes in the bottom to allow the water to drain. Placing a layer of gravel on the bottom of the pot will also help keep the roots from sitting in water that tends to pool up in the soil. When choosing a potting soil, you want to purchase a bag of soil that is light and airy. The soil should not be so dense that it become compact after it has been watered a few times.

When planting a bare root tree start in the pot, the dirt should reach the existing mark on the tree trunk. Too high or too low can damage the tree and it will not grow. Make sure you leave several inches of space from the top of your soil to the top of the pot so when you water the tree the water will not overflow.

Watering

Peach trees like moist soil, but there is a fine line between moist and too wet. Soil that is constantly wet will be prone to root rot and disease. You will need to establish a regular watering routine that keeps the soil moist and doesn’t allow the soil to become dry in between watering times.

When you think of the Deep South where peach trees are prevalent, you probably know it is rather humid in that region. Peach trees thrive in high humidity. You can give your peach tree what it likes by using a humidifier. If that isn’t possible, try spraying your tree with a fine mist of water regularly.

Fertilizing

Peach trees are rather hungry and will need regular fertilization. A multipurpose fertilizer will do the trick. Fertilize the tree once a month with a fertilizer that contains manganese, zinc and iron. A healthy tree that is well fertilized will be able to fend off some of the most common peach tree pests like aphids and spider mites. Although your tree is indoors, it is still possible for it develop certain funguses like scale. You will need to pay close attention to your tree to keep it healthy.

Lighting

Peach trees require plenty of sunlight every day. Your tree should be placed in a southern-facing window if at all possible to capitalize on the natural light. During the warm summer months, put the tree outside. However, give your tree some time to acclimate to the glare of the sun by placing it in a shady area for a couple of days and then moving it out into the direct sunlight.

*Use a Q-tip or fine paint brush to help pollinate the tree. You will see a lot of flowers on the tree, but there is a chance all the flowers will not become fruit. You will need to take over the job of bees and spread the pollen around to promote fruit growth.

*Peach trees need time be dormant. If you want your peach tree to produce fruit in the winter, you need to let it go dormant in the spring/summer season. You will need a cold area for this to happen. The tree will need to be 45 degrees or below for several months.

*When the tree is dormant, do not fertilize it with a fertilizer that contains nitrogen. This will encourage growth on the tree and you want it to stay dormant.

Chapter 6: Harvesting Crops

Now you have planted your fruit, it is a waiting game. That first harvest will be an exciting one as you get the chance to taste the fruits of your labor—pun intended.

Strawberries

You can expect to be ready to harvest your strawberries about a month after you see those little white flowers on your plants. The biggest strawberries are typically in the middle of the cluster, with smaller berries flanking it.

To pick the berry, you must be careful not to yank or pull to hard and damage the plant. Pinch the stem just behind the berry to cut the berry from the plant. You will need to harvest berries every day or every other day until they are all plucked. Pick strawberries when they are a nice, bright red. Strawberries that are dark red are overripe and will begin rotting soon.

Do not pick berries that are green or have green on the tips. Give them a couple of days to ripen up. Never leave a strawberry on the plant and allow it to rot. Make sure there are no remnants of a strawberry left on the plant as well.

Harvest your strawberries in the morning before the sun starts blasting the plant through your window. The strawberries are sweetest at this point. Don’t wash the strawberries until just before you are going to eat them or use them in a recipe.

Grapes

There is no sure fire way to know when a dessert grape is ripe except for tasting one. If your bunch of grapes looks ripe, meaning the individual grapes are plump, round and firm, it is time to give one a taste. Pluck a grape from the bottom of the cluster and give it a taste. If it is juicy and sweet, your grapes are ready. If it is slightly sour, you will want to give the grapes a few more days to ripen. It takes anywhere from one to three weeks for grapes to ripen after they have changed to their final color. Depending on the variety of grape you have planted, this may be green or red. Green grapes will look slightly see-through when they are ripe.

If you are not sure, you can cut a grape in half and look at the seeds. If the seeds are green, the grape isn’t right. Brown seeds indicate the grapes are ready for harvest. After harvesting, grapes should be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. They are best eaten within that time frame. If you are planning to make jelly with your grapes, do it as close to the harvesting date as possible.

To harvest the grape clusters, use scissors to snip the cluster from the bush. Do not yank or pull too hard. You will also want to avoid handling the grapes while you are harvesting. Instead, hold the cluster at the stem.

Peaches

Peaches will vary in size depending on the variety you have chosen to grow. Keep this I mind as you try to determine when your peaches are ready for harvesting. One of the best ways to determine the ripeness of a peach is by touch. A ripe peach is slightly firm and should not have any green left on the skin. A ripe peach will be easily plucked from the tree with a slight twist of the stem.

You will want to start with the peaches that are on the outer edges of the tree as these will ripen first. Gently twist the peach from the tree. Peaches are sensitive and easily bruised. Peaches do not hold for long once they have been picked. After picking, you can store your peaches in the refrigerator for up to five days. The peaches should be stored in a plastic bag.

Chapter 7: Meal Ideas

Strawberries

Watercress Strawberry Salad with Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing

Ingredients List:

    4 cups torn salad greens

    1 cup watercress

    1 cup sliced hulled strawberries

    ½ half of a small red onion, thinly sliced

    Poppy seed dressing (recipe below)

Poppy seed dressing

    1 teaspoon honey

    ½ teaspoon dry mustard

    ½ teaspoon paprika

    ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

    ½ teaspoon poppy seeds

    ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

    ¼ cup fresh orange juice

    ¼ cup mayonnaise

Directions:

In a large bowl gently add and mix together the torn salad greens, watercress, sliced strawberries and onion. Set aside.

Prepare the dressing by combining all the ingredients into a jar with a lid. Shake well until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Top the salad with the dressing and toss to evenly coat.

Recipe courtesy of Cat’s Recipes

Easy Strawberry Syrup

Ingredient List:

1/2 pound ripe strawberries, washed and hulled

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Combine the ripe strawberries and sugar in a pot. Smash strawberries with a potato masher and turn stove onto medium heat. Bring the mixture of strawberries sugar and salt to a boil. Reduce the heat by turning the stove to simmer and allow mixture to heat for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat and slowly stir in vanilla extract. The strawberry syrup can be store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredient List:

3 cups biscuit baking mix

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup milk

1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

Directions:

Combine biscuit mix, sugar and milk in a bowl. Pour batter into an 8x8 baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

In another bowl add sugar and cream. Use an electric beater on medium speed until peaks are formed.

Cut shortcake into squares (9 is perfect) and add strawberries. Put a spoonful of cream on top of the strawberries.

Champagne Sorbet with Strawberries

Ingredient List:

2 1/2 cup Champagne

1 3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cup water

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup wild strawberries or strawberry

Directions:

Bring three-quarters of the champagne to a boil in a saucepan.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Combine the Sugar and water in a pan and stir to dissolve Sugar.

Bring mixture to a boil, and let cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until syrup forms a thread when pulled between your thumb and forefinger.

Remove from heat immediately.

Stir champagne and fruit juices into the sugar syrup; cool.

Freeze mixture in a plastic container until hard, several hours or overnight.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat sorbet until smooth.

Return sorbet to freezer until firm.

Serve scoops of sorbet on chilled plates or in glasses, garnished with wild strawberries or strawberry slices

Strawberry Salsa

Ingredient List:

1 English or seedless cucumber, finely chopped

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp cilantro cut into strips

3 – 4 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar

2 cups fresh strawberries, diced

1 yellow pepper

Directions:

Mix cucumbers, green onion, cilantro and vinegar. Cover and chill at least one hour. Just before serving, add strawberries.

Grapes

Note: Be aware of grape seeds

Grape Salad

Ingredient List:

1 ½ pounds grapes

1 (8-ounce) carton sour cream

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar  

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped Georgia pecans

Directions:

Wash grapes and dry thoroughly. Set aside.

Combine sour cream, cream cheese and granulated sugar in medium bowl of mixer. Mix until ingredients are smooth and well blended.

Place half of grapes in glass serving bowl. Pour 1/2 cream cheese mixture over grapes; smooth with spoon. Sprinkle 1/2 of brown sugar and 1/2 of pecans over mixture. Repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate.

Recipe courtesy of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, public domain government resource

Miniature Tartlets with Walnuts, Brie and Grape Salsa

Ingredient List:

1 cup grapes, halved

1/4 tsp. coarse (kosher) salt

2 Tbs. finely chopped scallion (green part only)

1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. walnut oil

1/4 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp. minced garlic

1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper

48 miniature savory pastry shells (1 1/2-inch diameter)

1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped and toasted

8 oz. Brie, rind removed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F. In food a processor, combine grapes and salt and pulse until grapes are coarsely chopped. Transfer to fine-mesh sieve and let stand at least 10 minutes to drain.

Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix together scallion, vinegar, oil, rosemary, garlic and pepper. Add chopped grapes and mix well.

To assemble, place pastry shells on baking sheet and fill each with 1/2 teaspoon walnuts, 1/2 teaspoon Brie and 1/2 teaspoon grape salsa (use fork to add salsa to avoid getting too much liquid). Bake just until Brie begins to melt, about 5 minutes. Be sure not over bake. Serve immediately.

Do ahead: The grape salsa can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated, but do not add walnut oil until ready to assemble. The tarts can be partially assembled with the walnuts and Brie up to 6 hours in advance. Add salsa up to 30 minutes ahead. Bake as directed.

Grilled Pork Chops with Grape and Fig Chutney

Ingredient List:

½ cup chopped onion

 ½ cup dried figs, chopped

½ cup red wine vinegar

¼ cup dry red wine

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 x 3" cinnamon stick

1½ cups seedless red grapes, halved

4 medium sized pork chops

2 teaspoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Prepare grill.

In a medium saucepan, combine onion, figs, vinegar, wine, sugar, paprika, ginger and cinnamon stick and heat to medium-high heat.

Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, for 8–10 minutes.

Stir in grapes and reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes then remove and discard cinnamon stick.

Brush pork chops with olive oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill on both sides until done.

Serve chops with grape and fig chutney.

Recipe courtesy of Public Health Cookbook by the Seattle & King County Department of Public Health

Peaches

Peach-Blueberry Upside-down Cake

Ingredient List:

4 tbsp unsalted butter + ½ stick softened butter

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp lemon extract

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup buttermilk

3 large peaches, peeled and sliced

1 cup blueberries, rinsed

½ cup thinly sliced almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add brown sugar, and reduce heat to low. Let sugar and butter cook for about 10 minutes, or until slightly caramelized.

Meanwhile, combine remaining butter and sugar in mixing bowl, and beat until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add extracts and lemon zest. Beat in salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour, and stir in buttermilk.

Remove skillet from heat, and place peach slices, blueberries and almonds on caramelized sugar mixture. Pour batter over top, and place in oven.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until top is puffy and golden. Remove from oven, invert, or slice in skillet and eat.

Grilled Chicken and Peach Salad

Ingredient List:

1 tablespoon(s) white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon(s) grated ginger

3 tablespoon(s) (plus 1 tsp) olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper

2 medium red onions, sliced into 1/2-in.-thick rounds

4 (6-oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 peaches, cut into wedges

4 cups of spinach, thick stems removed

 pieces of grilled corn

Directions:

Heat grill to medium-high.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, ginger, 1 Tbsp of the oil, and 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper; set aside.

Brush the onions with 1 Tbsp of the oil and season with 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper. Brush the chicken with 1 tsp of the oil, and season with 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. In a bowl, toss the peaches with the remaining Tbsp oil.

Grill the chicken and onions until the chicken is cooked through and the onions are tender, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Grill the peaches (reserve the bowl) until charred, 2 minutes per side.

Transfer the peaches and onions to the bowl. Add the spinach and vinaigrette and toss to combine. Serve with the chicken.

Peach Mint Salsa

Ingredient List:

⅔ cup chopped fresh peach

⅓ cup chopped green onions

1 tomato chopped

1½ tablespoons chopped fresh mint

¼ teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

To prepare the peach salsa, simply combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix and serve.

Recipe courtesy of Cat’s Recipes

Savory Grilled Peaches

Ingredients List:

4 fresh peaches

olive oil, chopped fresh basil and sea salt to taste

Directions:

Cut peaches in half then cook on covered grill over medium indirect heat for 4 minutes. Turn and cook 4 minutes longer.

Drizzle with olive oil, chopped fresh basil, and sea salt for a savory twist.

Recipe courtesy of Cat’s Recipes

Conclusion

Growing your own fruit inside your home is just one way you can supplement your food supply without spending a lot of money. There is a learning curve. Don’t become disappointed if it takes a couple of cycles before you get to pick fresh fruit from your indoor plants. Once you get the hang of it, you will likely decide to plant more fruits indoors to enjoy all year round.