Gardening Tips:
First, plant these seeds in rows. Give each plant about an 8"x 8" area to grow in, preferably not in full sun, but definitely not in full shade either. I usually plant about 10 of them, & that will get you ALL the basil you can use & give away! And I've tried them in pots, but they never do very well.
There are a couple ways to handle basil that’s starting to bloom: When you see the little flowers starting on top of the plant, You can nip them off, so the plant can put it’s energy into more lovely leaves, or let them bloom on! I usually let one basil plant bloom each year so it goes to seed. You can harvest the seeds, paper bag them & use them next year. Or, if you’re lazy like me, just let them drop their seeds all over & hope for a few surprise plants next year.
Basil
A fresh alternative to green basil is Perilla, a stronger, almost nutty Japanese basil. This, if allowed to go to seed, will replant itself prolifically. Though it's easy to pull, be careful where you plant it - or not, I have this growing wild all over my yard! It's beautiful & makes a great filler in open areas of your flower gardens. It is preferable to harvest in the spring & choose the younger, more tender leaves. As the plant ages into the summer heat, the older leaves take on an almost woody flavor that may be too strong for your taste.
Cucumber
I plant these in mounds of dirt about 1' 6" in diameter. Space the mounds about 3' apart (from center of the mound to the center of the next mound), & plant 4 or 5 seeds on each (spread the seeds out, not all in one hole). You really only want 3 plants per mound, but in case some don't come up, plant extras & pick some of the sprouts if you get too many.
The pest I deal with here is the Squash Bug: ---------------------------->
If you see some of these little buggers on your cucumber (or zucchini) plants, you really have no choice but to get out the Sevin Dust. It's not the bug, so much, that will cause trouble, it's their kids! Squash bugs do the nasty on your plants, lay their eggs in the stem of your plant & the larvae will kill your plant in a matter of days. You only need to sprinkle the
Sevin on the base of the stalk, just a little goes a long way. But if you miss your opportunity, too bad, the eggs are inserted & you're cooked.
Onions
I get the starter bulbs from my nursery & plant them, in rows, about 5" apart so that the stem end is just below the dirt. Try to pick off all of the blossoms that form on the tips of the greens - they make the end of the onion all stiff & fibrous. You can also wait until seed pods form, cut these pods off and put them in a paper bag. They will dry in the bag and you can then extract the seeds. Once the stalks have all dried up & turned brownish, the onions are ready to be harvested (though I start pick some as I need them as soon as they are big enough to use). If you have more onions than you can use quickly, just pull them all from the ground & leave them there (as long as it's not raining) to dry for a couple days, then put them in a mesh bag & hang them in a cool place in your house - they'll keep that way for months.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are a fickle lot. Some years there is nothing you can do, they're just not going to produce - too hot, too cool, too dry, too much rain . . . But there are a few things to watch for that may help their production. There are loads of pests that enjoy your tomatoes almost as much as you do, including fruitworms, budworms, and pinworms. I use this link for a complete list and description of lots of them & suggestions on how to stop them: http://www.tomatodirt.com/tomato-pests.html
Why do my tomatoes have stretch marks? Because they have been over &/or under watered. When they get dried out, they shrink, & then if they get too much water too quickly, they swell & get stretch marks. Sometimes this just can't be avoided, rain is just too hard to control. But keep this in mind when watering the garden.
Over/under watering can also cause blossom rot. Also caused by lack of calcium absorption, which can be helped by applying Lime (unless the soil is already alkaline), composted manures or bone meal, but they take time to work so must be applied prior to planting.
When is your tomato ready to pick? I think about it like this: if it looks like a tomato I want to see in my salad, pick it. That doesn't, necessarily, mean it has to be perfectly ripened. Green or mid-range tomatoes often have a unique flavor that might add just what you want to your dish. But, usually, "ripe" means an even, deep red in color throughout the whole tomato. But keep in mind, if you have planted some unique type of hybrid or hierloom tomato, you may have to look up the picture of ripeness for that specific type - for some this may mean a deep purple with green lines means it is ready to pick.
Ripe specialty hierloom tomato:
Of this group of tomatoes, I would pick only the top, left tomato: