When most people hear the word flea they readily think of the small insect that affects their dogs and cats. What a lot of people may not know is that there are a variety of insects labeled fleas for similar characteristics such as jumping. One such insect directly related to and affecting home vegetable gardening is the flea beetle.

The flea beetle, so named because they “jump away” just like a normal flea would, are usually brown or black in color and very small, about the size of a pinhead. Do not let their size fool you though. If left unattended, they can rip through the leaves of your vegetable plants in no time and because they jump around they can easily spread plant disease very quickly.

Vegetable gardening, just like anything else in life, is comprised of people from all walks of life and culture and because it is so vast, we wanted to get a better handle on what people grow and more importantly what they don't grow. So we went ahead and asked our thousands of subscribers on our vegetable gardening fan page on Facebook this specific question. What is your least favorite vegetable to grow? One that you avoid like the plague and can't understand why anyone else would want to grow it in the first place

We received a tremendous amount of responses, some of which were a surprise to us since we grow that vegetable ourselves and some we never heard of. Here is a portion of that list.

Providing yourself and your family with safe and healthy food from your own organic garden is very popular these days. Some people however, don't start with this activity because they find it very time consuming. But by using organic seedlings straight from the garden center you make it much easier. Without spending extravagant amounts of money and time. The drawback of normal gardening as a hobby is that the whole process has been a slow and time consuming process. But as in all things in this modern world, time is becoming a major factor in every form of activity and so the instant organic garden was born. The term instant organic gardening is still relatively new but we do know some of the techniques for years in the form of using organic seedlings and plants. this type of vegetable growing is also very suitable for children.

There is no magic formula to growing great tasting vegetables in your home vegetable garden. Just like anything else in life it takes time, patience and of course effort. Combine all three of these and you are sure to yield so great results.

However, just like a lot of other things in life there are secrets, tips and tricks in home vegetable gardening that will make your life easier, especially for those that are limited on time and or space. Here are some insider secrets that you can implement today in your home vegetable garden.

Herb gardening has swept the country. According the National gardening Association over fifteen million people grow herbs.

An easy fast growing herb to add to your repertoire is garden cress. Garden cress is peppery tangy flavored herb that is easy to add to anyone's home garden.

Here are some steps that you can follow to ensure the success of the garden cress that you grow at home.

A lot of herbs are grown by themselves in a “herb garden”. But it doesn't have to be this way. Garden Cress makes a great companion plant to bush beans, beets, carrots, lettuce and spinach to name a few. So keep that in mind when planting. The seeds of garden cress are small, so when you plant them a light covering of dirt is all they will need. Garden Cress seeds will germinate in as soon as 2 days and as far out as 6, so as you can see they grow quickly.

There are over 200 varieties of radishes, although most home vegetable gardeners grow the Crimson giant, champion or the cherry belle. These three varieties look like the small round red radishes most people are accustomed to.

Whichever variety you choose to grow, the steps to ensure a great radish harvest are virtually the same. Here is how you can grow great radishes in your home vegetable garden.

Radishes are one of those vegetables that are fairly easy to grow. In fact it is not necessary to even start them indoors. Regardless of whether you are growing them in a traditional backyard garden or in pots/containers or raised beds, growing radishes from the seed started outdoors is the best way to go. They can be grown in early spring, after the last frost, or in the autumn before frost sets in and they can germinate in as little as four days in optimal conditions. Do not plant the radish seeds any deeper than 1/2″.

I was watching a rerun of an episode of the television show, Friends the other night and in the episode Phoebe accuses Monica of using way too much garlic when she cooks food at her restaurant. That led me to thinking is too much garlic a bad thing? Me personally, I don't think so.

Beyond warding away vampires in horror films, garlic is a great addition to a lot of wonderful recipes you can prepare right at home. To make those recipes even better you can user garlic grown right in your own backyard.

Endive makes for a great vegetable to be planted in the early spring soon after the last frost occurs in your area. It is a great addition to a salad or garnishes for many other dishes. Here is how you can add great tasting endive to your home vegetable garden.

To make life easier for yourself and take advantage of gardening as soon as the frost season passes you by for the warmer spring months, start your endive seeds in doors. A portable small greenhouse, also known in some parts as a humidity dome, is available at your local home or garden center for less than five bucks. This will help speed up the germination process. If you do start your seeds in pots, make sure you give your endive eight weeks before moving them outdoors and do not plant the seed any deeper than 1/4″.

Compost is the process of organic material breaking down into a rich dark black soil through the process of aerobic decomposition. Bacteria and other microorganisms feed on this organic material which breaks it down. Then as you move up the food chain other creatures such as the earthworm and nematodes, either eat the bacteria or the decomposed material creating even better compost.

The underlying environment is so advanced that it can take your left over food scraps, grass clippings, twigs and leaves and turn them into every nutrient your vegetable plants will ever need. The best part of this ecosystem is that it is already there and the only thing you need to do is supply it with an organic food source (more on that in a moment).

Powdery mildew affects such a wide range of plants but most notably those that are in the broadleaf category such as squash and different varieties of plants in the pea families.

If your plants currently have them, do not worry it is a very common occurrence and even better yet this pesky problem is easily treatable.

If left untreated by doing nothing however, your plants can become weak, look deformed and reduce yields of your harvest.

Here are some steps you can take today that could reduce and/or eliminate powdery mildew from your vegetable garden.

The first step is to avoid planting species of plants, such as phlox or bee balm, anywhere near your vegetable plants. This simply invites trouble into your garden, making it easier for it to infect and spread.