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Category Archives: Getting Started
Another Way to Organize Seeds
One of my readers told me about this, and I thought it was a great idea. She stores her seeds in a pocket-shoe organizer, like one of these: It’s great if the pockets are clear, so you can easily see what’s in them. And since they are solid (not mesh), any little seeds that escape won’t be lost. Happy gardening!
Posted in Getting Started
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Spring Gardening Checklist
So you’ve created your garden plan (I hope!) and it’s time to prepare your garden for planting. Here’s a list of items TO DO and the tools you may need to get the job done. 1. Remove anything used to “winterize” your garden. You may or may not have covered your gardens, or done something else to help them endure the winter weather. Take everything down and store it away. 2. Turn the soil If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow or rain, it’s likely all that water has compacted your garden soil. Use a … Continue reading
Posted in Getting Started, Plant
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Easiest Vegetables To Grow For Gardening Success
Lettuce Lettuce is great because it grows quickly, and you can harvest the outside leaves while it’s growing. It does best with cooler temperatures, and can tolerate shade. Unlike some vegetables, everyone knows how to eat lettuce. Green Beans Once they emerge from the soil and develop four true leaves, not much bothers bush beans. They don’t tolerate freezing temperatures, and will mature mid-summer. These are delicious raw (with Ranch dip!) or steamed (with butter). Basil Basil grows quickly and easily, and harvesting leaves and/or pinching off the ends actually promotes more growth! It is the easiest herb to grow, and … Continue reading
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Choosing a Gardening Method
When it comes to gardening, one size DOES NOT fit all! When choosing a gardening method, it’s all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. First, consider how much space you have to dedicate to your garden. Some of you live in an apartment, and can only do indoor gardening, or window gardening. Perhaps you have a balcony, deck, or porch that allows you a little more space and sunshine for container gardening. You might have a small backyard, which is well suited to square foot gardening. Or if you’re really lucky, you have land, and lots of it, so space is not … Continue reading
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Starting Seeds Indoors–Is it worth it?
If you’ve never done it before, you might be asking yourself “Why would I start seeds indoors?” and “Will I save money starting seeds indoors?” Why Start Seeds Indoors? In other words, why can’t I just buy seeds, and plant them in the garden? The simplest reason why to start seeds indoors is because most* of us live in a climate that does not have ideal growing conditions for every kind of vegetable. I’ll use two examples: Tomatoes and Broccoli. Tomatoes require an extremely long time to grow from seed to harvest. They are a very tender vegetable that won’t … Continue reading
Posted in Getting Started, Plant
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Irrigation–Watering Your Garden
There are many options for watering your garden. Here are the pros and cons of each method. Bucket Here is the simplest method of watering your garden–a bucket of sun-warmed water with a cup or pitcher. This is what I use until I turn on my irrigation system. In his book, Mel Bartholemew suggests using a cup, and watering one cup per plant. That is a little too tedious for me, so I’ve upgraded to a pitcher. He recommends “sun-warmed” water because it gives the soil and plants a little heat boost, which is nice during cooler weather. Pros Cons … Continue reading
Posted in Build, Getting Started
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Will Gardening Save Me Money?
A commonly asked question posed by those contemplating their first garden is: Will gardening save me money? As with all good gardening questions, the answer is “It depends.” Since that is not very helpful, I will elaborate. The first question to ask is “How much money do I spend on fresh vegetables?” If you eat mostly meat and potatoes, take out, or prepared foods, then growing a vegetable garden is not likely to be a big cost-saver. On the other hand, if you eat a lot of fresh veggies, particularly if you choose to purchase organic, growing your own may … Continue reading
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Creating A (Square Foot) Garden Plan
Whether you are doing a traditional or square foot garden, having a plan helps everything run more smoothly. Here is a simple outline for creating your square foot garden plan. I love using Excel, but you can use graph paper or just plain old paper! Step 1: Draw an outline of your garden. I’m going to use the example of my 4′x8′ garden bed. Step 2: Add landmarks and features North, South, East, West Fences, paths Step 3: Choose what to grow Go here to see a list of vegetables and how many should be planted in each square. Here … Continue reading
Posted in Getting Started, Plant
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Building vs Buying Cost Comparison
I’ve found a couple of great resources for building square foot gardens. Here are the price breakdowns, done as “apples to apples” as I could! Vinyl Square Foot Gardens 6″ high (single rail) NO SOIL Dimensions Home Gardens To Go Website Square Foot Gardening Website Homemade w/ Home Depot 2×4 $69.00 $60.00 $49.00* 4×4 $99.00 $85.00 $50.00 4×8 $159.00 $165.00 $82.00 6″ high (single rail) WITH SOIL Dimensions Home Gardens To Go Website Square Foot Gardening Website Homemade w/ Home Depot 2×4 $89.00 $68.00 $57.00* 4×4 $149.00 101.00 $66.00 4×8 $249.00 197.00 $114.00 *no grid 10″ high (double rail) WITHOUT … Continue reading
Posted in Build, Getting Started
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What is YOUR color?
The Struggle Trying to explain when to prepare your garden, start seeds inside, and plant outside is so confusing! That is because the timing is different for each location. When to plant is all based on your “last frost date”. This is the average date of the last spring frost in your area. After this date it is generally safe to transplant frost-sensitive plants and seeds. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN A CHARLIE BROWN CARTOON, AND I JUST SAID “WAH, WAP, WAH, WO, WAH?” That’s because this is CONFUSING!!! Don’t worry, I’ve made it simple! A Simple, Easy Way … Continue reading
Posted in Getting Started, Plant
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