How Do I Start A Garden?

In today’s blog I would like to talk about the importance of raising a garden. Planting a garden, even a small one, boosts our self-reliance. Considering the price of tomatoes and other produce in the stores, I’m all for saving a few bucks growing my own produce. Are you a college student or apartment dweller? Use containers for your garden. I remember my parents growing a garden when I was young. I decided I was never going to have a garden. :) My husband was also from a gardening family, much more so than mine. We started out our marriage in a small trailer in a trailer court with a tiny garden at the end of the trailer and some pumpkins that grew in front of the trailer, eventually trailing out onto the driveway. Each garden has been a learning experience. One valuable lesson I've learned is to make a yearly plan for the garden to rotate crops. I keep the plans and notes in a file that I refer to the next spring before I draw up the next plan.

I saw a great news story on CBS news about a family in Pasadena who turned their whole yard into a garden. See this link to see their amazing garden and video:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/09/eveningnews/main4932649.shtml

In my opinion, the very best site is “Growing a Garden” at providentliving.org:
http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,6637-1,00.html

I have spent a few hours researching websites, and the provident living site has the best information and best links. Please be sure to check out all the menu items. There are some links that will show plant hardiness (frost tolerance) and best planting times, square foot gardening, container gardening for those with limited garden space. Click on the “Links to Gardening Web Sites”. You will be amazed at the information there. Info is also available at your local extension office.

I promise that you’ll learn something new each year that you garden. If there’s ever a time we have to live on what we raise ourselves, wouldn’t you like to have some prior experience?

Until next time…..