Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Tipster Tuesday ~Getting ready for Gardening

Over at BeCentsable today they are talking about gardening. I have been getting excited about gardening as well. I am working at creating healthier foods for my family and getting lots of fresh produce certainly helps with that goal. I have been involved in gardening for as long as I can remember. My parents are avid gardeners and we always had large gardens and a large harvest. Ever since I have had a home of my own I have had a garden as well. I don't do things perfectly and I don't tend to have a totally weed free garden but I thought I would share some of the things that I have learned.
Starting seeds indoors instead of buying plants saves a ton of money. I like to plant the seeds in recycled containers versus buying something to plant them in (I like the financial as well as environmental aspect of this). In years past we have mostly used milk jugs to plant in. I would use the bottom of one milk jug for the container with little holes punched in the bottom and then I would use another one cut really short for the tray.
It works well if you have a growing light for your plants, I have never had that though I have just used a sunny window which works well too. You just have to turn the plants every so often as they tend to lean towards the sun.
I lay an old shower curtain on the table I am using to protect it from the inevitable moisture.
Composting is another very frugal and very helpful addition to a garden. The above is a picture of my rather messy composting area. I made a very simple bin from old pallets which I got free. I made it with two compartments to aid in turning. We work to fill one side with all our household compost materials (potato peels, egg shells, hair, dirt from my vacuum, moldy bread and all fruit and veggie scraps) we also add leaves and manure(which I haul in from my parents farm). Any weeds that I pull during the gardening season also go in there. When one side gets full I use a potato fork and flip it to the other side. I am always amazed at how much good black dirt I will find at the bottom. On the other side then I will just begin the process again. It does speed up the process if you turn it more often but I am a little lazy about that. Do be on the alert mice, shrews and then snakes like to hide in compost piles.
Mulching is a great help in gardens. One of the ways we like to mulch is with old carpet. I like to use strips for paths in the garden. It is very hard for the weeds to grow through and also makes it so you don't have to water as much because it keeps the soil from drying out. Other mulching methods I use are Newspaper with dirt or grass clippings or pulled weeds on top to hold them down, and leaves. Mulching is a huge time saver and the methods I mentioned are free.

Another gardening tip that I love is to add flowers. Not only do flowers make gardening very fun but they also attract bees and other good insects that help with the pollination which helps up your yield. Also a lot of the good insects that they attract will help get rid of the bad insects that will eat your crop. Last year I had a ton of fun with flowers, being able to bring them inside to enjoy, take to decorate at church and also give to others.
This picture above is not very good as I took it at night but it shows how I raise my beans. I like to grow climbing beans as they are nice to pick and I think you get more harvest from the space you give them compared to bush beans. An easy and cheap method for letting them grow is to make tipis from very tall sticks that you have around your place. I tie them together at the top and then make sure the bottom parts are stuck in the soil and then plant a bean plant or two around each stake. At the end of the season it looks very neat to have these tall green tipis.

Another method I like for gardening is the wide row method. Instead of just planting a long row of lettuce seeds, onions or carrots I make a row as wide as my garden rake and just scatter the seed across. Wide rows save space and also leave less plain dirt available for drying out. The plants kind of mulch each other. I learned about this and lots of other neat gardening ideas from the book "The Joy of Gardening". The wide row method doesn't work for everything (like corn, squash and tomatoes for example).

We have a while to wait still before we are actually out in the garden (right now we have about a foot of snow and our last frost free date is usually around Memorial day) but I am getting excited about it and am working to get prepared. Happy Gardening to all of you. If you would like to share any of your favorite methods or anything about gardening I would love to hear from you.

7 comments:

Dawn said...

Thanks for the article! I know the twin cities last frost date is 5/21 this year. Ugh. I am trying to start pansies from seed myself, (I only have a balcony in my little apartment). I thought of a few other tips, I just read recently that if yo have problems with diseases with your seedlings, poor boiling water through the growing medium and let it cool before planting to sterilize it. Also, I learned from a friend if you have problems with cats in your garden, plant catnip somewhere else in your yard to keep them from digging in the soft dirt in your garden

DIYMommy said...

Thank you for the comment! Good idea with the compost pile. My husband and I have been thinking about starting one...and a garden too!

Anonymous said...

I am really wanting to start a garden but my yard doesn't provide a good spot for one. Have you ever done a container garden and if so what are the best things veggies to do that with?

Abbi said...

I have not done a container garden as I have always figured out a way to have a regular garden however I do know some people who do have container gardens.

Tomatoes will work well in a container. You might need to stake them if they get to leggy and you will want to have them in a big container. Herbs are fun to grow in smaller containers (I have done this). My mother in law grows lots of peppers and tomatoes in her house (with huge windows) in large containers. An elderly lady from church usually has a lettuce garden in a large bowl each year. Lettuce will keep growing if you keep cutting it. She is able to get a lot of salads from her mixing bowl garden.
I hope you all have fun with your gardening!

Unknown said...

Hi Abbi, I just wanted to say that I love your blog! You are such and inspiration. I too am getting excited about gardening. We have sooooo many unfinished projects around here I sometimes feel guilty thinking about starting another project. BUT nothing compares to home-grown veggies! I tried container gardening in KS and I just didn't like the results compared to my regular garden the year before. We have lots of rabbits around here. Do you have any advise for keeping rabbits out of the veggies?
Thanks. . . . .Maryah

Abbi said...

Maryah,
I am so glad you came and visited my blog! It is fun to hear from you!
About rabbits, we haven't been bothered with them of late (We do have a fence to keep out the deer and I think it might help with rabbits as well) but I think it was in KS that we had problems with them. My book says that when you have new transplants out in your garden in the spring that you should sprinkle black pepper on the plants each evening to keep the rabbits from bother them. Other ideas are to sprinkle blood meal around the garden and it helps to keep the rabbits away or tie a dog near by.
Or you could try this lovely mixture which was in Jerry Baker's book. He says to mix 2 eggs, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons of hot chili pepper, 2 tablespoons of amonia and 2 cups water and then let it sit a couple of days (I suppose to allow the eggs to rot!!) and paint it on fences, trellis' or anywhere else that any unwelcome animals are going. It should keep them away. I just wonder if the smell might keep people away as well. :-)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post! Thank you for sharing. We are two weeks away from moving to 17 acres. I picked out the spot for our garden yesterday ... between the house and barn. I've not gardened yet and am feeling challenged at where to begin, so this post is such a big help. I am excited about having our own organically grown produce!

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin