Gardening

Spring is beating down our door, well almost, so I thought I would shake things up a bit and talk about another one of my loves, gardening, and perhaps encourage you to try your hand at growing something. 

With the way the world is going these days it might come in handy to know how to grow some of your own food. Besides, it tastes much better that store-bought and it saves you money. Yes, it does require a little work, but the happy and the fullfilment far out weighs getting a little dirty or having a sore muscle. Just wait until your grow that tomato that is so big that one slice makes an entire sandwich! It doesn't always happen that way, things can happen to the best of gardeners, but sometimes it all works and its a warm, fuzzy feeling.

The  picture to the right is in my greenhouse. We built it a couple of years or ago. Its not fancy and didn't cost a lot , but it does the trick. You can start seedlings much earlier or over-winter some of your plants that would normally just die.

We made this by building a wooden base with cattle panels that are bent over and fit into each side and then added thick mil plastic that is used for just this purpose. We also added a door and a window for ventilation on hot days, along with a fan and a heater system for cold  months. You can find lots of plans on the internet, especially YouTube or create your own plan. You don't have to have a greenhouse, but we seem to be expanding every year. Containers or raised bed gardening are excellent choices if you don't have much space. Just don't be afraid to try. It is so much fun! 

TOMATO HACK 

If you don't feel like messings with those tiny little tomato seeds, here's a hack. If you have an old left over tomato in the refrigerator, don't throw it out; cut it into several slices and find something to hold some dirt, like an old take-out tray or maybe a spinach container you were going to throw in the garbage. Put some dirt in the bottom, lay your slices of tomato in the dirt, cover them up with more dirt on top. Next water it in. Then if it's a container with a lid, close it, or else cover it with plastic wrap. Sit your tray in a warm place and forget about it for a few days. Little seedlings will sprout from this terrarium enviroment! After you notice more than one or two, remove the lid or the plastic wrap and sit in a lighted place like a window ledge. And soon you will have tomato starts to put in your garden or a container when the weather finally warms up outside.

CELERY HACK 

Did you know that you could cut the end off your stalk of celery that's in your refrigerator, sit it upright in a small container of water an put in a window to grow? It seems to work better if you don't submerge the whole thing and keep it a little out of the water. You should be able to add this to your garden later as well. You can also cut the tops off green onions and do the same. In fact you may never have to buy a green onion again. There are all sorts of things you can grow this way. You just have to experiment. Some things work and some don't. But it is really cool when it works.

I've also already planted several types of lettuce, peas and spinach. These all like cooler weather, so it won't hurt them unless the temps get pretty low for several days.. So beware of mother nature sneaking up on you.

I guess I need to end this for the night, but if you would like to see more of these types of posts let me know. I do love talking about gardening! Right now I'm plotting on how to keep the moles, deer, rabbits, racoons and squirrels out of the upcoming outside gardens, 

so get growing  and let me hear from you❤️