Posts Tagged ‘gardener’

Not everyone was born with a green thumb. In fact, for some of us, our gardening thumb more resembles a sickly shade of brown that dying plants take on rather than a lovely shade of green.

However that doesn’t stop many of us from wanting to have a home garden, and why should it? If you’re a beginner gardener whose better at killing off plants rather than cultivating them into something beautiful then you might want to try your hand at these five plants, which are known for being particular hardy when it comes to weathering even the brownest of thumbs:

1. Philodendron – These leafy green plants can be grown either indoors or outdoors and flourish either way. They typically thrive in shady spots with moist soil, and can survive on as little as one watering every week or week and a half.

The end result will be a huge plant with large leaves that brings a nice pop of life to either a room or garden.

2. Bluebeard – The Bluebeard plant is a type of shrub that flowers with beautiful blue flowers that can trick anyone into thinking you put a lot of work into nurturing and developing such a unique looking shrub. Each year they will spread their seeds so new plants will continue to pop up with little to no effort on your part.

3. Jade Plant – To keep color around your house or garden year-round the Jade plant is a good one to include. It produces its unique pink flowers during the winter months adding in color when other plants have stopped growing.

And because it needs little sunlight or attention it’s perfect for those of us who are less than equipped to handle more intensive plants.

4. Cacti – Not all cacti look like the type seen in deserts and western movies, and some bloom extremely beautiful flowers or have exceptional aesthetics. They require little in the way of the gardener and their unique appearance makes them an interesting focal point of any room or garden.

5. English Ivy – You’ve probably seen houses covered in greenery that is likely the English Ivy. It does well with little sun or water and will naturally spread out over the ground and walls, fences, etc. with little effort on your part.

Just because you weren’t blessed with a green thumb doesn’t mean you need to swear off home gardening entirely. Instead start with plants that thrive under minimal care and then work your way up to plants that require a little more attention from their owners. With enough practice you’ll be a gardening guru in no time.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post from Laura Backes, she enjoys writing about all kinds of subjects and also topics related to internet service providers in my area. You can reach her at: laurabackes8 @ gmail.com.

Note: Jenny and I also grow an indoor home herb garden to keep fresh herbs through the winter.

Related articles

• Herb Gardening With Your Own Container Garden (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Container Gardening To Keep Your Herb Garden Close To The Kitchen (hbb2obm.com)
• How to Start Home Gardening Without a Backyard (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Choosing Container Gardening Pots Helps Get You On Track (hbb2obm.com)
• Home Orchard Gardening Tips (backyardgardeningtips.com)

Many folks will make it clear that growing onions from sets is the easiest way to have some great onions there is however I want to grow onions from seeds this year so I have checked Youtube to find a good video or two that will help me do the best I can on the first attempt.

The process is a little more involved than just growing onions from sets which we will be doing as well. There are benefits to growing onions from seed and as a fairly new gardener I really enjoy the gardening process.

Growing Onions From Seed Is Less Costly

One of the first advantages of growing onions from seed is the indisputable fact that it is less expensive than growing from a set. This fact certainly makes a difference to us in these rather difficult economic times and we tend to turn more towards being self sufficient today without over spending.

If this sound like you and your situation perhaps growing onions from seed in your vegetable garden or containers is the best way to start.

Another big advantage in growing onions from seed comes with the indisputable fact that there is a far bigger level of variety in the onions you can grow. To the untrained eye, an onion might be an onion but there are many alternative kinds, all of which have their own tastes and subtleties.

If you like a selected onion or you’re aware that a specific type will go perfect with a dish you are hoping to make, growing onions from seed will give you a better opportunity of growing the onions that you want.

A disadvantage of growing onions from a set is the incontrovertible fact that they tend to bolt more so if you’re looking for a successful batch, it is often better to grow onions from seed. It can be really distressing to discover a heap of onions growing poorly and can frequently mean a lot of wasted money and time for a gardener. Should you be looking for a successful crop, choosing the seed option for your onions is probably going to be the best bet.

There are a lot of options available for onion growers but the benefits of growing onions from seed make this a natural choice for so many folk. If you want great onions, be certain to think about growing from seed.

Learn more about how to grow onions, in particular more about growing onions from seed over at my site HowToGrowOnions.net.

We have been growing vegetables over the past couple of season we received from Mike The Gardener’s Seed of the Month Club. This year we have two varieties of onions we are growing from seed. They are White Sweet Spanish onions which brings back memories from my childhood. We also have Southport White Globe onions as well.

Related articles

• How to Start Planting Using Organic Seeds (hbb2obm.com)

Jenny and I just returned from Saturday morning breakfast at Hynes Restaurant. Great breakfast as usual but I think I over did it on the coffee, again.

I love coffee but too much caffeine and my whole body starts to shake. It makes me feel like something about to happen and I’m not sure if it’s good or bad.

Well spring gardening has been on my mind since I saw the robins and cedar waxwings return to our backyard for the berries.

Last year I wasted a lot of our seeds due to not getting enough direct sunlight for healthy and sturdy starter plants. It was a learning experience and I’ll get it right this year. I won’t be wasting any more of Mike The Gardener’s Seed of the Month Club.

The 2012 Plastic Bottle Garden

I heard a bit about using plastic bottles for a container garden so last year I began keeping plastic bottles so I could give this a try. I will use some to start flowers and vegetable from seed. I may even take a few clippings from around the property and see if I can grow some other plants we don’t have seeds for.

Using them will keep them from the landfill.

Most of the bottles I’ve collected are plastic coffee bottles, mostly decaf and they are all mine. It’s a bit scary to see just how much java I take in through the year. Your welcome Maxwell House.

I have a Youtube gardening tips channel so as I find good videos I add them there. I love Youtube videos and find them helpful for all my hobbies and interests. I have been watching acoustic guitar videos for song I am learning on guitar and have learned so much. Go Youtube.

How to Use Your Plastic Bottles To Start Seeds

I used “how to grow plants in plastic bottles” as my search text and found a few videos that I liked and have added them to my home garden channel on Youtube. The one I like the most, meaning it was the most instructional I have added here.

I did find a couple of videos that were alright but would have been so much better with some instructional audio. I don’t like having to read videos so I didn’t add them here. I did add them to my garden channel so you can see them there.

I liked the video above and it’s giving a great place to start with my plastic bottle seed garden. It looks pretty straightforward so I should be able to do it. I’ll give it a try today or tomorrow to see how it works for me.

My next step is to setup an area in our basement as a starter station and get a grow light.

Guest Post from: Nate Armstrong

Home gardening can be a very complex, as well as time consuming. And gardening can be a tricky hobby or skill.

There is so much that goes into creating and perfecting a successful garden. Having knowledge about ph and alkaline levels, seeds, feed, soil, and more are essential for every successful gardener.

However, to really understand the complexities of gardening, it is important to learn some of the gardening basics listed below.

Don’t Till More Than You Can Tend

Often times, with home gardening, people have a hard time knowing where to begin. The best place to start is not always a book or blog written by an inspiring gardener like Mr. Brown Thumb or The Whimsical Gardener.

These individuals are experienced and do not always speak the same language as a beginner gardener. A big and most common problem is that first-time gardeners bite off more than they can chew by immediately planting an orchard then, soon after, become overwhelmed and give up entirely.

For those that want to start gardening, observe the old saying, “Don’t till more than you can tend. and maybe even, Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

Use Containers, Plant Your First Garden in Pots

Consider starting small with a smaller plant such as tomatoes or a rose bush. And instead of rushing off to plough and till an entire field, start with nothing more than a few pots or buckets, with a container garden.

Add a few different variations of soil to a few different pots and do your best to tend a few shrubs, plants, or crops at a time.

One huge benefit to starting out with pots and buckets is the watering factor. Say, for instance, the overwhelming excitement to have a big garden leads to an expensive underground irrigation system. Then, after a few months of gardening, you become disappointed and frustrated with the lack of results so you give up completely. Now you’ve just wasted time and money on a hobby that was doomed from the beginning.

So, before you runoff and install an irrigation system such as Orbit Sprinklers, water your potted plants by hand and determine if an irrigated garden is a priority. Understand that gardening requires both time and money. From water to gardening tools, pruning and weeding, gardens are high maintenance.

Understanding Gardening Soil

Starting a container garden using pots or buckets makes the whole soil process manageable. There will be much less pressure to worry about the acid and alkaline levels and things of that nature. You won’t have to deal with sand or clay, and most soils contain all the proper organic matter and materials so you won’t have to stress about that, either.

Start With Nursery or Garden Centre Soil

Actually if you fill your containers, pots or buckets with quality soil from a local nursery or garden center you can be guaranteed healthy and nutrient-rich soil. However, don’t be afraid to ask questions, whether you think they’re silly or not. Nursery employees are there to help so take advantage of their experience and advice.

The soil used in gardening plays a huge roll in your success, which is why planting your first couple plants in pots can be so beneficial. We had a container garden for years before owning a home we where we could dig up the backyard for a garden.

When it comes to a home garden I feel like the plants are my babies and I don’t know about you but I like to know what’s best for my babies. I learned a lot about babies rather quickly so we wouldn’t mess up, well we did the same when we started our container garden.

Do What’s Best For Each Plant

Not everything works for every plant meaning different combinations of soil should be used with different plants. You could go the trial and error way by trying to grow some of your favourite vegetable, flowers or shrubs in different types of soil and see which works best.

However that kind of home gardening may lead to one giving up on the whole idea. I much prefer to use the Internet or my local nursery staff to learn before I plant anything. I’ve asked a lot of what I considered dumb questions yet I’ve never had a single person at a garden center make me look stupid for asking.

Once you know what soil works best for what plants you will be able to plant some things together using the same soil type.

Hey Give Me Some Elbow Room Please

Learning which plants require more elbow room to grow can produce a lot more beauty in your flower beds but will also produce a lot more produce in your vegetable gardens.

Knowing which plants you can put together can make for some interesting container gardens as well.

If you start planting in rows or flowerbeds before learning about the spacing plants require, you may end up with half your garden blocking the sunlight from the rest of your garden or having one plant completely take over, killing off the other other plants.

I have a rule for the things I do and that’s to have fun and gardening isn’t any different. Make it a fun project and don’t overwhelm yourself. It’s a growing experience so grow with it.

Related articles

• Basic Steps To Planting A Container Garden (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Choose The Right Container For Your Gardening (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Backyard Gardening for the Beginner to Expert (backyardgardeningtips.com)

What a timely guest blog post by Robert Loyst.

“Our garden hose has seen better days and over the years we’ve had it. It had been run over many times but the last time my son’s girlfriend drove over the nozzle and almost flatten it and I couldn’t get it un-flattened so it needs to be replaced.” – James Mann

It is understandable that garden hose maintenance might not be on the top of your high priority list, but if you want to consider yourself a great gardener, you need to have quality, dependable equipment.

One of the most important parts of any garden setup is the garden hose and with a couple of tips and methods, you can increase the life and performance of your hose.

Protecting the Garden Hose Nozzle

I can’t tell you how many times I have been at a friends house and been just appalled at the condition of their garden hose nozzle. The first signs that the hose isn’t being stored correctly is the presence of scratches or deep gouges on the nozzle. These marks are typically from someone dropping the hose on the ground after they are done using it.

Dropping your nozzle on the ground in such a manner will not only destroy the nozzle tip, it will also loosen the handle that you press to spray. A loose handle may simply break off or be limited in its travel, which will not let the right amount of water out(decreased water pressure).

Not only does the handle area get damaged when a hose nozzle is dropped or dragged on the ground, the actual connection where the hose nozzle and the hose meet will become loose, worn and will most likely develop a leak.

A perfect example of this is the hose that we have at work. If you simply turn the water pressure all the way up, the whole nozzle simply pops right off. You cannot have this in a real gardening situation.

Hose Reel and Hose Placement

A very common thing I see in many garden situations is the wrong location of a hose reel or hose storage area. Hoses are made of rubber, which is extremely vulnerable to sun and heat exposure.

You should always locate your hose in an area that is going to get a lot of shade. Obviously if your hose connections are in the sunlight you will need to cover your hose with a cloth or some other type of shelter or look into getting a hose reel cart that will allow you to move your hose out of the sun for storage.

NOTE: Just because your hose may not show that much sign of heat/sun exposure, you have to know that hoses are made of several layers of rubber and other materials. The outside layer may be slightly dry, but you will never know truly the condition of the inner materials.

My recommendation is that you purchase a hose reel cart that will kill many birds with one stone. They enable you to easily wind the hose up after each use which will protect against internal hose fractures, they allow you to store your hose in the shade, which will protect against heat damage and can be unwound in an orderly fashion, again which will relieve stress on the hose.

First we had a great Christmas. Jenny sang in the Living Christmas tree again. Plus we had a very fun Christmas and thanks to Steve and Alyssa we even dressed up.

Well Home Gardening Tips had it’s best year both in produce and profits as I promote products and some services through our blog and earn some extra income.

I started our gardening blog in 2007 when we started gardening in more than pots. We’ve been having a lot of fun and are learning new things all the time. 

It’s also great plus exciting being able to purchase a few new garden tools each year. We’ve even thought about a little greenhouse like my dad made.

Should We Be Building An Ark

I was starting to wonder as 2011 was the wettest year in my 58 years however I don’t remember the first few years of my life and then there was the 70s.

Our poor little garden is already in the lowest area of our yard but it’s also the area that gets the most sunlight so this year the veggie garden sat in water way too much. I did try to help the plants as much as possible so  I put a straw in the ground for each root system so they could breathe.

Okay, I may have made that last part up but I thought it was funny.

Even though it was the wettest I can remember we had so much fun with the vegetable garden that we were sorry to see the season end. We now want to grow more so we can try preserving or canning some things. That brings back great memories of our vegetable garden on the farm in the 60s.

Join A Seed of the Month Club We Did

One very cool thing I did, although it was in Nov. 2010, was to join a seed club.  Mike The Gardener’s Seed of the Month Club. Now I receive an envelope with 4 packages of seeds each and every month. I don’t mind checking the mail now.

Checkout my article I wrote that show the seed of the month club seeds I had for our 2011 vegetable garden.

Since then I have received a whole lot more seeds. Now Jenny and I are excited about trying a number of new things to grow.  Pumpkins are one that I have always wanted to grow.

Feeling Blessed To Be Feeling Better in 2011

Not to end on a sad note or anything because it’s not, not for me anyways.

In Feb. 2004, Friday the 13th actually I had a heart attack. Scary day of my life but I was alive and that was more than I can say about 2 of my other brothers.

There was damage that couldn’t be repair and a bi-pass was out of the question. That left lots of drugs and walking. That was more than depressing. To make it even more depressing I was not allowed to go fishing again until I could pass a stress test.

I even stopped cutting my hair as you can see in the image above. I wasn’t going to cut my hair until I could pass a stress test. Maybe like Samson getting strength or something. I went four of the longest years of my life before finally passing the test. I had a huge lump in my throat and no it wasn’t my heart.

The image on the right is me with the biggest smallmouth bass I have landed in many years. I gave her a big kiss and released her back for your kids to catch some day.

Each year I gain more strength and 2011 was my strongest year since 2004 and dreaming of gardening in 2012. Oh yeah. Now I buzz my hair right to the scalp and it’s so refreshing, easy to manage too.

Well as soon as my heart doctor gave me the okay to go fishing again I pretty much shaved my head. Mann that felt good. Even now I keep my hair buzzed close for the freedom. Well that should give you a good laugh for the new year.

So from where I sit, here in my home office of Mann & Mann we had a great 2011 and wish you the best in 2012.

I am always looking for good gardening sites as I love learning new things, especially things that will make me a better and more efficient gardener. Well a couple of days ago I found Veggie Gardening Tips website, well worth the read.

The second article I read was an article about garden blunders, which of course caught my attention as I am always trying to avoid garden blunders. The thing is I don’t know it’s a garden blunder until I’ve learned it is, so having sites like Kenny’s blog is great as it helps me know what to avoid in home gardening.

I will only give you a little taste and then link to the entire article on garden blunders.

Gardening Blunders To Avoid

#1 – Planting the Garden in Rows

I grew up on a farm where we planted a lot of crops, in rows. We also had a huge garden that was all in rows so I grew up thinking this was the best methods. I learned differently later in life.

This is the first post in a series about common gardening problems that focuses on mistakes that vegetable gardeners make without even recognizing that there is a problem. The series was originally published as part of my mini-course entitled Gardening Blunders.

Gardening Blunder: Planting the Garden in Rows

#2 – Killing Insects

An activity that you may consider to be one of the goals of growing a successful vegetable garden plot and that is eliminating insects from our garden. Don’t get me wrong, I confess to wiping out more than my share of bugs, but it’s a mistake to view all insects as the enemy and set out to destroy anything that walks, crawls, flies, or otherwise moves through the garden.

Garden Blunder: Killing Insects

#3 – Feeding Plants Instead of the Soil

As a fairly new gardener I am still learning lots of new things every year. The thing I had to put the most time into was learning how to amend our garden soil properly.

Kenny says “Garden soil is much more than simply dirt, or a foundation for the plants to grow on. In fact, a healthy garden soil is just as much alive as the plants that are grown in it.” Be sure to read the rest of this informative article.

Garden Blunder: Feeding Plants Instead of the Soil

#4 – Shallow Watering

This gardening blunder is something I have thought about but now that I’ve read Kenny’s shallow watering article I know what I will be doing next year. I have to say this little series has been a great read.

Gardening Blunder: Shallow Watering

#5 – Planting at the Wrong Time

When I plant my vegetable garden I usually plant everything at one time. As a rule I wait until at least June 10th as that’s what my dad taught me was usually safe from frost. Never thought I should be planting specific veggies at specific times and for specific reasons. Check out the rest of the article and see why.

Gardening Blunder: Planting at the Wrong Time

#6 – Missing the Causes of Weed Woes

I remember those many years ago, growing up on the farm and doing a lot of weeding in the garden. Not a chore I enjoyed as I much preferred to just eat the veggies. Even though there was a lot of weeding I grew up wanting my own home vegetable garden.

It’s all the more enjoyable when the weeds don’t get a chance to take over.

Kenny says, “One thing that surprises visitors about my garden is the lack of weeds and people assume that I put a lot of effort into eliminating them.” Check out his Weed Free Gardening Secrets.

Gardening Blunder: Missing the Causes of Weed Woes

I thought this garden blunder series had six posts but once you start reading the rest of each post on Kenny’s blog you’ll find garden blunder seven. Enjoy and Make Your Gardening A Growing Experience.

I’ve heard we shouldn’t waste our time growing the vegetable we could buy at the local grocery store. Instead we are advised to grow veggies we aren’t able to get locally.

We prefer to continue growing the vegetables we love but also to grow new vegetables we haven’t grown before. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy getting seeds each month from Mike The Gardener’s Seed Club.

We went for many years with a container vegetable garden due to limited space but since we have a good size yard now we like to grow all we can. Even the normal stuff still tastes so much better than store bought.

Hot Peppers – The truth is we don’t find many types of hot peppers locally, some days there are none at all, other days we find some but they look like they’ve had better days.

We have even gone to the local farmer’s market to find hot peppers, without much luck most times. For this reason we are growing our own hot peppers. This year we ate them all but we will grow more next year so we can dry some as well.

Tomatoes - Okay maybe the tomato is actually a fruit but I don’t really care. I still eat it like it’s a vegetable. We grew 4 or 5 kinds this year and plant to grow even more tomatoes next year. I won’t plant them so close together thought.

Once you’ve grown your own tomatoes and tried that first one you’ll know why we grow so many tomatoes. They just taste so much healthier from your garden.

NOT Iceberg Lettuce - We haven’t purchased iceberg lettuce in years and we don’t grow very much of it in our vegetable garden. I still like the taste, from growing up I guess.

Instead of growing a lot of iceberg lettuce we are growing more varieties of the leafy types of lettuce. They are quite often more costly, but not from our veggie garden.

Peas - Peas can be very hard to find fresh. Canned peas are often mushy, and although frozen peas are certainly better than canned, they still pale in comparison to fresh peas. Tiny baby peas are sweet, delicate, and delicious, making them well worth the effort.

Our son was asking me, just yesterday, if I was going to make some pea soup. I haven’t made pea soup in a long time.

Carrots - Store bought carrots are often woody, tough, and bitter. Even organic carrots often carry a strong bitterness caused by being kept at temperatures that are too cool for too long.

Fresh carrots are generally very sweet and delicious. Like the carrots in our garden back when I was a kid sneaking out to pull one and eat it. Oh so sweet and tasty.

Radishes – I’ve bought lots of radishes at that grocery store over the years and they are usually alright if you buy small ones but the larger radishes tend to be pithy and gross. But being fair we have grown some of those pithy ones so I can’t really put down the grocery store.

However, we still grow them anyways, they do seem to taste better if you eat them immediately out of the garden.

Greens – Although most greens are readily available in stores, they’re often yellowing and wilted by the time you buy them. By growing them yourself, you can be sure you have fresh greens when you want them.

We enjoy them right from the skillet after sautéing them in butter and then adding a bit of salt and pepper.

Asparagus – I don’t buy asparagus at any time of year and certainly wouldn’t grow it, if it wasn’t for my beautiful wife pushing me. She likes those finger sandwiches with asparagus at the ladies church meetings. Yuk.

Green/Red/Yellow Peppers – Peppers in stores are often shrivelled and pathetic. Plus, peppers that aren’t standard green peppers can often be very expensive.

Our local store sells red peppers for as much as $ 2.99 each, which means I usually leave them there because that’s just plain crazy! Grow your own and save money.

Cucumbers – Store bought cucumbers are often bitter and dry. If you’ve ever had a dried out, semi-hollow cucumber, you’ll understand the importance of growing your own!

Corn – Sweet corn is a delight to eat when it’s freshly picked. Corn is extremely sensitive to being off the stalk. Once it’s been off the stalk for 6 hours, it starts to deteriorate rapidly. You’ve never had corn until you’ve eaten it cooked fresh.

Related articles

• We Are Loving Vegetable Gardening (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Tips For Growing Vegetables In A Small Area (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• A Couple of Advantages of Using Raised Beds For Your Vegetable Gardening (hbb2obm.com)

A few weeks ago I was on my way back home from a fishing trip with my fishing buddy Casey. We were driving up Vaughan Harvey from St. George Blvd heading to Mountain Road and passed the YMCA.

YMCA – Moncton, New Brunswick Off Van Harvey

I had not noticed before but they had a number of small vegetable gardens so the next day I took my walk in that direction to check them out.

This particular YMCA is located at 30 War Veterans Avenue off Vaughan Harvey between St. George Blvd and Mountain Road. You can gain access to the YMCA by turning on to John Street and then make a left onto War Veterans Ave.

I think it’s great for people with a interest in gardening but have no space of their own to have an available community garden so they can enjoy the experience.

I learned from Jamie MacLellan, the Food Centre Coordinator, that they even have a section of vegetable gardens for the Food Bank.

YMCA – Food Bank Vegetable Garden

The first day I was there I met an old fella, Acadian I believe who loves to garden and was even helping out with a few raised bed gardens where those gardeners couldn’t be there as often as they’d like.

He tried to get out of the picture when I asked him if I could take it but I still got him in there, a little. Here is his raised bed garden and it’s looking great.

Friendly Acadian Gardener, YMCA Raised Bed Garden

Next time I visit the YMCA community gardens I’m hoping to see this old gentlemen again and have another chat. He was great to talk to.

I’d like to talk to a few other gardeners as well.

Jamie was telling that this community garden was prepared by some helpful gardeners who took the time to prepare the soil for planting and then opened it in 2008.

Here is a link to the English webpage that says a little about the YMCA community garden but there is also a link on the page if you prefer French.

Sure wish Jenny and I had known about this community garden back when we rented homes and only had a few pots to grow our vegetable garden in.

Great job YMCA

Related articles

• How To Save Money Home Gardening Tips For Beginners (yourvegetablegardeningtips.com)
• We Are Loving Vegetable Gardening (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Introduction to Vegetable Gardening (backyardgardeningtips.com)

Image by VeggieGardeningTips via Flickr

Many reasons exist as to why individuals decide to take on vegetable gardening as a hobby or interest. Some individuals find vegetable gardening relaxing and a great way to let go of the days’ stress, while others do it for the food.

Our family took on vegetable gardening because we know the effects some of the produce can have on people succeptible to sprays and poisons, myself included.

We see people at the farmer’s market who grow enough vegetables in their garden to sell to others. This is great because they produce organic vegetables that never see poisons.

This means we can get safe healthy vegetables that we aren’t growing in our home garden.

They make money grown vegetables where I make money writing about vegetable gardening among others things through my home gardening tips website.

Others I see when I am travelling around Moncton and New Brunswick are selling produce in road side stands.

Vegetable Gardening Tip

If you are thinking about starting your own vegetable garden the main tip I would offer is to take it slow. Don’t take on more than you can handle and ruin a great experience.

We started growing tomatoes, peppers and potatoes but at that time we didn’t have a vegetable garden in the ground but instead we created a container vegetable garden using big pots.

Each year since we started vegetable gardening we have increased the size of our gardens.

This year I even took one of our raised beds and turned it into a strawberry/squash bed. The strawberries will be done by the time the squash gets too big.

Join A Vegetable Garden Seed Club

Not sure what to grow? Well my wife and I joined Mike The Gardener’s Vegetable Garden Seed Club.

Mike sends me 4 packages of seeds each month. I looked forward to them each month, especially through our long cold winter months. It was fun planning what I would grow for this year.

Once I’ve made a list of the vegetables I want to grow I made a plan of how to plant them so that I would get the most produce.

That means I don’t let plants over shadow each other, like I did my first couple years. But knowing what you’re going to plant means you can check into what vegetable garden pests you may encounter based on what you’re going to plant and be prepared.

Loosen And Build Vegetable Garden Soil

Without a healthy root system your vegetable garden may not produce the best yeild so pay attention to the soil, even if you’re creating a container vegetable garden.

Give your vegetables a real good chance to grow strong by ammending your garden soil with healthy compost or topsoil.

If your soil is heavy clay like ours is then you might want to add some peatmoss along with your compost or topsoil. This will help airate your soil and allow your veggie roots to spread and grow.

Vegetable gardening does a few things for us.

1. We get fresh air and a bit of exercise.

It’s nice to have things to do in our yard other than lay in the sun and burning. Vegetable gardening has gotten me out of the house into the fresh air.

I also get a bit of exercise but when my back says enough I can still go to my raised bed gardens and sit down to work. Gotta love saving your back at the end of the day.

2. Saving money on the grocery bills.

Vegetables aren’t getting any cheaper these days so anything we can do to save a bit of money is great.

Remember I said I belong to Mike The Gardener’s Seed Club, well that saves me money because I don’t buy seeds and/or starter plants which saves even more money.

3. Learn how to preserve vegetables for winter

We grow enough tomatoes we couldn’t eat them all so we gave most of them away but now instead we preserve them for use in the winter.

We still have enough that we can give tomatoes to friends and family.

4. Grow an organic vegetable garden.

I grew up on a farm from the age of 8, which is the same year I started getting migraines. We never knew what was causing them.

Many years of suffering later I learned it was the poison being sprayed on our vegetable garden. Thanks a lot Dad.

Grow your vegetable garden organically by using natural remedies to take care of garden pests.

Vegetable Gardening Tip

We have friends that have started vegetable gardening now and we talk to each other about what we will grow. This way we can try not to grow the exact same things our friends are growing.

This means we can exchange vegetables.

I can grow lots of tomatoes while another gardening friend may be great at growing peppers so we trade off with each other and have more produce than we would have.

I work from home making money doing a variety of things. About the only thing I don’t do is grow enough vegetables in my garden to sell them. However you may have the time and desire to work from home and make money like I do. Check out my work from home ideas blog and see what grabs your attention.

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• Introduction to Vegetable Gardening (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Vegetable Garden Finally In The Ground (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Double Digging Our Vegetable Gardens (backyardgardeningtips.com)