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Entry bubble Protecting Your Garden from Pests

By: Joanne | June 02, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

flowers, potatoes, carrots

Back in March I was so excited to get my garden started. I had the highest of ambitions. But let’s just say that my garden got a little later start than I had hoped, ok? Over the last few weeks I’ve been working like crazy in the garden. I planted tomatoes, beets, kale, peas, cucumbers, spinach, chard, lettuce, and 3 different kinds of happy sunflowers. I have yet to plant the pumpkins and decorative gourds, but I’ll get there.

I always have some plants, like marigolds, in the garden just because they’re beneficial companions to my veggies and help keep the insects away. I don’t use chemical fertilizers, herbicides or insecticides in my garden, and it’s been my experience that everything grows very well without all that stuff. Even the time I found that very large, very hungry caterpillar lunching on my tomato plants was no big deal. I just picked him up with a stick and took him for a little walk to the woods where there are plenty of delicious leaves for him to enjoy.

The Department of Agriculture has some tips on plants that deter harmful insects, and there are a number of excellent books on the topic – many of which I’m sure are available at your local library. The National Arboretum has advice on chemical and non-chemical garden pest management tips and let’s not forget that the National Agricultural Library isn’t just for big farms, but they have information and advice for backyard gardeners, like us.

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Entry bubble Ready? Set? Garden!

By: Joanne | March 24, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

three open pea podsThere’s something special about March, and I’m not talking about college basketball. March is when I start gardening. I ordered seeds before I left for South by Southwest Interactive and they arrived while I was gone. Now I’m home and eager to get dirty.

It’s still too cold to plant most things, but I can start seeds indoors, go out and turn some manure into the soil, and I can also plant that half pound of snap peas. Can you believe I plant a half pound of peas and never have any to freeze? My kids devour them.

You should think about planting some veggies this spring. If you don’t have much space, or if digging is a problem, you can do amazing things with container gardens. My mother has great luck with tomato plants in big flower pots on the side of her house.

We all know that growing your own vegetables is a tasty and nutritious hobby, but it also saves energy because your food doesn’t have to travel hundreds of miles in a truck to reach your table, it saves money, and you get some fresh air and exercise. Another benefit is that when you grow your own food, you know where it came from. In these days of industrial food factories, and processing, and salmonella, and E. coli, I like to control the safety of my food.

| View Comments [8] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: garden   joanne   plant   seed   spring   vegetable  

 

Entry bubble Tomato Planting Time!

By: Joanne | June 03, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

tomato tepees in the gardenHow’s your garden coming along? I’m going to be really devoted to my garden this year and hopefully it will help me save some money. I almost went into shock in the checkout aisle of the grocery store this weekend. The price of food is so crazy that I feel like it’s worth my while more than ever to grow my own food and become a thrifty meal planner. One of my favorite foods to grow is tomatoes. They’re not only one of my fresh summer favorites, but they’re pretty easy to can and use all year long.

This weekend I planted two varieties of heirloom tomato plants. There’s nothing like a home-grown tomato still warm from the sun, and this year I’ll grow my tomatoes on tepees. Yes, tomato tepees. In the past I’ve tried to support my tomatoes with stakes, cages, cages and stakes and every year it’s the same thing—the plants get big and heavy and fall over. I hope the tepees will help keep the plants under control, and I think they’ll also be a great use of vertical growing space.

In concept, it seems quite simple: take three 1 inch stakes that are 10 feet long, lash them together with some twine and form a triangle with the posts, so each post is about 3 feet apart. Instead of buying posts, I saved a few bucks and cut some bamboo from a friend’s yard.

What’s the worst that could happen? If the plants fall over, I’ll be no worse off than if I used the cages. I think of this as an experiment and if it doesn’t work I’ll try something different next year. What works for you?

| View Comments [9] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: garden   heirloom   joanne   teepee   tomato   vegetable  

 

Entry bubble Organic Gardening – Do It for Your Kids

By: Joanne | March 18, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Bailey shows off the strawberry harvestAs you’re planning your garden this year, consider going organic. It’s easier than you think. It’s as easy as NOT applying chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers on your food.

Why have organic gardens? There are many reasons; the one that is dearest to me is for my kids. Nobody needs to ingest pesticide residues, and that is especially true for children who are going through critical stages of development. We hear so many claims that kids don’t want to eat fruits and vegetables, but when you give them a chance to wander through the strawberry patch and pick their own berries and then eat them – perfectly ripe and still warm from the sun – yum! The fact is, they beg for more. Many times we’ve picked up our baskets, picked peas and then moved under a shady tree to shell and eat sweet, raw peas straight from the garden. As a mom I know that I can hardly give my children a more nutritious (and easy to prepare!) lunch than that.

The people that owned the property before us had horses, so let’s just say that I’ve been blessed with an ample supply of organic fertilizer, and we augment that with our compost. I bet I’ve had an organic garden for over 10 years now, and I have to tell you that I never felt like I needed the chemicals. Give it a try, for your health, the health of your kids and for the good of the soil and water.

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Entry bubble Think Spring! Time to Buy Seeds for your Garden

By: Joanne | February 19, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Last week I injured my back (again) shoveling the snow. When will it end? It seems like these injuries only make me intent on spending more time with my face in the garden catalogs. I’ve already selected 5 different types of sunflowers and still need some more—perhaps a Jerusalem artichoke? You see, I like some diversity in my garden. I don’t design with great architectural precision in mind; I like to see lush diversity.flowers, potatoes, and carrots fresh from the garden

To that end, I stay away from the seed packets found in most stores. I don’t like the commercial hybrids because I think they’re overbred to make them bigger or prettier or pesticide resistant. I like heirloom seeds. I think plants are really just fine the way mother nature made them. It’s been my experience that heirloom seeds are vigorous, taste wonderful and will often go to seed and come back as volunteers next year. I really don’t even have to buy tomato plants any more—they just spring up!

I’m always on the lookout for interesting varieties and I was happy to see that the Department of Agriculture offers a list of sources for all types of plants and seeds. What’s your favorite garden catalog? I’ve got lots of work to do this summer!

| View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: biodiversity   garden   heriloom   joanne   seed  

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