5 Tips ALL Gardeners Need To Know

Here are 5 small tips that anyone just starting to get into gardening should know, for some of us it is a good reminder.

1. Know your zone and average last frost date. Planting varieties and plants for your zone will ensure a better harvest. But it also helps you to know when you can plant all the different plants in your garden.


2. Plant veggies in a location that gets 8 hours of sunlight. Some can tolerate some shade, but for most of them to have enough energy to produce the fruit or veggie, at least 8 hours of sunlight is essential (more is good).


3. Tomatoes are fair weather plants. Tomatoes need a fairly long growing season, but if it gets too hot during the summer (85 degrees or more), they will stop producing. They also do not like the weather to be too cold. Boy do they grow well when the weather is good! Pretty much when I don’t like to be outside- neither do they…


4. There are many flowers and herbs that are beneficial to plant next to plants in your garden such as: marigolds and tomatoes, chives and carrots, mint and cabbage family plants. This is called companion planting. They not only keep some of the bad bugs away when planted together, but some help to make the veggies taste even better.


5. Do not add manure that hasn't aged properly! It contains too much nitrogen at that point and will burn your plants. Adding nice compost and manure to your garden every year will greatly improve the soil in your garden. Your plants will thank you.

It’s that time of year...  Happy Gardening!

Planning Out Your Eye Catching Vegetable Garden

How do you know where and when to plant your vegetables not only to get the best production, but also to look the best? The answer is different for every yard, of course, but the best thing you can do is to simply plan it out!

Visual elements that add a nice look to your garden, is layering. Putting different height plants together that complement each other makes for a pleasing looking garden. Growing green beans up a trellis in the corner, or growing them up the corn is a fun element. This year we are growing the pole beans up the corn, and growing the pumpkins underneath the corn and beans. That is called the three sisters, and is how the native Americans grew those vegetables.
I also like the look of grow boxes. It adds a nice clean look to it, and helps me to keep the weeds down. The grow boxes are easy to keep weeded, and then in the paths, we put down some plastic with wood chips over the top.
Do no be afraid to add some flowers into your vegetable garden. In fact some flowers are beneficial to your garden, such as Marigolds planted around tomatoes destroy nematodes, and repel white flies, tomato horn worms, bean beetles, and cucumber beetles. Basil is also a great companion to tomato as they also repel horn worm. Also putting pots of mint in your cabbage patch will help to repel cabbage moths and ants. Just keep the mint in pots as they will try to take over the garden if not in pots.

Planning is key.
I planned out our garden with the garden planner, and have been referring back to it often to see what I should be doing in my garden to stay up to date on my chores. I find that when I am out in the garden, I sometimes make changes to my plan and plant things in a slightly different location. Then I will go inside and make those changes on my garden planner, so that I can remember exactly where everything was planted for next year. I also take notes on the plants in the plant list in the garden planner like; I have that are heirloom and should save the seeds for next year, or when they germinated and the such. Take a look at my vegetable garden plan, and start your own no risk trial of this great garden planner, I know you will love it!
Happy Gardening!