I promise you I
am not a gardener. Many times I've tried
and failed. Sometimes though I tried and
did okay. I think we all know food
shortages are going to be a real thing soon and with the rising prices on
groceries, it makes what we can get much less affordable. We aren't completely powerless, however. There are still things we can do. With a little bit of effort we can do something. Grow something.
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| I might be building one of these |
I'd like to
encourage you all to grow something this summer. It doesn't matter what it is, but we need to
grow something. A tomato plant in a bucket on your patio, herbs instead of flowers, lettuces in a planter box,
whatever you can do I think it prudent that we do it. In my backyard I have three good sized
planter boxes (all built out of old fence posts and a pallet) and a two section
compost bin, all neglected. This year I
will be giving them some much needed attention.
I don't have a lot of space to put in a big garden, but thankfully you don’t
really need a lot of space to grow food.
I've literally used garbage to start my seeds in this year.
I made my own seed pots out of spent toilet paper tubes and they work
really well. When one of my co-workers
was going to toss out a stack of Starbucks coffee cups I glommed onto them and
brought them home and have planted seeds in them too. Egg cartons, yogurt, sour cream and cottage
cheese containers work too. The seeds
I'm using came from the dollar store and I've also recently picked up a few
more packets from the feed store and Fred Meyer. I purchased a bag of potting soil, but dirt
from the yard will work too, probably better to be quite honest.
Join me on my
garden adventure this year. Whether you
plant your own seeds or pick up some starts at the store, lets grow something. We can totally do this! What will it be?
Good for you! For the last couple of years I've had someone cut my grass but I have him dump all the clippings in a heap at the top of my garden. I also have a large compost but just recently started cutting down my daily peelings, etc. with scissors and adding them to an empty vinegar bottle. I also dry out any egg shells and smash them up and mix that with coffee grounds to try to keep slugs away (the egg shells hurt their bellies and apparently they don't like the smell of coffee - we'll see if that's true)! I put last year's grass clippings in first (it's wonderful stuff), followed by my cut up compost and then soil. So far everything's looking good, and frankly it only makes sense to do at least some gardening now doesn't it!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try that for the slugs. Hope it is true!
DeleteAnother thing that I saw that apparently worked for slugs (and it's so damn obvious) is to take what I call a scratch pad (you know, one of those flat, green wiry pads that you might scrub a pot with about 5 inches by 3 inches), cut half way into it and cut a small hole out in the middle. You put the hole around the base of your plant and voilà, the slug won't cross the scratch pad. Well that's the theory anyway!
DeleteYes I’m dabbling in gardening again this year. Can’t wait to see what you do!
ReplyDeleteWe have a large garden every year, (except last year when I took a break.) This year I have already planted potatoes (russet and red), onions (yellow, red and white), broccoli and cabbage, carrots and beets and strawberries. We were so very dry and windy and now we've had rain on & off for the last week. Thank you God! I'm going to a friend's plant sale tomorrow after work and will get herbs, tomatoes, peppers and whatever else I can find. I'll be planting those and beans, cucumbers, summer squash, as the temps warm.
ReplyDeleteGardening calms me in the evening. Although it would be nice to have a maid/cook to take care of those things in the evening when I'm outside.
Happy planting!