It’s also a great activity for the entire family, even fairly young children. How many little kids do you know that don’t love bugs, dirt and plants?

While it can cost a little money to get things started, and there are no guarantees that you’ll see a good harvest, there are many benefits to gardening. At the very least you will get some exercise and family time if you work at it together.

The big benefit for children is that they learn about where food comes from. Too many children these days have little idea as to where their food comes from. A garden helps them to appreciate it more. They may even try vegetables they would otherwise be reluctant to eat, just because they helped to grow it.

Not to mention garden fresh produce tastes better than what you can buy at the store.

Your main investment will be tools. You’re going to need to be able to dig and to remove weeds. I also recommend a compost bin, so that you can make the most of your kitchen scraps. This is far better for your garden than buying chemicals from the store, not to mention more frugal.

Child size tools as appropriate are also a good idea. You will want to set aside a part of the garden for your children to garden on their own, or at least dig around, if they’re too young to be of real help yet. Even at 2 years of age my kids loved trying to plant seeds.

If you’ve ever worried about the chemicals most farms use or winced at the cost of organic produce at your local grocery store, gardening should be appealing. You’ll have control over what you put on your food as it grows.

At this point in the season you may not want to start from seed. But there are plenty of garden centers with plants well started for you, and plenty of time yet to get these going for a good harvest. You’ll get the advantage of not struggling to get your seeds started, but you’ll have to deal with the plants costing much more than seeds.

If you’ve never gardened before, or if you’ve had bad luck at it, try this ebook on vegetable gardening. You can get some great tips on what you need to do. Some factors will depend on where you live, but you can find information to help you garden successfully in your area.

A vegetable garden is a real pleasure when you get a good start to it, but sometimes the weather takes a turn you just aren’t ready for. Things heat up fast and suddenly your perfect garden is wilting and dying.

It’s a painful thing to see, but don’t accept defeat immediately. You may still be able to save quite a bit of your garden.

The first thing is to stay very aware of your garden. This can be hard to do if you end up working extra hours and just kind of miss that the weather has changed and your plants need more water. But do your best.

I’ve had experience with this kind of thing, although it wasn’t from work. We went on vacation at a time when the summer had been extremely mild. While we were gone the weather turned unusually hot. We hadn’t arranged for anyone to give the garden extra water in that event, and so we came home to a nearly dead garden.

But if you catch these things soon enough, some of it can be salvaged. Try to give your vegetable garden at least an inch of water every week, especially as your vegetables grow.

I suggest getting a soaker hose. These allow you to put the water right onto the soil rather than spraying it into the air. You’ll still want to water first thing in the morning or in the evening so as to minimize evaporation, but doing this can help you to cut your water bill by not spraying so much water into the air.

This is especially good for squash and other plants that aren’t terribly fond of having water on their leaves. On the other hand, tomatoes do like water on their leaves, and you may want to use the sprinkler on them a little more.

One thing you will want to be aware of is how hot weather impacts the taste of the vegetables you harvest. Excessively hot weather can change the taste of crops such as broccoli and cauliflower, for example. Harvest as necessary to get the best produce from your garden. Some herbs may try to go to flower, but you can cut these off to try to continue their growth.

On the other hand, hot peppers love to grow in warm weather.

A hot spell doesn’t have to be a disaster for your garden. Be aware of the weather and start giving extra water before problems appear. You can continue to have a delightful vegetable garden that will survive the heat.

And don’t forget to check the Home Vegetable Gardening Guide for more tips on having a beautiful vegetable garden.

Technorati Tags: hot weather, heat wave, summer, summer gardening

Square foot gardening is a way to make the most of your garden’s space. Rather than planting in straight rows, you garden in built up squares of soil that allow you to easily reach all four sides of the square and maximizes the space in your garden.

Start out by building or buying squares that are 4 feet by 4 feet in size. You will be planting in these containers with each plant (or groups of smaller plants) having a 1 foot by 1 foot area. Leave three feet between each container to make access easier.

The advantage to square foot gardening is that you can reach everything. You do not have to step on any plants, drag a hose across them, etc. Since you build these above ground you will have fewer weeds to deal with. The one disadvantage is that they may need more water.

You do not want to crowd the plants. A good layout giving each plant plenty of room to thrive is one of the key factors of successful square foot gardening.

You can mix things up as you like, however. A mixture of vegetables and flowers can look quite lovely in a single container. Some flowers can even help with pest control.

You can vary the principles used in square foot gardening to suit your own needs. In my yard, for example, the garden is done around the perimeter of the yard. We have the access to the plants, they are in built up containers rather than being directly in the ground. But with a smaller yard with a perimeter garden already set up it made sense to keep to this variation rather than tear up the lawn.

Even though it seems to take a lot of room, you will be amazed at how much you can grow in a square foot garden plan. It allows for efficient use of the space you have.

A basic square foot garden allow you to get quite creative. You can grow all kinds of produce and flowers in pleasing arrangements. This kind of setup will allow you to work comfortably in your garden, water easily and harvest quickly.

If you need some tips on getting your garden going, check my review on the Home Vegetable Gardening ebook. This resource will give you valuable information on how to get your garden going.

Planting a vegetable garden is a real delight. You get fresh produce, fresh air and light exercise. And it doesn’t require a huge back yard to do successfully. Even a small yard or deck is sufficient.

The first thing you need to do is figure out how much space you have for a vegetable garden. This will in part determine what you can grow. Some plants take more room or need more sunlight.

With your space considerations in mind you can start looking at the plants you want to grow. If you’re focusing on containers, tomatoes are a popular choice. Some people even hang them in a planter with a hole in the bottom, with the tomato plant hanging upside down out from the hole.

If you are planting your garden in the ground, you will want to be prepared to battle weeds. Start out by clearing all the weeds out before you start your garden. Get as many of the roots out as possible.

On the other hand, if you are starting from containers your main concern will be choosing appropriately sized containers. Your garden center professionals should be able to help you choose these as well as the appropriate potting soils.

Depending on how early or late you start, you may have the option of starting from seeds or heading over to the garden center to pick out young plants for your garden. Picking already started plants is much easier in many ways, and some centers guarantee the plants, so if they die you can get a refund or replacement.

Some of the work you will do for your garden will depend on your situation and what you want to do. If you want to go organic, starting your own compost pile is a good idea, provided you have the room. If you want minimal effort, you won’t want plants that need special attention. All plants need water, of course.

You will have to keep special watch on your plants when the hottest days of summer strike. A few hot days can cause your entire garden to wilt if you aren’t paying enough attention to soil moisture levels.

There are few pleasures like fresh vegetables from your own garden. Veggies from the grocery store simply cannot compare. There’s also the simple pleasure of making plants grow. It’s an activity you can enjoy alone or with your entire family.

It sounds kind of gross, but it’s supposed to be really good for your indoor plants.

Take the piece of absorbent material you often see under your meat and put it in about a gallon of water. Leave it there until it reaches the approximate color of pink lemonade.

Use it to water your indoor plants. Do not use it on food plants, because there is the risk of E. coli. And of course wash your hands after handling it.

This provides your plants with a bunch of nitrogen, so you won’t need to go out and buy fertilizer.

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Starting a garden takes dedication. It also takes at least a few basic tools. The exact ones you need depend on the kind of gardening you’re doing… for example, if you’re only growing an indoor garden or container garden you won’t need a full-size shovel, but one is highly practical for most outdoor gardens.

You will want a trowel. Think of it as a small shovel. It will help you to transplant seedlings or plant seeds. It’s good for digging up weeds.

Pick a well made trowel with a comfortable grip. There are all kinds of grips made so that the trowel will be more comfortable to use.

Depending on the size of the area you will be working in, you will want either a wheelbarrow or a garden cart. This can be used to haul tools, plants and dirt around.

Especially if you are planting flowers you will want a good pair of garden shears. Pruning shears will do better than household scissors at keeping your flower garden neat and attractive as you cut off dead flowers and excess growth.

A pitchfork is good for the serious gardener. You can use it to turn compost or scare away that pesky neighbor… well, maybe not.

A hoe is good for working the soil. If you need to loosen up the top level of soil or make rows to grow your garden, a hoe is a common choice.

If you want to have a little fun, think of buying your garden tools as building your home gym. Serious gardening is also good exercise. Don’t go too cheap… cheap tools break easily and are less comfortable to use. If you’re serious about your garden you will want to buy tools that will last for years.

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Whether you suffer through harsh, cold winters or enjoy relatively mild ones, we are coming up on the time when you need to get ready to plant your seeds for your vegetable garden.

If you need another compost bin this time of year is great to add them, if only because there’s not much actual gardening work to do. Build one or buy one, just make sure you can easily add, remove and turn the material.

Clean up your tools. Sharpen blades if they need it. Clean off old dirt and wipe with an oiled cloth to help prevent rusting.

At this time you can also start planning your next garden. You can figure out what you want to grow and how you’re going to lay that garden out. Planning ahead can help you make the most of your garden. Getting things started at the right time for each type of plant will help your garden succeed.

If you want an early start, get some planters and sun lamps and start your seeds indoors. If you get sufficient sunlight, placing the boxes in windows can help you get that early start too.

This is a great time for looking back at how your garden did last year and your goals for this year. For example, my garden last year failed miserably due to a combination of poor soil, a neighboring shade tree that had been shading my garden being cut to pieces and an unusually hot summer.

Over the winter we’ve been preparing quick compost for the soil. This is just throwing fresh kitchen scraps into the blender with some water, then pouring it into the garden. It’s our first step in improving the soil naturally. More will be done as planting time approaches.

Obviously, factors that are out of your control you can’t do anything about. Heat waves cannot be avoided and neighbors can be unpredictable (you should have seen that poor tree when they were done “pruning” it!). Some years insects are more problematic than others.

In those cases you need to have plans for how to handle it. Keep an eye on what the sun is doing to your plants during a heat wave and ensure they have enough water. Know what pest control steps you are willing to take.

Planning and preparing to plant your garden before you can actually start planting gives you a lot of advantages when it’s time to really work your garden. It gets some of the chores out of the way and leaves you prepared for a great start to your vegetable garden.

Technorati Tags: vegetable garden, get ready for spring

I’m not Italian, but I am married to one. But even before then I was a major fan of cooking with garlic. I keep a lot of it in my kitchen and I think it’s the perfect thing to grow in my garden.

To get started just head out to the store and buy some heads of garlic. Break them up into individual cloves and plant. They’ll start sprouting in a few weeks. You can even plant garlic in the fall before the ground freezes (if you live in a place where that’s an issue) and it will grow for you come spring.

Plant the cloves about six inches apart with the pointy end up about an inch underground. Fertilize and water.

As your garlic grows, break off any flowers that appear. You want your plants to focus on growing the garlic bulb, not flowers. Keep taking care of them until the leaves yellow, then dig up and rinse. Cure them in a shady, well ventilated place for at least two weeks. Then you can store them someplace cool, dry and dark until you want to use them. No, not your refrigerator, which is colder than necessary for storing garlic. They’ll last around two months.

I’m thinking that I’ll try growing elephant garlic this year, as it’s my husband’s favorite variety. The bulbs are quite a bit larger than the usual garlic and the flavor is excellent. I hope it works.

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So you’ve decided to take the plunge and grow your own vegetable garden. Maybe it’s because you want organically grown produce without the high prices found at the store, maybe you want to show your kids where food comes from or maybe you just finally have room!

Whatever the reason, you want to read up on what you need to get done and keep things under control. Getting too ambitious with a vegetable garden can leave you overwhelmed and limit your ability to enjoy the produce.

Start with a reasonably small garden, say 8×10 feet at most. Gardening and weeding are hard work and until you know you enjoy it you don’t want the gigantic garden.

You’ll want an area in your yard with a lot of sunlight, the more the better. Most vegetables really love sunlight.

The very first step is to till your soil. You can rent a tiller, borrow from a neighbor or do some heavy work with just hand tools. But that soil needs to be well worked and soft. You do not need to remove the sod… in fact, you are best off working it into the soil.

The type of soil you have will determine what you do next. If it’s mostly clay or sandy, you will need to invest in some topsoil or at least a good quantity of compost or manure to mix into it. You want to improve the quality of your soil. This can take a few years of adding compost every spring and fall.

Next you want to plan your garden. Research the seeds you want and figure out how much space they will take. You do not want to crowd your plants or you won’t have a good harvest. Don’t forget to leave room to work in your garden.

If you want something simple to grow, start out with things like peas, beets, squash and the infamous zucchini. If you’ve ever had a neighbor grow zucchini you may have had some of the excess handed off to you. It’s one of those plants that really produces when it gets going.

If frost is a problem in your area, make sure you plant after the last frost is expected. Otherwise your garden can be wiped out. When in doubt do research on your area to find out when it is probably safe to start planting. There are no guarantees in gardening, especially when it comes to weather, but you have to do your best.

Critter and pest control can be a major problem. I’ve read that plastic snakes, moved about periodically, can be quite effective at keeping out rabbits, and for other animals chicken wire can work. Insect control can be more challenging, especially if you’re trying to go organic, so you may want to read up on natural pest control.

Heat waves can be a major problem for your garden. Make sure your soil is appropriately moist… if your plants are wilting they are much too dry. Don’t over water your garden, however. So long as the soil is moist a little ways under the top level you are generally doing well.

You probably won’t become a master gardener in your first year but you will learn a lot. And when your vegetables ripen you will love the flavors which are so much better than that which you can get at the grocery store.

Technorati Tags: vegetable garden, first garden

My personal favorite source of fertilizer is the compost heap. Everything that goes into your compost heap is something that could have ended up in the trash. Then you add in the fact that you don’t have to buy the compost and you have a great deal.

However, other fertilizers can be necessary for other reasons. You may not have a compost heap, may have started it too recently or you need something in your soil that compost can’t provide.

Manure makes a great fertilizer when used correctly. It can cause problems when used incorrectly. It can also contain many weed seeds, a major issue for most gardeners… and then there’s the stench and the flies that are attracted if you use raw manure.

To use fresh or raw manure, you need to mix it with soil. By itself it will keep your seeds from germinating well. However it is a relatively cheap option.

Composted manure can be used at any point, and you also have the option of dehydrated manure.

Bone meal is useful when your soil needs more phosphorus. Adding bone meal helps growth and does not burn seeds, so you can add it immediately. It’s great for potted vegetables as well. It is relatively expensive.

On the other hand, if you can wait a long time for the phosphorus to be added to the soil, granite dust is an option. It takes around 4 years to break down, so there is something of a wait for the benefit, but if you’re looking at the long term this can be a good thing. When buying granite dust make sure it is for the garden, as some kinds can contain aluminum, which is bad for your soil. Phosphate rock is another good option.

If you have acid soil or need both phosphorus and potassium, wood ashes are a great option. Ashes are alkaline, so they help to neutralize acid soil. They contain very little nitrogen, however.

Finally, consider a green manure. Plant alfalfa, clover, buckwheat or fenugreek, depending on your needs. Their roots help to fix the nitrogen in the soil. The timing for planting these depends on which variety you are using. Some can be planted in the fall and cut down in the spring, while others have a shorter growing period. Plow them under three weeks before you would like to plant your regular garden.

A good fertilizer works wonders for your garden. You don’t have to spend a fortune to make your garden grow beautifully.

Technorati Tags: garden, compost, fertilizer