Grow Your Own Food No Matter Where You Live

Spring is the perfect time of year to start growing your own food.  It is warm enough that you can plant in beds outside instead of just pots around the house.  If you take a chunk of your lawn and turn it into a garden it also means less grass that you have to mow.

There are advantages to growing your own food.  You can save money if you grow the right food.  You know exactly where your food is coming from and what kind of chemicals you used or didn't use on your food.  I find that food I grow myself always tastes best, even better than organic or from a farmers' market.  There is something about picking food right out of the sun and eating it that makes it taste amazing.  You also might get your children interested in eating veggies that they grow on their own. 

Think practically before you plant your garden.  Pick foods that you will actually eat or know a friend or family member will enjoy.  There is no point in planting foods that are just going to rot in your garden.  Also think about what food will give the most reward if you are looking to save money.  You can buy a fruit tree for under $20 and it will give you pounds and pounds of fruit over the years.  You will get the most reward for a small amount of money.  Blueberry bushes, strawberries and pumpkins are other good choices.  Look at the price of the plants, check if they are annuals or perennials, and then see how much the food costs to buy in the store.  This will give you a good idea if the food you are planting is practical money-wise.

If outside space isn't an option, you can always grow food inside your house.  For a long time I had a potted lemon tree to remind me of living in Arizona.  It eventually died when my dogs decided they liked the taste of lemon branches, but that didn't stop me from growing food.  You can also keep an herb garden in your house year round.  This way whenever you are cooking you can just snip off some live herbs and add them to your cooking.  You can also choose to dry them and store them in spice jars.  I almost always have a pot of basil and rosemary sitting on my kitchen windowsill.  You can even buy live basil from the grocery store and all you have to do is put the roots in a glass of water and it will last for several weeks.  Green onions will do the same thing if you put the roots in water after you chop off the greens.  I get two or three batches worth of green onions from one set I buy from the store.  That calculates out to 3 dollars worth of onions for 1 dollar.

Vegetable gardens are a good way to get kids interested in their food.  They get to take a hands on approach to what they eat.  They also get to learn where their food comes from and how much effort goes into each vegetable they buy at the store.  Growing your own food can be rewarding for any person at any age.  Get on your garden gloves and get out there and plant!

Low Maintenance Gardening

Everyone wants a beautiful garden, but let's face it, not everyone wants to spend all day everyday out there pulling weeds and planting new plants.  There are several shortcuts you can take that will eliminate work in the future.  Following these rules will save you time this summer so you can enjoy playing outside instead of planting on your knees.

Here are some natural ways to keep the pests away and help you get the most out of your time.  This way the little amount of time you spend on your yard will get the most results. 

Put down mulch! A thick layer of mulch will keep weeds from coming up in your plant beds.  By thick I mean several inches, not just a thin coating. 

Plant your plants according to what their tags say.  Do not put a plant that needs shade in direct sun and vice-versa.  Watch the sun in your yard and figure out what places are shaded and what places get a lot of sun.  In summertime the afternoon sun is going to be more intense than the morning sun, so keep that in mind as well when planting. 

If you really hate spring planting try planting perennials instead of annuals.  These plants will come back every year instead of dying after one season. You can also try bushes and bulb planting to keep from having to re-plant every year.  Flowering bushes look as nice as flowers and they don't need to be replanted every year. 

Release ladybugs in your yard will help keep the bugs from eating your plants.  You can also put down slug traps made of beer to keep the slugs off your plants if you live in the northwest. 

Water your plants.  Do not water during the daytime, this just wastes the water because the majority of it will be evaporated.  Watering an hour before sunrise instead of the evening will also help cut down on the slug problem.

Put down compost for your plants.  I make my own compost with an electronic composter so my food scraps become food for my future plants.  If you don't want to make your own compost you can purchase some at any hardware store.  The compost provides minerals and food for your plants.   This will give your plants the boost they need to grow larger and have more blooms. 

If you follow these tips you will get the most out of your yard in the least amount of time this summer.  It's never too early to start planning for spring.  You can start planting after the last frost of the year.  If you are worried it will still frost pick a hearty spring plant that can handle a light frost without being killed.