Stress-free Gardening





There are three types of home gardeners, ones who get around to it when the mood hits them. The second type is gardeners who wait until late spring then frantically run around spending hours trying to get it all done in a day or two. Today I want to talk about the third type of home gardener, the planner, the zen gardener if you will. Stress-free gardening is about taking small easy steps now that will save you a ton of work later.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will walk you through simple, easy things that you can do to prep your garden for the coming season.



Remember the seeds I asked you to purchase right after New Years? If you were able to do so than you are ahead of the game. You have probably heard this a billion times but seeds should always be stored in a cool dry environment.
You should also have started collecting twist ties from your bread and other wrappers. 
 This is the week I began saving old water, milk and juice jugs. Using these are a great free way to make starter plants.

Right now we are approaching the middle of March, still a little early for spring planting. The idea is not to plant but to get ready so that when the time comes you will have all the components necessary to begin your garden. A lot of gardeners (some of you read this blog ) choose to skip this step and buy their plants when they are about a month old. My theory is those home gardeners who work or have kids to raise don't have time to start vegetable plants from seed so they buy them.


Instead of shipping the kids off to grandma's why don't you have them to help you.  It's a good way to show them where their food comes from. When they get older the boys can help with the heavy lifting.

The last thing I want to touch on today is coffee grinds. If you intend to grow tomatoes, spinach or any vegetable that requires nitrogen-rich soil using leftover coffee grinds provides you with free nutrients for your garden. Begin storing them until they are needed.

Composting is Easy
Part Two








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