Garden Planning

We had five raised beds and now have eight all planted in the square foot gardening method using companion planting. The beds are planted based on the ADLF. This means the cool weather crops are planted a month before the ADLF, some are planted on the ADLF and the frost sensitive plants are planted two weeks after the ADLF. For that reason garden planning is a must. This planning starts with

Constructing a Square Foot Garden Bed

Raised beds can be used for veggetables or flowers and can be planted using the square foot method. The square foot method of gardening is ideal for smaller spaces. Constructing a square foot garden bed is very easy. Since we just installed new beds, I thought I would share how I make my beds. In the true fashion of square foot gardening, beds are constucted 4' x 4' but you can make them any

Epsom Salt - A Gardener's Solution!

Epsom SaltThis 100% natural mineral is a gardener's solution! Epsom Salt is maganesium sulfate and it can be used to get great results in the garden as well as a soak for aching muscles after a day in the garden.General Use: Mix 1/2 c epsom salt per gallon of water for watering potted plants. Apply 1 tsp per foot of height for each plant once biweekly.Tomatoes: Add 2-3 tbsp per hole before

June 15, 2006 - Take Pictures!

You never know what you are going to see in your garden. If you do a 15 minute walk about of your garden as I do twice daily, you might see just about anything from the critter that is eating your beans to a wide variety of critters just visiting your garden. Pictures tell more than words so if one of your plants is doing something odd take a picture for troubleshooting. If you find an

June 12, 2006 - Garden Savings

There are so many ways to save on gardening but I thought it might be a good idea to highlight some of them. I think there are four main aspects: environment, cost, time, and effort. So I'll mention a few of the things I do to save in all aspects.Environment: As gardeners I firmly believe we are stewards of the land. That means we should do nothing to harm the land and we should encourage

Baby Birds & Bunnies

One of my first blog posts was about bunnies. We have a healthy and abundant jackrabbit population. From experience, the jackrabbit population is cyclic. Last year they never bothered with my vegetable garden or if they did, I never noticed. This year they like the garden and have quickly become a problem. Not so much "they" just one very persistant young one. Young rabbits are like