Tag Archives: home and family

A Head Start For A Spring Garden

Gardening is a popular pastime for a number of reasons. A lot of people enjoy being outdoors, working with their hands, creating works of art, and eating fresh, delicious vegetables. While it’s just a simple distraction for some, some others put a lot of care and effort into making their garden beautiful and productive. Either way, it’s important to know the basic techniques that gardeners employ.

Growing Organically: Organic gardening has grown in popularity considerably in the last couple of decades. This style requires a lot of natural fertilizers, forgoing chemical-based fertilizers, and it often results in tastier, more nutritious produce. Growing plants organically yourself is easier than you might think, even if you don’t have a lot of gardening experience. Raised beds are easy to build and fairly cheap to buy, and provide an ideal growing area that you can fill with compost and organic soil. As Gardening 101 dictates, the plants will need lots of sunlight, so be sure to place it in an area that stays well-lit for long periods.

Flower Gardening: Vibrant greens are beautiful, but a garden can be even prettier if you use colorful flowers to add accents. Even if you don’t want to dedicate a patch of land to growing flowers, a window box is always an option. You can fill them with good soil and plant an assortment of flower types to add various hues and textures. Certain types, such as geraniums and impatiens, excel in the environment of a window box. Types that grow from bulbs are another good choice, adding fragrance and effect. Some types sprout every spring. Daffodils and Hyacinths are very common choices from this group.

Edible Herbs: An especially good choice for those who love to cook, herbs are simple to grow. There are many familiar cooking herbs that are well-suited to gardens, including rosemary and oregano. They generally contain more flavor when they’re flowering, and it is easiest to pick them at peak freshness when you grow them yourself. They can be easily dehydrated for long-term storage and be used over a period of time to season meals. Most herbs thrive in both gardens and small containers. Certain ones should not be left outdoors during colder seasons, but will continue to grow for years if cared for properly.

While it can take some hard work and dedication, growing a garden is enjoyable to a wide range of people. In addition to spending time enjoying nature and creating a beautiful landscape, you also get to enjoy the fruits of your labor (pun intended) when you eat fresh produce and food seasoned with home-grown herbs. While there is no denying the work and dedication needed to have a successful garden, it might be a more attainable goal than many would think.

These helpful gardening tips come from the people at Stepping Stone, a community of new homes in Parker CO. Life is about forging your own path. Connecting one amazing experience to another, like stepping stones, until they form a direction that is entirely, uniquely your own.

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Why Not Start A Vegetable Garden? Here’s Some Reasons Why

I’ve been vege gardening for many years, it’ is normal for me to use several hours a month applying maintenance to the vege patch or tending to the pot plants on the verandah.For your self this might not be the case,you may be browsing the web with dreams of starting your first garden but are without ideas when it comes to how to do it and not quite convinced of all the benefits.Are you in need of persuasion that beginning a vege garden is worth your valuable time, then check out this article…

Fresh veges are the best Do you often visit a supermarket wondering how old the food is being sold? Has anyone told you that it is normal today to pick produce before it has the chance to ripen then spray it with chemicals when it is ready to go on the shelves of your your local grocer? The answer to that is to purchase organic, but how would you know it is indeed organic and how would you possibly know how old it is? Solution, grow your very own food, that way you know exactly how it has been grown and you will only harvest when required, visualise eating your fruits and veges hours prior to it have been picked!

Reduce you food bill With increasing inflation manipulating the price of food and job security decreasing wouldn’t it be nice to slash your family’s food cost while enjoying fresh, quality food? Better quality fruits and veges for a heavily reduced price, seems pretty obvious. A sachet of seeds is inexpensive and will generate a lot of food over time..

Protect the environment Modern agriculture causes a lot of pollution with chemical runoffs as well as man made fertilizers ruining the soil. You will not only be doing yourself a favour but you will be protecting the planet and setting a good example for your offspring.

Your diet needs more variety Most food stores only sell a couple different variety’s of each fruit or vegetable, there are many unique types of each, some you may have never even heard of, so do your self a kindness and add something different to your diet!

Socialise It is getting more and more popular having community gardens where everyone chips in and shares the result of their hard work, it is a great opportunity to make friends with some like minded individuals and expand your social circle.

Be healthy Why eat food that is riddled with chemicals? G.M foods have been proven to have a direct link to cancer similar to preservatives, pesticides, fungicides etc. It is much better for your health and your taste buds to consume fresh organic produce.Think about the health of not only you but your friends and loved ones as well.

Wouldnt you like more flavoursome food? Most people know that fresh tastes better but did you also know that organic vegetables also have more taste?Don’t just just believe me, start gardening now and realise for your self!

Make a difference Think about this, with one less person buying the toxic produce big corporations are selling us, that is less funds in their pockets. If consumers ceased buying then they would be forced into selling some proper food. Most people dont realise this but it is the consumer that controls the market place. So it is about time to take back your power and start making your own food!

Helps you stay in shape Digging around in the garden can be slightly strenuous but that is beneficial because most of us now a days are deficient proper exercise. Don’t forget the clean air and sunlight (vitamin D) you will be exposed to as well..

If you are interested in organic gardening then visit this site; http://howtostartavegetablegarden.org

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