Tag Archives: grown your own food

Another way to start a garden

When you get ready to start a garden, it is nice to kill off all the grass, add plenty of compost, get your ground tilled up, and put together a nice garden plot.  Better yet, you could build raised beds … Continue reading

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An alternative method for staking garden plants

Some plants need to be staked for various reasons.  Some need support.  Others just make better vegetables when staked.  It is probably universally agreed that tomatoes and beans need to be staked, but others may not be so obvious. I … Continue reading

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The 3 basic secrets to a great garden

During the first week of April, I planted a small garden for my parents in Mississippi.  Early in June, I was back there for a week with my parents.  While I was there, a number of their neighbors asked me … Continue reading

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A garden as a source of comfort

When I was growing up, we had huge gardens every year.  I don’t think we ever planted anything under a half acre and for several years we had a two-acre garden.  We grew unbelieveable amounts of vegetables.   A significant portion of … Continue reading

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Sunshine and soil: the next steps

The plants have been growing nicely under the lights indoors.  This weekend was so warm and beautiful that I took them outside for a few hours to get their first taste of real sunshine. This is the next step toward … Continue reading

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How NOT to sprout!

I’m all about experimenting, learning from others, and trying new things aimed at being more self-sufficient and saving money.  Sometimes it works well and sometimes… well, this happens.  I’d been thinking about trying sprouting for some time but just never gotten around … Continue reading

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Garden planning for a better garden

I have used a variety of different garden planning methods over the years.  I’ve drawn out rough plans on a sheet of paper, drawn and filled in everything to scale using PowerPoint, and of course just put plants haphazardly wherever … Continue reading

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Getting the garden started early

You’ve read about my plant shelf weekend project and my reasons for starting plants from seed.  Here is the next step – planting the seeds!  After I completed the plant shelf, I started five varieties of tomatoes, three varieties of … Continue reading

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4 great reasons to start your plants from seed

Like most gardeners, I have bought hundreds of plants from nurseries and big box stores.  I’ve also started my own plants from seed a few times and I’m now trying to always do that.  There are a number of good … Continue reading

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Weekend project: shelf for starting plants indoors

The end is finally in sight for my least favorite time of the year and I have really been itching to getting started with gardening again.  The weather here has been playing tricks on the senses with respect to gardening.  … Continue reading

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