Friday, August 24, 2012

Growing your own

... gardens, that is.  If you can.

I love gardening.  You can even grow things in pots if you don't have a lot of land around that you can grow things in. I did that when I lived in an apartment. It was tomatoes and herbs mostly.  Preserving home-grown foods is easy with either canning or freezing, or even drying some things.  Gardening is an excellent project for homeschool (and non) kids!

Like all things, planning is the key and knowing what you can grow where and when. Start with things you love and that are easy to grow.  We started with herbs that I use in cooking and tomatoes. When we were able, we expanded to other things like cucumbers and made lots of pickles.

I always buy pure seeds, never GMO seeds. Most of the cheap ones you find in stores are GMO.  Organic is so much healthier and you don't get flack from organic seed companies for using seeds from what you grow.  Here's some info on GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) http://www.saynotogmos.org/

Make your own seed starters:

  • Empty toilet paper rolls
  • Paper egg carton or tray of some sort
  • Dirt
  • Seeds

Cut the toilet paper roll in half. Place each in a well of the egg carton or in a tray. Fill halfway with dirt. Plant a few seeds, add more dirt. Water and watch grow!  Then plant the whole thing (great with the egg carton, just cut up) in the ground.
Original idea courtesy  Constança  via Pinterest


And, if you can't garden, find a good produce stand or farmer's market.  It's worth it!!

Produce Places in the Nashville TN area:

Habeggers Amish Market, Scottsville, KY

Gallatin Farmers Market, Gallatin TN
Don's Fresh Produce Market, Gallatin TN

Nashville Farmer's Market, Nashville, TN
Murfreesboro TN Farmers Market, TN
Wilson County Farmer's Market, Lebanon TN


One of our old garden spots
Herbs in pots

Our daughter's garden


Resources:

One of the best books you can get for gardening (esp if you are in the south) is The Southern Living Garden Book.  


Organic Seeds:
http://rareseeds.com/
http://www.seedsavers.org/


Problems with Pesticides:
Victory for Bees!
mass death of British bees to farm pesticides
Corn Seed Treatment and Clothianidin
Neonicotinoid insecticides and the mass-death of bee colonies
Are Systemic Pesticides To Blame for Honeybee Colony Collapse?
Bird decline, insect decline and neonicotinoids exploring the connections


Organic Foods/Growing:
7 Reasons to Go Organic

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