Monday, March 23, 2009

Vegetable Gardens: If you plant it, they will grow.


The sun is out! Spring is here! And the birds are singing. If you listen closely, you'll hear them chirping these words, "plant a vegetable garden, you know you want to!"

Planting a vegetable garden can require a bit of labor, but it's all worth it in the end. And the cost benefit is amazing. You can pay $3.00 for a pack of tomato plant seeds and get a whole bunch of tomatoes, or pay $3.00 at the store and get about 2 or 3 tomatoes. If you haven't had a garden before, I suggest starting small and buying a few books or doing some internet research. (I've included a few resources at the bottom of this post.)


Last year was my first vegetable garden and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Above is a photo of the onions I grew and which turned out delicious. Grow onions if you can. They are pretty easy and naturally pest resistant. I also grew corn, and while it was great to watch a little seed turn into a great big corn stalk, the pests tried my patience. Our corn attracted hordes of Japanese Beetles. They say you can pick them off with your fingers, but I'm much too squeamish for that, so I attempted to suck them up with a dirt devil attached to an extension cord. Of course, that didn't go over so well, because Japanese Beetles can fly. So they just flew away! It's kind of funny in hindsight.

Below are some great links to help you get started on your very own vegetable garden!

Websites:
Apartment Therapy: Planning the Garden
Martha Stewart: Vegetable Garden 101
The Garden Helper
Backyard Gardener
Amazon: Home and Garden Section

Supplies:
Burpee.com
Gurney's Seed and Nursery
Gardener's Supply Company

Top Photo: Burpee.com

4 comments:

Kristin said...

Great idea! I started sowing some herbs last week and already they're sprouting up! I'm so excited to be able to use fresh herbs, instead of salt and all that other junk, on my food!

christina said...

i planted my first veggie garden last weekend...i'm so, so, so excited...i hope it all goes well...thanks for the additional resources!

i planted brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, tomatoes and peppers. all in self-watering containers made from recycled plastic on our patio!

thanks for posting!!

christina said...

oh...i also forgot to share: i found some great organic seeds on etsy!

looking forward to hearing about your garden this year!

Anonymous said...

only grow herbs at home and wish i had more space for a garden. signed up for the community veg garden. can't wait!

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