Grow Your Own
To live more sustainably, I have a small garden bed in my backyard to grow food for my family. Although it isn’t as large as I would like it be and certainly could not grow a year’s worth of food, I am able to grow plenty of fresh vegetables to make sauces, salsas and salad ingredients. As well, I utilize my patio as a container garden to grow bush-type varieties in pots. Using the space I have to the best of its ability saves me money and, best of all, I have the satisfaction of knowing how my food is grown.
Getting My Seeds Started
To gear up for the garden season, I save lots of newspapers (one of my favorite items to keep on hand) ahead of time to use in the garden. I love the sheet-mulching or the lasagna gardening method, so I add lots of newspaper to my garden. As well, I use recycled newspaper to make seed pots. You can learn how to make your own, or use this handy device to secure the paper to make pots.
To keep the cost down on gardening, I make my own seed starting mix. I usually make my own compost. Here are 80+ items to add to your compost pile. This is the best recipe I have found:
- 4 parts screened compost
- 1 part perlite
- 1 part vermiculite
- 2 parts coir
Note: To keep the dust down, lightly moisten the ingredients before blending them thoroughly in a dishpan or wheelbarrow.
Place two or three seeds on the surface, and gently press the seeds down so they are nestled into the mix. If your seeds are very small, like basil or peppers, you can leave them uncovered. If your seeds are larger, like beans or peas, or they require darkness to germinate, cover them with a layer of vermiculite or seed starting mix equal to their height, usually 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch.
I usually start my seeds indoors in January to give them ample time to grow and establish their roots before I find their permanent homes in my outdoor garden. Rather than purchasing a Jiffy Pot Greenhouse kit each year, I have learned how to make my own. All you need is a used rotisserie chicken plastic container, plastic clamshells that previously held baked goods or even fast food salad containers. These are all great containers for creating a diy hot house for growing seeds. Ideally, you want to add drainage holes at the bottom of whichever container you use so that your seedlings do not sit idly in water, as this can cause root rot and molds grow.
Which Seeds to Grow
Determining when to start plants indoors depends on when the last frost typically occurs where you live, and then counting backward based on the type of plants you want to grow. The seeds I have chosen to grow early in the season are the ones that take between 60-90 days to mature. Seeds such as, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, melons, squash and herbs. As well, I am regrowing some of my food scraps to add to the garden once their roots are established.
If you are short on garden space, many of these varieties can be grown on the patio or deck. In fact, I have a very successful winter patio garden that I started where I grow spinach, lettuce, herbs and kale. These are great for patio gardens because they are shallow rooted, meaning they do not have large root systems that take up a lot of space – all you need is a deep garden pot. The following is a listing of plants that grow well in containers:
- Tomatoes
- Beans
- Peppers
- Lettuce
- Cabbage
- Mustard greens
- Carrots
- Turnips
- Onions
- Garlic
- Radishes
- Potatoes
- Most herbs
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