FROM NURSERY TO GARDEN TO KITCHEN
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By: Jeanette Bunn, Travel To Go
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I am blessed to live in a location where we can grow vegetables, fruit and flowers for a solid 9 months a year.
Now I write this with the understanding that in San Diego, California, we refer to June, as “June Gloom”, because we rarely see the sun. I know, this makes no sense, but in the month of June, we usually have gloomy days all month. So, my garden will look much more robust next month, once it sees the sun every day. In fact, today the gloom is so heavy, it was misting outside and everything is wet. Here is how I grow a garden.
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1. Make sure you have a place to grow things, like planters, gardening boxes, etc. They all need to have holes at the bottom, to drain the excess water.
2. Go to the local nursery and buy seedlings or the smallest plants, of your favorite vegetables, fruits, and flowers.
3. Buy organic potting soil and fertilizer. Miracle Grow works well. Use it once per week, minimum for ultimate results. There are many brands on the market that work just as good. Ask your local nursery (Ace Hardware has specialists and they know their stuff!) for recommendations or ask others that are in the same isle as you. I often talk with other gardeners and share gardening tips.
4. I also bought a compost bin and have worms and dirt in mine. Every day, we throw our banana peels, tops of strawberries, avocado pits and peels, raw egg shells; anything from fruit and vegetables that you do not eat raw, can go in your compost. It feeds the worms, and then they poop in your dirt and make everything grow better! So also use soil from the compost and blend it with your potting soil, because it’s hard to make enough soil if you have lots of plants. I threw an avocado pit in mine last year. And without knowing it, an avocado tree is growing in my vegetable planter box from the soil I blended! Additional information on composting can be found
HERE
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5. If you are buying plants that already have a root system, massage the roots before planting them so they break up a little bit. If they are just seedlings, be careful and expect that a few will not make it. They are very fragile, but resilient at the same time.
6. Plant, water and keep an eye on them for snails, and other rodents. You might have to move them, if they are not getting enough sun, too much or being eaten by snails or rabbits! When it’s been time to pick my blueberries, they were gone! I discovered bunnies were eating them early in the morning. Birds too! I have had to net my gardening box, but I have a German Sheppard who scares away the birds now, so I don’t usually have birds eating my garden now.
7. I do a morning look every day to make sure everything is thriving and if not, I make an adjustment. I deadhead all the dead blooms. This means you cut all the dead flowers, at the base of the stem. Be careful not to cut the new blooms.
8. Weekends are usually when I plant extras, pull out dead plants, replace, and search for new and beautiful things.
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Simple Recipes:
Pasta night:
Fresh tomatoes, cut and chopped, fresh basil, lots of extra virgin olive oil (as much as you like but the more you have, you can pour over your pasta), chopped garlic, and put in a non-stick pan. Add 3 shakes of Red Wine vinegar and balsamic and mix. Then cover with Saran Wrap for one hour to all day prior to heating the water for the pasta. The house will smell like you are in Italy! Then a low boil for 10 minutes, turn off, boil pasta (I use angel hair pasta that takes 4 minutes), and pour over pasta, add some Parmesan cheese and voila!
Salads
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Cut lettuce from garden, wash, dry with paper towel, and then chop. Cut tomatoes, red peppers, strawberries and mix with favorite protein and dressing.
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