Mother Earth's Garden

Every year about this time the garden seed catalogs start arriving in the mail. I usually sit them carefully in a pile beside my chair in the living room until the hustle and bustle of the holidays is done. It seems like December always goes by in a blur of activity.

Then January hits and everything comes to a standstill. That’s when I start to get garden fever, or the winter blues, whatever you want to call it. I’m ready for spring! I’m done with winter and ready to start heading outside to the garden again.
That’s when I dive into the …read more

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Yesterday I talked about planning your garden for 2010, so today I want to share a few of my garden plans for the new year. I’ve spent some time over the last few weeks reflecting on my 2009 garden, what went right, and what wend wrong. I’ve also thought about what I’d like to grow more of, and what I need less of (or none of) for next years garden.

Here are my 2010 garden plans and goals:

I didn’t plant enough plants for fall decorating this year. I want to plant more gourds, broom corn, strawflowers, and other plants and flowers …read more

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Since 2009 is winding down, and 2010 is about to get off to a quick start, now is the perfect time to take a look at your garden plans for the new year. It’s a great time to sit down and map out your gardening goals, and plan out what you want to plant next year.

For me it’s good to plan things out a little before the garden seed catalogs start arriving in the mailbox every day and filling my head full of new and exciting plants I think I might need to try. If I go into it with …read more

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Now is a great time to sit down and make some notes about this year’s garden, and start planning what you’ll plant next year. This summer’s garden is still fresh in your mind, you know what you planted too much of, you know what you wish you had more of.

You also know what worked in your garden and what didn’t. I’m making notes to plant more ornamentals I can craft with next year. I usually plant gourds, pumpkins, broom corn, and several different flowers for drying. This year I didn’t plant any ornamentals. I focused more on vegetables …read more

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Do you keep a garden journal? I usually keep a small journal that reminds me when I planted things, where they’re planted, and when they’re do to harvest. I check the projected harvest against the actual harvest, and make a note of the weather conditions.

I use my past garden journals when I plant in the spring to help me decide what to plant, when to plant it, and where.
I also diagram my garden and write down what’s planted in each row. Then later in the year when I forget what type of tomato, or onion is in …read more

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I spent the afternoon planting my garden. I had some plants to get in there and I didn’t want to let them sit in pots too long. I planted 18 different types of tomatoes. Most were heirloom varieties, including Cherokee Chocolate, Green Jubilee, Ivory Egg, Blueberry, and some of my favorites like Arkansas Traveler, and Brandywine.

I also planted some eggplant, basil, flowering kale, and 4 different varieties of peppers. They all joined the cabbage, potatoes, onions, greens, spinach, and peas that I planted in April.
I still want to get some melons, squash and beets planted, hopefully tomorrow. I usually …read more

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If you love a certain type of cooking why not plant a specialty garden with all your favorite ingredients.  

If you love Italian flavors plant a pizza garden featuring tomatoes, basil, oregano, sweet peppers, garlic, or eggplant.
If you’re into spicy Southwestern cuisine plant tomatoes, corn, tomatillos, chili peppers, habaneras, jalapenos, cilantro, and onions
If you love stir fry plant bok choy, cabbage, snow peas, baby corn, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, sesame, green beans, fennel, and carrots.
For a Southern flavor add okra, tons of greens, peas, corn, zucchini, and beans.

Plant your garden to match your tastes and cooking style. If you’re not sure …read more

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How do you go about selecting plants you know will grow well in your area? Especially when you’re looking in a big catalog of plants that is sent out nationally, or worldwide?

Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years to help pick the best plants possible for your location:

Read the fine print in the catalog, don’t just look at a pretty flower in bloom and decide you’d like to give it a go in your garden. Read the growing details. Does the plant prefer shade or sun? Sandy dry soil, or moist tropical soil? Does it grow …read more

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March is Spring garden clean up time around here. I don’t usually trim back or divide my perennials in the fall, I usually wait until March to clean out last years growth.
I know many people trim things back in the fall, but I don’t for two reasons.

The left over foliage helps shield the roots and base plant from winters rough weather.
Many of the leaves, dried flowers, and seed heads add winter interest to the garden.

So every Spring I clean out the old stuff and throw it on the compost or leaf pile. We also do most of …read more

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Since we are trying to save money by planting our garden this year, even more than in other years, I’m going to keep track of my garden expenses, and share them here.
So far I’ve only spent $1.25 on 5 packets of seeds at a local grocery store. It was an unplanned purchase, but I couldn’t pass them up. The packets are small, not a ton of seeds in each one, but for some fruits and vegetables I don’t need many. I purchased sweet peppers, buttercrunch lettuce, field pumpkins, salad cucumbers, and spinach. For most of these a small packet …read more

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