Cultivating curiosity and confidence
I have my standard list of fruits, vegetables, and herbs that I plant in my gardens every year: heirloom tomatoes, lettuces, peas, basil, parsley, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, etc. However one thing I would recommend, that I enjoy doing each year, is to leave space for a couple of new-to-you vegetables. They don’t necessarily have to be new to market, just something that you yourself haven’t tried growing before.
READ MORE » about Five reasons to plant new-to-you vegetables in your garden
I’m all about experimenting in the garden. I love to conduct my own little “studies” and compare different gardening techniques and products to see which ones work best for me. As scientifically-casual as these experiments are, I often wind up discovering a good bit of worthwhile information. Case in point: growing organic apples with the fruit bagging technique.
READ MORE » about Growing organic apples with fruit bagging: The Experiment
A vertical vegetable garden is a simple way to boost growing space, reduce insect and disease problems, and beautify decks and patios. In my veggie plot, I use structures like trellises, stakes, and obelisks. These support vining tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, gourds, peas, and pole beans. But, I also have a vertical vegetable garden on my back deck and patio. With a little creative thinking, you can grow edibles on walls and fences, or create your own vertical space with hanging baskets or pallets.
One of the things I love to do is take old objects that no longer have a purpose and turn them into something cool for the garden. In my book, Raised Bed Revolution, I made a few raised beds out of items I’d found at a local antique market—an old wooden suitcase, a metal washbasin, a small dining table, etc. I figured this was the perfect topic to celebrate Earth Day, so I’ve gathered a few photos that will hopefully inspire you to get creative and come up with your own upcycling project for the garden.
You don’t need a big garden to produce a large harvest. Growing high-yield vegetables is an easy way to maximize your growing space. High-yield crops are those that produce the most food per square foot of garden. There are plenty of great books on growing more food with less space, including the recently released book, High-Yield Vegetable Gardening by Colin McCrate and Brad Halm.
READ MORE » about 6 high-yield vegetables
While there’s been a lot of focus on promoting pollinators in the news lately, let’s not forget about supporting all the other beneficial insects that reside in our yards and gardens. There are thousands of species of predatory and parasitic beneficial insects who help us control many common garden pests by consuming them or using them to house and feed their developing young. If you want to encourage these pest-munching bugs, then you’d do well to include plants for beneficial insects in your garden plans.
