There are three things that every living plant needs; sunlight, water and love but not necessarily in that order. Love seems to be the easiest because most people don’t raise plants they either don’t love to grow, smell or eat. If you love what you grow then you will make sure they have ample sunlight throughout the day as well as enough water to flourish. However, sometimes it’s hard to know how much water is enough without being too much. Yes, you can actually give your plants too much water.

One of the things that is important to know is that water releases nutrients found in the soil and the root systems of the plants soak up those nutrients and send it to the rest of the plant. Discovering how much you should water so this takes place properly can be a little more difficult because it depends on several factors that include; your soil type, region you live in and what you are growing.

If you live in a tropical area you will have very different watering needs than if you live in an arid climate. The same thing applies if you are growing a type of cactus compared to tomatoes in your back yard garden. It always helps if you know the consistency of your soil. If you don’t know where this can be found, call the agriculture department to the University nearest you and they can point you in the right direction. If you don’t have a University near you call the US Department of Agriculture and find out if they have a lab you can send a soil sample to for analysis. Most of the time for a small fee you can have the answer back in a few months.

Armed with this information, go to the internet and research to find everything you can find on the type of plants you are either growing or want to grow. You should be able to easily find out everything including how much or little water is required to grow it in your region. You will also discover your regions growing time to make sure you have enough time to grow the plants in your yard and garden.

I recently spoke to one of my neighbors who for the last two years have let his garden area go. I found out that he had hurt his back and was having trouble so much pain bending over that planting, weeding and harvesting was not something he could easily do anymore. As we talked I asked him about another small raised bed in his front yard that he continued to use to raise tomatoes and basil and he told me it was high enough that he could reach it and tend to it as needed.

I went home that night thinking about what could be done to help my neighbor continue to garden without pain and got an idea that I spoke to him about the next day. He was very excited!

His garden was 20 feet x 16 feet and located on a slope. He had used timbers to create a boundary around the space and had small areas portioned off to plant flowers around the garden. We went in and took the timbers out and created 2 raised beds that stand about 3 feet off the ground and run horizontal to the slope and are 16 feet by 4 feet. We were able to reuse almost all of the timber so there was little out of pocket cost and the dirt from the garden was used to fill the raised beds.

I was actually shocked that we were able to do everything with the dirt that was in the garden. The hardest part was pulling up the weeds and grass that had taken over but once that was done it was just a matter of good old fashioned shoveling. We took strawberries that had gone crazy in the old garden space and replanted them in one raised bed to create a strawberry patch. The other has an array of plants including more tomatoes, sweet potatoes and peppers of several varieties.

We used some trellises from the old garden as well so the tomatoes will grow up them and leave room for everything else to grow. I see my neighbor almost everyday out watering and weeding and he is extremely thankful that a solution was reached so he could go back and garden the way he loves to.

When faced with a challenge, use your imagination and see if you too can find a new solution to an old problem.

If you’ve planted several types of hot peppers, you most likely have an abundance of scorching hot vegetables and are unsure what to do with them. It’s easy to dry your hot peppers and crush them for year round usage in all your favorite meals.

Invest in some simple fishing twine, or string that is thin, but very sturdy. Then, thread the line or string onto a thick needle. Wear gloves, or be sure to wash your hands afterwards to avoid getting oil from the hot peppers onto your face or in your eyes. Next, thread the fishing line or string through the stem of each pepper. Don’t overload the line, so the hot peppers have enough space to dry, and hang the line or string up in your kitchen. Choose a cool, dry place and don’t place them over the stove (it’s too hot and the peppers won’t dry). Enjoy your hot peppers in chili, stew, pastas and more once they dry – just pick a pepper off the line and crush it in your favorite dish!

This time of year always tries my patience. It is hard for me not to run out to my tomato plants on a daily basis and try to find the first ripe one to eat; after all these are the heirloom tomatoes that are so good! I know it sounds a little crazy and I just might be but there is nothing like a freshly ripened tomato out of the garden. They just taste better than the store bought variety.

Though we are getting many things out of the garden that you could say the same thing about there is something different about the tomato. Maybe it’s the potential flavor of tomatoes that makes them a different kind of fruit (yes, they are a fruit). Some of them can be tart while others are as sweet as berries. Some beckon you to eat them like an apple while others are perfect for slicing and eating on sandwiches or with your breakfast eggs. All I know is once they start to come in I will be eating them with every meal as long as they last and I can hardly wait!

Many of us think we need a lot of space in order to garden but that is no longer true. There are many old and new ways to grow some, if not all of,  your own food. One of the newer items that comes to mind are the AeroGardens that use hydroponic or water to grow many different types of produce on a year round basis.  You can have a herb garden that is full or your favorite herbs for cooking or on salads or a  salad garden that is lettuces and cherry tomatoes. They have several different kinds and combination’s for you to chose from.

One of the oldest methods are the use of wooden raised beds. The new twist on these beds are the tiered versions that take up very little space, are free standing and can grow 50 plus plants in a 4 ft x 4 ft space. Some of these gardens have up to 6 tiers and they make wonderful ways for the elderly or handicapped to be able to reach the dirt and plants and have the experience of gardening or just continue to enjoy the gardening experience. You truly can garden wherever you are!

Like many, I got some much wanted Christmas presents that now that I have them, I don’t really know what to do with them! The dehydrator is one such gift this year. It’s not that I have not had some success with it, it’s the fact that it takes so much time to cut stuff up, dry it and then you have to eat it pretty soon before it spoils because you’re not using preservatives, which is the reason you get a dehydrator.

Once you look at it you think that’s cool, I’ll be able to do quite a bit at a time but the reality is you need a lot of rows of racks to do any amount of drying at one time and they cost a pretty penny. In fact, at close to twenty bucks per set, after you buy five sets you could have bought another dehydrator. So after you realize that’s how they make their money, you have to decide if the time and effort is worth the overall cost (I find that with most things these days you have to count the costs) and for me that’s still up in the air.

Funny that I just wrote about Alice Waters and the Slow Food Movement and the advantages of either growing your own food or purchasing your food locally because one of the things she has been very passionate about just happened today.  The White House is planting an organic garden on the grounds.  In fact, Michelle Obama is a proponent of good healthy food sources and she sounds like an Alice Waters believer!

Ms Waters has written many a letter to the powers that be at the White House for many years now with no takers.  She won’t have to say that anymore.  I am so pleased that something so close to Alice’s heart has come to fruition. Bravo Ms. Obama, may you lead the way for a better way to have food; Alice Waters as well as many of us will be right there by your side with shovels in one hand and seeds in the other!

You hear people talk about “going green” all the time and what you find is all they end up doing is changing their light bulbs to the new and highly better florescent bulbs and recycle whenever it’s convenient.  This is a great start; however, it is not going to change the world as we know it.  What does have the potential to change the world is plants and lots of them.  We can offset the CO2 output by planting trees and other plants throughout our cities and one of the best and inexpensive ways to do this is the use of greenhouses.

Greenhouses come in many different sizes and are made from different materials.  Most residences use greenhouse kits because they are portable.  They are very easy to put together and install and allow you to grow flowers, vegetables and herbs as well as all kinds of other plants and trees on a year round basis.  You just can’t beat having a greenhouse to make it a better world for you, your family and the environment.  For those of you that don’t have a lot of space or live in a condo, you can use a mini greenhouse.  Let’s make a better world and really go green and utilize greenhouses!

It wasn’t very long ago that my kids were giving me a lot of grief about gardening.  They just could not understand why I would want to grow my own food when I could hop in the car, run to the local grocery store and purchase what I needed.  They thought I was crazy because I always had an access and would have to figure out what in the world I was going to do with all of it, which normally meant that I would give it away.  Well time has changed.

They are now calling me and asking me for advice on gardening, freezing, canning and drying herbs.  Though I am not an expert on any one thing, I have done some of all of them.  I have recommended using the library, of which one son was floored when he found out that’s how I learned to can, suggested the internet and to buy a book on processing home grown food.  With a new baby, they have also looked into making organic baby food and to think, it all started with a garden.

Having and using a greenhouse is the best way to produce veggies when summer is not in session.  They are productive buildings and it may take several years to break even on your investment.  The questions you may want to ask yourself is; is the cost worth the overall benefits of being able to grow your own food pesticide free year round and only you can answer that question. 

Before you begin, there are a couple of things that need to be taken into consideration before setting up a home greenhouse.   You will want to determine what material will be best to cover your greenhouse with as different materials will give you different results.  Glass windows are said to retain as many vitamins as possible in your plants but can be dangerous and requires you to clean it often.  Polyurethane or plastic is shatterproof and withy the advances made every year getting better and better as a green house covering. Bear in mind that the isolated environment of a greenhouse does makes a welcome home for annoying pests so you will want to take measures to combat that situation from the very beginning.  Basic sticky traps placed no higher than your plants should do the trick in nixing these unwelcome visitors.

Lastly, you can prolong your gardening ventures even further by investing in a heater to heat your backyard greenhouse.  This helps you to stabilize the environment to stay around forty-five degrees throughout the winter.  If the air inside falls below that number, it’s to cold for your plants to grow optimally.  Having a heater will cost a little more and you will either have to have electricity or use propane, but you can do so much more with your winter gardening with a home garden greenhouse.