Grow your own veggies!!

Three summers ago I thought it would be fun to try gardening. I never imagined how that garden would grow or the blessing my family would receive from it. I am in NO WAY a master gardener and learn new things all the time, but I have been amazed at the ease of growing our own food and how much we have benefitted. We started out with a very simple raised bed. I started with easy things like tomatoes and peppers. It took me a couple years to figure out which plants were the best for us based mainly on what my family actually ate and what was fairly easy to care for. If you plant five tomato plants, you have to find something to do with all those tomatoes and I learned that the hard way!

I also cater my garden to my children. It is fun for my preschooler to pick cherry tomatoes and snacking peppers, so I plant those. I have said this on the blog before, but I strongly believe that when kids are involved in what they eat, they are much more willing to try new and different things.

I have been through trials with my garden- yellow plants from not enough nitrogen, white butterflies eating my broccoli, mint wrapping itself around every other plant, etc., but I love learning how to fix the problems and really enjoy growing our own food. Our library has been a great resource for issues when they arise as well as my in-laws who have been gardening for many years. Having a garden cuts my grocery bill by about a third every summer. We chose to eat what we have available and it is good for our finances and our bodies!

One of my projects for the first time this summer was growing carrots. As I only have three raised beds right now, I always seem to want to grow more than what I have space for. So, I thought I would try growing carrots in a container. I used an old crate that was in the basement and filled it with Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control® Potting Mix. I chose this soil because I am very prone to being forgetful about watering. I like this crate because it has the holes for drainage already made for me. You could use this method for any kind of  vegetable that doesn't need much space.

I planted the seeds according to the package directions (one inch down and two inches apart).

Within six weeks, I had carrots!

 

Don't be afraid to try gardening, even if you only have a few feet of space. You will be amazed what you can provide for your family very inexpensively and with little room or effort.