I am impressed with how many new gardeners we have out there. I think we are getting the message. I hope the plants are all thriving and getting ready to spill with ripe fruit. Just a few more tips on how to get the most from your garden this year:
Remove weeds as they pop up. You don't want to waste the water and nutrients in your soil on the weeds.
Pinch off leaves on the plants like tomato, pepper, chili, etc. that are on the ground. Always remove parts of the plant that do not support the food. You don't need to have a huge bushy tomato plant. Prune it for better fruit yield.
It is getting warm. Make sure to increase your water. I water every other day. The new gardening method I learned was to water 1 inch deep every day. My garden isn't set up this way yet so I am watering deeper every other day. Listen to the plants. They will let you know. Don't let the soil get dried out. This will stress the plants.
If you fertilize your soil weekly, Stop about 3 weeks before the food is getting ready to harvest. If you started in February, you are probably about there.
If you still need more reasons to start a garden, here is an article to get you going. Thanks to Brittany for forwarding this to me.
Good luck to you all! If you have any great garden fresh recipes, kick them my way!
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4 comments:
I sure have enjoyed your blog. I found it last week via Kara's Whatcha Got Cookin'. My younger brother was diagnosed with Autism when he was 12 years old. He is now 30. He is not self sufficient. He speaks (a bit too much!), does a lot of stimming, & really obsesses. Wow, if only my parents had known what some of us know now. My husband and I have 3 children (ages 9 1/2, 7, and 2 1/2and they do not have Autism (as far as I know). I have a lot of fear for my 2 1/2 year old, but I think that is because of what I experienced growing up. Before this month is up, I should write on my blog about autism from the siblings perspective.
I love what you have written about gardening, oils and safe/unsafe foods. I have a few questions about them. I live in the Phoenix area as well, I went to Shar's classes when she was in the west valley & I now go to Dottie's. Do you have a ton of flies in your compost? If so, how do you rid of them? for the oils, do you exclusively use oils to OTC's? and finally, I have been purging the pantry and trying my darndest to cook only whole foods and from scratch. Then, I went to truthinlabeling.com and find out that citric acid is MSG! I'd had been thinking all week that citric acid was OK. I really enjoy soda, so I bought $20 of Hansen's soda this past week at Sprouts! What is your family doing? Do you have a list of no way are we going to eat foods with x, y, & z in them but if only citric acid (for example is in than it is ok? Uggggh! Then what do you do about birthday parties, friends houses, the school cafeteria? I am sure so much of this is on your blog, I just need to take the time to absorb it all. Thanks again for pouring your heart out to all the internets out here.
Kendra,
Thanks for your comments.I do get flies in my compost but it helps to cover up the rotting fruit and veggies with grass clippings or leaves. Keep the compost turned up so that you get the real fresh fruit and veggie pieces under the already broken down material. For the oils, the only medicine I use is an occassional Motrin, other than that, just oils. As far as the citric acid, yes, it may be MSG but not always. You can't find out so that is one I try to limit but not always. If all the other ingredients are great, I don't worry so much about that one. All in moderation. As far as soda, all of them are not good to drink. Hansens included. Sorry. I will have a list of some of the harmful additives in my cookbook along with a list you can put in your purse. As far as kids at birthday parties etc. , I don't limit them so much. It is a party. Eat what they want. Just limit as best as possible to parties and holidays. There are plenty of those. We also go out to eat sometimes or have treats on weekends. That is just fine by me. We eat healthy most of the week. I know they eat junk at friends houses but I pack their lunches except my highschooler. I feel with a good breakfast, lunch and dinner, what they get elsewhere won't kill them. I encourage them to skip the ice cream but that doesn't always work. They are learning though that it makes them get stuffy and pass more often now. Slow process. Keep up the good work. I am still absorbing it so don't feel bad! We just keep on trying.
Shari,
What a relief! Thanks for posting so fast. I will have to remember everything in moderation. I love soda and sweets (probably too much), so I just need to remind myself Everything in moderation over and over again. I was hoping you would say that if citric acid was the only "harmful" ingredient you let it slide. I look forward to your recipe book and list.
Hi Shari, my name is Katie Deaton and my friend Emily Burton gave me your blog address. I wanted to order some oils from you. Could you give me a call @ 480-688-9840 Thanks
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