Many studies have found that gardening can be beneficial to both your mental and physical health. When we moved into our “forever” home in 2017, one thing we knew was that we wanted to start a garden. We wanted our small child to grow up planting and picking some of the food he eats and we wanted to get satisfaction in knowing we could grow some of our own food too!
The blog links below show our journey of starting our own herb and vegetable gardens. In addition, you will find some more instructional blogs on how you can do it too!
My Flamingo Garden
“Since we have been working with various garden and CSA projects recently I knew I wanted to keep the gardens but not in their current form. And so my flamingo garden was born!“
Planting Day
“Saturday was planting day at my house. I woke up in a tizzy of excitement and anticipation for what the day would hold. First I re-reviewed my garden plans with my garden assistants (my husband and dad).”
The Pineapple
“So my mom calls pineapple a garbage food because you can grow a pineapple by the part you would typically throw away – in this case the crown of the pineapple.”
The Gnome Herb Garden: An Introduction
“After weeks of staring and contemplating what to do with our front garden we finally made a decision. Herbs! We need more herbs! Herbs are kinda like the cowbell – you can never have enough!“
The Seedlings are Crawling
“We had our first “harvest” from the garden about a week after planting. It was one lone strawberry.”
Eggplants, Eggplants Everywhere
“When we moved in the previous owner proudly showed me the flowing eggplant plants while proclaiming, “you will have fresh eggplants any day now!” So I excitedly waited for the eggplants to appear… I waited and waited and waited.”
Green Beans are Sketchy
“The green beans in my garden are sketchy, ninja vegetables… Green beans grow on a bush or a vine – I have both types in my garden. The Bush green beans, however, are the ones you should really look out for..”
The Tomato Massacre of 2018
“My big beautiful tomato plants were too big and beautiful? I was having a tantrum in my head. So like most things I don’t like to hear – I decided to put it in the back of my mind and deal with it later…“
Build and Rebuild
“The rains began. At first I was excited – the garden needed water and I thought the rain was better than dragging the hose out to the garden to water it. Plus isn’t rain supposed to help the garden grow?”
New Year, New Garden
“After Christmas was over and all the guests were gone, it was finally time to roll up my sleeves and get to work. So while, small child was playing on his new playground Santa got him – I started pulling weeds.”
5 Herbs You Include in Your 1st Herb Garden
“Did I convince you to start your herb garden? If so – here are 5 herbs you should start with…“
Eggplant 411: Troubleshooting Your Eggplants
“Last year it took FOREVER for my eggplant plants to start fruiting. It took hand fertilizing the eggplants with a paintbrush before I finally got them to fruit.“
Black Bananas
“I knew nothing about banana plants when I bought this little bundle of leaves. I should probably clarify at this point and say – I STILL know nothing about banana plants.”
Fixing Mistakes – A Gardening Redesign
“If you have been following my garden journey for a while you know that the bane of my gardening existence is flooding. I live in fear Spring-Summer of the heavy rains that threaten to wash away my garden, leaving me with soggy roots and floating leaves.”
Creating the Garden Space
“Once we had the raised garden beds, we realized we needed to revamp the garden space to better display them. Since our old garden kept flooding, we decided to fully take out that area.”
Guide to Growing Basil
“Basil is one of my favorite herbs to grow in the summer. There are so many reasons to grow basil: 1. It smells amazing! 2. It is super easy to grow and maintain – especially if you will be traveling for part of the summer growing season. 3. There are so many uses for fresh basil!”