Feed a family with a garden

I do not claim to do much gardening, but I do know a lot about it  (and I am doing so much better with the help of today’s sponsor, Miracle Gro®!  Now we can even feed our family with a garden!) 

Gardening – honestly…  my husband takes care of it and he does a great job!   I might tell him that I will help every year, but he ends up just taking over for me.  He could feed a family with a garden pretty easily! He grows strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and more.     (We still like to go strawberry picking, but we grow our own, too…) 

Well… lets not forget to mention that he uses Miracle-Gro® LiquaFeed® Universal Feeder because it allows him to easily feed the garden no matter how you water – using a soaker hose, sprinkler, watering wand, hand sprayer, etc.  (here is a picture of how it works)

I’ll just ‘lay it all on the table’ when I say that I am too afraid of finding a worm or bug in the soil to even try my hand (or thumb) at gardening.   Yes, I know… wimpy.   That’s OK because I have three little boy “Superheros” that will help take care of that problem, so I can be a little wimpy if I want to!

Like I said, I don’t do much gardening, but I do know about it.  It is like my Great Grandma used to tell us about weight loss.  She knew everything that you should do to lose weight… its the doing it that is the hard part!

• Most people think that gardening is so easy, but you really need to do more than water to help your garden thrive, which is why we love Miracle-Gro® LiquaFeed® Universal Feeder.  It seriously just makes feeding easier than ever.   If you read my blog, you know that I am all about short-cuts, hacks & tips!

A while back, I was able to speak with a published Author of a gardening book that taught us all about growing Organic Vegetables in our garden.  I am going to share the tips that I have learned from him.  They are proving to be so helpful to us this year in our own garden.

Here are the tips that I have to feed a family with a garden:

The goal of the garden is to mimic whats going on in nature to save work on your part.
Start with a raised bed: 

• Fill a raised bed with loose, organic, non-disturbed soil.  If you have two 3X8 gardens and one trellis, it will feed a family of four.  You can feed a family with a garden!
• When you are putting your beds together, be sure that one does not overshadow the other!
• Use a trellis to grow climbing vegetables and fruits.   Some examples of these are spring peas, beans and cucumbers.
•  You need 6 hours of sunlight for your garden.
• Use Miracle-Gro® LiquaFeed® Universal Feeder because it will optimize the garden by both watering and feeding at the same time.

• Remember that you want to water the BASE of the plants for 5-7 minutes two or three times a week.
• THE ENEMY of a healthy plant is wet leaves!  This is the reason that tomato cages don’t work well in a garden.  They make it hard for the leaves to dry and the plants can not grow well when the leaves continue to stay wet.
• DO NOT TRANSPLANT: Plants are always healthier if you plant them in the soil that you intend to grow them in.   The only ones that should be transplanted (bought as a plant at the store and brought home for you to plant into your garden) are tomatoes and cucumbers.  Grow the rest from seeds.  All seeds are Organic Seeds!
  
• Do not till your garden.  This stirs up the weeds.
• Spinosad is an organic killer for ants, if you need one.

5 THINGS NOT TO GROW in your garden:

1. Corn
2. Pumpkins
3. Watermelons
4. Cantaloupe
5. Okra
   These things take up too much space and it is better to simply buy these in the store.   (check outhow to buy groceries to make healthy and cheap meals.

5 THINGS TO PLANT:
Things that are…
1.  Rare
2.  Expensive to buy in the store
3.  Space Saving
4.  Nutritious
5.  Ongoing Harvest  (example: Fresno)

I hope that this gave you enough information to start your own garden!
Please leave your tips in the comments.  I know that I would love to hear them, as well as the other readers!

This is our favorite garden recipe… our Salsa (it is so good!)

Our kids love veggies, too… 

Here are my best tips for growing tomatoes… 

If it waters, now it feeds with Miracle-Gro® LiquaFeed® Universal Feeder. It’s a great tool to help you reach your gardening goals by providing the essential nutrients your plants need to thrive all season long.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro®. The opinions and text are all mine.