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This post brought to you by Gro-ables. All opinions are 100% mine.

Are you new to gardening, but ready to start growing food?   You can have a salad every night, vegetables fresh from your garden and it is all easier than you think… really!

Fresh vegetables in a basket with text above them.
new to gardening but ready to grow your own food? Tips to help

I have purple/black/red thumbs (or whatever the opposite of green would be!)  I kill plants inside of the house, I can’t keep ferns alive in our hanging baskets on the porch, I am horrible with watering, and yet I can grow a garden that our family loves.  Really!

  • I use a raised bed (it is SO easy to make, trust me!) with loose, organic, non-disturbed soil.  If you have two 3X8 gardens and one trellis, it will feed a family of 3-5 people.   Just be sure to leave enough space between your gardens so that they are not causing one to have a shadow on the other.
  • Also, put them in sunlight.  They need at least 6 hours of sunlight, every day.

If you want to have climbing vegetables like cucumbers or beans, a trellis is easy to make.

  •  Start with Gro-ables pre-packed seeds.  They are a new product from Miracle-Gro that make it easy to grow your own food from seeds.  This product makes it SO easy to grow your own food, even a first-time gardener will have luck with these.  Gro-ables are guarenteed, when used correctly, so you know that you are getting something that is going to work.   Plus, they are only $1.29 -$1.49 per packet, so they are a great deal.  Check out how to buy groceries to make healthy and cheap meals.   As you’ll see, for $1.29 a pack, you can’t beat that for growing your own food!   They look like this: A close up of a seed pod. 
  • When your garden is ready and your seeds are planted, be sure to water the base of your plants 3 times a week for 5 minutes each (do not water the top, get to the base of your plants…  Wet leaves will quickly kill your plant (this is why tomato cages are a No-No in gardens.  They make it hard for leaves to dry.)
  • DO NOT TRANSPLANT: Plants do not do as well if you transplant them, so plant your Go-ables whereever you plan to leave your plants.  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 Gro-ables seeds on your own.  
  • Do not till your garden.  This stirs up the weeds.
  •  Plant-tone or worm castings make a good fertilizer, if you feel that you need one.  (for one of the gardents, you want 10 lbs. of castings).   Oh- and if you need to kill ants, you can get Spinosad.  Its organic.
  • My best advice for things to grow:
  1. Rare foods
  2. Things that are expensive at the market
  3. Nutritious foods
  4. Ongoing harvest  (ex: fresno)
  5. Space Saving in the garden

I can’t wait to plant the Miracle-Gro® Gro-ables™ Zucchini Squash Seed Pod™  because I am ready to make my Mom’s Zucchini pie!

A Zucchini pie in a white casserole dish.

It is really easy to make… here is my favorite zucchini pie recipe, from my Mom.  

Ingredients:
1 package crescent rolls
1 onion (sliced)
2 medium zucchini (sliced, but not peeled)
2 egg yolks (or egg beaters)
1/4 teaspoon of each: garlic powder, basil, oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
package of mozzarella cheese (2 cups)
OPTIONAL: 2 T. mustard (I like it with the mustard, personally!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Saute onion and zucchini in butter in a skillet.
Add 2 egg yolks or you can substitute with egg beaters
Add the seasonings (garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt, pepper)
Add in a package (2 c.) of mozzarella cheese.

Line the pie pan with crescent rolls
If you want to add the mustard, add it here (just spread it on the crescent rolls)
Fill with zucchini/cheese mixture

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes

For more info on Gro-ables and easy gardening, see this video: 

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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3 Comments

  1. I am totally with you on the “purple/black thumbs.” My intentions are good, I am just NOT a good gardener. BUT, I super super super love the Gro-ables. THAT is my ticket to a good garden this year. Thanks for sharing becky!

  2. Great tips.I have green fingers. But always looking around, I am a seeker on a budget. Love veggies. Did not know of the miracle grow products. I shop home depot. I thought I had seen it all.