FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

A small amount of garden space really can produce a lot of food, especially if you decide to implement vertical gardening.  Many fruits and vegetables can be grown this way, and not only does it save space, but it can make harvesting much easier.  

We love to start the majority of our plants from seed so that we can get varieties that are not usually offered at the big garden centers or local nurseries.  Having the ability to order seeds online opens so many possibilities for your home garden.  

Whether you start from seed or buy transplants at the garden center, you can grow varieties that you cannot find in grocery stores, and if there is a food you do not like, it's possible that your homegrown fruits and vegetables will change your mind.   

Start a new healthy lifestyle and save money on groceries while eating the freshest organic produce right from your back yard. 

The garden is so full of life when you use organic materials and plant plenty of flowers and herbs. In the mornings, the bees wake up from their zinnia beds as the sun starts to warm their wings, and the butterflies are plentiful, going from flower to flower.

The chickens helped clear out a space for a strip of flowers beside the original garden bed, which we can see from our kitchen.  The soil wasn't very good, but we put down a little compost as we planted zinnias, sunflowers, borage, cosmos, mexican sunflowers, batchelor buttons, cleome, and more.  It has been an active spot for the pollinators, including hummingbirds, all summer. 

It is very beneficial to your garden habitat to dedicate a spot to wildflowers, and many of these varieties will reseed themselves.  It is also quite easy to save seeds from these plants for gardens next year and in the future.  

In the fall, we'll top dress this area with compost like we do with the vegetable beds.