As many of you have read before, I love gardening. It has been a great way to cut on costs of living as well as increase the health of myself and my family. Here are some tips you can use to get the most out of your veggie garden:
- Adequate sunlight. Make sure your produce is getting at least 6 hours of sunlight per day.
- Use quick growers. Plant things like lettuce and radishes in between other plants that take longer to grow. This helps maximize your space.
- Water when dry. During really hot days and dry periods, make sure you water everything a bit extra. Most veggies need an inch or more of water a week.
- Pest check. Make sure to keep an eye out for bugs. They can take over your plant in a blink of an eye. If you do find some, use organic and natural remedies to get rid of them. Good old soap and water works on most. This way your garden can stay organic and natural, upping the health benefits.
- Protect from nature’s neighbours. Make sure to protect you plants from rabbits and other critters. I use pots which are high enough that they can’t get to them but wire fences will also work. The bonus with fences is you can use them as supports for peas, squash, or beans.
These are just a few simple steps you can take to ensure you max out your veggies. Trust me; your hard work will pay dividends.
Pests! We get our share of them, depending on what we’re growing. However, we have chickens. Of course they’re not allowed in the garden, since they would destroy it, but I catch the pests and toss them to the chickens. The chickens lay eggs and the garden stays, more or less, pest free. What a great cycle 🙂 It’s not for the squeamish, but hornworms and stinkbugs cannot hurt you, they can look scary tho. And then there’s the times I have to remove rat snakes from the henhouse (they’ll eat three eggs a day!).
I love that you are using sustainable methods to keep out pests. This is awesome. I have made my own bug sprays in the past which have worked well.