On Friday, I headed over to The Queen Bee’s house for a garden tour. Although Heather is the Queen when it comes to coupons, she is still a little green in the gardening department.
So when Heather offered me a free turkey in exchange for a few garden pointers, I was like, heck ya! I’ll come over.
Heather has a beautiful backyard. Everything is super green and lush, plus she has a ton of garden space to work with. So as we were walking to her raised garden beds I was thinking, she doesn’t need any help. Look at this place, it’s gorgeous.
And then I spied a problem, and I was like, oh dear, this isn’t good.
In real life, I’m not known as one of the most tactful people in the world, so sometimes I say the wrong thing.
“Are those leeks?”
“Yes”
“Ummm, did you just take them out of the container and plop them in the ground?”
“Yes”
“Did you know you are suppose to separate them?”
“Ohhhh”
Garden Tip #1 {and it’s a biggie} When you buy a container of vegetable starts from the garden center, do not plant the entire container of vegetable starts in one spot. I think this might be a normal mistake newbie gardeners make. So far I have met 2 people who planted their veggies in clumps this year. Oye!
And the same goes for broccoli, chard, bok choy, carrots, lettuce, and pretty much every other vegetable you buy in those convenient little garden packs. 🙂
In my opinion, Heather and her husband are off to a great start. They have made a bunch of raised garden beds, hauled in some garden soil, and have even begun the process of teaching their young children to grow food.
I don’t think it gets any better than that. Way to go Queen Bee! You are doing great! Send me pictures when you begin to harvest your bounty! 🙂
*If you have a garden, and would like to be featured here on onehundreddollarsamonth.com, then send in your photos to onehundredollarsamonth {at} gmail.com, along with a brief description of where you are and what you are growing and I will try and get them posted.
sharon says
Two Lovely Ladies…
love the outfit.
Karinna says
You gals are just too darn cute.
Lisa says
Good tips. I always try to remember to tell new gardening customers they need to separate their pak plants.
I do see one other issue though. Raised beds shouldn’t be constructed of pressure treated wood unless they are lined with plastic (that needs to be replaced every few years). The chemicals used to pressure treat the wood are not good for the soil and could potentially leach into the vegetables. It’s always best to use a hardwood such as cedar or redwood.