Learning new ways to be a smarter gardener will save you money and back pain. Don’t be fooled into thinking that gardening will get easier. Instead, learn new ways to be more efficient that will give you more time to relax and enjoy your garden. Take the time to learn new ways to be a better gardener with these helpful tips.
Pick your fruits and vegetables first thing in the morning. A morning harvest will ensure that your produce is holding the maximum amount of moisture. Also, if you pick in the morning, this will give you a chance to eat those items that day, when they are their peak of freshness.
After planting your garden, maintaining it is still a work in progress. Throughout the summer season, it is a must for a gardener to continue to prune, pick or deadhead blooms. Gardening can be physically exhausting with hauling dirt and digging holes, but at the end of the day, your hard work is paid off by seeing the beauty that you have created.
If you live in an area with clay soil, coat your shovel or gardening trowel with flour or car wax before you start digging your garden. This will prevent soil from sticking to the blade of your shovel, making your work much easier. It also lengthens the life of your shovel by preventing rust.
Start your garden off right with seeds, not plants. Starting from seed is far less harsh on the environment than using plants you buy at the nursery. The planters used to hold nursery plants are generally not made from eco-friendly materials, and thus get thrown into landfills. Starting from seeds, or buying from one of the few nurseries that use biodegradable planters, prevents this.
When deciding to plant a garden, it is important to survey the areas available for planting and determine which will be the best location. Whether you grow your fruits and vegetables in your yard, on your patio in containers, or on your apartment balcony, your plants should be in a location which is exposed to sunlight. To yield the best harvest, most crops need to be situated in an area which is an open location that is sunny.
Collect your dirt for a soil analysis to see the nutrients your soil needs. You can get this tested at a local university’s agriculture department, usually for a fee. The fee is well worth it usually because then you will know what nutrients your dirt needs to have a garden that is successful.
Make your own compost. If you create your own compost at home, you can be absolutely certain of what goes into it, unlike if you purchase bags of compost from a gardening store. In addition, composting in your yard will attract helpful native wildlife such as insects that will balance the ecosystem of your garden.
Do not get rid of weeds by pulling them. This takes you a lot of time and they might grow back. If you notice an area with a lot of weeds, take a shovel and dig under it. Turn the soil over so that the weeds feed your seeds like manure would.
If you are serious about organic gardening, you must start with organic seed. Organic seed comes from fruits and vegetables that have not been treated by any chemicals, nor can they be from fruits or vegetables that have been genetically modified in any way. Organic seed can be more expensive than non-organic, however, it is an investment you will only need to make once for most standard garden plants, since you harvest your own produce and then save the seeds for your next planting.
Whether you are working toward a garden that will survive throughout the year, trying to save money on gardening costs or just wanting to cut down on the work it takes to build a garden, learning how to garden never ends. At the end of the day, as you sit down to relax, you will reap the benefits of viewing the beautiful garden that you worked hard for.
