SAVE MONEY WITH DIY GARDENING!

Another way you can save money is to grow your own vegetables and herbs.  I asked a friend of mine who has been a home gardener for many years to give us some of his gardening tips.  Each week on Thursday, I will post GARDENING WITH MR. C.  Make sure you check back each week for a new tip. 

GARDENING TIP #1

I commend all of you who are participating in the marvel of growing vegetables, berries, flowers etc.  I hope to share something new each week that may be a benefit to you.  For my first tip, may I say that "beds" are not just for flowers.  You can use your space more efficiently by planting in beds instead of rows.  Making the transition will take some planning and extra effort.  I made permanant 2 1/2 ft. beds with 12 to 15 inch paths.  If you have a long reach you could widen the beds. 

First prepare (till or turn) the garden as you normally would. Then dig out the soil in the paths to build up the beds. You can go a step farther and border the beds with pressure-treated 2x4 (as I am glad I did after several years).  By walking only in the established paths, you can just loosen the beds each year with a spading fork as needed. When planting the seeds, I use the width of the hoe to dig a furrow to get a wider row. You can plant 2 or 3 rows of the same or different things in each bed. With a little planning, you can get an early and late crop in the same space (ex. peas followed by beans). For larger plants like tomatos, I stagger (zig-zag) two rows to get 18" spacing. Peppers like to be closer to one another (12 to 15").  If you want to create an any-size no-dig, no till "lasagna" garden, I suggest you click here.  Have fun planning and planting your garden. 

Happy Gardening -  Mr. C.

If you have any gardening questions, you may post the question in a comment below or send an email to savingandsharingit@yahoo.com and Mr. C. will try to answer your question.