Gardening
Gardening is one of the best ways to have great tasting food. In our area, Northern California, we are blessed because the weather is so good for growing so many things. It is easy and fun to start plants indoors and the whole family can enjoy watching them grow to be transplanted later. We are in Zone 9 which always seems to be favorable for so many things.
If space is a problem, grow bags and container gardening are all very effective. We generally have dome of our tomatoes growing in grow bags.
Hydroponic gardens have become extremely popular and pretty easy to do. It involves plant growing without the use of soil. Plants are essentially grown in just water with nutrients added to the water.
Another form of gardening is to have a self sustaining. mini eco system called Aquaponics (different from hydroponics). A basic description of Aquaponics involves a water tank feeding the planter. The excess water is drained into a fish tank where the fish droppings are mixed with water and pumped back into the main water source, only to repeat the cycle over and over.
Hydroponics on the other hand involves plant roots being fed by continuous or periodic flows of fertilized water, This is becoming a very common way to grow things without the dirt. A couple of examples of hydroponics that we use are the Aero Garden, which is a tabletop device that you can you can use to grow small plants or use for seed starting.
Our main hydroponics systems are the "Tower Garden" distributed by Juice Plus. These are large and self contained. They allow several plants to be grown in the same "garden" if desired. You can check these systems out online. Be aware, they are a bit pricey but can sometimes be found second hand like ours were. While checking out hydroponics, you will find many other devices and even some DIY hydroponics systems. We have seen a number of them on YouTube.
Below is a picture of one of our "Towers". It has zucchini, bell peppers and Black Cherry tomatoes all growing in it.
Above is a picture of one of a hydroponic "Tower Garden". The name Tower Garden in this case is associated with the Juice Plus Company that sells this particular unit. The zucchini shown all came from another tower like this one.
Regarding gardening - Here is an excerpt from a handbook from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
"Planting a garden, even a small one, allows for a greater degree of self-reliance. With the right information and a little practice, individuals and entire families can enjoy the many benefits of planting and tending a garden.
The following information is provided to help you prepare your garden.
Planning a Garden
As you begin to plan and prepare for a garden, here are a few general reminders:
Vegetables need at least six hours of sunlight a day.
The garden site should be relatively level. If there is a steep slope, run rows of plants across it to prevent erosion.
It is a good idea to spade (mix) the soil to a depth of 12 to 14 inches. Adding organic matter such as manure, peat moss, or leaves will benefit the soil.
Be careful with fertilizer. All fertilizers have a three-digit code. This code is NPK which stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium - For vegetable gardens, a good place to start may be 8-8-8 or 16-16-16. Depending on your soil, you may need to add something else that will raise or lower one of those 3. There are other additives that may be used. the best thing is to talk to the local nursery to understand what they suggest. Most of the better nurseries have a printout that gives you a great deal of good information.
The simplest way to eliminate plant pests is to remove insects, worms, or eggs by hand. Some shake-on powder or liquid bug sprays are relatively safe to use.
Proper depth for planting seeds is approximately four times as deep as the seed is thick.
Gardening in Containers
If you don’t have a traditional garden plot, you can plant vegetables and herbs in containers that fit on driveways, balconies, roofs, and even window sills. This activity can be interesting and rewarding for adults and children alike. We grow a lot of things in something called a "grow bag". Amazon sells these and they are pretty inexpensive. We have grown things in just the grow bags and we have also dug holes and dropped in the entire grow bag with the plant into the hole aith quite a bit of success.
Something a lot of people don't know is that you can actually "re-grow" some of your food scraps. I included a list of some of those items on the image below (sorry it looks so big but it is a pretty cool looking list.). We have had huge success with green onions and now are growing some celery from the base that we cut off. Sweet potatoes and a lot of rooting vegetables can also be grown. We have had some success growing sweet potatoes in the past. They really vine out!
Most of the information on each of these can be found with a simple internet search.
