VEGETABLE GARDENS:


The Way Back to Your Roots by Naomi Sheen


Everyone needs to plant a vegetable patch, no matter how big or small. The challenge is to make it easy on your back, water bill and time limitations. Try these weekend garden installation tips and you’ll be growing your own healthy produce in no time.


Create a Border You can easily install a nice garden by using the stacking garden pavers avail- able at most hardware stores. They mea- sure 9 by 4 by 12 inches and need only be stacked about 30 to 36 inches high.


Add Organic Soil Be sure the first level of your garden includes the best organic soil you can find, plus some composted chicken ma- nure and wood shavings. Try to make your garden no wider than 4 feet, so you can reach things from either side.


Install a Watering System Install a soaker hose watering system hooked up to an automatic controller, so you don’t have to worry about water- ing the garden. Keep the hoses about 8 to 10 inches apart, and stake them down to make them secure.


Plant with Care


Include some perennial plants such as asparagus, blueberries, raspberries and artichokes in their own beds, so that you can harvest an automatic bounty for several years without a lot of work.


Choose Summer and Winter Crops


Planting a summer and winter crop is ideal in warmer climates. You can enjoy luscious tomatoes, sweet corn, cucum- bers and squash all summer, and then


natural awakenings July 2010 35


dig into beets, broccoli, Swiss chard and lettuce as the days grow shorter and cooler. Winter greens, with their vivid colors and rich nutrients, help banish the doldrums of that season’s gloomy months.


Get City Dwellers


and Children Involved Most urbanites, especially children, don’t understand how food grows. Con- sider involving children in your garden project to help them develop an early respect and love for the earth. It’s fun to watch their amazement—a garden rewards all its tenders, no matter what their age.


CEDAR RAISED BEDS!


Digging into rich soil and pulling out a beet, carrot or potato takes you back to your ultimate roots of survival and being able to provide for yourself. After you plant a garden, you not only gain a new respect for farmers, food and nature, you also witness the wonders of the life cycle. And, newbie garden- ers who taste the flavorful difference between store-bought and fresh are unlikely to ever again buy veggies they can grow on their own.


Naomi Stein is the owner of Eco-Green- scape, a division of M&W Landscaping, Inc., in Vista. Call 760-945-3443 or visit EcoGreenscaping.com. See ad on page 13.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56