Going Green At Home - Part 4

If you haven't read previous posts on this topic, you might want to jump back and start with Part 1 to follow the progress of my amazingly easy green-my-home raised bed garden project.

I don't have a lot of time to monkey around, so I needed this garden project to be easy, fast and successful. As you can see from previous photos, the box, soil and grid went in quickly. We did this over the course of a few weekends, but total time spent on this was probably three or four hours total.Though we did want to start most of our plants from seed, I wanted some instant hits of color for the porch and some basil (since my bird friends have decimated my back porch potted basil plants). I love making my own organic pizza from a rustic crust, simple tomato sauce, organic mozzarella and yes, basil galore. So, basil will be a starter plant.


I chose marigolds for their color and natural pest deterrent properties and salvia for a bit of height and gorgeous purple flowers. The basil also went in along with starter greek oregano and cilantro.

Next up, we planted seeds for several varieties of greens including black seed simpson lettuce and rocket (aka arugula). Broccoli went in - just a couple of seeds in the middle of one square and four days later, I had a green sprout.

Last night I sparingly harvested a few leaves of basil for a pasta dish because, well, I needed that splash of green, that deliciously licorice-y basil flavor to give the dish depth. Perfect, my first harvest.

Stay tuned for what we planted next.

Until next time, go out there and green your home. Take "eat at home" literally! Read more!

Going Green At Home - Part 2

Before we go further down the garden path...(yes, pun intended), I thought it might be useful to provide you with a few resources. If this project sounds like it's up your alley and you want to try your hand at growing some of your own produce in a small space, you're in luck.

You can do this on your own, but having a personal guide makes the journey a bit more certain. We picked up a copy of the All New Square Foot Gardening book (see the link here to buy your own). It's full of step-by-step instructions, sound advice and great how-to pictures.

The author, Mel Bartholomew, seems to favor planting starters, but I wanted to try my hand at starting from seed. Looking for natural and organic seeds? You're in luck. shopOrganic.com carries seeds for vegetables and flowers.

Whether you buy starters or start from seed, you'll need to plant the kinds of plants that thrive in your climate zone and you'll need to figure out your local growing season. You can extend it in the fall by covering your raised bed - but now's a great time for cool weather growing in most locations (ok, it's still in the 100's here in the Southwest, but we know cooler weather is just around the corner).


Get your green thumb going today and literally put food on your own table. Stay tuned for Part 3 soon!








And here is the rest of it. Read more!