Planting an organic edible garden is not only great for growing your own produce, it is also lots of fun. In fact, gardening is fun for the whole family. I have many fond memories growing up of working the soil with my mom, pulling weeds with my grandmother, and hiding in the garden for hide and go seek with my siblings. I highly suggest that every family grow an organic edible garden- even if you don’t have much space. A small garden and/ or container garden is better than no garden- much better!
When To Plant An Organic Edible Garden
When to plant depends oh what you want to plant, where you are located, and where you are planting. If you will be growing an indoor container garden, you can plant anytime! If you will be starting your seeds indoors, you can time that to be a few weeks to a month before your outdoor garden planting date.
If you are planting an outdoor organic edible garden, different foods have different growing seasons as do different temperate areas. You can cansult the Farmer’s Almanac for specifics but as a general rule of thumb you can begin planting most food crops in your outdoor garden after the last average frost date. Mother Earth has a Vegetable Garden Planner that will send customized planting reminders for which crops need planting based on your location.
How To Prepare For An Organic Edible Garden
You can prepare for your organic edible garden by starting seeds indoors and by preparing the earth. When I was a kid, my favorite part was preparing the earth. My mother would dig in the soil turning it over in big clods. I would then go through and break them up with my fingers to arerate the soil. We would then mix in various goodies to enrich the earth and help balance the pH, and increase drainage. The two standards for our gardens were organic garden soil and compost. We would sprinkle them evenly over the freshly dug up ground and then I would mix by hand while my mom turned over the soil with the shovel at the other end of the garden. We still carry on this tradition today and I love watching my own kids find worms and pull out rocks and do just what I did as a child.
This year, I plan on trying Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Gardening Soil. In fact, I understand Miracle-Gro has a full line of organic gardening products and I am excited to try them out. I chose organic garden soil because of the environmental benefits and because I plan on eating my produce! And I belive that old adage- “You are what you eat.” I love growing my own organic herbs and vegetables for making healthy, delicious meals with natural, homegrown ingredients. I also love playing in the garden with my kids whether we are digging in the dirt, finding worms, weeding, watering, picking off caterpillars, or picking ripe vegetables, we always have a good time. I can’t wait to get started vegetable gardening and it is almost time.
Recipes I Make From My Organic Edible Garden
I always grow lots of fresh herbs- rosemary, mint, thyme, parsely, basil, chives and whatever else catches my fancy. I throw fresh herbs in almost every single dinner recipe I make. A favorite recipe from my herbs though is fresh pesto. I just throw into my blender a bunch of fresh organic basil leaves (stems removed) from my garden, 3 big cloves of fresh garlic, a pinch of salt, 1/2 cup of pine nuts, and drizzle in olive oil until I hit the right consistency. I also love to grow zucchini and tomatoes and sautee those up with some olive oil and thyme. I grow cucumbers too and those make a fabulous tomato cucumber salad. I grow bell peppers too because I love adding those into my tomato sauces. We also grow hot peppers and my husband makes pepper jelly and hot sauce. My duaghter grows strawberries and eats them as quick as they turn red.
When do you start your garden? What are your favorite edible garden items? Please feel free to share you gardening tips in the comments.