The problem with learning how to start a vegetable garden is that most of the books make it sound worse than getting a root canal. So you begin the process – if you begin at all – with fear and trepidation, just knowing that if you make one slip all your hard work will go [...]
Gardening
Gardening reduces stress of all kinds. It calms, relaxes and relieves anxiety, which could even make it a good anger management tool. But a few things keep people from starting up a garden. One is bed preparation. I used to think that building a raised garden bed was, by default, expensive. And I am more [...]
Growing bell peppers is an endeavor everyone who is physically able should try. Why? It is, in short, a backyard superfood. In the discussion of superfoods, we often overlook common garden vegetables in favor of exotic fruits. While such fruits are arguably super in terms of quantity of antioxidants and other nutrients, they are not [...]
Sometimes, I just want to slap myself upside the head. How to container garden is simple. Buy a bunch of pots and a couple dozen bags of potting soil, and you’re in business, right? That’s what I thought when I transitioned from raised beds to container gardening last fall. I don’t even want to try [...]
Healthy living is essential to living a full, happy life. But what exactly does it mean? Many people think of it in terms of right diet and enough exercise. But even that is vague and a source of great controversy. Is eating meat essential to health, or is it a sure path to cancer and [...]
How to start your garden from seed? Starting seeds indoors, although it is work, is not as hard a some people make it out to be. The following twenty-two tips will get you well on your way to starting your vegetable, herbs and flowers from seed. Do start most of your plants from seed. It’s [...]
What is winter like in Texas? Many people from the Midwest or Northern parts of the United States are under the impression that Texas winters are consistently mild, with never any snow or freezing temperatures. I know that’s what I believed when I lived in Minnesota! Contrary to popular belief, the Texan winter climate is [...]
If you grow some of your own food, you may be wondering how to extend the life of your tomato plants once the cold weather hits. Would you like to know how to protect tomato plants from frost? Even though tomatoes are fickle creatures and frost-tender – meaning the slightest frost can kill them – [...]
This video demonstrates a super-easy, inexpensive way to build a raised bed. If you want to start gardening, or build a new garden bed or two, you don’t have to spend several hundred dollars on potting soil or peat moss. (Gee, wish someone had told me that a couple of years ago!) Instead, you gather [...]
Although fall gardening can be done in some of the more northern/midwestern states to a limited extent, in many ways growing food in the South in the fall is considerably easier than doing so in the summer. The reasons are: It’s cooler. Even the summer plants, such as peppers and tomatoes, prefer Southern fall temperatures [...]