Creating a Garden

When creating the perfect garden, you need a good garden plan. There are lots of ideas on the internet for the perfect garden plan, but first thing is to decide what all you are going to be planting. Are you wanting to plant different vegetables? Herbs? Flowers? A little bit of everything? Make a list of everything you want to put in the garden and then also make a list of the surrounding flower beds. Create the perfect mix of vegetables and flowers within your own personal sanctuary.

What do you want to get out of your garden this year? Tomatoes, squash, green beans, herbs for cooking, so many to go through to figure it out? Start by making a list of what all you want in your pantry during the winter. Decide if you want to do some canning or freezing to keep food for the winter out of your garden. Look up some great recipes and decide what vegetables its going to take to make those recipes. This will help decide what all you need to grow.

So you have decided what you want to have on stock for the winter and ready to plan out your garden. Doing some research on the internet, I have found some great websites for companion plants to help each other grow and help keep the bugs away naturally. Heirloom Organics has been a huge help in putting together a garden. Putting potatoes in a corner and putting up lattice for green beans will help each other benefit together. Using the lattice will help the green beans to grow up and will make a beautiful wind block for the rest of the garden.

Also putting Marigolds around the garden helps keep the nasty little bugs away while attracting butterflies. Spacing Oregano, Sage and Basil throughout the garden also helps maintain bugs and adds a variety to your garden. Just remember to look at your companion chart when putting herbs throughout the garden. Broccoli doesn't get along well with Oregano at all! I keep my Rosemary around the edges of the garden.

Most plants like to have a little water every day depending on where you live and most plants don't like to get their leaves wet. Your local nursery can advise you on the best watering system for your garden. Drip lines and soaker hoses work great. Tomatoes are not fans of getting their leaves wet so using a drip line to only water the ground makes them happy little tomatoes! Just remember that tomatoes need about an inch of water per week to keep them growing good.

If you live in an area with a good amount of rainfall, even if you have little to no rainfall, usings a garbage can attached to a gutter is a great way to save the rainwater and reuse it. There is something special about rainwater that plants just love. I gather the rainwater that catches in some buckets around the yard and water the indoor plants with it. They really enjoy the treat.

Keep a Garden Journal of when you planted your veggies and where. Some journals have graph paper so you can draw out your garden before you even plant to help keep track of where each plant is. Keeping a journal helps you know what did well together for next year.

The biggest part of gardening is knowing what to plant together and of course, keeping up with all the weeding!!!!! After you have spent hours planning out and prepping your garden, sit back and enjoy the wonderful work you have done.

I may be a little on the strange side but I find working out in the garden, pulling weeds and planting to be very relaxing and a great stress release. Next to just loving on the horses of course. Gardens needs to be kept up on a very almost daily basis. Weeding or harvesting the vegetables. Its such a great feeling harvesting the vegetables that you were able to grow and to see them keep producing throughout the growing season. I get my seeds from Burpees and start them indoors about February or March. And let me tell you, it has taken me a few years to master the art of growing vegetables from seed!!!! It is well worth the satisfaction you get from seeing them start and harvesting them during the summer. I know there are still some weeds in the garden pictures above, but that's ok I am working out there again this morning before it gets to hot. I try to weed a row or two every morning to keep up with them, weeds are more hearty than anything! Next we have to put up a small fence to keep the cute little bunnies out of there and well of course the dogs love running through the garden, even more so when we are in there working!!!!

The weeds have taken over a bit since we have had a ton of rain in the TX Panhandle and haven't been able to get out there when it's dry enough. There are tomatoes on the other side of the onions and they all seem to be doing really well. Tomatoes got a little beat up with some of the wind and hail that we have had in the past few weeks but are coming back strong. The onions and peppers have really helped keep the tomatoes healthy and going strong through the weather!

Follow me on facebook and Pinterest for updated pictures and great ideas.

Country Grown Healthy Living Facebook

Country Grown Healthy Living Pinterest

I need some advice on how to keep the grasshoppers off the plants......I would love for it to be organic. Please comment below and help a fellow gardener out please!!!!! I truly appreciate it a lot. Thank you so much for your comments and thank you so much for reading my blog.....I hope you enjoyed it :)