UPDATE: If you're a homeschooling family, pop on over to The Homeschool Village and enter to win "Exploring Creation with Botany" text and notebook! Hurry, I think submissions close in a day, as of May 2, 2012.
Ahhh, spring has sprung here in Kansas! The grass is green, the birds are singing, and the temperature has been unseasonably warm!!
I am so glad we are through the winter months, even if we did have a mild winter! Thank goodness, the sunshine has brought me a little more energy....
So, that brings me to thinking of replanting a vegetable garden. If you're like me, I do not naturally have a "green thumb". I need lots of assistance as far as, when to plant, when to harvest, etc...
I do not keep a gardening journal....really, people do that?
My idea of gardening before, was around April, I would plant whatever I wanted in the garden, all at the same time, paying no heed to temperature or acidity of the soil, and when to exactly plant according to where I live.
Then, at good ol' Wal-Mart, I was thumbing through magazines and happened upon Mother Earth News: A Guide to Wiser Living.
It was actually an issue discussing organic gardening. While I'm no hippie, I do value and realize the healthful benefits of foods with no pesticides, chemicals or harmful toxins. I try to buy organic when I can. This can be somewhat challenging out in the middle of nowhere Kansas. We do however have a farmers market that offers wonderful produce, the only other option nearby is, you guessed it, Wal-Mart.
Anyway, they had a wonderful article about garden planning! It was so exciting....I bought the magazine ,brought it home and immediately set to planning my garden!
If you visit the Vegetable Garden Planner site from Mother Earth News, you will not be sorry!
It offers precise planning as to when to plant according to your neck of the woods, and when to harvest!
Plus you can draw your garden on a grid and it spaces everything out according to what you are planting. It was so simple for me to use. Plus it keeps record of what , when, and where you planted to make crop rotation a snap!
Oh, and did I mention yet that you get a FREE, yes FREE 30-day trial? No credit card required....you just set up an account, which is just your email, and password. Then you're ready to go.
Here's a peek at mine if you're curious. I still have some tweaking to do, but it'll give you a good idea!
My Garden!
Need a little more info? Here's a tutorial you can view, that helps with using the planner.
Good luck, and may the "green thumb" be ever in your favor! Sorry, a little Hunger Games humor.
Aimee
Just had to laugh cause I can't imagine what I would do without my garden 'journal'. It is actually just a spreadsheet of what I planted each year that is easy to copy/paste into the next year for minor alterations, but I can't imagine not having it! ;)
ReplyDelete