3 Gardening Tips from a Friendly Backyard Gardener

3 Gardening Tips from a Friendly Backyard Gardener

Gardening tips alert! Pretty much everyone has a friend or family member who has an incredible garden that is the source of many exciting and healthy harvests. My pal Liz A. of Beverly, Massachusetts has the most gorgeous backyard victory garden around, so I asked her to share three of her favorite tips that help her garden grow.

 

Tip #1- Turn Your Milk Jugs into Mini-Greenhouses

Start your summer garden in December or January, by “Winter-Sowing”, which is an outdoor method of seed germination invented by Trudi Davidoff. Simply make miniature greenhouses made from clear or translucent plastic containers, such as gallon-size milk or water jugs with drainage holes punched out in the bottom. Select a light, fluffy, well-draining potting mixture, thoroughly water, let it drain and then sow the seeds. Label each vessel with the seed variety and date sown and then bring them outside. The weather changes will cause your seeds will freeze and thaw which will naturally loosen the seed-coatings. As spring begins, seedlings will start to emerge!

 

Tip #2- Get Ready for Winter by Covering Garden Beds with Shredded Leaves

Liz LOVES Kevin Lee Jacobs’ advice, and he believes leaf mold is “the best soil amendment on earth”. It is pretty awesome, it’s free and easy to make. Just rake your leaves into a pile, and make a hollow in the center to catch rain. “Two years later you’ll have crumbly, lovely earth, says Jacobs.” If you don’t have space for a large leaf pile, then simply shred the material and use it immediately. 

 

Tip #3- Grow from Seed

It’s smart to grow from seed, because you get much more variety this way. My friend’s fave place to order from is Pinetree Garden Seeds in Maine. Pinetree Garden Seeds has been a family owned and operated business since its founding in 1979. Their mission has always been to offer low prices on quality seeds to the home gardener, including over 1300 varieties of seeds!

 

Be sure to check the links for full story on all of this helpful advice. Have you used these methods and do they work well for you? Do you have three tips you would like to share? Let us know! We love to hear from you.