Posh That Grows: Starting to garden in the Midwest!

If you really want to Poshify your year I really suggest planing your own garden! Even the smallest spaces can have a garden. A few years ago we found out about square foot gardening and raised bed gardening and we have been having an amazing time! There is something so satisfying about growing your own food. Plus you can relax and know exactly where it came from. It becomes addictive. We now have over 110 squares and me being the geek that I am even have my plans all computerized! We have a salad garden, a pepper and tomato garden, a squash garden, a strawberry garden, herb garden, and also plant kale and asparagus! We live in town and are able to do all of this within 110 square feet spread around the backyard. It may seem like a lot, but it really isn't. We live in town and still have plenty of space to run around. This year we will be adding two more boxes along the fence row near the front of the house, a vertical garden (have you ever seen zucchini grow in the air? We will see!) as well as a Yanna garden (since she has become very interested in digging in mommy's garden!)

This weekend's prep work

You two can have a beautiful and productive garden! If you live in apartment or condo with no backyard start a windowsill herb garden. They can be so simple and so great to add to your everyday food. If you just have a small yard there are still some great ways to have beautiful landscaping and making it work for you. There are a number of veggies and fruits that can add great color and texture. Asparagus pops up in the spring to pick and then has some beautiful ferns that are great for cutting with flowers or a great backdrop for some beautiful flowers like black-eyed susans and daisies! You can use strawberries as edging since they stay low and have some beautiful white flowers. Nasturtium have gorgeous flowers and leaves that are great in salads. Chives can grow just about anywhere, you can use both the sprouts and the beautiful purple flowers in cooking. Swiss chard with the colorful stems, colorful salad leaves, cabbage, and kales can all be used as landscaping and later harvested to cook with. As with everything, be CREATIVE! I will be adding pictures throughout the season of the garden and how to build your own raised beds. Plus we will add recipes on what to do with everything. I thought that I would need to plant more than one zucchini plant the first year! Talking about waaay too much zucchini!!

A variety of salad goodies

Be sure to talk to some garden clubs in your area. Some towns have public gardens where you can get your own plot of land to plant on. Plus I love going to http://www.garden-share.com/ there are so many great people on there who will share their ideas and help you with any problems. This may be the first year you ever planted cucumber so where did all of those cucumber beetles come from!? they can help!

and it keeps coming and coming

I will also be creating some great printables devoted to gardening. So look out for those as well!
In the meantime get those peas, green beans, and spinach in the ground!! Spring is finally here!!