Happy Earth Day! Simultaneously improve your health and help the planet by growing your own garden. Here’s how to get started:
Use Organic Soil And Fertilizer
“What you put in your soil goes into your food and eventually your body,” says Robynne Heymans of Sprout Home, a garden and plant store in New York. “Fertilizing helps keep the plant healthy and encourages it to produce more food — it’s especially important in containers because the soil is not being traveled by earthworms and beneficial bacteria the way the earth is. You can also use a micrconutrient rich fish or seaweed emulsion each time or every other time you water.”
Use Mulch
Use at least one inch of mulch in any containers to help keep the soil moist and to add nutrients, which is especially important during the summer and on a rooftop.
Sun is Important
Usually, more sun, the better. Part-sun plants need between four and five hours. But if you’re planting inside, consider obstructions to the sun: tress outside the window can curb sun exposure, for instance.
Water And Fruit
Keep in mind that fruiting plants will need water every day, although they might need it twice a day during the height of summer.
Think Outside The (Garden) Box
For a window box or sill, Doiron recommends herbs and possibly salad greens. If you have a balcony that gets plenty of sun, tomatoes and peppers will also grow well.
Grow Leafy Greens
According to Rose Marie Nichols McGee of Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany, Ore., when you grow leafy greens like kale, you are able to harvest from the same plant over and over again:
“Greens are often sprayed for insects and by growing yourself you can take control,” she said. “Often all that’s needed to get rid of aphids is a hard spray of water from the hose. Also the home gardener is in a position to encourage beneficial insects and avoiding the monoculture so prevalent in commercial farming.”
Choose Foods You Can Preserve
Foods that make good jam, pickles or freeze well are great options to help feed you all year round.
Source: Huffington Post
