Gardening can be therapeutic but its’ not for everyone. We may love the idea of growing our own vegetables, berries, flowers and herbs; but may not have the space, knowledge of how or even the desire.
For many people, organic grocery stores and the produce isle is the way to go. There is nothing wrong with the grocery stores and farmers markets, but if you have the passion for the garden, the reward can be great. Its’ more than the cost that you save by having your own garden. Its’ the freshness and lack of pesticides or any chemical used to make the fruits and vegetables more vibrant and/or grow faster. There is the satisfaction that you grew this produce yourself, and is fresh from the garden, going straight from your garden or greenhouse to your dinner table.
One of the ways we can create a more organic garden and help our vegetables grow better is right in our own kitchen. We crack the eggs to make breakfast or a recipe and the shells go straight into the garbage pail. We have our coffee or tea and the grounds get thrown in the same place as the eggshells. Instead, rinse the eggshells and let them dry well, and set the coffee and tea grounds aside to also dry. These are great to spread in your garden to help your plants. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and squash are a few that thrive in acidic soil. By adding your eggshells and grounds to the soil, you can help these plants. For more information and list of acid loving fruits and vegetables, you can click this link https://morningchores.com/acid-loving-plants/ for additional information. I found this site to have plenty of information and easy to navigate.
I dry my grounds and empty them into a mason jar until I am ready to use them. The eggshells I crush in my hands first as I add them to a mason jar as well. When I am ready to use the shells and grounds as fertilizer, I like to use my food processer by adding both together and letting the food processer mix these and create a finer product for the garden.
If you are new to keeping your own garden, still learning or just looking for extra tips, checking what zone you live in will help. The timing for planting, harvesting and any additional care can prove beneficial to your garden’s success. This link https://gilmour.com/planting-zones-hardiness-map may help explain how the zones work, which zone you are living in, and information beneficial to your gardening area. As it gets near the end of the growing season, the nights will begin to drop in temperature. It is a good idea to cover your plants when the temperature is going to drop below 32 degrees. If I see they will fall below 35, I cover my plants for the night. You don’t need anything special to do this. If you are in an area with a lot of pine needles, these are great to cover for instance, your strawberry plants for the seasons end, and for the winter. Mine have always grown extremely well year over year when doing this. For a single night or a couple of nights of early frost, even a moving blanket or tarp is sufficient, taking them off for the daytime. As I write this, I have done the latter for the past 2 nights, covering my tomatoes and strawberries. I wish you a successful growing season next year (and until your season ends this year).