WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN FRESH GREENS, VEGETABLES, AND HERBS
So, what exactly does GARDEN-TO-TABLE mean? Garden-to-table is the practice of growing your own food and bringing it inside to use in recipes. I love this concept, and more and more people are recognizing its advantages as well.
I’ve been practicing garden-to-table for quite some time. I had a small garden patch at my previous house where I grew assorted vegetables and herbs right off my back door. Now, at my current house, I grow vegetables and herbs in containers that I have sitting around my front door and my back patio. My point in sharing this information with you is that you don’t need to have a traditional garden to enjoy growing fresh vegetables and herbs.
Besides growing your own vegetables and herbs and knowing how you grew them, you are also saving money from the grocery store, where we are all experiencing rising costs.
WHEN TO START PLANTING VEGETABLES
A person over the weekend asked me a very intelligent question. He wanted to know when you can start growing vegetables. Here we are in early April. And now is a good time to grow the Cole crop vegetables. Cole crop vegetables are mostly the leafy type vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, collards, kale, broccoli, etc. These vegetables are available and can be planted now. Cole crop vegetables need the cooler soil temperatures. I plant my Cole crop vegetables now into containers. Once our soil temperature reaches into the sixties and we are past the threat of frost (toward the end of April), then you can plant the fruiting type vegetables and herbs such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, basil, etc.
I just did a soil temperature test. Our soil is recording a temperature of 58 degrees. It have risen 3 degrees over this past week. We are getting close to the time where you can plant summer vegetables. My advice with planting tomatoes, basil, peppers, etc. is to wait until the end of this month. We just had two cold nights this week. Yes, our extended forecast has us warming up next week. I am hopeful. But, we still have the potential of having more cold nights. Just be careful and watch our local weather forecast.
For me personally, I find a lot of gratification in sharing my GARDEN TO TABLE vegetables with family and friends.
SOME HELPFUL TIPS BEFORE STARTING YOUR GARDEN-TO-TABLE ROUTINE
- Have a plan as to what you want to grow. Learn about spacing. Learn about what vegetables and herbs can be considered companion plants.
- Know your soil. Have you done a soil test to see what nutrients you may need to work on for best results.
- Understand that most vegetables require a lot of direct sunlight – usually a minimum of 6 hours.
Have a good time with your GARDEN TO TABLE gardening