#AtoZChallenge – Garden

This month we’ve taken on a challenge – one that involves blogging through the alphabet. Did you miss a letter? Catch up now.

We had some problems our first year of gardening as the soil in some spots ended up being bad. We did some soil analysis after the fact and found some high Annibua and other levels. We have been working hard with cover crops to get it to more normal levels.

Now on to seeds.  Hybrid seeds are designed to grow and they can be more disease resistant however if hybrid seeds you have to buy the seeds every year. You can not use the plants own seed to grow the next years crop.

Heirloom seeds are from a long line of plants.  The plant will produce the original vegetable/fruit plus the seeds can be used year after year so you never have to buy them again.  Saving seeds at the end of the season is easy too.

Now where to get your seeds from.  We get most of ours from Totally Tomatoes and what we don’t get from them we purchase from Seeds of Change.  If you are just starting out and want some free seeds you can try the Dinner Garden too.

Early in the spring is the best season for starting with garden soil preparation. For the best soil, sources of organic matter should be as diverse as possible. Organic matter is the best source of nitrogen. The manures can be valuable additions to soil. Composting is a means of recycling almost any organic wastes. It reduces the bulk of organic materials, stabilizes their more volatile and soluble nutrients, and speeds up the formation of soil humus. Growing cover crops is perhaps the most valuable strategy you can adopt to feed your soil, build up its fertility and improve its structure with each passing season.

Have you ever planted a garden?