5 Steps to Winterize Your Vegetable Garden

While your garden may be sleeping for most of the coming winter, plenty of tasks can be done to prepare for next spring. It may not seem like it, but this is the perfect time to begin preparing the garden for a dynamic growing season next year. Now is the time to give your garden a head start by taking these important steps to winterize your garden:

1. Clean up. Remove all the debris from summer crops (it's great to use in your compost pile). Use a rake to remove smaller debris and turn the soil. Debris removal prevents garden pests from taking hold in your garden.

2. Test your soil. Now that your garden is empty, it's a good time to do a soil test for pH levels and mineral content. Use this information to rebuild your soil over the winter so your garden will be a fertile growing ground for next year. Read more about increasing the minerals in your garden soil here.

3. Plant a cover crop. Cover crops also provide ground protection and organic material you can turn into the soil next year.Clover is an excellent cover crop. It's inexpensive, easy to grow and fixes the nitrogen in the soil. Winter rye and field peas are also good options.

4. Protect your soil. Aside from a cover crop, you can also protect your garden soil with mulch. Spread a thick layer of grass clippings, compost, salt marsh hay, or other organic material over your garden bed. This protects soil from weeds and cold, and help it retain moisture.

5. Reflect and plan. Now is the time to put your feet up and make time for reflection. What worked in your garden this year? What flopped? Did you plant too much of one crop or not enough of another? Do you need more garden space for planting? There are probably some new types of seeds you'd like to try planting next year. Or maybe your garden was a little dry and you need a new plan for irrigation. And don't forget the importance of rotating your vegetable crops.

Spend a few of those chilly winter evenings planning what you can do to improve your garden next year. You'll be surprised how a little planning can make a big difference!

Looking for high quality heirloom and organic seeds? Check out the gardening section of my Resources page!

Need some help getting started with your garden? Not a problem! Join me and other real food bloggers on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page and follow Seeds of Change on Twitter to get the latest gardening tips and interact with a community of gardeners.

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I did get some free goodies (i.e. seeds!), but of course my thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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Tips for Growing Carrots this Fall

It’s no mystery why carrots are one of the most popular vegetables grown in the home garden: they're easy to grow and healthy to eat. Carrots are also one of the most versatile vegetables in the kitchen and can be used in everything from soups and stews to muffins or stir fry. And of course, most people can enjoy crunching into a carrot fresh out of the garden, too.

There are a variety of carrots available to plant. They range in color and size, from thin yellow carrots to hefty orange varieties. The type of carrot you choose will depend on your personal preferences, but the basic rules for growing carrots remain the same no matter what variety you grow.

Tips for Growing Carrots this Fall

• Carrot seeds can be sown directly outdoors. Before planting, you can soak carrots seeds overnight to speed germination. 

• Since carrots can endure cooler temperatures, they make a great fall crop in many regions. Seeds will germinate even at temps as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but they'll fare better at 50 degrees or above.

• If you want a fall or winter harvest, plan to sow your carrot seeds about 10-12 weeks before the first expected frost. In cooler regions, this means late July or August. For warmer climates, carrots can be planted well into September or even early October.

• Carrots need full sun. Even partial shade can produce an inferior crop.

• Since carrots are a root vegetable, it’s important to clear the soil well before planting. Debris in the soil can warp and damage your growing carrots. A twelve-inch depth of soil should be turned and cleared of all sticks, roots, and rocks. 

• Carrots do best in sandy, well-drained soil. If your soil is dense, work in a good amount of organic matter like compost and peat moss to aid drainage.

• Planting depth depends on temperature: in warm weather, carrots can be planted just under the surface of the soil, but during colder months they should be planted up to half an inch deep. 

• If you are planting several rows of carrots, keep them about one to two feet apart.

Growing Carrots: Maintaining Your Carrot Garden

Carrots are hardy plants that don’t require much maintenance, but there are a few steps you can take to produce a better harvest:

• Carrots should be thinned as they grow. Keeping them at least two inches apart will prevent their leaves (and ends!) from becoming tangled. 

• Mulching every few weeks with compost will deter weeds and prevent sun from coming into contact with the carrots, which can affect their color and taste. 

• Weeds can interfere with growth, so remove them as soon as they appear to prevent problems.

• Carrots rarely need water except in extremely dry conditions, but too much moisture can be a problem. Keeping the soil well-drained will prevent most diseases. 

• If you mulch your plants, fertilizers are generally unnecessary. If you do feed your carrots, avoid fertilizers that are high in nitrogen, which will promote top growth instead of root growth.

Growing Carrots: Harvest Time

When 50-60 days have passed since planting, you can start checking to see if your carrots are ready to harvest. Most carrots can be harvested when their color reaches a deep, bright orange, but of course this will depend on which variety you chose to plant.

Carrots can be left in the ground several weeks after they are mature. If temperatures drop below freezing, you can lay out a covering of mulch to keep the ground from getting too cold. Leaving the carrots in the ground too long, however, may affect their taste. 

Looking for high quality heirloom and organic seeds? Check out the gardening section of my Resources page!

Need some help getting started with your garden? Not a problem! Join me and other real food bloggers on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page and follow Seeds of Change on Twitter to get the latest gardening tips and interact with a community of gardeners.

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I did get some free goodies (i.e. seeds!), but of course my thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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Why Vegetable Rotation is Key for Organic Gardening

Vegetable rotation probably never crosses the mind of the average home gardener. But rotating crops isn't just for the big agriculture players: it can also benefit small home gardens as well. For organic gardeners, vegetable rotation is especially important because it can help eliminate the need for fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides by maintaining balance in the soil.


Why Vegetable Rotation is Needed

Vegetables are divided into families that use soil in similar ways. Plants in the same family are prone to the same diseases and pests, both of which can remain in the soil for long periods of time, even after the plants have been removed.

If you plant similar vegetables in the same place season after season, they have a higher chance of developing the same diseases and pest infestations, often more severely with each planting. Vegetables in the same family also use nutrients in similar ways, which can deplete nutrients from the soil if they aren’t rotated. By rotating crops, you can replenish the soil every year.


Vegetable Families

Becoming familiar with the basic vegetable families can help you decide how to rotate the plants in your vegetable garden. There are many interpretations how vegetable families should be grouped, but the concept is basically the same. Here is a general list of the vegetable family groups:

• Beetroot Family (beets, chards, spinach)
• Potato Family (potato, tomato, pepper)
• Parsley Family (carrots, celery, parsley)
• Marrow Family (cucumber, melon, squash, pumpkin)
• Legume Family (peas, clover, alfalfa, beans)
• Daisy Family (lettuce, artichoke)
• Lily Family (garlic, onion, leek, scallions)
• Mustard Family (broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, cauliflower)
• Crucifer Family (radishes, turnips, collards)
• Grass Family (rye, sweet corn)

Planning Your Vegetable Rotation

To plan your vegetable garden rotation, an informal sketch or list will do. Here are some tips to remember:

• Divide your garden into at least four or five sections and keep track of where you plant vegetables from the various family groups. 
• Cycle your vegetables so crops from the same family aren’t grown in the same soil for at least three years. 
• Having several sections in your garden bed will help you keep track of where you should plant each crop every year.

When rotating your vegetables, there are a few more suggestions you can follow to ensure the best growth from your plants:

• Alternate plants with shallow roots and those with deeper root systems to keep soil loose and healthy. 
• You can plant vegetables from the grass family the season before you plant veggies like tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes to prevent root nematodes. 
• Some vegetables such as sweet corn leave a heavy amount of  organic debris at the end of the season. Plant vine crops like pumpkin or winter squash to break up the excess organic matter.

Rotating the plants in your garden may take a little extra planning, but in the end it will be worth the time and effort. It’s the natural way to reduce the use of chemicals in the vegetable garden while producing superior plants.

Looking for high quality heirloom and organic seeds? Check out the gardening section of my Resources page!

Need some help getting started with your garden? Not a problem! Join me and other real food bloggers on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page and follow Seeds of Change on Twitter to get the latest gardening tips and interact with a community of gardeners.

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I did get some free goodies (i.e. seeds!), but of course my thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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20 Flowers that Attract Butterflies to Your Garden

Flowers are nice... but butterflies are better! At least I think so. And if you plant the right flowers, you can attract these ethereal little creatures to your garden throughout the spring, summer and fall.

That's right: while butterflies tend to be abundant in spring, that doesn't mean you can't have flowers that attract butterflies to your garden during the summer and fall as well. Below I've listed several flowers for each different season so (depending on your local climate) you can attract butterflies for most months out of the year!


Flowers that Attract Butterflies in the Spring

1. Moss Phlox
2. Lilac
3. Peony
4. Clover
5. Chives
6. Violets
7. Narcissus
8. Crocus

Flowers that Attract Butterflies in the Summer

1.  Coneflower
2.  Lantana
3.  Tiger Lilies
4.  Sunflowers
5.  Black-Eyed Susans
6.  Buddleia 

Flowers that Attract Butterflies in the Fall

1.  Goldenrod
2.  Sedum
3.  Salvia
4.  Aster
5.  White Snakeroot
6.  Sneezeweed

Of course, it helps if you're trying to attract butterflies that normally live in your region! Here's a useful site for seeing which butterflies are native to your specific area.

For some more in-depth coverage of how to attract butterflies to your garden, check out Stokes Butterfly Book: The Complete Guide to Butterfly Gardening, Identification, and Behavior. No true butterfly enthusiast should be without it!

Looking for high quality heirloom and organic seeds? Check out the gardening section of my Resources page!

Need some help getting started with your garden? Not a problem! Join me and other real food bloggers on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page and follow Seeds of Change on Twitter to get the latest gardening tips and interact with a community of gardeners.

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I did get some free goodies (i.e. seeds!), but of course my thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.

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Got Tomatoes? Try These 7 Delicious Recipes!

 

Hopefully your garden has been showering you with tomatoes this season. Although our tomatoes didn't fare so well this year, we've been flooded with tomatoes coming from friends and neighbors who had more than they could handle! I personally love to eat them sliced, sprinkled with sea salt and grated parmesan cheese, and topped with a bit of crushed red pepper. Simple and delicious.

But of course if you have a windfall of tomatoes you may need a few more recipes up your sleeve to make use of all of them! So here's seven recipes you can try:

1. Tomato Basil Garlic Butter Sauce from Recipes to Nourish

2. Raw and Naturally Fermented: Salsa Verde from Nourished Kitchen

3. Tomato, Sweet Pepper & Mint Relish from Hartke is Online

4. Roast Eggplant and Tomato Soup from The Healthy Home Economist

5. Poached Egg with Grape Tomato and Basil Salad from The Nourishing Gourmet

6. Dehydrated Tomatoes from Real Food Forager

7. Heirloom Tomato and Peach Salad from A Couple Cooks

How do you use your tomatoes? Do you have a good recipe to share? Feel free to share below in the comment section!


There's Still Time for Gardening This Year!

It's not too late to get your garden into gear this summer. For a great source of organic and heirloom seeds, check out the gardening section of my Resources page.

Need some help getting started? Not a problem! Join me and other real food bloggers on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page and follow Seeds of Change on Twitter to stay updated with the latest gardening posts and photos of our gardens.

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I received product (i.e. seeds!) and exclusive content to facilitate my post. But of course my thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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Gigantic Zucchini (Not in a Store Near You)

We've all heard dozens of times that the fruits and veggies we see in the produce aisle aren't quite the same as what you can grow at home. But as they say, seeing is believing. And I had no clue that it was physically possible for a zucchini to grow over a few inches long until I saw one of these in my garden last year. This one just came out of our garden last week. It measures at about 18 inches in length (I put an egg in the photo for size comparison).

What a revelation. Just think of the many real food wonders that can only be experienced outside the four walls of your local grocery store. Our modern food supply is so formulaic, so... uninspiring.

It's not about growing the biggest zucchini in town or the world's best tomatoes. It's more about how the simple act of growing something at home will suddenly and unexpectedly inspire a sense of wonder in our hearts that is utterly lost in the predictable aisles of the modern grocery store.

As each generation grows up in a world more and more detached from the traditional way of living, it becomes more and more important to make the time for simple traditions like growing your own vegetable garden.

What has your garden taught you? Share in the comments below!

Find Inspiration in Your Own Garden

It's still not too late to plant a garden and grow your own this summer. For a great source of organic and heirloom seeds, check out the gardening section of my Resources page.

Need some support to get your garden going? Not a problem! Join me and other real food bloggers on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page and follow Seeds of Change on Twitter to stay updated with the latest gardening posts and photos of our gardens.

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I received product (i.e. seeds!) and exclusive content to facilitate my post. But of course my thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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How to Increase the Minerals in Your Garden Soil

In his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration Weston A. Price said, "The most serious problem confronting the coming generations is this nearly insurmountable handicap of depletion of the quality of the foods because of the depletion of the minerals of the soil."

One of the best parts of growing your own food at home is that you have better control over soil quality--which, in the end, means better control over the nutrient density of the food you grow. Price noted several traditional societies who went to great lengths to increase the mineral content of their soil. The Gaelic populations he studied, for instance, used the smoked thatch from their roofs to fertilize their soil:

"The thatch of the roofs plays a very important role. It is replaced each October and the old thatch is believed by the natives to have great value as a special fertilizer for their soil because of its impregnation with chemicals that have been obtained from the peat smoke which may be seen seeping through all parts of the roof at all seasons of the year. Peat fires are kept burning for this explicit purpose even when the heat is not needed. This means that enormous quantities of peat are required to maintain a continuous smudge. Some of the houses have no chimney because it is desirable that the smoke leave the building through the thatched roof. Not infrequently smoke is seen rolling out of an open door or open window."

~ from Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

How to Increase the Mineral Content of Your Garden Soil

Fish and Seaweed Fertilizer

Sarah from The Healthy Home Economist did a great post about her favorite fish and seaweed fertilizer here. These natural fertilizers contain a wealth of minerals and trace nutrients that are severely lacking in traditional fertilizers.

Volcanic Rock Dust

Volcanic rock dust provides the soil with a steady supply of trace minerals, and is supposed to improve soil texture and quality as well. Azomite is one example of a high quality volcanic source of minerals for your soil. Read more about volcanic rock dust here.

Start Composting

Composting is a great way to recycle waste materials into a potent soil enhancer. Everything from garden clippings to coffee grounds can be composted. Check out Vintage Garden Gal's post Ten Ways Compost Benefits Your Soil to learn more about the benefits of composting. You may also want to check out the book Let it Rot! The Gardener's Guide to Composting.

How do you take care of your garden soil? Do you take measures to increase the mineral content of your soil?

Get in the Garden Groove this Summer!

There's still plenty of time to plant a garden and grow your own this summer. For a great source of organic and heirloom seeds, check out the gardening section of my Resources page.

Need some support to get your garden going? No problem! Join me and other real food bloggers on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page and follow Seeds of Change on Twitter to stay updated with the latest gardening posts and photos of our gardens.

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I received product (i.e. seeds!) and exclusive content to facilitate my post. But of course my thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday.

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Organic Gardening Link Love: Getting Started!

It's said that a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step... and isn't that first step always the hardest? Gardening is no different. It's usually the getting started part that holds everyone back! Well, it's also said that knowledge is power, so today I want to share a few of my favorite blog posts about getting started with organic gardening:

1. Start Growing Your Own Food and Gardening

This is a great introductory post from the Urban Organic Gardener. Mike shares some tips for choosing what to grow, where to grow it and how to get it all started. 

2. 10 Steps for Starting an Organic Garden

Ann Marie from Cheeseslave lays out ten essential steps for starting your own organic garden. This thorough post contains all the information you need to get started!

3. 7 Tips for Starting Your Own Vegetable Garden

After starting a home vegetable garden to save money on produce, J.D. from Get Rich Slowly shares some helpful tips he learned from his experiences.

Want to learn more? Check out these great books on growing organic food at home:

• Starter Vegetable Gardens: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens
• Organic Gardening For Dummies
• One Magic Square: The Easy, Organic Way to Grow Your Own Food on a 3-Foot Square
• The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control
• The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible

Join in the Fun!

There's still plenty of time to plant a garden and grow your own this summer. Join me and other Real Food Media bloggers along with our readers this year as we share our gardening experiences on our blogs. We'll also be sharing photos of everything we grow on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page.

To participate in the garden challenge, please shop on the Gardening Supplies and Seeds section of my Resource page. Order your seeds and let’s get planting!

You can also become a fan of Seeds of Change on Facebook. When you have photos of your garden, post them on their wall! Be sure to include a photo caption and a link to the Virtual Garden photo album here: http://bit.ly/seedsofchangevirtualgarden

Next you can follow Seeds of Change on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/seedsofchange (If you want to Tweet about the campaign and encourage your followers to join in the fun, remember to use the special hash tag #sowingmillions.)

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I received product and exclusive content to facilitate my post. My thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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Pics from My Garden This Year

How is your garden doing this year? Spring is nearly over and the summer heat is in full swing here in Alabama. The temperatures are pushing 100 degrees every day and the rain hasn't graced us with a reprieve from the heat in quite some time. So things are dry (to say the least!) but I'm glad to say our garden is still pulling through nicely.

Our first crop of potatoes is doing well this year.  My neighbor planted rose gold potatoes in our plot this spring. Rose gold potatoes have an unusual and beautiful color. They are a rosy pink color on the outside, and when you open them up, their flesh is a deep gold. And their taste? Nothing less than spectacular.

To the right you'll see what the rose gold potato plants looked like a couple of weeks ago.

And below is a glimpse at a few of their delicate blossoms--I had no idea potatoes could be so pretty!

 

We've been bombarded with cicadas this year. A few weeks ago their sound was almost deafening. Every time I walked outside, it sounded like a fleet of alien spacecraft was landing nearby. The cicadas are mostly quiet now, their music replaced by the conversation of crickets and tree frogs. Below is a cicada who is presumably playing dead. The fellow flipped over on his back and was generous enough to stay completely still while I took his picture. Where he disappeared to after this was taken I can only imagine. (Being in my neck of the woods he probably ended up as a hen's supper, though.)

 

I must confess I'm not a huge fan of eating my veggies, but I will gladly partake in vegetables that I actually enjoy eating. And though that list is admittedly small, I do love summer squash and zucchini. I'm glad that we've dedicated a large portion of the garden to both of those, and every day when I visit the garden there are a few more ready to be picked!

It may not be truly extraordinary, of course, but there is something deeply satisfying about harvesting dinner from your own garden. Here is a picture of our first picking--it's quite a small harvest, but then it's only the beginning. There's quite a lot more where this came from!

Join Me this Season for a Gardening Adventure!

There's still plenty of time to plant a garden and grow your own this summer. Join me and other Real Food Media bloggers along with our readers this year as we share our gardening experiences on our blogs. We'll also be sharing photos of everything we grow on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page.

To participate in the garden challenge, please shop on the Gardening Supplies and Seeds section of my Resource page. Order your seeds and let’s get planting!

You can also become a fan of Seeds of Change on Facebook. When you have photos of your garden, post them on their wall! Be sure to include a photo caption and a link to the Virtual Garden photo album here: http://bit.ly/seedsofchangevirtualgarden

Next you can follow Seeds of Change on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/seedsofchange (If you want to Tweet about the campaign and encourage your followers to join in the fun, remember to use the special hash tag #sowingmillions.)

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I received product and exclusive content to facilitate my post. My thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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Garden Stories: The Importance of Planning

from Mike and Marci Blubaugh at Amazing Graze Farm

We started out as city slickers that bought everything we ate at the store or fast food joint. As we began to make our journey into trying to get healthy, we started doing research. Now, all of these years later, we are blessed to be able to raise all of our own meat and do a large garden.

One of the big things to think about with a garden is planning correctly. You can stand in front of a seed display or look at a website or catalog and get carried away. You may plant things that you don't normally eat and might not eat. These items take up valuable garden space. This year, we will be growing lots of broccoli and cauliflower. We have been eating lots of it and having to buy all of it.

Also, think about the season. Let's say that we eat one head of cauliflower and one bunch of broccoli a week. Each plant,gives you one of each and then you do get some secondary sprouts on the broccoli plants.  How many heads and bunches do I need to plant to eat one a week through the winter? That is a lot of broccoli and cauliflower to plant!

And while we love cherry tomatoes, one cherry tomato plant will give you enough tomatoes for you--and your entire neighborhood. :) So now, we plant just one. We eat them while in the garden and also bring them in for salads and munching.

Also, keep track each year of what you plant and what your harvest. For instance, I have written down in a file that one 75-foot row of beets gave me 17 pints and 14 quarts of pickled beets. Ten heads of Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage makes 18.5 pounds of sauerkraut. This helps you with planning next year's garden.

If you are not sure which variety to use, plant some of each and the write down which you like best. I prefer pole beans (Kentucky Wonder) to bush beans. I like the flavor better and they keep on coming on the vine all summer. They are a bit more work as you have to string them, but it is well worth it to me. We also take a 16-foot stock panel and bend it over to make an arch. We put t-posts in the ground to hold it. That is what we plant our green beans on. You can walk under the arch and pick beans hanging down. (It is also a great place to grow lettuce in the heat of the summer.)

More gardening tips:

• Grow your cucumbers up a trellis. It keeps the fruit bugs from getting it while laying on the ground. It is easier to pick and find as well.  

• We do a mixture of 1 part milk and 9 parts of water to spray on our tomatoes. This keeps them from getting blossom end rot. 

• Mulching really works if you keep at it. One year we heavily mulched the zucchini and yellow squash.  We put down newspapers and then straw. Not only did the area stay weed free, but the next year as weeds began to come up before we worked the garden, that area stayed clear!  

• Each year add at least one item that is perennial and takes a while to get established. We planted four apple trees one year, two plums the next, two pears the next, a cherry the next and then two peach trees this year. We have planted strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and grapes. There was an established asparagus bed already here when we moved in. If you just do one or two new things each year, you can keep track of learning how to take care of them properly. 

• The garden is a great place for a family to work together--let your children plant their own little plot.

• Plant lots of flowers among your veggies. It brings beauty and flowers like marigolds help in bug protection. 

There is great joy in sitting down to a meal made from the food you have raised or grown. It is more satisfying in some way. 

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Do you have a gardening story to share? Did you...

... learn how to compost?
... figure out a way to naturally get rid of garden pests?
... learn a valuable lesson from gardening in years past?
... discover new ways to prepare food from your home garden?
... figure out which vegetables or herbs grow best in your region?

We'd love to hear from you! If you have a home gardening story you'd like to have featured on The Nourished Life blog, submit your story by email. Your story might just show up right here on the blog! 

Need a source for organic and heirloom seeds? Shop on the Gardening Supplies and Seeds section of my Resource page. Order your seeds and let’s get planting!

Then you can fan the Seeds of Change page on Facebook. When you have photos of your garden, post them on their wall! (The full Virtual Garden photo album can be found here: http://bit.ly/seedsofchangevirtualgarden.)

Or follow Seeds of Change on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/seedsofchange. We're doing a special tweet chat every month this season!

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Join Me This Spring for a Gardening Adventure!

I have a confession to make: I'm not a very motivated gardener. I wasn't born with much of a green thumb, and to be honest I haven't done much to develop it. I mean, I've dabbled in gardening a wee bit. A handful of homegrown strawberries and tomatoes have made it to my kitchen table. But as for really growing our own food? That's always been something I'll do next year.

Well, this is the year I'm going to make the jump into organic gardening. And I'm not the only one. The Seeds of Change Organic Seed company just gave away over 100 million seeds (seriously--100 million!) to inspire home gardeners to grow their own, too.

I'm excited to announce that Seeds of Change has teamed up with Real Food Media bloggers. Ten of us received packets of organic seeds from Seeds of Change, and we're going to be blogging our way through our gardening experiences throughout this spring and summer!


Join Me This Spring for a Gardening Adventure!

Join me and other Real Food Media bloggers along with our readers this year as we share our gardening experiences on our blogs. We'll also be sharing photos of our beautiful vegetables, herbs and flowers on the Seeds of Change Facebook Page.


How to Participate

To participate in the garden challenge, please shop on the Gardening Supplies and Seeds section of my Resource page. Order your seeds and let’s get planting!

Then you can become a fan of Seeds of Change on Facebook. When you have photos of your garden, post them on their wall! Be sure to include a photo caption and a link to the Virtual Garden photo album here: http://bit.ly/seedsofchangevirtualgarden

Next you can follow Seeds of Change on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/seedsofchange (If you want to Tweet about the campaign and encourage your followers to join in the fun, remember to use the special hash tag #sowingmillions.)

Our Real Food Media blog posts will go out through these Seeds of Change social media channels, so you can keep up with what all the Real Food Media gardeners are doing, and even learn tips for container gardening or growing herbs in your kitchen!

And if you're a gardening rookie (like me!), this is the perfect time to start your own garden. Being a part of a real food gardening community is just what you need for motivation and helpful advice. This is a team effort, and together we can become home gardening pros (or at least green up those thumbs a little bit).

Please note: I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I received product and exclusive content to facilitate my post. My thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.

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