Growing up we always had a big bountiful garden with green beans, corn, peppers, squash, watermelon, tomatoes (those were the best) and whatever else my parents were in the mood for when they picked up their seeds each year.  I always helped to freeze the corn, but never cared for the canning part.

The BEST, however, was eating the fresh vegetables!

The question is - can you really save money by planting a garden?  According to The Freelance Farmer, you can!

For 50cents, we could get a 4-pack of some slightly droopy veggies that were leftover from the initial purchasing rush the weeks before.  We bought broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels, and kohlrabi.  We also paid less than a buck each for tomatoes, peppers, and a handful of onion bulbs.

Our initial investment of around $10 (including some bean, pea, squash, and watermelon seeds) will get us a sure profit on our cash spent — and little time has been dedicated beyond my husband’s initial tilling, planting, and fence-building.

I miss the home grown vegetables. I think next year I may try to build a box garden since my soil is too rocky to sustain one here.

H/T Being Frugal.

Photo by Di The Huntress via Flickr Creative Commons.

You may or may not have heard, but in the middle Tennessee area, we experienced the 500 year flood in early May.  There was loss of lives and loss of property (in the billions), but never loss of hope. The communities have really come together to support each other - strangers helping strangers, people showing compassion and love rather than greed and barbarism.

That is the good that has come from a bad thing.  Also good are the beautiful flowers in Aunt B.’s yard that really blossomed hugely because of the satisfying drink of water they got.

Another interesting item I read on Aunt B.’s site was about what survived the flood,

Places that were unweeded suffered little loss of soil, if any. Places that had been weeded and fretted over? That’s where I lost soil. Large amounts of it.

I think this just proves that weeding is not only the worst part about gardening, but that weeds serve a useful purpose–they hold your soil in place.

There are flower weeds… maybe we should plant those in our yards when monsoon season returns next year.

Genius comes in many forms and the latest is in the form of a hanging fruit basket combined with an herb garden.  From the kitchen section of Apartment Therapy,

This design concept from Måns Salomonsen is not just good-looking — it’s very clever, too. The herb garden on top absorbs excess moisture from the fruit, and then as it this moisture evaporates it cools the area below — helping the fruit stay fresh longer.

Brilliant!

Though your nose may still be covered with frost and your toes are cold, it’s not too early to start planning your summer garden.  My friend Aunt B. is already considering sunflowers, basil, okra and peppers. She doesn’t mince words when it comes to finding revenge on the bushy-tailed ones that have been munching her crocuses,

I think someone ate all my crocuses in the small bed by the creek. I saw them starting to sprout last week, but didn’t see any in there this week. Well, [BLEEPED] that then. I may put some daffodils in there next year, but I’m giving up on crocuses. I also have half a mind to go into the squirrel nests and take bites out of things they like.

B. goes on to ask for advice on what to plant in a wet spot to the north of her driveway. Let us know if you have any gardening suggestions for her!

Photo by Muffet from Flickr Creative Commons.

My very favorite part of the front yard is seeing the occasional fox or deer, but also the regular squirrels and rabbits who visit.  Yes, I like taking photos of my flowers during the summer but so enjoy seeing other living creatures munch on the clover.

I haven’t seen a hawk yet like Benjamin over at The Deep Middle,

In the dead of winter I get the fullest, bare-bone understanding of where I am, and how I and my garden and little 1/4 acre homestead are connected to the larger world. A hawk passes over my yard in a second. In one minute how much more has it experienced than me? Whose perspective is deeper and richer? Whose life would suffer more for the lack of the other? The answer to that last question should be obvious.

He says it so much more beautifully than me.

I find the notion that a gardener’s shovel is to an artist’s brush so whimsical! I’ve always dreamed of a lovely walkway surrounded by trees, flowers, and bird feeders that leads to a gazebo sitting next to a weeping willow tree and pond.

The harsh reality is that I have a couple of rose bushes that are doing well, my azaleas are very pretty, but I can’t keep the ants off the Hydrangea long enough for a pretty bloom.  My river rock ground cover has itself been covered… by a creeping, gross vine. And my dreams of a water barrel have never come to fruition.

So when I read such beautiful words about gardening, I get a tad jealous,

A gardener’s shovel is to an artist’s brush. A gardener’s choice of colorful flowers, shrubs and trees is to an artist’s collection of paints, pencils and oils. An artist’s signature is to a gardener’s…hmmm?

The choice of garden decor that is placed throughout the landscape is undoubtedly the signature of a gardener. What does that mean? Simply, a gardener that chooses a sailboat weathervane over a rooster weathervane is more likely to be a water loving individual rather than a country/farm loving individual. It’s how they choose to express themselves in the garden.

My garden decor are some broken seashells that my daughters put down and and a frog statue that the previous owner left behind.  I think one of it’s legs has broken off.

Gazebo is one of those words that is always on the tip of my brain and/or my tongue, but I can never quite vocalize it.  It is a lovely word for a lovely yard feature, though.  We have a long front yard and have often talked about a gazebo for the very front so our daughter would have a place to sit while she waits for the school bus.  As it is now, I drive her up the driveway so she doesn’t get too cold during the winter months.  I like the idea of a gazebo much better!

Why get a gazebo?

We can conclude that a gazebo can enhance the beauty of your garden and your house. It not only gives a unique look at the region where is your booth, but also provides additional room for your home, you can use as a guesthouse. A garden gazebo provides a space for relaxation, meditation, meetings and other activities.

I can imagine how lovely one would be if you had bird feeders around it, along with a path or a pond. I’m adding it to my “someday” list.

Photo by Hickory Rose via Flickr Creative Commons.

It is possible to plant trees during the winter months, and the people at BBC Breathing Places, the Horticulture Trade Association, and Guinness World Records are teaming up to prove it on Saturday, December 5, 2009 between 11:00am - 12:00noon.  In that one hour period, they hope to plant 653,143 trees for an event called Tree O’Clock.

HTA Promotions Manager Jennifer Thwaites commented “This helps demonstrate that you can still plant during the winter period. Trees provide many solutions in garden design, as well as the structure for other planting. They also provide habitats and a food source for birds and wildlife.”

What a wonderful way to promote both gardening and a green environment!  Find more information about Tree O’Clock here.

One of my brothers used to go mushroom hunting every year at his local park.  He stopped when he found out it was a hang out for two vastly different types of undesirables … he didn’t want himself nor his children - um… - exposed we’ll say to these weirdos.

BUT sometimes you don’t have to leave home to find mushrooms, evidenced by The Germinatrix.

I was appalled. I’d just HAD a stinkhorn throwing its weight around, and now ANOTHER one? With an extremely offensive attachment? Surely the mycelium was having an enormous laugh at my expense … I can imagine the Mother Fungus oozing around under my garden, sending up her “blooms” and cackling with glee, knowing that they strain credulity and decorum. But do I keep them to myself, as a more demure garden blogger with good sense would? Of course not.

Ha… I don’t want Mother Fungus living in my yard.  It reminds me of the X-Files episode called Field Trip where hikers disappeared and skeletons were found.  The giant underground fungus had some sort of hallucinogen that caused people to dream they were safe all the while their bodies were being consumed by the giant life form.

My friend B. bought her house a little more than a year ago and has enthusiastically and wholeheartedly jumped into gardening and lawn work.  Where I do it because I have to, she does it because she loves getting her hands in the dirt and grooming seeds into lush, producing plants.  While she knows a lot, she sometimes needs help and is wishing for a garden signal.  Even without the signal there are answers,

Could I get salvia apiana to grow in my perennial herb garden? It’s only hardy to zone 7 and we’re zone 6. But I was thinking of putting it right up against the house.

And her gardening friends came through,

I was able to grow Salvia Divinorium and Salvia Lamiaceae in a south-facing bed against the wall of my house for the first two years I lived here. The bed was south-facing but shielded from some of the direct sun by the shadow of the house.

Sweet.  And.

Salvias are touchy here at best and you never know if they will keep going or not. I have several that are zoned for 7 that come back year after year, I have some that are zones 6 and 5 that died right off. The biggest key is drainage and you might be best off planting it in a pot with a cactus/succulent mix of soil and then moving the pot around and protecting it in the winter. Apiana will definitely want full sun.

Photo by Bludgeoner86 via Flickr Creative Commons.