| Green Garden Planning |
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The calendar says today is May 2nd, but the April-showers are hanging on. It's a gloomy day (good day for sleeping in!) and to lift my spirits, my thoughts have turned to planning this year's garden. Gardening reminds me of the renewal of life; no gloves for me, I love to feel the dirt between my fingers and sometimes I even between my toes. When I was a kid on the farm, we had two huge gardens. My mother and grandmother froze or canned everything that was not eaten during the summer. I don't have the time to do that now, but there is nothing better than running down to my little garden to see what I can add to our dinner or find herbs to use. I remember my grandparents telling us about how they planned their gardens back in the Old Country - planting the beans with the corn and keeping the cabbage far away from the strawberries. We didn't know anything about companion planting; without knowing it, they were practicing a Green gardening technique. Some plants just do better when placed with others - I guess it's kind of like people, we hang around our friends while trying to stay far away from those we don't care for. It is a wonderful and easy way to boost plant productivity and to cut back on the use of commercial fertilizers and/or pesticides. There are books out about companion planting and a good website that I found is GardenGuides.com. For a quick reference, go to the Forum and see the information I've posted there. It's too wet to plant my garden today, but I can't wait to sit down with my catalogs and start planning. |