Since I haven’t convinced the hubby yet that I need an inside composter… it’s getting more expensive as the days go by as I discovered a really cool $649 one today. Hahahaha…. I have been using my five gallon buckets I got from work.drilled holes all over bottom, tops and sides for airflow, water to enter, and drain. Each night as I walk through my garden, I remove any dry leaves, expended flowers, etc and toss them in my bucket. I also shred up paper towels I dry my hands on, collect tea bags and coffee grounds, veggie scraps, and cut up cardboard tubes and boxes to toss into my bucket. When my seeds didn’t germinate for me this spring, I decided to dump all the seeding mix in my bucket too. Each night after adding my scraps, I take my spade and chops it all up and turn it, mixing it all together. It’s looking good and my bucket is filling up quick.

Woke up this morning to 1,005 incredible action-takers inside this community. 🥹 WOW. I am so, so grateful for every single one of you. But this milestone isn't really about me... It’s a testament to your drive to grow something real & intentional in your own backyards. I CAN 👏 NOT 👏 WAIT 👏 to watch you crush your goals!! Which is about to get a 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦 lot easier come July 8th. Stay tuned 👀🌱

👀

Watering is one of the topics I get asked about A LOT. How much? How often? Am I doing this right? Here's the thing: there's no magic number that works for every garden. (𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺!) But there 𝘪𝘴 a simple trick that takes all the guesswork out of it. ✌️ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 Stick your finger about two inches into the soil near your plants. (𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 😉) What you feel tells you everything: 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝘆 → you waited too long, water now 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗽 → you're good, check again tomorrow 𝗦𝗼𝗴𝗴𝘆 → hold off, your soil already has plenty The best time to do this is right before you water AND a few minutes after. Watering, waiting a few minutes for it to soak in, then checking again, shows you whether you actually watered enough. (This is especially helpful if hand-watering.) The top of the soil can look damp and fool you into thinking you're done, while the area where the roots actually live is still dry underneath. ✨ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗡𝗼 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝗦𝗶𝘇𝗲-𝗙𝗶𝘁𝘀-𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 A few things change how much water your garden needs: - 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿: Heat speeds up evaporation, so you'll water more in summer and less in spring and fall. - 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲: Bigger plants have bigger root systems and need more water. Brand-new transplants or seedlings have tiny roots, so they need less water overall, even though it feels like they'd need more attention. - 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘃𝘀. 𝗶𝗻-𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 & 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗱𝘀: Pots, grow bags, and towers like a GreenStalk dry out much faster than a raised bed or in-ground garden. Smaller containers have more surface area exposed to heat, so the soil warms up (and dries out) quicker. 🍂 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 Mulch is just a layer of material you put on top of your soil to protect it, and it's one of the easiest ways to keep moisture from evaporating so fast. - My personal favorite is straw. It's light in color, so it reflects heat instead of absorbing it, and it breaks down easily, feeding your soil as it goes. When I'm ready to plant a new round, I can either mix the old straw right into the soil to keep decomposing, or just push it aside and plant. - Shredded leaves (run over fallen leaves with a lawnmower) are another great option. They hold in moisture just like straw and break down even faster, adding organic matter to your soil along the way.

I just planted 12 types of peppers and have more, perhaps to sell. yesterday I planted a bed of basil.That is a small bed of basil and I will plant more. I make pesto every year. I also sell basil - it is worth about $300 per year. $15 per pound- I have 3 annual customers It is good exercise and the rewards are fabulous. Last year we made our own smoked paprika. We have a week of rain which is great.