Namaste Mother Earth

Namaste...Mother Earth and thank you! You see I was preparing for Earth Day, as well as, getting ready to plant my yearly vegetable and herb plants, when I discovered this delightful surprise...our Halloween pumpkin has seeded itself.  Now my husband and I discussed whether or not we should divide the plant, but we figured we would let mother nature continue to do her work. If you are not a gardener, or you feel you don't have a green thumb, I urge you today to at least try growing something for Mother Earth.

I know it may seem overwhelming to think of starting your own garden, but you can always start off with a patio planter or small herb garden.  As you know I love cooking, and it is so nice to have your own fresh herbs right at your finger tips. The flavors you get will enhance your food in ways you may never have imagined possible.  Even if you live in the city, you can always have a window box herb garden.


After having a garden that took up a good portion of our backyard for several years, we decided that we wanted boxed, raised beds.  We did this for a few reasons, mainly because we needed the yard as a play area for our son, but also it seemed smarter to have contained areas for specific vegetables and herbs. Lastly I must say that it has made weeding the garden so much easier, so if you are thinking of taking this on, I highly suggest raised beds.

 If vegetables and herbs don't tickle your fancy, then you may want to just add some color along the pathways and borders of your walkways.  Now things to remember for those of you who are newbies...keep in mind before you even pick out flowers what type of sunlight the areas you are planting receive throughout the day. For instance, is there any shade, does the area receive full sun or part sun...these are things you want to keep in mind when picking out what you would like to plant.  I typically pick Impatiens for the edges of my pathways, but that is partly because we are fortunate to have the shade from two large Sycamore trees.  If we did not have that shade, I may be leaning more towards Vincas or Petunias. 

The other thing you want to keep in mind is if you want to plant Annuals or Perennials.  When you go to a garden center or greenhouse they should have it clearly designated so that you can shop in the right area. I recommend planting a little of both.  Perennials usually are a little more costly, but keep in mind they come back.  One more thing to keep in mind is a color scheme. You will find that you are drawn usually to a specific color, you want keep in mind adding a variety of color. 

 Once you have your gardens established, make sure you keep them weeded and watered.  Some people become overwhelmed by keeping their garden weeded, a way to help prevent that is to take 15 minutes a day and work in one area.  I am not always good at keeping up with this, but when I do it enables me to be free of weeding for hours on the weekends.

And don't be afraid to try things...that you may not be familiar with. For example, when I bought my plants this weekend at my local gardening center (Willey Farms, Townsend, Delaware)  Mr. George Hudnet of Soil Builder Earthworm Casting Organic Fertilizer was giving away free samples of earthworm casting, so I will be trying that in my gardens. If you are not sure what earthworm castings are then I suggest you go directly to Willey Farms' Facebook page and check out the link to Mr. Hudnet, it explains it all. (It is pretty awesome how Mother Nature works!)

Again, Mother Earth brought us another surprise in our backyard this year...nestled just above the drain pipe of our garage is bird's nest.  It is so much fun watching the bird swoop into the nest...especially to share this with my son. But it is also a reminder that I must get some reflector streamers for our blackberry, strawberry and blueberry bushes.  Otherwise we may not have any berries left, with the birds swooping all around.

So I hope that this has given you some encouragement to start your own garden as well as some helpful tips.  I hope you take the time to thank Mother Earth for all she provides this day...and remember the good in me sees the good in you..Namaste!