More on Lacking Green Thumb

Like I said. You don’t lack a green thumb. You just lack the right plants. And that’s where I come in to help.

On my last post about gardening, I talked about how bulbs are so easy. Now I want to talk about blueberry bushes. We live in the south. This might not apply to everyone. But we have found blueberry bushes to be so easy! They make a great landscaping bush and they give us delicious berries in the summer. Plus, the leaves turn a rich red color in the fall. I think the leaves are more beautiful than some of the trees!!!

 

 

Watering:

 

I usually don’t water my bushes unless we are in brought conditions and even then I only water maybe once a week.

Fertilizing & Pests:

I don’t spray my blueberries. I have found that they usually do fine without spraying for pests. I do usually feed them once a year. I like to buy fertilizer stakes from Home Depot. You just stick them in the ground by the base and done. Your bush will be slowly fertilized all season. Another great way to fertilize your bush is to spread rabbit droppings around the base. BUT only rabbit droppings! If you try using any other kind of droppings, you will burn your plants if you don’t let the droppings sit for a year and mature. Chicken, cow, horse, human, etc. All of these need to sit for a year before use.

Pruning:

I don’t usually prune my blueberry bushes. You can trim and shape them a little if need be, but I would only trim them in last fall. You can trim them in the spring, but you lose some of the buds that have already formed. Again, I usually don’t trim unless a branch started growing in my walkway area. So, more shaping than anything.

When to plant:

You can find blueberry bushes at most gardening stores. It’s recommend to plant new bushes in the fall or spring.

Hope this encourages you to go out and start gardening. Growing your own food and flowers can be so much fun. It really doesn’t take a lot of work to enjoy a nice harvest 🙂

Lacking Green Thumb

Do you lack a green thumb? Does gardening intimate you?? Well, it shouldn’t! If you have a hard time gardening, then maybe you need to find the right plants for you. Now that spring time is in the air, I’m going to start posting about my favorite fool-proof gardening plants that I have had great success with. I don’t water these plants. I don’t usually trim these plants. I don’t spray these plants. I basically just leave them alone and they love it!!!

One such plant is the daffodil. To me, it’s not spring until I see the first daffodil flower opening. They are so bright and happy. They bring a smile to my face. I love a fresh bouquet of daffodils on my kitchen counter. I got a couple of bags of daffodil bulbs when we first moved into our home about 5 years ago and they are still going strong. In fact, I think my daffodils have multiplied through no effort of my own.

Go plant your own bulbs! Almost any gardening section should have bulbs right now. I have even seen a huge bag at Costco. Go buy a bag next time you are out and about. Plant the bulbs in a favorite flower bed. Dig a hole, insert bulb, and cover with dirt. It’s that easy. Just read the directions on the back of the bag to figure out how deep to dig. Each kind of bulb requires a different depth. Also, check to see what kind of sun light the bulb likes. My daffodils are in a mostly sunny location.

Irises, daffodils, tulips, etc….They are all very easy plants. I have had great luck with daffodils. And when they are done, the irises pop up next. Beautiful tall purple flowers. I have tried tulips. They are pretty, but the rabbits in my neighborhood think they are tasty. I don’t think I have any tulips left. Guess I’ll see if any pop up this spring….

 

 

Working the Land

My husband and I have always wanted to move out to the country and have some acreage. We’d love to have a big garden. But in the mean time, we have a small garden in our back yard. Think of it as a kind of experiment for our larger project. What works. What doesn’t. What we need to improve on. And so on…

As the bible states in Proverbs 28: 19 “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.”

I love getting out in the yard and working the land. Last summer was SO rainy, it made it very hard for anything to grow except the weeds. I am hoping that this summer garden turns out much better.

We have had a few spring-like 60 degree days. It makes me feel so happy because spring must be around the corner. I can’t wait to start working in our little garden again. I don’t have room for huge crops, but I like to at least grow some tomatoes. Nothing tastes better than home grown tomatoes. I usually don’t have enough to can so I buy a box of tomatoes to can from the farmer’s market. But my home grown tomatoes at least make a wonderful fresh salad or a nice snack right off the vine.

We usually wait until mid-April to start growing seedlings outside. I better wait. One week we have warmer weather and the next it’s cold again. So unpredictable. But spring will be here soon and I’d love to show you pictures of my garden then 🙂