Gardening: One of the 12 Homemaking Skills

Have you ever made a radish wreath?  Neither have I.  Although.... I have ding dong ditched neighbors with bags of zucchini and tomatoes when the veggies start taking over the house.  I sneak out in the middle of the night and deliver groceries to anyone who I think would take them.  Those of you who keep gardens know what I'm talking about... those who don't keep gardens... we want you in the club!  

Spread the word on Pretty Organized Palace's Dare To Dream Homaking series.  This series touches on 12 Subjects every Homemaker should know.  Grab the image and link back to www.PrettyOrganizedPalace on your blogs!  

I love to garden.  For me, it is on my list of 12 things to know that bring an inner peace and satisfaction to homemaking.  There is something sweet and timeless about the law of the harvest... even my children understand it.  The sweat (and in AZ I mean SWEAT) and the back pain and the blisters involved in planting and keeping a garden all yield a proportional joy and satisfaction in a good harvest and the feeling that for a season, you were able to feed your family and maintain some degree of self reliance.  And in this day... these principles are needed more and more.  So where do you start?
This is the Gardening Bible in the West.  I guess they have similar bibles in the central and eastern areas... can't imagine they'd leave out 2/3rds of the US!  You can get this book at Amazon for between .05 to 10.00 used.  It tells you everything: What to plant around pools, when to plant veggies, how to's, pruning, what bug just killed your lemon tree, the name of every plant with a picture to go with it... EVERYTHING.! Over the years it has been my resource... my special bathroom book... yes, I admit... how completely brash and uncouth. 
Before you plant a garden you need to know a little about the zone you live in.  Check out the Sunset site link here for your zone.  This zone calculates temperature, rain fall and soil conditions and lets you know what you can and cannot plant in your particular area.  I've lost my fair share of beautiful plants from Home Depot because I bought what looked pretty, ignoring the fact that it came from Hawaii and was brought for a seasonal promotion only to die a torturous death in the Arizona sun.
This is a garden from Pennsylvania.  I KNOW, I cannot grow many of these beauties in my AZ garden due to temperature and my darn inability to remember to water.... my one gardening handicap.  It's amazing how well your garden does when the water is regular and plentiful.   For the basics on gardening try the Sunset website at this link.  You'll find useful how to's you can start while you're waiting for that book you've ordered!  Will someone from Sunset please send me my commission for selling these babies?  
Once you've decided what zone you're in, you need to decide if you're going to garden in the God given ground or in a built raised bed, or in containers.  Neither is wrong... I plant in a raised bed so I can control the soil I use.  I prefer the easy square foot gardening method. It's a great one for beginners and those with limited space. Of course you can also use timeless row gardening.

If you're new to gardening I suggest trying these: Tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, carrots, bell peppers, green onions, and peas.  My experience has been that these are easy to keep and yield a great meal in minutes.  Of course, I don't have a garden like Martha Stewart here... she can scrounge up a meal for the USS Ronald Reagan... a little plug... anyone attending a tea party on Wednesday?... or still reading this post?

Oh, and don't forget to plant those radishes... if for nothing more than making that fabulous radish wreath!

Will you be gardening with me this summer? Pretty Please?

 Don't forget to visit my good friend Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam for her Tastey Tuesday party!