Cheapest Fertilizer for the Garden

Here we are at the beginning of the year, and most of us have a pile up of after the holiday bills!  Right now, most people can't even think about spending money on gardening supplies.  Here is a garden tip I've been using for years, you can start it tomorrow morning and there will be no additional cost!  The answer is used coffee grounds!  That's right, you can save your used coffee grounds and in the spring add them to your vegetable garden.  The coffee grounds have an acidic quality that excels the growth of many vegetables.  I just save them in a large container with a lid and then spread them around plants once they've sprouted.  Here is a list of what the coffee grounds can be used on.

Tomatoes, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Beans, Cabbage, Broccoli, Celery, Carrots, Cucumber, Peppers, Squash, Sweet Corn, Turnips, Onions, Cauliflower, Rhubarb, and Lettuce

You can also put the used coffee grounds on fruit plants as well.  Blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Cherries, Peaches, Grapes, Apples, Apricots and Cranberries!

There you have it!  My cheapest, easiest garden fertilizer! Where I used to live, some of the coffee shops actually gave away used coffee grounds to customers for them to use on gardens.  If you don't drink coffee you could always try that route.  Good luck!  Spring is going to be here before we know it!

Garden Seed List 2013

Hello 2013!  I hope everyone of my readers had a great holiday season!  It seemed to go by pretty fast.  Well, it's January 2nd and its 15 degrees outside here in Ohio.  I know, you're thinking, why would I be thinking about my garden now?  It's really the best time to start planning.  You can do all of your garden planning from inside your warm house!  I know I've covered this before so I'll make the planning suggestions quick and then get to what I have planned for this year.

First, you need to establish how much space you have to plant.  If you have no ground space, you can always plant a few things in containers.  You can plant tomatoes, beans, peppers, lettuce, greens, etc...there is really no end to what you can do in containers.

Next, based on your climate area, decide when you can plant and what varieties you can plant. Click HERE to find your garden zone.  Based on your zone, you can then select varieties of vegetables to try out.  Once you get those 2 things accomplished, you can draw it out on paper if you'd like, or enter it into a computer program. I personally just use paper, its easier and less messy trying to take a computer outside to update it.

So this year, we may decide to plant in rectangles instead of rows. I'm not positive yet if we will try this but its on the list for now.  So far this is the seed list for 2013:

tomatoes

zucchini

yellow squash

butternut squash

green onions

potatoes

peppers

greens

kale

carrots

corn

radishes

turnips

parsnips

strawberries

asparagus

watermelon

pumpkins

green beans

lettuce

I'm sure there will be things added here but this is about it for now.  I am also going to be trying out some heirloom tomatoes, and jalapenos in my greenhouse.  I will probably add more to that list as well. Get to planning!  Soon it will be time to prepare the soil!