Looking for innovative ideas and options for your garden for 2009? Here are Five simple ones to consider:
- More Edibles:
Properly Divided & Planted Cauliflower
Yep, the buzz is humming. Buy local. Buy organic. Grow your own. And why not? Growing food is easy. Even if you’ve never grown a bite of food, there are so many simple ways to get started. You don’t need to purchase seed for everything. Each year higher end nurseries and local plant sales are offering more and more edible plant starts, cycling them in at just the right time for you to set them out in your garden. And even easier: put in a few herbs. Many add fragrant, low maintenance evergreen interest to your garden as well as saving you several bucks on fresh herbs at the grocery store!
- Less Lawn: Sure, we Seattle horties say it every year — reduce your lawn to reduce dependence on water, pesticides and the mower. Each year I get more and more requests to find alternatives to traditional grassy spaces. This spring may be the perfect time for you to start seeding your lawn with self-fertilizing, low-mow, low-water eco-turf meadow seed blends. Or better yet, get out there now to sheet mulch your lawn so it’s gone by spring. Need help? Get in touch!
- Goats:
Goats Clearing Weeds in Seattle
Tired of hand weeding and using a machete to clear through blackberries and other overgrown brambles? Consider hiring a goat herder (and her herd) to do the clearing for you! The trend to bring in ruminants to clear out weeds and poop out fertilizer and aerate soil with cloven hooves has been growing, especially among parks and public utilities. 2009 is the year more homeowners are likely to bring the goats back into urban settings to do the heavy clearing for them!
- Container Gardening:
Decorative and 100% Edible!
Sure, there’s nothing new about planting in containers, but they sure do look good. And, they’re easy to manage. Plus, you can always take your container garden with you! And, adding edibles to containers makes for a super-simple kitchen garden for anyone. Whether you live in a tiny apartment or on a farm, big containers with mixed edibles is a great way to decorate and have a snack right outside your door!
- Gardening Families Hiring Garden Coaches: Each year I get more and more calls and emails from families who want to start gardening. I’m not one to draw graphs, but I know this one would have an upward arrow. Gardening industry pollsters have been telling this industry for years that there is a decline in gardening interest as Baby-boomers age & downsize. They tell us that Gen-Xers/Yers just aren’t interested in doing for themselves and would rather pay to hire out gardening “work” so they can “play”. Well, I disagree. Families call all the time, often inspired by their children’s inquiries about the garden and food. Some are Baby-boomers retirees with time on their hands and a new or re-found interest in their gardens. Sure, these folks may have the money to hire out their gardening “work”, but they’re interested in learning about getting their hands dirty. They want to grow food or start a compost bin or just come together as a family in their garden to create a space they can truly call their own. And, a garden coach offers them the guidance to take ownership and have fun in their gardens.
Harvesting Her Own Raspberries
Today, it’s difficult not to be concerned about holding onto our homes and our jobs. The news bombards us with depressing stats on everything we’re losing or may lose in the months ahead. Our connection to the planet, our opportunity to use our bodies to feed our bodies, our families, these are all the things an economic downturn cannot take from us. With a little help, a bit of rain, a flash of sunlight and a small seed, we have the power to build a stronger future, better families, and a beautiful planet.
I could go on & on with other topics like adjusting gardens to deal with climate change, reducing fertilization, increasing composting, adding mid-winter interest plantings, planting more trees, wearing more sunscreen, doing more plant sharing/dig ‘n split parties, inviting more bees and birds into the garden, building more coldframes/greenhouses, attending more garden tours, using herbs for medicinals, converting the White House lawn to a Victory Garden, and on and on, but I leave you with this and invite you to suggest ideas of your own for the year ahead.
If you’re ready to start a garden coaching program in the greater Seattle area, please get in touch. If you’re interested in reading more in-depth articles on any of these topics, or others, please let me know.
Happy New Year!
