6 Things Sunday. Gardening.

It's Sunday.  You know what that means... my (almost) weekly list of 6 things of amazingness.


It's also day 52 (really???) of the Summer Blog Challenge.  And it turns out that today's prompt is perfect for 6 Things Sunday.


What's your best gardening tip.


Crap.  I'm no farmer.  I grew a handful of tomatoes... but they barely made it.  Granted, I didn't take much time to care for them (Hey, I was HUGELY pregnant.) but you know... even if I had, the plants would have been... lacking.

Jon, on the other hand, is a gardening pro.  So I called him in on this one.  Allow me to present...

6 Gardening Tips (for people who want to garden but don't know where to start), as told by garden pro, Jon.

When Erin asked me to write six gardening tips I was afraid that I’d have to write about soil pH and fertilizer and all sorts of things I know are important but will probably never care about. Truth is, I was raised gardening and there are some simple things I do that somehow work. I might test my soil acidity level when I’m retired and Erin’s thrown me out of the house to find something to do, but until then, I’ll stick to my basics!

1. Grow what you like to eat.At first, I thought I wasn’t a “real” gardener unless I could grow…well pretty much everything that grows. But I don’t like eggplant, I’m not a fan of radishes and I’m confused about why okra exists. Figure out some of your favorite veggies and give them a shot!

Erin likes eggplant... and so it was planted.

2. You don’t have to start with seeds.My family always grew our plants from seed. You know what? If I’m buying an entire pack of seeds to grow four tomato plants when I can get nice, healthy tomato plants from the greenhouse for $1.99 a pack…I’d be dumb not to. If you have a small garden, just go to the greenhouse and make your neighbors jealous at your healthy plants.

3. WATER!
If you don’t water your plants, they die. (The same is true about me and coffee but that’s another story). Water every day it doesn’t rain. If you’re not sure if it needs water, feel the soil: in your hand it should feel more like a cake than a cookie.

4. Yellow leaves don’t come back.I know, I know. If you’re like me and leaves start turning yellow you’ll start watering in the hopes they’ll magically turn green again. They won’t! They’re messengers that the plant’s having trouble and needs your attention - so focus on the healthy part.

5. Watch those weeds.Weeds are the junk mail of gardening. They arrive in masses and cover up the important stuff before you even realize you must have thrown out your mortgage bill in the wad of pizza and window installation ads. Keep after the weeds and your plants will get the attention they need!

See! No weeds!

6. Enjoy it!Above all, take time to enjoy your garden. It can be a lot of work but there’s nothing like smelling the tomato plants, seeing the shine of ripening peppers or feeling the crisp snap of fresh green beans in your fingertips. Hey, maybe you only cut a couple of bucks off your grocery bill but life’s about more than a budget and scary pesticides. Whether you grow on a rooftop, on a deck, in a yard or on a farm, grow for you!

Grow because you can.

Wow... Jon does know his stuff.

Until next time, Happy Sunday!