Combine a Vegetable and Flower Garden
What kind of garden would you like? Would you like a combined vegetable and flower garden? Flowers and vegetables grow well together and old maids besides being an old fashioned flower that is super easy to grow will keep bugs off your tomato plants. Sun flowers are good to attract birds and are delicious parched or eaten raw. How about vegetables to feed the body and flowers to feed the soul? Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? And if you don’t have a garden spot you can garden in pots on a sunny patio or deck.
Herbs are also easy to grow and will add flavor to your favorite dishes. You can plant them among your vegetable and flower plants. Just follow the care instructions on the back of the seed packets. When the instructions say the plants like sun, plant them in a sunny location.
Basil is one herb that is wonderful. It tastes and smells good. It flowers and attracts butterflies. You might also try rosemary and thyme among others. Lettuce and radishes are fast growers and you will be able to enjoy the results of your labor quickly with a tasty salad.
If you only have a small spot in your yard for a garden you can dig it up with a pick. Chop the soil up as fine as you can and rake it well. Work aged manure into the ground and lay off your rows. Or you might dig small areas in different locations of your yard. If you have a fence you can plant cucumbers, running peas, and beans along the fence so the vines can run up the fence.
Plant more seed than you think you will need because all of them will not come up. When they do come up thin the plants according to the directions on the back of the packets. Give your plants plenty of room to grow. Keep the ground moist while the seed germinate but not wet.
Cherry tomatoes are easy to grow and are tasty in a summer salad. Best of all you don’t have to cut them, just wash and drop them in. Kids like to pick them off the vine and eat them out of hand.
When your lettuce is a few inches high you can begin to harvest by picking the leaves. Do not pull up the plant. It will continue to produce tender lettuce leaves for your salad. When your first crop finishes you will have time to replant and grow a second crop of lettuce. You will have to pull up a radish to see if they are big enough to harvest. Begin harvesting when they are small and continue until the radishes become too tough to eat. Basil is ready when the stems are big enough to pick. Cut off sprigs just above two leaves and pinch off any flower buds. Happily it will continue to produce all summer. You can dry it for winter use or freeze sprigs in plastic bags.
Harvest your sunflower seeds when they are dry if the birds leave any for you. I used to grow them and they are delicious parched. The flowers are pretty for a bouquet but I never pick them until the seed matures.
Plant any seed that strikes your fancy. I have grown about everything that grows in our area. These I planted every summer. Pole beans, purple hull peas, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash,lettuce, radishes,bell pepper, banana pepper, onions, corn, among other vegetables. My favorite flowers that are easy to grow are old maids, pretty my nights, moon flower vine, sweet peas, sweet williams, and daisies.
It’s fun to get your hands in the dirt, plant seeds,and watch your plants mature. Vegetables bought at the grocery store do not taste as good as the ones you grow in your own garden. You have never tasted a tomato or a roasting ear of corn as nature intended unless you pulled it off the plant. So happy gardening and I hope you grow a bountiful crop of vegetables and flowers.
Written by gloryvine
Retired lady with many hobbies, I enjoy many hobbies but writing is my favorite with reading a close second.
