Grow your own fruits and vegetables

Although we are already in June, it’s not too late for many regions to start a vegetable garden and save some bucks. Garden centers still offer inexpensive lettuce and young tomato, pepper, squash and pumpkin plants. You might even get now some good sale offers.

If you are inexperienced with gardening and therefore prefer to start small, you may want to choose only one kind.  For gardening rookies, I recommend tomatoes. Tomatoes are quite pricey on local farmers markets, however they don’t require care by someone with a green thumb.  Provide  good soil, lots of sun, water regularly and stake when the plants are getting tall, and you will harvest several pounds of fresh, sweet and juicy red fruits from each plant.

In regards to fruits, start planning for next year: Plant raspberries and blackberries, which will bear fruits next year. Ask in your garden center what types of fruits may grow in your region. You may be surprised about the possibilities. When we  planted a peach tree in our garden  near Boston, we were concerned that it might not survive the first winter. Well, it did and every year we get to enjoy more peaches. Last year we harvested about 50 pounds – at farmers market prices of almost $ 3 per pound a good return of investment:

Christiane is Life Coach and enthusiastic gardener. Her website is www.coach4u.net. Sign up for her newsletter.