The man who had the most beautiful garden that I have ever seen in my life had a concrete rule about when to plant. He believed that the garden was to be planted on Good Friday and he did this no matter when Good Friday was celebrated.
But if you did not plant your garden on the Friday before Easter, the good news is that it is not too late. In fact, you may be better off for not planting because of the recent cold weather.
This man’s garden, about the size of a football field, was absolutely beautiful, straight rows of almost every vegetable you could think of and not a weed in sight. Obviously this man did a great deal of work in order to produce such a garden. His household canned and dried food during the summer months and enjoyed giving generously to the neighbors.
It is doubtful that this gardener would have entertained the thought of container gardening but we live in a different time. Container gardening is a very practical approach to our effort to supply some of our own food and since it is much less work than traditional farming, it should be considered.
Food prices will continue to rise and budgets will be stretched even more. That is one very good reason to consider raising some of your food, but even more important is that you will have the satisfaction of knowing how safe your food is and how many people have handled it before it actually gets to your table.
There is no arguing with the fact that the freshness of the vegetables increase our enjoyment in eating them. Children have a fascination seeing their food develop from the tiny seed that you let them “help” plant. Children can learn valuable lessons from a garden, not only concerning the return in food but the finance involved.
It is not necessary to plant a large garden; however, if you have the land, the time, and the energy to do so, go for it. According to the size of your family, a garden can be a very good investment for a number of reasons.
Often overlooked in the reasons for having a garden is the availability of the produce. Being able to simply go into your backyard and pick some beans or get a tomato saves the trip to the grocery store. The gasoline that would have been used for this trip would have cost you money.
The time saved is another reason for having your own garden. There are times when you simply do not want to get dressed and make a trip into town. Or, you may even get to enjoy doing absolutely nothing once in a while.
If there is any space in those flower beds, use it. A yellow squash plant or a zucchini plant will not look out of place in your landscaping and it can certainly bring you rewards where your food budget is concerned. Look around to see if there are any empty containers that are large enough to accommodate the root system of whatever vegetables you would like to harvest.
Think outside the box when it comes to using container planters. If you have decorative containers that were originally purchased for ornamental flowers or shrubs and that are no longer used for that purpose, plant something for your summer garden.
An old wheelbarrow with a rusted bottom makes an ideal “bed” for lettuce, radishes or other greens. As long as the container is deep enough to accommodate the root system and has drainage, the container will be suitable.
It’s not too late. Look around and find some containers and go for it. You will be glad that you did.
Bita Bullet is the pen name of a local anonymous writer who can be reached at opelikaobserver@att.net