This Full House Reviews

The Vegetable Garden: Garden Calendars and Monthly Gardening Tips

We live in Zone 6, which means it's pretty safe to start planting in this part of Jersey after May 15th. 

So, I stopped by my favorite garden center and tried really, really hard not to go crazy about wanting to grow EVERYTHING under the sun and decided to stick with stuff I know my family will eat.

They didn't have any cherry tomatoes left and were fresh out of basil (sort of like shopping for swim suits, in July) so, I ended up at my OTHER second home (a.k.a. Home Depot) and picked up a few more Bonnie Plants.

Oh, and dirt.  Lots and lots of dirt.

I'm heading out into the vegetable garden this morning and am super-excited to plant a variety we've never tried before:  black cherry tomatoes.

First, I have to prepare the beds (UGH!) and, well, this is the part of gardening that is a real pain to me...literally...just hope my back holds out.

I found this awesome online resource to help home gardeners (like me) find some really useful information on growing a vegetable garden:  The Vegetable Garden has gardening tips on how to plant, grow and harvest vegetables, as well as plan and design a garden according to your state's gardening/hardiness zone.

Yes, but I don't know what my state's hardiness zone is:  Just enter your zip code here to find out what USDA zone you are in and you'll be given the option to view a detailed monthly to-do list or a general seasonal calendar.

FIND IT HERE:  http://www.thevegetablegarden.info

In the meantime, if anyone needs me, I'll be outside, working up a sweat and pretending like...you know...I know what I'm doing.

5/18 UPDATED TO ADD:  Better Start Hoping for Rainy Days

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Guest Post: Gardening Supplies - What to Buy Online for Less

Lots of stuff scheduled on the calendar for this month (what, you too?!?) however, being stranded at the airport in San Diego on Friday night was NOT one of them.

Still, I was able to get back to Jersey just in time for my youngest daughter's band concert on Saturday and then prepare for a mini-family reunion here at the house on Sunday.

Aaaaaaand, then it rained...and rained...dang, if it wouldn't stop storming ALL NIGHT..and, well, I was going to go outside and dig in the dirt a little.

Instead, I'm nursing a sore back (stupid sciatica, dumbass hernated disc!) and sharing some really awesome gardening tips courtesy of Kate Forgach, Consumer Specialist for Kinoli, Inc:

Top 10 Coupons for National Gardening Month

Haven't you heard?   April is the new August, here in Jersey anyway.  The thermometer hit 100 degrees, this week.  Today, we're back to spring-like weather again.

So, we're taking advantage and getting as much gardening done as we can before it decides to snow again...Memorial Day weekend ;)

This week, our friends over at FreeShipping.org sent over a listing of their Top 10 Coupons for National Gardening Month!

Really, April has been dubbed National Gardening Month by the National Gardening Association.

So, here ya' go:

Garden Safe Product Review and Giveaway

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED: LOOKING FORWARD TO SHARING THIS WITH ONE OF YOU REAL SOON!!!

Some of my earliest childhood memories are of exploring my great-aunt's vegetable garden -- happily digging in the dirt, along with my twin brother, while she and my parents traded old world gardening secrets -- and, I swear, I could still smell Anushka's stuffed Hungarian peppers cooking on the stove. 

Today, I've passed the gardening gene to my youngest (she's 9) who loves to run out into our yard and pick a couple of cucumbers and tomatoes for dinner, or maybe even a handful of fresh flowers for the table.

I just love that!

Worrying about the effects of using nasty pesticides, not so much -- so, we don't use any -- still, I don't like the idea of our feeding the entire bug population (in Jersey) either!

I was recently contacted by the good folks representing Garden Safe, a brand for gardeners (like me) who are seeking new alternatives to control garden pests and seeing as we ARE dealing with a few pests of our own (in the garden, I mean) it seemed like a really good fit.

Exhibit A:  The Fig Tree that Lived...