Your family's health is worth the time, planning, and research that it takes to plant a garden, plus gardening improves health. The end benefits from your garden are many, such as stress relief, family interaction, and the learning experience for everybody involved that can only strengthen the family unity and bond.
It is also possible to grow a garden without using insecticides, which have a possibility of harming your family. All it takes is planning, research, plant grouping, and a little family unity and labor. When you plant your garden, prepare to go to war with natural pest control!
Your weapons of choice will be the hoe and spade instead of sword and shield. I mention this analogy, as to the one spoken of, pounding your swords into plow shares. There are a number of garden pests to do battle with, as you will find as your garden begins growing.
Always remember gardening can be hard work, and if you do not exercise regularly, start slow and take your time. Stop often and rest and drink plenty of fluids, it's easy to get dehydrated. This is easily prevented by working as a family unit and looking after one another.
Here is a trick I have used to produce more potatoes in the same amount of area. Potatoes are planted in hills. A little known trick is that once the potatoes emerge from the ground, if you take straw and cover the potato plant loosely but thoroughly with the straw and continue this each time the plant emerges through the straw - I believe six or so times - when harvest time comes a pleasant surprise awaits you.
As you rake the straw back from the potatoes you will find a crop of dirt- free potatoes, for each time they were covered with the straw you will find a new potato crop all the way to the ground, with the hill still holding your main potato crop. A few dollars invested in a couple bails of straw can produce more potatoes than you can use.
All the food that you produce and can not use can help drive the prices down by giving or selling at a lower discount to friends and neighbors. You can make a good deal of money by running a roadside garden stand. Just remember, in order to bring the prices down for everybody, including yourselves, people have to be able to get produce at a cheaper rate than the stores.
So if you care about others, grow a garden. Grow as large a garden as you can, even if you have to grow on building tops in the city, which you can, in containers, pots, even in buckets! Join the war- undersell the store.
When this bloodless war is won, the victor enjoys the looks of fulfillment on the faces of his well-fed family, friends and neighbors The price of his labors can exceed his expectations.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerald_Moran
