It’s a great time of year for all the gardeners here in Placer County! We’ve compiled some of our favorite tips and tricks so you can create an efficient and easy garden this season. Ready, set, grow!
Rinse off fresh picked veggies immediately after harvesting and reuse the water in your garden. This saves you not only time, but plenty of water! Plus you know you’re not bringing in any garden bug residents with your dirty veggies. All you need is a cheap plastic bucket and a colander or basket to drain, or you can rinse right from the hose as you water.
This one is my personal favorite! You can actually regrow your kitchen veggie scraps by letting the base root in a shallow dish of water before transferring it to your garden. This works with basil, carrots, onions, fennel, scallions, leeks, romaine, potatoes, garlic, cabbage, bok choy, celery, sweet potatoes, pineapple, ginger, lemongrass, turnips, and more!
You can freeze fresh cuts from your herb garden in olive oil. Just add chopped herbs to an ice tray and pour the oil on top to make herb cubes that you can easily throw in a pan or in any recipe you’d like. This is a great way to use up leftover store bought bunches as well. You can also freeze herbs just in water to preserve them on their own.
Losing dirt every time you water your container plants? Placing coffee filters in the bottom of clay pots will keep excess soil from leaking through the bottom hole.
Hang your knitting or sewing scraps outside and watch the birds collect and use them in their nests. Or have your kids cut lengths themselves and try to spot where they disappear to!
To start your seedlings, you can make your own biodegradable transfer pots with egg cartons, egg shells, toilet paper rolls, or lemon rinds. These can all be planted straight into your garden. Reuse your grocery store roasted chicken containers as mini greenhouses to start your seeds right on your kitchen windowsill.
You can turn your milk jugs into watering cans very easily just by poking holes in the lid. Adjust to your preferred flow simply by adjusting hole size.
A great way to keep birds out of your garden is to hang old cds from stakes – the reflected light will scare off your hungry feathered friends.
Vertical gardens are fantastic space savers for small yards, and can easily be created using old gutters. This works best with smaller plants like strawberries, herbs and greens. You can use this method with any number of structures including spice racks, shower caddies, shoe racks, mounting pots on fences, hanging fruit baskets, or stacking bricks at a 45 degree angle. Get creative!
Going out of town this weekend? Make sure your potted plants get the water they need by simply filling a wine or beer bottle with water and sticking the neck right in the soil. This will slowly water your plant and keep you worry free on your trip!
