Planting a Vegetable Garden

Now is a great time to plant a vegetable garden. Plant your favorite veggies, then save on trips to the grocery store and long-distance traveling food later on. I won't promise you'll save money, but you will save on greenhouse gas emissions as you cut the travel time for your food.

If you've never had a vegetable garden before, Gardener's Supply has a planning tool for a raised bed kitchen garden.

If you have no space, or want to try something different, you can grow vegetables in containers on your porch or deck. I have good success by mixing half potting soil and half compost for my planting mix. I mix directly in the container I will be planting in.

If you've never gardened in eastern Idaho before, Town & Country Gardens has excellent tips for gardening in this area. To find a list of good vegetable varieties for this area, click on Vegetables/Herbs for topic, then select Vegetable Varieties & Planting Chart (it's a PDF).

Garden planted at White House

Okay, this is national news, not local news, but I still thought it was very exciting. According to the Washington Post, Michelle Obama started a garden today at the White House.

The 1,100-square-foot garden will include 55 kinds of vegetables, including peppers, spinach and, yes, arugula. (The selection is a wish list put together by White House chefs.) There will also be berries, herbs and two hives for honey that will be tended by a White House carpenter who is also a beekeeper. The chefs will use the produce to feed the first family, as well as for state dinners and other official events.

I think this bodes well for gardening and sustainability in this country.