Easy Gardening Tips to Help Your Plants Grow

I am participating in a VIN campaign for Clorox® . I am receiving a fee for posting; however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own. I am in no way affiliated with Clorox® and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.

Here on the Farm we grow all of our vegetables and some of our fruit – I’ll be sharing some of his gardening tips in a bit. It’s a big undertaking but it’s something that my husband really enjoys. He has always been a man who loved to have a garden. He tried keeping one when we lived in New Jersey but it’s a bit hard to maintain when you are working 80 – 100+ hours a week. When we moved to Montana and he had a lot more time he found himself in gardening heaven.

Me? I was in a dirt and grime nightmare.

When your man spends his day kneeling in a place full of soil, goat poop and other broken down bits of old food and vegetable matter he tends to come in with jeans that have knees that look like this:

…I think that’s about 1/8″ of gloop! Thank heavens I have Clorox 2® to help with what he brings in from the garden. Do you think those jeans are ever going to look good again? I can tell you that they did get pretty darn clean. You can dig in to your garden people – you have Clorox 2® to help with the mess and that means you’ll get more life out of your clothes, more looking good out of your closet, and more fun out of every day.

Isn’t that a great  way to look at doing the laundry! I know with the hubby’s jeans when I use Clorox 2® they come out clean so he’s ready to go back in the garden and get them dirty all over again. It’s a bit of a never ending cycle but the reward is delicious vegetables and fruits. He does love our little farm and through the years he’s learned some gardening tips that help his plants get off to a great start.

As each new year turns he reminds me to start saving the following everyday items:

• rolls from the toilet paper and paper towels
• eggshells*
• coffee grounds*

All year round I save our “vegetable matter” for composting. Any vegetable matter or peelings I don’t use for other purposes I put aside so they can go in the compost pile to help enrich the soil in the garden. Read on to learn why he has me do this!

*Usually the eggshells and coffee grounds would just go into the compost bucket but I separate them out at the beginning of garden season.

1. Cardboard Rolls – when he puts plants in the garden that are susceptible to being attacked by cutworms. He first digs the hole (Bonus tip: place a little compost in before you transplant the seedling!) then he places them in a toilet paper roll or cut off section of paper towel roll. The cutworms can’t get to the tender leaves of the plant. (Alternatively you can use diatomaceous earth.)
2. Eggshells – these get crushed up and added to all of the gardens on the farm. We have several; vegetable, berry, potato and asparagus. The shells add calcium to the soil.
3. Coffee Grounds – the used grounds and the filters get saved in a bowl. (We buy unbleached filters.) These are used mostly in and around the blueberries as they need a more acidic soil to grow but they can be added anywhere you might need a little acid boost for your plants.
4. Vegetable Matter – you can save all of this for compost to give your topsoil a big nutrient boost. Since we have several gardens and we grow enough food to put up for a whole year we have a rather large composting operation. He has two piles going at all times. One is “hot” and it is the pile that we add all of the new matter to. The other is “cold” and it is the pile that has been sitting. This will be the pile he uses in the current planting year. (The other things that go into the pile include the goat, chicken and duck manure. It makes a very rich compost.)

He has been working on the garden here since we moved on to the lot.  The first full year of production was in 2007 and each year he adds some manner of improvement; chicken wire to keep the goats from sneaking a snack, drip irrigation, hoops. One thing has remained the same though – using everyday items to help make the garden grow.

Maybe two things – he has also always brought me a dirty clothes! He works hard and he also plays hard. This means he gets sweaty and his clothes get dirty. I need a detergent that is going to help me get his clothes looking presentable again. For that I am thankful I have Clorox 2®. I am so glad it works on tough stains like those from sweat and outdoor soil. It is perfect for my high efficiency washer but it can also be used in regular machines. You have to love that.

I’m looking forward to another great season here on the farm. The first spinach came in last night. You can see the garlic at the left of the photo. He’s already planted corn, Brussels sprouts, snow peas, cabbage, carrots, and lettuce. The tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and celery are all growing in the basement until they are ready to be planted outside. Yet to be planted are the green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, potatoes and melons. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something but as you can read we grow quite a variety. It’s been a very warm spring so things are going in sooner than usual.

Of course that means this will be the year we have snow in June – don’t laugh. That actually happened in 2007! We had 4″ of snow in mid-June so it is not an impossibility. It was quite the “Welcome to Montana” for our first full year living in our new home.

I can’t wait for fresh, home grown fruits and vegetables. It makes all of the hard work – and dirt – worthwhile. I hope you found these gardening tips helpful and useful for your planting this year.

How about you? Are you planting a garden this year?

In living your life well lived will you use Clorox 2® to clean your clothes?

I am participating in a VIN campaign for Clorox® . I am receiving a fee for posting; however, the opinions expressed in this post are my own. I am in no way affiliated with Clorox® and do not earn a commission or percent of sales.