We are coming into the time of year that just makes you appreciate the sunshine and warmth it brings. It’s not quite hot enough to be uncomfortable and is the perfect time of year to start some outdoor activities with your family or friends. I love to see how many young mothers are out with their new babies as well as watching fathers jogging through the park with their children in one of those jogging contraptions.
It is also a great time of year to access your yard and gardens; especially if you are looking to sell your home anytime soon. The “curb appeal” is a major factor when selling a home. I cannot tell you how many properties I pull up to where the buyer says no before ever leaving the car! Though I can sometimes convince them to at least take a look, the seller has made a really bad impression. The inside better be immaculate to overcome the first impression.
If you need some help, call Teacup Gardener. They have done some wonderful work for sellers in the past getting their yards and garden in great condition to sell.
One of the best times to evaluate your yard’s landscaping needs is on the barest of winter days when you can see your yard in all of its glory or its mess. It’s amazing how much you can hide behind shrubbery and greenery from spring all the way through to late fall. However, once the leaves fall off, your yard is laid bare and you can go to work and decide what needs to be done to make your yard everything it can be.
It’s as if you get to start with a clean palate of sorts to see where hardscapes might be placed for entertaining or where a garden would look great and function well for your family. The bonus to having a well thought out yard is you get to enjoy it while you live there and it becomes a great selling feature when you get ready to sell it. That’s a win, win if I ever saw one.
If you need some help in designing a garden or just cleaning up your landscape, give me a call and I can hook you up with one of Nashville’s best.
In the beginning of the gardening season I always have visions of gardening grandeur with several types tomatoes, squashes and beans. And, every year at about this time, the middle of September, I think if I eat one more tomato or piece of squash I might bust! So I have thought about a bunch of places that can benefit from my overage and gardening enthusiasm!
One is to share the plunder with my co-workers; even the ones I may not like. This could give me some points if I ever need them! The other is to share with my church, which I have done from time to time. Another place I have been able to give some great vegetables is to the local food bank. It’s been great once I found out that I could give fresh vegetables to those who need it most. It’s been a great experience to be able to give this food to the food bank. We have also shared with family and friends and some even call me the tomato man because I have so many tomatoes every year. I will plant more than I need next year as well because it gives us the chance to give more away.
This is the time of year when those tomato plants that you grow on the patio on in the garden start to ripen and your mouth waters just thinking about those ripe juicy tomatoes that only you can grow. If you have ever had a tomato right off the vine, you will never go back to the store bought tomato you buy at a grocery. I have never been able to figure out why they taste so good, I just know they do.
If you are lucky or smart enough to have grown fresh basil along with your tomatoes then you will be enjoying a variety of dishes that are based on the tomato/basil combination. You can find a bunch of these in most Spanish or Italian cookbooks. If you like Mexican food, making a salsa with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, onions and jalapeno peppers for a bit of hot to put over fish to chicken to enchiladas and just about everything you can find. Italian food is so much better with freshly grown, vine ripen tomatoes in red sauce and salads. Start with good food and end up with a masterpiece!
Everywhere I go these days I am hearing about more and more people starting their own gardens and growing their own vegetables and herbs. Some talk about price while others talk about growing organically. Personally, I will be spending my time on the lake but I do know there are some great things out there for those who would like to start growing their own food.
One of these is raised beds. I have been told by a couple of people who deal in these things that they are a great way to get started and are easy to keep weed free as well as grow organically. Raised beds are perfect for many people because they don’t take up as much space as most other types of gardening since the roots can grow down and not just outward; it creates a smaller footprint; can be set up on patios and decks with the proper base and has minimal bending for people with back injuries because it is raised and there is no tilling involved! If I was going to garden and raise my own food, this is the way I would go so I wanted to pass it along to all of you who would love to get started in this endeavor.
