Tag: gardening

Our Raised Garden Beds

To us having a garden is essential. So when we moved into our new house in December 2017 we quickly got to work on planning our garden. One thing we knew for sure was that living in the country meant that we are surrounded by wildlife. Mainly deer, rabbits, opossums, groundhogs, and more.

We chose a fairly flat area of our yard in view of the road. We wanted to be far enough away from the woods so animals wouldn’t sneak in, and we wanted it to be in a good sunny spot. Something else we noticed was tons of mole activity. We were told my area neighbors that moles are impossible to get rid of where we live, so we would have to work around them.

We chose pressure treated 1x12s to build up our raised beds. We ideally would have liked cedar wood, but it is very hard to come by where we live. So we lined the wood with 6mil plastic to prevent the soil from touching as well as we enclosed the bottoms with chicken wire to prevent moles from digging up into our gardens.

We then filled the beds with Bumper Crop and Lobster Compost. Before planting our precious plants we enclosed the entire area with fencing from tractor supply. Very easy to manage and get in and out of, and we haven’t had a single animal break in to our garden!

We finished this project in April and as of June our garden is thriving!!!!

Garden Spray

I love to garden. Currently I have zucchini, several herbs, cucumber, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes.

A few weeks ago I discovered that aphids were making quite the home out of my eggplant. If you know anything about aphids they aren’t a good insect to have, they’ll nibble away at everything.

After doing some research as to how I can ward of these little vermin naturally, I came up with my own garden spray that proved to be quite a success.

You’ll notice when I make my essential oil sprays that I use amber glass bottles. One reason I use glass is because it’s more eco friendly, I can reuse them over and over. Another is because glass doesn’t react with essential oils. Also, the amber color protects my spray from UV light. You can purchase my favorite amber bottles Here.

Method

Fill your spray bottles up until you have about one inch left of space. Add 25 drops of cedar wood essential oil, 20 drops of peppermint, 5 drops of wild orange, and a tablespoon of Castile soap. Give your bottle a good shake and vigorously spray your plants, being sure to knock off the aphids. Spray your plants as often as twice a day.

I’ll tell you. After only 3 or 4 treatments the aphids were gone!!!!