April 2009 

Our cherry trees are in bloom and our farm looks like it is dressed in lace!  Amazing white/pink blossoms are just beautiful and makes you catch your breath.  I am so thankful to the folks who planted them so many years ago so I could enjoy their blooms.

This month we are featuring an article on basic vegetable gardening for those beginners out there just getting started. Some of you long-time gardeners will enjoy reading it and correcting me or maybe you will learn something new also.  There are so many new vegetable gardeners this year, including our President and his family!  We are so excited to hear that the White House is putting in a vegetable garden!  Here is a video about this wonderful garden, I am sure it will soon include heirloom tomatoes if we have anything to do with it. 

A Road Trip! We will be packing up the truck and bringing our plants to the Bloom N' Garden Expo in Franklin, Tennessee on April 3-5th.  Come and see us at the expo if you are in the Huntsville/Decatur/Nashville area.

Of course most new gardeners just start with a few tomatoes and maybe a pepper or two and some even grow them upside down!  Check out these upside down, space-saving planters featured in the latest issue of Clean Air Gardening’s newsletter. We’ve arranged a special offer on these products especially for Tasteful Garden customers. Just enter code tg90020503 on checkout, and you’ll receive 10% off. (limited time offer, good through April 9th) Clean Air Gardening’s mission is close to our heart. They sell a wide variety of eco-friendly products that make lawn and garden care easier. They publish an excellent e-newsletter with tips on organic gardening and sustainable living. You can receive a free subscription by filling in the sign-up form above the sample newsletter.

Beginning a Vegetable Garden:

Planting a vegetable garden is fairly easy but you do need to do the prep work which will pay off in the long run.  The worst mistake you can make as a novice is to choose the wrong location and the second worst is to plant too early.  Make sure your planting area is in full sunshine or at least 6 full hours of sun per day.  If you have a more shady spot that still gets some sun but not all day long, plant leafy vegetables and herbs there and keep the sun for fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers.    Also check your pH and make sure your soil is within the 6-6.5 range.

Check our maps for your last frost date and do not plant any tender plants before that date, period.  Every year we hear from the ones that planted too early because they had so much sunny weather and that last late frost came through and burned every one of the tomatoes they had planted.  Even if you plant after that date, you can still get an unusual cold spell which can frost at 36-38 degrees so watch out and check the weather forecasts so you can cover the plants if needed to protect from frost damage. 

Space plants so that they do not get overcrowded.  Many vegetable plants seem cute and delicate when you receive them from us but full sized can be like the plant that ate Manhattan!  Keep in mind that you need to allow room for air flow and room for you to get in to pick the fruit too.  If plants are crowded they will stay wet after rains and this can harbor diseases.  Vertical growing is great for Cucumbers and Beans and staking or caging tomatoes keeps things neat and tidy.  Don't let taller plants shade out the lower growing plants and put the smaller plants to the front (or the direction of the sun).  View our garden plans for plant sizes and simple layouts that can guide you.

Nutritional needs of each kind of vegetable plant are fairly similar so using a good general purpose vegetable fertilizer is the best way to go.  Most products labeled for tomatoes are good for all other vegetables as well.   You can use composted manures and organic additives but they are not necessarily enough to feed for the whole season.  A good commercial organic fertilizer product will make sure your plants have enough food but will not over feed which can be worse than underfeeding.  Follow directions on the package carefully as plants that are overfed will make large bushy plants which may not fruit at all.

Keep the weeds down and mulch, mulch, mulch.  All experienced gardeners will mulch.  They know the benefits to the plants and to your back when you don't have to weed on your hands and knees all summer long.  Mulch keeps moisture in the soil longer and shades roots from baking hot summer sunshine.  Enough said, mulch.  Use anything you have lots of from Pine straw, hay straw, grass clippings, leaves, newspaper, old towels, recycle reuse etc.

Harvest lots of vegetables and have fun!!!  Read more on our growing tips pages.

 Featured Herbs and Vegetables:

Cuban Basil is spicy and full of flavor.  You will be surprised at not only how easy it is to grow, compared with the other basils, but how many times you will use it in your kitchen.  It can replace cilantro or sweet basil or oregano or marjoram or compliment any of them in an herb blend.  Try it in salsa or bruschetta for a flavor treat. 

Green Pole beans are a great way to fit more into the garden.  Grow them on a fence or trellis or hang strings from a cross beam or make a teepee or get creative and eat beans all summer long.  Pole beans can be harvested over and over again and will feed lots of people in not much space.  They taste so wonderful right out of the garden, nothing like those rubber grocery store ones.  View more herbs and vegetables in our online catalog...

More New Products for 2009:  (click on the photos to see these items in our catalog)

We have added many new products this year for helping you to be a better gardener and making your life easier when it comes to growing your plants.  Whether you grow in the ground, in raised beds or in hanging pots we have the products you need. 

This new product looks kind of strange but once you have used these ergonomically designed tools, you will never want to use anything else.  We are carrying the trowel as well as the cultivator and we have more tools in our catalog.

This beautiful, huge French market basket is perfect for taking to the Farmer's Market or your local grocery store! Sure to make everyone ask where you got it. It is able to hold a weeks groceries for 2. Soft, comfortable, leather trim and handle basket is hand woven out of palm reeds.  Don't go to the market without it, it is really nice.

Beautiful cocowood mortar and pestle is perfect for a clove or two of garlic and some fresh herbs. Only 3 1/2" in diameter makes it easy to store in a crowded kitchen but you will use it over and over again. We also have salt keepers, garlic keepers, herb keepers, professional salt & pepper grinders and more all in our online catalog.

Guaranteed foolproof herb growing! 6 live herb plants in 4 1/2" pots, along with our large 18" long 8" deep, terra cotta colored plastic container with tray, magic soil mix and growing instructions. This is the best way to grow your herbs indoors or outdoors. Very easy for beginners to grow!. 

Great Big Tomatoes is an all natural, organic, soil amendment that is specifically designed to nurture tomatoes. Unlike fertilizers alone, Great Big Tomatoes provides key components to ensure vigorous growth. One quart of Great Big Tomatoes concentrate will make 6 to 8 gallons of enriched liquid compost when mixed with water.  Easier to use than compost!

Help Wanted:

We are looking for help in a couple of areas this season.  Our blog is in desperate need of Garden diaries showing photos and planting techniques as well as the results of gardens from all over the US.  We already have a volunteer that is gardening in the southwest, we need others that are gardening in other areas to take photos when you plant, keep a garden diary, post results and a continuing photo journal of your garden.  We need some with container gardens and some with raised beds and some with big gardens too.  If you are inclined and love to blog, email us with more information about your garden.

Any landscapers in our area, we need help planting our own beds around here.  We are so busy this time of year but we really want to develop our own edible landscape here at The Tasteful Garden.  We plan to make helpful planting videos at the same time.  Call us or email mail@tastefulgarden.com if you have some free time and want to work on a fun project.

It is so great to see so many new gardeners getting started and young families sharing this wonderful activity together that will make memories for years! 

Contact Us toll free 866-855-6344 visit our website at www.tastefulgarden.com, or visit us at our farm. Our store is now open Wednesday-Saturdays 9-5 central time.