I think I may be the most under qualified gardener. This is basically my second year gardening and it seems like every week I am learning something new. I don’t know much, but I wanted to share with you three basic gardening tips I’ve learned as a newbie for any new gardeners out there!

Lauren’s Gardening Tips:
1. Transplant right before the rain - This helps secure your plants roots into the soil.
2. Make your garden beds fuller than you think. Different varieties of plants can be mixed well and close together and you don’e need to leave a ton of space in between.
3. Set an alarm for watering each day- Weather is unpredictable and you have to get in the habit of watering each day when there is no rain, so set an alarm to remind yourself.

Our BEST TIP OF ALL - buy seedlings from a local grower like Devry Greenhouses which you can find at your local Save-On-Foods, Rona, Lowe’s, Loblaws etc., and plant them in your garden.

Devry Greenhouses has a line of vegetables, fruits and herb seedlings called Lettuce Garden and we have planted some in the past and the plants flourished. We love using seedling plants because we don’t own a greenhouse and it gives us a head start to harvesting in the summer. The plants are always so healthy and provide an abundance of produce for us in the summer.

This year we planted tomato, pepper, lettuce and cauliflower plants as well as have a few patio planters of cayenne peppers and snacking cucumbers. These bigger pots will be perfect for children to grow on our patio and the kids can grab a cucumber to snack on all summer long.

We also planted a variety of herbs such as mint, parsley, basil, oregano and thyme. Our families enjoy cooking with all of these herbs and the kids love cutting a few leaves when we need to add them to a recipe. Check your local grocery store (Save on Foods or Loblaws) or hardware store such as Rona and Lowe’s for some excellent local plants to add to your garden.