A well-planned potager, or kitchen garden, can be a beautiful and enticing way to incorporate more fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs into your diet. The following tips will help you plan a productive and practical potager.

1 – Pick the Perfect Spot

When choosing a location for your kitchen garden, try to find a spot as close to your kitchen as possible. After all, you want your own personal culinary garden to be easy to reach while you are preparing meals.

The location you choose must also take into consideration the kind of environment your plants prefer. Choose a sunny location that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. If you live in a really hot climate, you may find a bit of afternoon shade is nice to have, as well.

Also, you’ll want to make sure the location you choose has easy access to water. You definitely don’t want to drag a heavy garden hose around the house or carry buckets of water in order to keep your plants hydrated. Continue reading →

After you have started growing and harvesting the vegetables in your garden, you will either need to use them right away or save them. A popular way to preserve vegetables is through canning. Here are some beginner tips if you want to try this option.

Choose the Method of Canning

Before you start the actual canning process, you need to decide what method to use. There are two main types of canning, including canning in a water bath and using pressure.

With water bath canning, this is going to use lower temperatures and is good for veggies and fruits that have a higher acid content.

This might include your pickle and relish, tomatoes, salsa, and any jams or jellies. Most other vegetables and fruits can be canned using pressure canning. This is also done with people who can seafood or meats. Continue reading →

If you are looking to have more fresh, organic fruit at home, growing it yourself is the perfect way to accomplish that. You don’t need a big vineyard just to grow fruit in your own backyard. There are some fruits that grow in pots, both outside and inside your home.

Lemons

One of the fruits that will grow well in pots is lemons. This is great news since when you make things like lemonade or want lemons for your fruit-infused water, you typically want a large amount of them. While they aren’t super expensive at the grocery store, it does add up, especially when you want to organic varieties.

You can grow your own lemons right at home in a container without needing to plant large lemon trees that are difficult to take care of. Just make sure your container is in the right environment for growing. Continue reading →