The first step to planning your vegetable garden is to figure out what and how much vegetables you would like to grow. For example, if you like tomatoes or cucumbers make sure to plant enough for you, your friends, and your neighbors because everybody loves homegrown vegetables!

The next step is to plan your garden out on paper.  You will need to make sure you do not plant your vegetables too close together or too close to your garden fence. You will want to be able to move around them to weed and pick your harvest.

Step number three will be deciding whether you will buy already grown little seedlings or start your garden from seeds. If it is early in the season you can start your vegetables from seeds. When you choose your seeds make sure to check the planting zone on the back of the seed packet. You can purchase seed packets in many different stores including garden centers, grocery stores, and home centers.  

If you decide to start your garden indoor from seeds, you can use small paper cups and some potting soil. Following the directions on the seed packets will get you off to a good start. It will take several days for the seeds to germinate, but soon you will see little leaves and stems start to poke out of the dirt and develop.

Whether you purchase seedlings or seeds you will need to wait until all danger of frost is gone for your area to start planting your seedlings into your garden. Make sure to check the spacing of the plants from the seed packets or the plant tabs. You may also want to attach the empty seed packet or plant tab to the area of the plants you have planted. This will help you remember what plants have been planted where.

If you follow these steps you are on your way to a productive, healthy garden.

Most people regard poinsettias as disposable. They are bought or given as gifts around Christmas and expected to dry out and die about a week after New Years…if they last THAT long!

Well I received a white poinsettia for Christmas this year and have confiscated my sister’s white poinsettia – which was going down hill quickly. My goal is to grow both of these poinsettias in pots and have them healthy, happy and ready for next Christmas.

Repotted Poinsettia Plants

The first thing I did was replant them into new pots – they came in those really cheap plastic throw-away pots that were way too small for them. I put about an inch of gardening stones at the very bottom of the new pots. This helps with drainage. Then I added enough potting soil to allow the plants to sit high in the bigger pots. I wanted the roots to be no more than an inch or so from the rim of the new pot.

After carefully removing the plants from the old pots, making sure to retain as much of the original soil as possible, I gently sat them in the new soil and filled in around the sides. You want to keep the original soil around the roots – this will prevent the plant from going into shock.

I felt that the original soil was quite moist, so I did not water them into the new soil as I might normally do. I’ll watch them this week and if the soil seems dry, I’ll water. With poinsettias, you want to let the soil dry out before watering. Since I added the rocks to the bottom of the new pots, I’m not too worried about over watering, but I still have to be wary about it.

I’ve posted some photos of the plants in their new pots. Every few weeks I’ll post new photos and keep you updated on how they are doing.

If you save your poinsettias from year to year, please let me know. I’m open for all the pointers I can get!

Thanks and Happy New Year!