SENIOR MOMENT 4 WOMEN: SENIOR LADY GARDENER

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I'll admit that retirement is a

lifestyle adjustment. These

adjustments can be positive

or negative. People who are

workaholics may find retirement

boring if they don't find ways to

keep busy. My retirement has

been joyful because I am no longer

experiencing the stress of my mortgage

banking job. I smile each morning

because I arise at 8 am instead of

5:30 a.m. I can do my chores at my

own pace and not meet deadlines.

Vegetable gardening has been my

passion since I retired. There was

a lot of trial and error in the beginning.

I am a better gardener since I took free

community gardening classes.

Classes were offered for spring and

fall gardening. These classes were taught

by Master Gardeners. One thing they

pointed out was that the weather can

affect the success of your garden.

Great gardening skills, great fertilizer,

and great soil doesn't guarantee a

bountiful garden. An unpredicted frost,

excessive heat, too much rain, and

drought can damage your vegetable

garden. I have had some success with

container gardening. There are lots of

videos and website to assist new

gardeners. You can get help with

troubleshooting garden problems

and planting tips.

I plan to start my fall garden soon.

I'm just waiting for collard, lettuce,

and kale plants to arrive at the garden

center. I'm so impatient. I've started

turnip, kale, lettuce, and spinach

seeds in toilet paper rolls.

I am sharing planting tips/methods

that has worked well for me below:

SEEDS

I have had good yields from American Seeds.
They are economical and can be found at some
dollar and discount stores. Some seed packets
labeled " great for containers." I get seeds for
exotic vegetables from Garden Centers which
are little more expensive.

CONTAINERS

Sow lettuce and spinach seeds in dollar store

dish pans. Use hot glue gun to make holes in

the bottom of the pan.

Sow seeds in good quality potting soil

(have mixture of white perlite, plant food,

or compost).

Cover pan with recycled plastic grocery bags

and secure the ends This greenhouse method

helps the soil stay moist and seeds germinate

quicker. Soil should never be soggy soil since

it will rot the seeds.

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MY MINI GREENHOUSE FOR SEEDLINGS

Growing Zucchini from seeds almost

guarantees success.

Sow my seeds in egg carton & placed it

in shaded area. Had sprouts within 1-2 weeks.

Transplanted 4-5 inch plants to 5-gallon dollar store

buckets. Full sun and adequate watering worked

magic.

Large vegetable seeds sprouted quickly in

covered peat pots & toilet paper rolls.

A little soil, 2 seeds, & water was placed in

the peat pots & toilet paper rolls.

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MY TOILET PAPER ROLLS & KALE SEEDLINGS

Childs 4-5 ft swimming pool great for planting mint

& strawberries.

Made several small holes in bottom of the pool.

Added Chocolate, Spearmint, Peppermint,

Pineapple, & Citrus scented mint &

potting. It looks beautiful in my front yard.

MY KIDDIE POOLS WITH MINT & STRAWBERRIES

Two years ago we purchased & used
5 gallon cloth grow bags for our container
garden. We still use a few of them.
I used scissors to cut small holes
in the bottom. They worked well &
are very sturdy.

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Inexpensive black or white 2-5 gallon buckets
from dollar or discount stores made great
planters for my container garden. Used
glue gun to make small holes in bottom.
Stopped using tip of knife because this
was risky for clumsy me.

MY 5 GALLON BUCKET PLANTERS

Raised beds are great. My son made
mine from free recycled wood. He
designed them to look like hug window
boxes. Treated wood lasts long time
& withstand the weather.