Making good food choices starts at home. One great way to introduce fresh and healthful ingredients to your meals? Planting an organic garden. With a bit of planning and TLC, fresh, seasonal fruit and veggies can be just a pick away.
In fact, we love the idea so much we planted our own employee community garden at our Flora office in Lynden, Washington three years ago. Since April 2014, the garden’s yielded everything from sweet strawberries and raspberries to snap peas, cucumbers, kale, pumpkin, and more. Throughout the season, Flora employees volunteer their green thumbs to keep things growing, sharing the fruits of their labour with staff and their families.
If you’re feeling inspired and ready to get growing, here are some helpful tips our team has used, that may help you turn your organic gardening dreams into reality.
Start Small
A fruitful garden takes time. Focus on quality rather than quantity to start, concentrating your efforts on a small garden plot, or even a few pots or window boxes.
Garden Smart
Start with easy-to-grow plants and check local resources to determine the best time to plant ,which will vary depending on your geography. A little preliminary research will go a long way.
Enrich Your Foundation
Good soil can help ensure the success of your garden, and one of the best ways to enrich yours is to add compost into the mix. Composting can be as simple as choosing a container, then adding layers of organic material, including food scraps, fallen leaves, and grass clippings. Blend them regularly and within a few months, your compost should be good to grow.
Weed Out the Weeds
A bit of regular elbow grease is a great substitute for toxic weed killers in your organic garden. Get your family, friends, and coworkers involved—many hands make light weeding work, and make for happy, fruitful plants.
Get Inspired
Looking for some fresh culinary inspiration to whet your appetite as you watch your garden grow? There’s a bounty of healthy and fresh recipe ideas to help make the most of your harvest on Flora’s blog. Some of our favorites for the season ahead? Freshly picked garden tomatoes make the perfect topping for this Tomato & Basil Bruschetta with Udo’s Oil, while sweet and seasonal raspberries add a burst of freshness and flavor to this decadent Raspberry and Beet Tart, full of the goodness of Salus® Red Beet Crystals (US/CA).
