It’s after May 24^th so naturally I assume everyone has started their summer planting. Here are a few quick tricks for making a the most out of this years vegetable garden

• Did you know Starbucks offers free coffee grinds for your garden? Customers can ask for complimentary five-pound (2.27-kilogram) bags of used coffee grounds to enrich garden soil. Not only are the coffee grinds great for composting because they provide a good level of acidity to your soil but it also adds a great texture to your compost. And when you mix it directly into your summer garden the worms will love to feed on it.

• Use hanging baskets for some of your strawberry or pepper plants. The fruit can grow down the sides of the hanging baskets keeping them off the soil, well circulated and keeping them clear of pests and rot. Plus they also have more room to grow so you will have a larger yield of produce.

• Tired of zucchini plants taking over your garden? I’ve got two solutions:
  1. Remember seeing all those upside down tomato plants last year? Zucchinis love to grown upside down. It's great for air circulation and keeping the plant from raiding your garden with its sometimes gigantic reach...
  2. Try growing them vertically. Stake the plant along a trellis, and as the plant grown tie the arms loosely along the trellis. (An old pair od pantyhose works great!) Also, harvest your plant often, if you let them get ripe on the vine, the plants will stop producing. By keeping the plants plucked, you keep your harvest going longer
• If you don’t have room for a vegetable garden, herbs are the next best solution. You can grow herbs anywhere and in almost anything from an old boot, to pots, to tires. All they need is a little sun and a lot of love and you have herbs all summer long. Harvest and dry them out in early fall and you have herbs all winter.
• Plant your tomatoes deep! If you pick up young tomato plants from the nursery, plant them in the soil below the first two rows of leaves. It’s really important tomato plants have a good root base, so the deeper the better.
• And the most important: It’s all about GOOD SOIL! Mulch and compost should be your summer mantra.

My last tip, there nothing like a really good book (and google) to help you out, try The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible. It’s a wonderfully written, easy to read handbook based on the WORD method of gardening: Wide rows, organic methods, raised beds, deep soil.

Have Fun!