Gardening

I stand at my window on a cool, damp January day, beginning the important first step of gardening: planning. At the moment, the garden beds harbor perennial plants storing up moisture and energy for the next year's growth. The lawn is bright green with a weedy annual grass that will die with the first hint of temperatures over 80 degrees. Weeds are dominating both the lawn and garden beds.

Got an overabundant backyard garden or fruit tree? Don't let the extra food go to waste! In addition to sharing the bounty with your neighbors -- or getting really serious about canning and jamming -- here's how you can put your produce to good use:

I've always been a fan of free stuff, especially when that "stuff" equals healthy food for my family. Although we aren't struggling to put food on the table, I can still appreciate using food that would otherwise go to waste. It wasn't until recently that I learned there is a phrase for collecting and using other people's fruits and vegetables - it's called urban fruit (or vegetable) gleaning.

I’m the first to admit: as a kid, I was not all that helpful in the garden. By not all that helpful, I mean that my Dad and I spent a legendary afternoon (or, perhaps, a legendary 20 minutes, depending on who tells the story) when I “helped” pick beans at the community garden plot he cultivated when I was in middle and high school. My pre-teen attitude ensured I was never invited back to the garden again.

I read it on a friend's FB page: Now that the plants are all in the ground - they have to be watered too! Is there no end to this project?... No we don't have automatic sprinklers - entire yard, all watered by hand. While it's better to plan watering before a project is begun, many of us run into problems with watering our landscaping during the heat of summer.  Automatic systems can break, watering by hand can be inefficient.  Worse, our water district may inform us of watering restrictions which mean cutting the watering to a minimum.