Invest Now For Future Rewards in Pesto, Bruschetta, Salsa, Pico de Gallo and Taco Salad

It's kind of hard to tell exactly what season it is right now based on the weather we see out our windows....we've had everything this week including sun, sleet, hail, wind, rain and some mysterious slushy stuff that fell out of the sky one day, but I don't think it actually has any real name.  Nevertheless, I'm going to go by the date on the calendar, be optimistic, and go along with it officially being Spring.  And if it's Spring, then it's time to get a garden planted....even if it's miniature.  I'm not talking about getting out a tractor or roto-tiller here, not even a shovel.  All you'll need is a small garden digger, a few pots and seeds.

If you already garden on a regular basis, you know what you're doing and might want to offer some input in the comments section.  But if you have never really grown your own food, I'm going to get you started on a very simple, productive and frugal garden.  It's not complicated, doesn't take much space and the rewards are delicious and well worth your time.

This garden includes just tomatoes, basil, cilantro and lettuce; and it will provide the essentials for making some especially tasty Italian and Mexican foods.  All of these plants grow easily, and you don't need to produce much to have a real monetary saving over buying them at the grocery store.  Not to mention the naturally enhanced flavor of fresh picked produce is reason enough to grow your own.

In our area, it is generally too cold to place any of these plants outside until mid-May; or you can use Mother's Day as a good mark for safely putting young plants outdoors.  But now is an excellent time to start them from seed indoors.  The seeds can be purchased at grocery, garden or even hardware stores from $0.69 to $1.89.  You won't need more than one package of each, and can probably share some with a friend, except the lettuce.  My recommendations are -

• Sweetie tomatoes - small, cherry sized variety
• Early Girl tomatoes - a nice medium size
• Basil - Italian large leaf
• Cilantro
• Lettuce - most any, except iceberg.  Two or three different varieties are good for salads

You can either use purchased potting soil, or soil from your yard, being careful to remove any weed seedlings and creepy crawlies that may want to eat the seeds or infest your house.  The basil and cilantro can be started and grown in large pots in the house, moved outdoors for the summer, and then back inside for the fall.  The tomatoes are best started in the house and then grown outside until they die from cold in the fall, and the lettuce is grown exclusively outside. 

You can use small individual pots for the tomatoes, or my preference is to start about a dozen plants in a larger pot, about 8-10 inches.  All will be transplanted in a few weeks, either directly into the ground or into large planters, so either alternative is fine.  The basil and cilantro can be grown in large pots and can remain in the same containers their whole productive life.  The lettuce will be planted outdoors in May, in the ground or in large pots.  Follow the instructions on the packages for the depth of planting the seeds, but don't be too concerned at this point with how far apart you have placed the seeds.  Some probably won't sprout, so it's ok to have overplanted to compensate; and you can thin some out later if there are too many for the space.  This is especially true for the basil and cilantro, because you will want to have as much growing in one pot as it can accommodate so it can fit on a counter or window sill in the fall when the plants are larger.

Place the pots in a window that receives a lot of daylight and you can even put a lamp or two very close to them to provide more light.  Make sure the lamps are only a few inches higher than the pots so the plants won't grown extra long stems trying to reach the light.  Use a spray bottle on a mist setting to keep the soil moistened until the plants are large enough to tolerate using a water can without being bent over and broken. You may need to mist them several times throughout the day, but it won't take much time.  You don't need to use any kind of fertilizer or any other chemicals.  When it's time to place them outside, I'll write about using organic slug killer that is safe for you, but will keep those nasty slimy creatures away from your veggies.

So, head on down to your local garden store, maybe with a friend, make those purchases and get those seeds planted now.  The rewards are going to be so worth it later this summer!  Over the next few weeks I'll post more information about thinning out plants, or pinching them back for better growth; and I'll also have some great recipes for using your fresh produce.