We are lucky enough to have the most wonderful backyard that we created from scratch (created sounds so gentle…there was hand moving over eight tons of earth and gravel involved). The biggest change we made in our planning during our backyard redo was to add a small potager.

A potager is a traditional kitchen garden, separate from the lawn or ornamental spaces. By the way, we can blame Monty Don for this redirect (if you haven’t fallen into that treasure trove of beautiful garden content, enjoy).

The potager, many argue, is more than just a space that blends flowers, fruit, vegetables, and herbs. It shows us seasonality, the passage of time, and acceptance of change….at least for those of us in temperate climates. Here in Virginia, we have all four seasons in a big way and I love what our garden becomes. Except for in February. We could just skip the weather in February and I’d be okay with that.

Whatever your outdoor space is, or if you have an outdoor space of your own at all, you can still enjoy the shift towards cozy, calm, natural vibes in your space. To me, the easiest way to tell if something fits the potager aesthetic is if it’s functional, can weather or age beautifully, and bring nature to your life in some way.

1. Buy or Thrift Baskets.

Garden trugs, be they wooden or wicker, are especially useful if you do have a garden space since you can add lots to the surface to carry without crushing each other. You can also use any basket to gather, or if you’re outdoor-space-less, add baskets to your living room or entryway to hold shoes, pillows, toys… you name it.

2. Add Living Art.

Bring the outdoors in when possible. Whether it’s a big fallen branch in an umbrella stand, a tiny single crocus in a bud vase, or pressed flowers in a frame, embrace the nature provided each season.

3. Consider Canvas.

Canvas is such a fantastic fabric. It’s useful, durable, and classic. A waxed canvas bag is great for holding garden tools, or even just keys in the mudroom. Standard canvas planter bags are lightweight and perfect for plants if you need to move them around (if you’re renting, or your sunlight moves around your patio!). Canvas can also be excellent for a pad for planting (if that’s not a sign you’ve reached your thirties, I don’t know what is). Not into gardening? Use it as inspiration for big floor cushions for the family that will wash well.

4. Upgrade Your Plant Care Tools.

Classic potager enthusiast or only some orchids? Invest in beautiful, well-made plant scissors, misters, pots and beyond to make the ritual of plant care more enjoyable. I personally keep plant scissors in my kitchen tool drawer so I can run outside and snip edible flowers or herbs while cooking.

5. Picnic More.

Having a beautiful picnic kit makes it easy to grab and go pre-made takeout or a ‘clean out the fridge’ charcuterie from home. You don’t need a standard picnic basket that can be oddly shaped and take up a lot of storage space. A picnic tote like this includes utensils and plates (not-breakable) to make on-the-go outdoor dining a snap.

The post How to Get the Potager Garden Aesthetic At Home appeared first on The Inspired Home.

Seeds vs. Plants

When growing your own food, you can purchase pre-started seedling plants (fruits and vegetables that have already been sprouted) or start your own plants with seeds. It’s much less expensive – and just as simple – to start your own plants. You can find seeds at garden shops, online, and even some grocery stores. Make sure to buy organic, non-GMO seeds from a trusted source.

Starting Seeds

Check the seed packages to determine if your plants prefer to be started indoors or if they thrive better when sowed directly into the bed where they will live.

If starting seeds indoors or in a greenhouse, you’ll need a small container to sow them in. You can use something as simple as old egg cartons or compostable seed starting pots which allow you to plant your seedlings directly into the ground without transplanting due to their biodegradable nature. You can also use small terracotta pots, plastic seed starting trays, or even recycled plastic containers like yogurt cups – these will require you to transplant.

Transplanting sometimes causes the delicate plants to go into a little bit of a shock, so the less you handle them the better!

When to Start Seeds

To determine when to start seedlings, just check the seed packet. You will be able to start some seeds indoors, this is very nice if you have a short growing season and don’t have the luxury of a long harvest. By starting seeds indoors, you are able to grow fruits and veggies that take awhile to ripen and mature.

However, it’s important to double check the plant information and only start plants that will do well with an indoor start. Some plants really won’t thrive, and it’s best to wait until you can start them outside in your garden. The seed package will clearly tell you if the plant can or cannot be started indoors.

Things like tomatoes and peppers are great to start indoors. However, root vegetables or climbing vegetables don’t always transplant well, so just check your seeds packaging to determine what seeds you should start outside and which seeds you should start inside.

How to Plant

For indoor seeds: start by filling you seedling container with seed starting soil which contains the proper nutrients for the seeds. Regular soil will not yield great results, and can cause plant disease.

Before planting the seed in the soil, check your seed’s information to determine how deep to place the seed. Marking a pencil and using it to create the seed holes is a great way to make sure you’re not planting to shallow or too deep!

Seed Labeling

Once you’ve planted your seeds, make sure to label each container to keep track of important dates.

It’s helpful to keep a log of planting dates, transplant dates, and expected harvest dates – all of this information can be found on the packaging. Some seeds take as little as two weeks to begin to sprout and some take much longer. This log will be helpful in referencing when things should be sprouting, and when plants can be transplanted outdoors.

Seedling Needs

Your young seeds will need: soil, air, water, and sunlight. Seedlings thrive in an environment that’s around 65 to 70 degrees, higher temperatures can cause the plants to shoot and become leggy.

At first, your seeds will not need much sunlight, they’ll simply need air, water, and soil. Place the containers in a warm spot and cover with a plastic or glass top to create a little greenhouse for the seeds. Make sure air can circulate by poking holes in the top of the plastic or by using a specific seed starting cover (plastic soda jugs cut in half are a great option!).

Keep the soil moist (like a sponge) – do not saturate the soil with water. Place the container in a spot where it will receive bottom heat, on top of the refrigerator is a commonly recommended place.

Once you see growth emerge, the seeds will need lots of sunlight! If you don’t have an area that receives a lot of sun, you’ll probably want to purchase a grow light. You can buy these in any garden or home improvement shop. This constant steady light will produce the best results for seedlings. Remember to raise the grow light as the plants begin to grow.

Once you see the first set of leaves on the plants, you can begin fertilizing with an organic fertilizer once a week.

Transplanting

Once the plants begin to sprout, reference your log book to determine when it is safe to transplant outdoors. This depends on your gardening zone’s last expected frost date.

Before transplanting, you’ll need to “harden off” the plants. This preps them for their new life outdoors on their own. About a week before you plan on transplanting begin to withhold fertilizer and water a bit less.

Start taking the plants outdoors, place them under dappled sunlight for a few hours at first and then for longer periods throughout the rest of the week. Bringing them back indoors when it begins to cool down in the evening.

When it comes time to transplant, do so in the late afternoon after the sun has reached its peak. The hardened off plants may wilt once transplanted, but will recover after a few days.

Troubleshooting

If you’re not seeing things sprouting or if your plants are yellow, leggy, and ill, it’s time to troubleshoot. It could be that you’re not watering enough, you’re watering too much, there isn’t enough sunlight, there isn’t enough air flow, the temperature is off, or your plants have become infected with a disease.

Seedlings do best in a cool environment, ideally 65-70 degrees. Air is a very important factor for seedlings, so adding a small fan to promote airflow is helpful.

If your seeds appear to be growing in one direction or if shooting up in a “leggy” manner (tall and flopping over), they’re most likely not receiving enough sunlight.

Plants can become infected with diseases, commonly: damping off. Make sure to garden with clean tools, clean hands, and soil specifically formulated for seed starting. If you are using tools from previous years, clean them ahead of time with a diluted bleach solution.

I wish you a fruitful gardening season, and hope you enjoyed these seed starting tips! Visit me at Boxwood Avenue for more gardening tips, like How to Grow Peonies, How to Grow Fall & Winter Veggies, and Selecting the Right Plants for Your Garden!

The post Seed Starting Tips to Grow Your Own Veggies This Summer appeared first on The Inspired Home.

So, I texted my brother and his wife who both have their masters degree in sustainability for guidance. They said the most important changes aren’t huge overhauls like installing solar, but the consistent use of small changes to daily habits. Every little bit helps. And those are the kind of changes I’m confident I can make happen.

There are many ways you can get started, no matter where you are in your sustainability journey. What it comes down to is slowing down to think through your daily habits and choices to make thoughtful consumption second nature. Know that you have the power to make choices that result in sustainable behaviors for you and your family. Step one? Ask yourself how you can reduce waste in your kitchen.

Here are some small changes to get you started:

Reusable, Not Single Use:

Switch from single use items to reusable items.

• Aluminum foil to lining baking sheets with Silpats
• Plastic wrap to beeswax
• Plastic baggies to Stasher silicone bags
• Plastic single use bottled waters to reusable water bottles
• Plastic straws to glass or metal straws
• Plastic bags to a reusable grocery or farmers market tote
• Plastic produce bags to mesh produce bags
• Paper towels to multi-use towels like Full Circle’s cloths

Now Actually Use It:

Assess where you’re using those non-reusable items and think how you can make it a habit to bring along that reusable version. I keep my grocery bags in the trunk of the car and return them back to the car immediately after unloading groceries. If you’re a coffee drinker, how can you remember to bring your reusable mug? Store it in your work bag?

Dispose responsibly:

When an item reaches the end of its’ life cycle in your possession, think compost and recycle before landfill and let that help dictate what you buy. Composting and recycling as much as possible reduces the amount of garbage bags going to the landfill. This reduces the use of plastic garbage bags and fossil fuel to get the trash to its final destination. There are lots of counter top and larger outdoor compost containers these days if you aren’t lucky enough to have a compost pick up service in your city. Admittedly, this is something I still need to figure out in my own backyard.

Be Food Conscious:

Food waste is a big issue. It’s estimated that in the US, 40% of our food is wasted and quite frankly, that’s unacceptable. Am I saying you should beat yourself up over a rogue eggplant that went moldy in your produce drawer? No way. But taking a look at your current grocery habits can help make a big impact.

Consider a grocery list to make sure you’ll actually use what you buy to make cohesive meals instead of relying on haphazard impulse buys.

Buy from the local farmers market. Not only does this support your local economy, but it reduces the energy footprint of your food since it travels less, especially when it comes to meat.

If you over-buy, freeze what can’t be used before it goes bad. I do this with fruit for smoothies.

Think frittata or pasta to use up leftover items. They make the perfect catch all for that half a bell pepper or tablespoon of goat cheese. To keep track of what needs to be used, I do a fridge check once a week and write a list of what needs to be used, then try to build a recipe around it.

Use Fresh Paper or OXO containers with ethylene capture to keep produce fresher for longer.

Grow your own herbs. Plant basil on your windowsill or rosemary on your tabletop. Having herbs at home is not only the freshest you can get, but it also avoids packaging at the store. Plus, who actually uses the entire hay bale of dill sold at the store?

Be conscious of buying water intensive foods. Some of our favorite foods take a lot of water from regions currently experiencing drought. Make sure when you do buy these items, they don’t go to waste.

Reduce single serving wrapped items and buy in bulk when possible (unless it totally takes over your kitchen storage and will drive you insane!). As a dietitian I know that convenience for healthy eating is extremely important. But when it comes to conscious consumption, look for opportunities to buy items in bulk and separate out into single serving Stasher bags for on the go eating.

Buy High Efficiency Appliances:

If it’s time for an upgrade, look into ‘HE’ appliances. Not only will they save energy, but they reduce the impact of the actual energy generation method required to use them. When it takes less energy to run your fridge, it means less energy needs to be produced. Want an ultra simple home efficiency switch? When your light bulbs burn out, change to LED.

Don’t feel discouraged or overwhelmed or guilted by the seemingly endless changes to be made. Quite frankly, I’m not suggesting you do them all. Instead, choose to look at these as possibilities: lots of small ways you can choose to waste less.

The post How to Waste Less and Cut Your Carbon Footprint appeared first on The Inspired Home.

If you’re unfamiliar with Aerogarden, its an indoor gardening system that can be used year-round, requires no soil or weeding and only occasional watering. The Herbie is an Aerogarden designed specifically for kids — brightly colored and designed with little windows that allow the kids to observe the entire growing process in real-time. The system is fairly fool-proof and really fun to use.

Since our kids are certified pizza addicts, we selected the Herbie Pizza Party Growing Kit, which includes seeds for growing basil and oregano—some of their favorite pizza toppings.

Setting up our Herbie was pretty easy. The kit included seeds and “Grow Sponges” made from a small amount of dirt. The kids inserted the seeds into the sponges and we dropped them into the Aerogarden. Next we added water and plant food and plugged it in.

From there, the process was really simple. Every day, we turned the lights on in the morning and turned them off again after dinner. Once a week we added more water and plant food.

My six year old daughter in particular took this responsibility very seriously. Each day she checked the plants’ growth and reported when roots became visible through the windows and spouts appeared at the top. She often consulted the activity book to find out what would happen next and write notes about our plants’ progress.

About eight weeks after we planted our herbs, they were ready for harvest! Time to eat some pizza!

Just before dinner time, we used herb scissors to snip the top portion from each our our plants. Our nifty herb scissors are designed to mince herbs into small pieces easily and the kids really enjoyed this task — perfect for spreading on pizza!

The kids gobbled up their pizza and insisted it tasted better than usual thanks to their fresh herbs. It was cool to see them make the connection between those little seeds they’d planted and the food they were eating weeks later.

I suspect Herbie is going to be a part of our family for a long time. In addition to herbs, you can get kits for growing lettuces and even flowers. Since the system works year-round I suspect those will projects will offer a welcome dose of green next winter. And if we get started now, the Mint Ice Cream Kit should be ready just in time for the dog days of summer.

Happy Growing!

The post A Genius Gardening Project You (And Your Kids) Will Love appeared first on The Inspired Home.

Benefits of Gardening with Kids

Sensory Activity

Gardening will stimulate all of your child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing. Sensory play is wonderful for a growing mind that will encourage a wide spectrum of their development (creativity, cognition, language, emotion and physical growth). Take your time when gardening with your child and explore everything from the dirt to the science behind growing plants!

Hands-On Learning

Learning is a process and gardening is a beautiful avenue to which to harness the kinesthetic, tactile, visual and auditory learning styles. Through the touch of the dirt, seeing the garden grow and following instructions, you can see your toddler’s mind come to life. It’s really for everyone, no matter what way your child learns best.

More Interested in Eating Healthy

Choose plants, herbs, vegetables, fruits or flowers that are edible so there’s no worry about hurting your child if they get curious and consume. And what better way to foster a healthy lifestyle than to tend to a garden from start to finish. Plus, fruits and vegetables always taste way better when you’ve just picked them from the garden. I remember last year when my toddler wouldn’t dare eat a vegetable that wasn’t cooked and covered in butter. But, when we explored our garden to find the cherry tomatoes were ripe for the picking, he ate every last one while standing right there in the garden!

Let’s Do This!

Start Small

Especially for the new little (or adult) farmers, you want to start small. There’s nothing worse that having high expectations and taking on more than you can chew, with an overwhelming outcome. For children, everything in their world is big, but this is something that you can scale down to size. You both will be glad that you started small and have a manageable garden that you can enjoy doing. This should be fun, not work!

Get Kids Involved Every Step of the Way

From the tilling of the soil and planting the seeds (or seedlings) to the watering and harvesting, they’ll appreciate learning about every step. If your toddlers are like mine, they love getting “big people” jobs and doing it by themselves. They’ll feel a sense of independence and accomplishment when the job is done. Encourage and educate along the way and you’ll have your toddler-friendly garden up in no time!

Give Garden Tours

Who doesn’t love showing off their hard work? It’s especially validating when your parents show off your projects to friends and family. So, make a special trip outside when people come over to give these special garden tours!

Relax and Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor

“Hard work pays off” can come to life for your toddler when they finally get to enjoy the produce that comes from all of their hard work. What a valuable life lesson that they can take with them as they grow.

Now, sit back and enjoy your backyard farm!

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