floraonmillcrk1.jpg One of the things I’ve discovered in my ongoing quest to live in an environmentally responsible manner is, the more I learn, the more reasons I find to live even greener and more sustainably.

April has been designated as National Gardening Month. Five years ago, the National Gardening Association began pushing the Greening of America, one garden at a time.Imagine the positive impact if everyone planted something. It doesn’t have to be a whole garden, but just something. Grass is just a flower bed in waiting. A pot of herbs, a container full of salad greens or a hanging pot of flowers on a deck. I encourage you to decide to do something to celebrate National Gardening Month in your little corner of the world.

Thought I’d give a brief tour of my greenhouse. It is an amazing thing to bundle up against the cold in February and walk to the greenhouse….the bitter wind, perhaps even snow, is stinging my eyes and I shiver as I walk. But once I step into the greenhouse, I am comfortable in a T-shirt and jeans and the smell….the warmth…it is like stepping into spring!

My greenhouse is heated. It is a large professional greenhouse , fortunately here and ready to go when we moved here. The hanging fan is one of the circulating fans. Installed on the ceiling are thermostats which will turn the heat on and off at specified temperatures.

Heres a list of frugal possibilities to get you moving:

1. Let your fingers do the walking. git ‘r growing here at Gardenweb.. tons of inspiration and info..

2. Find out if your community has a local garden club. If so, put the next meeting on your calendar & make arrangements to attend.

3. If you have kids or grandkids that visit, plant something with them. Radishes are probably the speediest crop you could choose, but beans, lettuces and carrots are fun too.

4. Contact your city to see if they sponsor a city wide clean up day. If so, volunteer to help clean up one of their targeted areas.

5. If your city has a spring yard waste program, plan to participate by cleaning out a new garden area in your yard. Many cities are going Green by turning all the yard wastes into usable compost.

6. If you’ve never planted a vegetable garden, start now. If you’ve always had a veggie garden, plant at least one extra row and donate to your local food bank at harvest time.

7. If you don’t have space to plant a big garden but want to, make arrangements with a local P-Patch or Community Garden Plot and get to planting.

8. Contact your local Master Gardeners program. If they do soil testing, take in a sample of your garden soil for evaluation.

9. Research public gardens in your area and make plans to view them when they are at their peak.

10. If you have any plants, share them this month. Take a cutting to a friend, divide a houseplant and share one with a nursing home resident…spread the green. And remember, a weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill
except for learning how to grow in rows.