This question comes up every single year:

Q. It’s June, did I miss my opportunity to plant for spring?

A. Well, it kinda depends. It depends on where you live, what you wanted to grow, and how quick the plant takes to actually grow. Next time, you might want to do some more prep work, but for the time-being there are actually a handful of things you can plant right now!

You may have already missed the boat for growing veggies like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants but there’s still a lot of late-summer producers that you can still plant.

You should try growing some of these right now:

1. Basil (buy Basil seeds – and – check out this Watermelon Basil recipe)
2. Beans (buy seeds to grow your own beans)
3. Beets (beet seeds)
4. Carrots (non/hybrid/heirloom carrot seeds)
5. Chard (favorite is the rainbow swiss chard mix)
6. Lettuce/Salad/Mesclun Mixes (seeds to grow all your leafy greens)
7. Mustard Greens (easy to grow from seed)
8. Oregano (oregano seeds)
9. Pumpkins (try growing this 1,000+ lb. pumpkin)
10. Squash (squash seeds are one of the easiest to grow)

One of the most important things you can do is buy good seeds for your garden. Make sure to buy only Non-Genetically Modified (NON-GMO) seeds.  Don’t support companies that support genetically engineering our food supply.  3 sources to buy your vegetable seeds.

The good thing is that most all those varieties listed above don’t take forever to grow and they’ll do well in partial sun.  So even if it gets really hot in the next couple months you can still plant them in an area that doesn’t get the most amount of sun but still get a healthy harvest of herbs and veggies.

Here are some more links to get you started on the right track:

• 7 Location ideas for your urban garden. 
• How to make a self-watering container.
• How many plants per container (chart).
• How to Make a Hanging Herb Garden Using Recycled Soda Bottles
• 3 Sources to Buy NON-GMO Vegetable Seeds.

Just plant something!  Growing your own food is all about the experience and learning each time you do it.

An infographic by the team at CouponAudit

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You might not have listened in the beginning of the summer…

…Or in September when I told you it’s not too late to start your garden.

It’s now October and guess what?

It’s still not too late to start your garden
For most of you in the US, your time is running out this year, but you still have some. Utilize it!

The selection might be small, but there is a selection.

Just grow one thing right now. Then come the spring, you’ll be more comfortable and be able to grow that much more.

It’ll be easier to handle and much less overwhelming.

What can you grow?
To figure out what you can grow, you should use my Veggie Virgin Formula.

That will help you to figure out what you can start from seed today.

What can you grow?
To figure out what you can grow, you should use my Veggie Virgin Formula.

That will help you to figure out what you can start from seed today.

Where can I buy seeds?
Make sure you buy seeds that aren’t full of chemicals or genetically modified.  3 sources to buy vegetable seeds.

Mint is a weed…

…that means it grows like crazy and should be kept in a container.

If you are growing mint, you likely have more that you know what to do with. You can easily harvest it to encourage more growth too.

There are lots of posts out there that give you dozens of ways that you can use mint. How many of them can you actually use everyday though?

How to use mint from your garden…everyday

That’s why I wanted to write this simple and practical post for you.

Let’s begin. Here they are:

Hot tea

This is a simple one. Put some mint leaves in a mug. Boil up some water. Pour the water over the mint leaves and let it sit for a few minutes. That’s it.

Mint tea is good for upset stomachs and helps with digestion.

Spa water

We should all be drinking more water. It’s essential for our health and well-being.

Some people complain that drinking water is too bland and boring.

You can add some flavor to it pretty easily. This is slight variation of the tea. All you have to do is fill up a large pitcher with water and add in mint leaves.

It will give the water a minty flavor.

Chewing gum alternative

Face it, your breath stinks. I can smell it through my computer.

So why not pull off some mint leaves and chew on them. It’ll help to freshen your breath and help you to make more friends.

Your turn

Share this post with friends and family that have so much mint they don’t know what to do with it.

Summer is gone and September is upon us.

You think you missed your chance to start your garden and will start it next year…

…That’s just a lame excuse though.

You’ve made dozens of excuses why you can’t start. I’m sick of them and you should be too.

It’s not too late to start your garden
That’s true for most of you in the United States.

Yes, your options are limited, but you can still start something.

It’s all about getting over the excuses and starting. You’ve made enough excuses that have kept you from starting.

Now is the perfect time to begin.

What can you grow?
To figure out what you can grow, you should use my Veggie Virgin Formula.

That will help you to figure out what you can start from seed today.

For those of you that wind up in being in Zones 3 and 4, you are out of luck. The rest of you can still plant something.

The veggie that nearly all of you can start right now is spinach. If you want variety, use the Veggie Virgin Formula to see what else you can plant.

So channel that inner-Popeye of yours, get over your excuses for not starting and get that spinach planted.

Still need help?
If you still need help starting your fall garden, then enroll in my Fall Gardening 101 course and I’ll walk you through the steps.

Do you strive for perfection in your garden?

Is it important for you for everything to be just so?

Are these questions that you ask yourself and beat yourself up about?

I don’t want an organic garden

People will often tell me that my garden isn’t “organic” because I am growing in plastic containers and the containers might be leaching BPA in the soil.

They will tell me that because of the water that I’m using and it’s not filtered in a certain manner that it’s not truly organic.

People will say that they don’t want to start unless they have the ideal conditions to grow their food in.

I usually wind up asking them, “Is it really that bad to grow in “non perfect” conditions as opposed to eating who knows what that we buy at the grocery store.”

Don’t be perfect

If you have been waiting for the perfect conditions and time to start, I challenge you to not be perfect.

I challenge you to do the best that you can with the conditions and knowledge that you are given to start and maintain your garden.

Your turn

In the comments below, tell me one thing about your garden that isn’t perfect and share this post with friends and family that are waiting for the perfect conditions.

What is the simplest thing you can grow?

Which vegetable is pretty much failproof?

What is the one vegetable that is recommended for beginner’s to start with?

These are questions that I often get and the answer is pretty simple.

It’s not tomatoes

I’ve been very vocal and shared why most of your garden’s will fail before.

One of those reasons is that when you are first starting out, you want to grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplant.

These are all possible to grow, but they are more difficult when you are first starting out.

Why?

Because they require more sunlight, fertilizer, time and attention. That’s a lot to give when you are first starting out.

My top recommended crop

That’s why I always recommend that people who are first starting out to keep it simple and grow some greens.

Any kind of green – lettuce, spinach, chard, kale…any leafy green will be pretty simple.

Here’s the deal – we all know what to do with greens and can sure eat more of them in our diets.

Once you successfully grow them, then start with your tomatoes and peppers.

For the experienced gardener — those of you that have been gardening “longer than I’ve been alive” (which you love to tell me so much), this post isn’t for you.

Still need help starting your garden?

If you are still feeling overwhelmed and want step-by-step instructions on starting your garden, then enroll in my Fall Gardening 101 course today.

Your turn

In the comments below, share which leafy green you are going to start in your garden.