Ask Mavis – Book Suggestion, Blueberries and Raspberries, Container Gardening, the HH, and More…

It’s that time again. You ask, and I pretend to know things and answer your burning questions. It really is so much fun to open my inbox and see the wide variety of questions you guys have. Reminds me that my readers are so diverse and pretty dang awesome. So keep those questions coming and I’ll keep racking my brain for answers. As always, please pipe up if you have any input or are knowledgeable when it comes to any of the following questions:

Fan of your website – have you read Blessing the Hands That Feed Us: What Eating Closer to Home Can Teach Us About Food, Community, and Our Place on Earth by Vicki Robin? It seems up your alley especially with the eating local goal.

~Kristen

Nope, not yet, but I certainly plan to now.  Thanks for reading the website and thanks for the suggestion!

 

Mavis, I am going to grow blueberries and raspberries this year. What do I need to do to assure they don’t get bugs? I am a novice.

~Carla

Honestly, I’ve never really had an issue with bugs with blueberries or raspberries.  The birds can be boogers about eating the berries–but bird netting is usually enough to deter them.  Planting blueberries and raspberries correctly goes a long way in ensuring that they get a healthy start.  If bugs are a big concern from previous years, I would practice planting flowers and plants near them that draw in beneficial bugs.  The beneficial insects can do all of the work for you.  It’s basically free labor, with zero exploitation.

Mavis, What do you do about dirt? I mostly container garden because the soil here (South Florida – way down near Miami!) is sandy and sad. Do you buy it all? Make it?

~Genevieve

I think that controlling your soil is the biggest benefit to container gardening.  I personally make all of my own potting soil or purchase Tagro {local compost}.  I change it out every year {and dump the old soil into the garden beds}.  Container gardening zaps nutrients from the soil faster, so I have found that changing it out every year gives me more consistent and larger yields.

Hi Mavis! You may have already answered this question but is it just you that is not buying anything new for a year or is your HH practicing that as well? And if not, does it make it hard? What other parts of your savings plans does he participate in? Thanks! It’s definitely easier when my hubby is involved in the same goals I am Love your blog!

~Jessica

This is one of those tricky questions, because truthfully, the HH is not formally participating in the challenge.  He is free to buy whatever he chooses, BUT he doesn’t.  He is not a big shopper, in general, and with the exception of a purchase or two once a year, he’s kind of a non-issue that way.  He is super supportive of me wanting to pay down our mortgage, so he goes along with my trying to “make do” with what we have.  Overall, he’s really easy-going about all of my hair-brained challenges {maybe because he directly benefits from a lot of them or maybe because they distract me enough that he can watch Netflix in peace?}.

I need some advice on planting my veggies in different ways. My health issues are hindering me from doing much of anything. But, I’m determined to do what I can. I’d like to use containers and make small patches up close to my home. I’d like to find out what grows the best in this type of situation. I need things to be easy to tend to and to know how to make them grow well. I also need a source of my own or inexpensive produce. Any ideas would be welcomed and appreciated! Oh, and I live in middle Tennessee.

~Kimberly from Facebook

I would start with a container garden close to your door.  Honestly, most plants are easy to tend, so decide what you will eat and plant a variety that is container garden friendly {most plants are naturally container garden friendly, but for things like tomatoes that take up tons of space and have deep root systems, you’ll want to research bush varieties.}  You’ll need to provide daily water, place them somewhere that they get plenty of light, and that’s about all. Weeding is significantly less in a container garden.   Strawberries grow really well in hanging baskets, and weeding in a hanging basket is pretty much non-issue.  For in-ground areas near your house, make sure they get plenty of light, add a little compost in with your planting, and you should be good to go {in-ground spots near the house are perfect for perennial veggies, because you only have to commit to the labor of planting them once}.  Good luck!

Well, that concludes this installment of Ask Mavis.  I hope it helped, or at least, didn’t harm.

~Mavis