image by Samuel Mann

Depending on when you read this tip, you could be looking out your window at icy, barren earth, unable to see even a hint of green.  Wherever you live and whatever the season, there is always something you can do when it comes to gardening.  Growing your own produce, herbs included, is one sure way of increasing your family’s level of self-reliance as well as insuring a source of nutritious fruits, veggies, and herbs, no matter what.

I want to share with you a handful of resources on the internet that have helped me stay informed.  With the dreary results from my summer garden, there’s only room for improvement!

First, I love, love, love Gardenate.  I happen to live in a zone with extremely harsh summers but fairly mild winters.  I actually get jealous sometimes when I hear about all the wonderful crops everyone else can grow with ease, and I look at my own little plot, baking in 115 degree temperatures!  Gardenate has helped me plan what to plant, when to plant it, and even gives me tips for individual veggies and herbs.  The site has a pull-down menu so you can easily locate information pertinent to your climate zone.  Be sure to bookmark this site!

Mike the Gardener has another site that’s not to be missed.  I first discovered Mike when I subscribed to his blog on Kindle.  I really liked the unusual topics he came up with, beyond the “plant this here” track.  Some of his recent articles have included, “Four Solutions to That Unpleasant Odor in your Compost Pile,” (who among us hasn’t experienced that?) and “How to Grow Cilantro” (one of my favorite herbs).  Mike’s a busy guy, and you’ll notice he has a podcast and an impressive list of gardening tutorials.

Finally, Learn 2 Grow is a site that breaks the sometimes confusing world of gardening into small, informative pieces.  This site offers regional growing plans, a weekly newsletter, courses of all types, and lots, lots more.  I think it’s one of the best gardening sites on the internet.  I like it because it encompasses more than just vegetable gardening.  After all, we need to know how to prune our rose bushes and when to plant our fruit trees.  Note: I’ve run into some errors on the site and hopefully, they’ll be fixed soon.

© 2010, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.