Starting your own pesticide-free, organic vegetable garden

Now that spring has officially sprung, all eyes are turning from the living room to the back yard. Daffodils are bursting through the soil. Tulips are waiting in the wings. And ambitious gardeners are browsing home improvement stores with green-eyed envy and thumbs to match. But beyond planting beautiful flowers, spring is the ideal time to start a backyard vegetable garden.

Why?

For starters, while that emerald green ball of broccoli at the supermarket may look packed full of vitamins, the truth is vegetables start losing nutrients the moment they are picked. Growing your own lets you control how long your produce waits for mealtime, how organic it is, how much damage it does to your wallet (especially when it comes to those pricey herbs and berries!), and even how good it tastes.

Just imagine sitting down to dinner on a warm summer night, with a big, beautiful bowl of salad greens, plump red tomatoes, and fresh cucumber slices picked right from your garden. How rewarding is that?

For tips on growing my own backyard veggies, I recently spoke with Jennifer Kujawski, co-author of Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook, and Niki Jabbour, author of The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener. The full article appears in the May issue of Kiwi Magazine, a truly fantastic and fun resource for families who care about healthy and organic living. You can also read it and share your own experiences by visiting greenmomsmeet.com.

AND DON’T FORGET:

• You have until 11:59 p.m. (PST) Tuesday to enter to win an e-copy of Conditional Love, by Cathy Bramley. Click here for details

• Desperately Ever After is available in both print and e-book formats. Centered around a group of friends who just happen to live in castles … it’s “Desperate Housewives” meets the Brothers Grimm, and a perfect beach read. Click here for Amazon US or here for Amazon UK

• Next Wednesday, Amanda Prowse will stop by to talk about her latest novel, A Little Love, and give away four signed copies.