The Paleo Mama

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Heirloom Plants – More Than Tomatoes

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Heirloom ingredients are making a comeback and not just in the produce aisle. Prized for flavors and traits that have been preserved for centuries, these “old-world” edibles are popping up in all kinds of packaged goods. Even better than that, homesteaders and heritage farmers around the nation are choosing to grow their own heirloom plants —and that means more than just tomatoes.

If you’ve followed me for any time, you know that our Gather Heritage Farm is committed to raising heritage animals, and heirloom plants and vegetables. I oohed and aahed over my wonderful garden plot of 10 different kinds of heritage tomato plants this last summer. But my gardens have been filled with more than just heirloom tomato plants this year—and I’m already planning on many more next year. I firmly believe that heritage animals and heirloom plants are the seeds of yesterday that will build a better tomorrow.

I want to introduce you to some of heirloom plants and vegetables that have become important to raise for many homesteaders and organic farmers around our nation. Let me begin with a simple definition of what an heirloom plant really is.

In short, heirloom is a designation for produce that hasn’t been crossbred with any other varieties for several generations (how many is a matter of debate, but at least 50 years tends to be a good rule of thumb) and hasn’t been genetically modified. Heritage is essentially the same thing, but for birds and animals. Plenty of people use the terms interchangeably [including me].[1]

Why Grow Heirloom Plants?

Growing heirloom plants is really more than just a trend—for many it’s a cause, a passion, and even considered a revolution by some. There are many reasons for this decision by many, including these:

  1. A desire to preserve and cherish seeds from generations past, sometimes within our own families. I don’t have seeds from my own ancestors’ gardens (I sure wish I did), but I cherish the 75 year-old seeds I now have from a San Marzano tomato that my 94 year old neighbor handed me when I invited him to share Thanksgiving dinner with us last year. He brought these tomato seeds home to his wife when he was serving in Italy during World War 2. 
  2. There are some very practical reasons to use heirloom seeds. They possess a hardiness, disease and pest resistance that has grown over the generations of their existence, which makes them impervious to the things that kill our evolved, improved and genetically modified vegetables in big box supermarkets today.
  3. Another reason to grow heirloom plants is their adaptability to both climate and soil conditions. They have adapted to growing conditions and developed disease resistance over a long period of time. These are highly sought-after traits to us homesteaders and organic gardeners!
  4. However, there is another reason also—an aesthetic one! Give me the imperfectly colored, soft and squishy look of one of my UglyRipe tomatoes any day over the hard, flavorless, plastic tomatoes you buy in stores!
  5. The most important reason for growing heirloom plants and vegetables is the desire to preserve their biodiversity (the existence of a wide variety of the vegetables and plants). For example, one website lists 28 different types of heirloom tomatoes.[2] Things are different in the modern improved world of vegetables. As commercial growers have concentrated on perfecting just a few plants of any one type, many others varieties have gone extinct. The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership estimates that 60,000 -100,000 plant species today are threatened with extinction.[3]

Every gardener raising heirloom plants has his or her own reasons for doing so. Frank and I raise heritage animals and heirloom plants because it allows us to help preserve essential genetic traits, things like self-sufficiency, foraging ability, maternal instincts, and resistance to diseases and parasites. We believe that these plants and breeds store a wealth of genetic resources that are important for tomorrow.

You rarely get satisfaction sitting in an easy chair. If you work in a garden on the other hand, and it yields beautiful tomatoes, that’s a good feeling.

—Dan Buettner

What Types of Heirloom
Vegetables Are Available?

Many heirloom vegetables never make it to a seed catalog or become a food consumed by the average public consumer. These plants have been handed down by families, and often their spread goes no further than to a few family friends. Many heirloom vegetables look nothing like their improved counterpart in today’s supermarkets. But many heirloom plants and seeds are now becoming highly sought for by homesteaders and organic farmers. So I want to list a few of the heirloom vegetables that, although probably a bit strange looking and sounding, are available in online specialty websites.

  • Magenta Sunset Chard—this is a beautiful species with dark green, almost flat leaves, and a magenta stalk.
  • Dragon Tongue Bush Bean—it is a Dutch heirloom that has striking purple stripes mottled over a bright yellow color. They have a unique, clean, vibrant flavor.
  • Weebee Little Pumpkins—these miniature pumpkins can easily fit into the palm of your hand. They have a sweet flavor, and are the perfect size for tea light candles.
  • Sweet Chocolate Peppers—these peppers turn from green to a rich chocolate color as they ripen. They are very sweet in taste, and are a wonderful addition to salads.
  • Violetta Italia Cauliflower—these ae stunning, large, bright purple cauliflowers. They are delicious raw, cooked, or steamed.
  • White Scallop Squash—these are similar to the golden patty pan squash I had in my garden this year. They have a clean white color and a great taste. They can withstand most squash bugs and vine borers.
  • Blue Hopi Corn—this is a dark blue, almost black variety of corn. It is an heirloom from the Hopi Native Americans who ate it as a staple food for thousands of years.
  • Purple Majesty Potato—it has a bright royal purple color on both the outside and the inside. It makes very interesting purple mashed potatoes or purple chips.[4]

These are just a few of the kinds of heirloom vegetables you can find available in specialty seed outlets. I absolutely love and recommend Sow True Seed. This organic seed outlet is local to me but they do ship! Their seeds are ALWAYS open pollinated, non-GMO, and non-hybrid. 

Why Not Consider Raising
Your Own Heirloom Veggies?

tomatoesforme

I encourage you to help preserve these awesome, generations-old, heirloom plants and vegetables. Not all heirlooms have the same wonderful flavor and hardiness if grown outside of their area of origin, so be sure you get some advice from your local gardeners as to which heirlooms are best suited for your region. It may even be possible to get some special seeds from heirloom growers in your area.

We have gotten our entire family involved in gardening and understanding the importance of heirloom plants. Gardening is a perfect family activity, and teaches cooperation and responsibility. Heirloom vegetables have amazing flavors—flavors of times past when food still tasted the way our grandparents remember. Why would you choose to eat flavorless foods if you can enjoy heirloom flavors?

Heirloom seeds aren’t just about gardening. Throughout the centuries they have been intricately linked with medicine, love, romance, exploration, discovery, and poisons. They have been part of history, science, cooking, literature, fairy tales, genetics, and wildlife. They are wrapped up in farming, travel, state fairs, archeology, philosophy, and so much more. When you plant heirloom seeds remember where they’ve been. Keep them going.

—Lynn Coulter, Gardening With Heirloom Seeds[5]

Now the Best—Cooking with
Heirloom Vegetables

Once you’ve tasted something made with the unparalleled flavor of heirloom veggies, I’m betting you will never go back to the boring supermarket flavors. I want to encourage you with a couple of great recipes—buy the heirloom veggie and try these recipes…you’ll definitely want more!

Heirloom Tomato Basil Caprese Salad

This is soooo good! And it requires no cooking, can be made in under 5 minutes, and really looks impressive when you serve it. See for yourself.

Ingredients

  • 2-3 heirloom tomatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick (I recommend a ripe freshly picked one from the garden!)
  • A big ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced thin (I use my homemade mozzarella, but you buy yours at the real cheese counter in your store, or from a farmer’s market
  • Handful of fresh basil
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic dressing
  • Sea Salt

Directions

Arrange sliced tomatoes and cheese on a big plate, overlapping each one slightly. Sprinkle with salt, and let it sit a minute or so to get the juices going. Tear up a few leaves of basil and spread over the top. Drizzle balsamic and olive oil on top.

Mashed Purple Majesty Potatoes

You’ve probably seen these purple potatoes in your supermarket. They have begun appearing more and more. I highly recommend that you purchase them from a reputable organic, heirloom gardener if at all possible. Try making these purple mashed potatoes and watch your family chomp them down.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. purple majesty potatoes, washed
  • 3-4 minced shallots (or green onions)
  • 3-4 TBSP heavy cream (I use our raw milk cream)
  • Fresh parsley
  • Sea salt
  • White or Black pepper

Directions

Cook your potatoes in a large pot of heavily salted water until tender, about 15-18 minutes. If desired you can peel them while still warm, but we prefer to leave the skins on. Gently mash the potatoes, leaving this a little bit chunky. Fold in the shallots, salt and pepper and heavy cream (use only what you need to get the consistency you desire). Finish with a few sprinkles of fresh parsley.  Serve while still warm.

Get Started

Take the time to do your own research and determine what heirloom vegetables you would like to grow. If you do not live on a farm, you can grow heirloom tomatoes in a bit pot sitting in a sunny spot on your patio. Once you taste the flavor of these cherished heirloom veggies, you will want to grow more. Find a local, organic seed supplier or consider purchasing from my favorite seeds supplier! Now is the time to request your free catalog and start planning your spring and summer garden! 

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.

— Alfred Austin

Heirloom Plants pin

Sources

  1. https://www.planetnatural.com/heirloom-vegetables/
  2. https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/what-are-heirloom-vegetables-heritage-breeds
  3. https://www.planetnatural.com/heirloom-vegetables/

[1] https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/what-are-heirloom-vegetables-heritage-breeds

[2] https://www.greenmarketrecipes.com/tomatoes/types_of_heirloom_tomatoes.htm

[3] https://www.planetnatural.com/heirloom-vegetables/

[4] https://listverse.com/2011/11/11/20-heirloom-vegetables/

[5] https://amzn.to/2eVVXks

How to Kill Weeds Naturally

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There’s nothing more frustrating for the newbie vegetable gardener than to see those pesky garden weeds growing faster than the freshly planted vegetables. For the organic, natural gardener, getting rid of those weeds is not as easy as getting the spray can of chemical weed killer and waging war on those weeds. Weeds are a nuisance, ugly and invasive. They steal water and nutrients, hog the sun, and act like garden bullies. In this blog post I want to suggest some ideas for how to kill weeds naturally to get rid of those pesky garden nuisances.

There are many common household products you can use to make your own homemade garden weed killer. We’ll take a close look at some of these natural solutions and how to use them.

I also have a separate post on using essential oils in your garden. 

1. Mulch

You may not have considered mulch a weed killer, but that is just what it is. Putting down a 3-4 inch layer can deprive weeds of the light and warmth they need to survive. Organic mulches will also nourish your soil. Here’s a list of some of the best kinds of garden mulch you can use:

  • Shredded or chipped bark. It doesn’t break down as quickly, so may not be the best choice for your garden.
  • Chopped leaves. You can shred them by running over them a couple of times with y our lawnmower. They break down fairly quickly and provide plenty of nutrition to the soil.
  • Straw. Straw is a popular choice and breaks down fairly quickly. However it may contain weed seeds.
  • Pine needles. These look great in gardens, but can be a bit acidic, so avoid them near plants that don’t tolerate acid soil very well.
  • Newspapers. You can lay your newspaper right on top of the weeds. Each layer should be about 10 pages thick. Throw a little heavier mulch on top to weight the paper down. The paper will fertilize the soil, cool the roots, and add organic material to the soil.
  • Cedar Chips. Naturally repels pests and fleas in addition to keeping weeds down. 

2. Common Household Products

Household items can be used to make your own homemade garden week killer cheaply and effectively. These household items are guaranteed to help you get rid of those weeds.

  • Boiling Water. Boiling water is more effective than many of your store bought weed killers in wiping out unwanted vegetation. Easy-peasy to do. Put a kettle of tap water on the stove and heat till boiling, then pour on the weeds you wish to kill.
  • Vinegar. Vinegar is a great organic homemade weed killer. Either white or cider vinegar will work. The acetic acid in the vinegar works to kill the leaves on the plant but not the root. Vinegar will kill back (kill the leaves but not the root) any plant but works best on young plants because they do not have enough energy stored in the roots to regrow their leaves. My local feed store carries horticulture vinegar which is 20% acidic and works great on weeds!
  • Salt. Salt will kill plants and will make the ground unsuitable for future plant growth. On a small scale, you can drop a small pinch of table salt at the base of the undesirable plants.
  • Rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is used around the house because it draws water out and helps to evaporate it quickly. Guess what? If you put it on a plant, it will do the same thing. You will be basically sucking the life blood out of the weed. 
  • Corn Meal. Corn meal doesn’t really kill weeds, it just stops the weed seeds from ever developing. Corn Gluten is a pre-emergent, which is a fancy way of saying that is it is a seed birth-control. Corn meal scattered around an area will keep any seed in that area from growing into a plant.
  • Liquid Dish Soap. You can also add a few drops of liquid dish soap to the liquid homemade weed killers for added effectiveness. The soap is not harmful to the weeds but the soap acts as a sort of bonding agent and will help the weed killers to stick to the weed more effectively.

3. Homemade weed killer recipes

  1. Hot and Spicy Weed Killer. Some gardeners have developed recipes for weed killers by accident, including this recipe for Hot and Spicy Weed Killer. You can drizzle the boiling, spiced water you use to boil shrimp or crawfish on your weeds, and they will die. To a large pot of water, add a couple of tablespoons of Cajun or Red pepper, and half a bottle of hot sauce. Apply it directly to the weeds, but be careful not to get it on your vegetable plants. You can even check in the Dollar Store to see if they have the premixed boil seasoning for you to use.
  2. Salt and Vinegar solutions. This solution is all natural, works fast, and doesn’t harm the environment. Put a gallon of white vinegar in a weed sprayer and add about a half cup of salt. Be careful not to get this on your garden plants. It may not kill the roots of taproot weeds, but it is effective on broad leaf weeds.
  3. Dish Soap weed killer. Not only can you fight soap scum with this homemade recipe, but it kills those pesky weeds as well. To one gallon of white vinegar, add 1 cup of table salt, 1 tablespoon of Dish Soap, and 1 Tablespoon of Pine Sol. Mix it well and pour into a spray bottle, and apply to weeds (avoid your plants).

Jackie’s Homemade Weed Killer Recipe

Weed Killer Recipes

Add all the ingredients to a gallon spray tank and spray on weeds in the morning!

*Horticulture vinegar is very strong and needs to be diluted with water. 

Alternatives to homemade weed killers

Most natural weed killers are non-selective, so you do not want to get them on your growing vegetable plants. If your efforts to come up with a home made weed killer end up falling short or just seem to be too much trouble or concern, that doesn’t mean you have to resort to the typical chemicals on the garden department shelves. There are a number of products that offer proven results for those who want to maintain a healthy home environment. You can find recommendations for these natural, organic weed controls online, including here.

Even with the best preventative solutions, you’re bound to have a few weeds in the vegetable garden. Deal with them early before they go to seed and you’ll have fewer weeds the following year. Cultivate the garden soil shallowly with a hoe to kill small weeds. Simply expose their roots to air and sunlight and they die. Hand weed larger weeds. Compost larger weeds or discard them, but don’t leave them in the garden. Some weeds, such as purslane, can regrow if left on the soil.

Nothing can replace a little hard work. I spend 5-10 minutes in my garden every morning and pull weeds before they go to seed. Morning is the best time to weed because the soil is moist, making weeds easier to pull. 

All in all, enjoy growing your own vegetables and stay on top of weeds before they make your garden a burden that you let go! 

How to Kill Weeds Naturally

Sources

  1. https://www.scotts.com/smg/goART3/Howto/how-to-control-weeds-naturally-with-mulch-weed-control-weed-killing-mulch-scotts/34300028.
  2. https://organicgardening.about.com/od/organicgardenmaintenance/a/Mulch.htm.
  3. https://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/using-newspaper-as-mulch.aspx.
  4. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/weed-killer-vegetable-gardens-40017.html.

 

Three Steps to Starting Your First Veggie Garden

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When we began dreaming of moving out of our suburban lifestyle to a piece of God’s great country “out there” where we could plant our roots and start living a self-sustaining lifestyle, we had a lot of wants and wishes, but very little know-how! We knew we wanted to be homesteaders, but what does that really mean? Through our rose-colored glasses we could see beautiful rows of growing organic vegetables and fruits, and pastures filled with grass-fed, free-range poultry and animals. But if you had asked us then, “What is the first thing you need to do to make homesteading a reality?”, we would not have been able to answer that question.

So I understand all too well the paralyzing doubts and fears of really being able to make that happen. If you are dreaming of having a garden filled with organic, nutritious fresh vegetables, but don’t know how or where to start, I want to give you three steps to starting your your first veggie garden  to build your confidence that you can do it. All you need is a little piece of land (or some containers sitting on your patio) and a bit of helpful start-up information. It’s really not that difficult to get started. Let’s look at the basic steps you need to take to go from dreaming to doing.

  1. Determine how much land—either actual land or soil in pots—you have available for your garden, and prepare it appropriately for your plants.
  2. Start small—choose three to five veggies or fruits you most want to grow yourself—and get them ready to plant in your garden.
  3. Be consistent in caring for your plants—which includes watering, weeding, feeding, and keeping out the garden pests.

Those are three pretty simple steps to take, but you need a little bit of know-how before you will be successful with any of those steps. So let’s look a little closer at each step.

1. Preparing your land

There are some important things to consider about the land you have. It’s important to know that almost all vegetables need about six hours of full sun each day. Be sure the land where you want to plant your garden receives as much sun as that. You also need to know what type of soil you have. You can take a sample of your soil to your county extension office, and they will tell you what your soil lacks and how to amend it. Or you can test your own soil with a Mason Jar Soil test. You can find complete directions for this self-soil-test here. You can also grab a Rapitest Soil Tester from your local garden store or purchase it online here. 

If you do not have the perfect combination of clay, silt, and sand—which is pretty rare—you will need to amend your soil with some organic materials. These materials may include yard trimmings, compost, crop residues, and manures. This handy guide you can download will be helpful to you. 

One of the easiest and most helpful tools you can have for successful gardening is your own organic compost material. Compost is the single most important supplement you can give your garden soil. There are many guides available online to help you get started with your own compost bin, including this one. Your first year of gardening, you will need to purchase compost through your garden store or online. 

This year we decided to try out raised row gardening. It’s super easy and requires some straw, soil amendments, and compost. It requires you planting your seeds or transplants in straw rows. Old World Garden has a great blog post series on raised row gardening that you can read here. 

You will want to add 2-3 inches of soil amendments to your soil. In most cases this will involve loosening the dirt and mixing the organic soil amendments into the dirt. Be sure you are working with moist soil. If your soil is either too wet or too dry you will not get the best mixture of soil for growing your plants.

You will also want to plan your garden. You will want to make the best use of the land you have available. For example, you should place plants with similar water, fertilizer, and sun exposure requirements together. You will also want to be sure you are leaving enough room between your rows (approximately 2 feet) to allow you to walk between, to lay your hose for watering, and to push a small wheelbarrow for weeding waste. You can find a lot of great tips online, including a free “Vegetable Garden Planner” software program here. 

2. Choosing your garden plants

Choosing your garden plants doesn’t have to mean growing the same vegetables your grandmother…or your neighbor…or the gardener with the perfect garden…grows. Plan the design with the types of food your family likes to eat! My family loves tomatoes, so this year we planted 21 tomato plants! Remember that gardening is a matter of trial and error, so choose the plants that are easiest to grow when you are just beginning. Some of the easiest vegetables to grow are lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Some plants, like lettuce and sunflowers, are easy to grow from seeds, but an easier method for the beginner gardener is buying young plants, or transplants, and plant them in your prepared soil. Transplants are available in your garden store!

You may decide to grow the vegetables you need for a simple salad. Lettuces grow quickly, and are easy to harvest. They take up very little space. Tomatoes are probably the most popular vegetable for beginners, and can be supported with a stake or cage as they grow. Try the smaller varieties of tomatoes, such as cherry and grape tomatoes. Plant some basil next to your tomato plants to naturally repel tomato pests. Cucumbers grow almost like weeds, and also are easily staked for support. Just remember to purchase tomato, pepper and cucumber stakes early and insert them into the ground to support your plants BEFORE the roots get too big. You don’t want to stake them too late or you risk damaging the roots. 

You may also want to try some root vegetables, like carrots, turnips, and radishes. You can plant them early in the spring and leave them until the fall. Green beans and zucchini are also easy to grow. Maybe you have some room to add some bell peppers or jalapenos to flavor your home-grown salad.

3. Give consistent care to your garden.

To have a successful harvest in your garden, you need to add four chores to your gardening schedule: watering, weeding, feeding, and keeping out the garden pests. Let’s consider each of these chores.

You want to be sure your plants—and their roots—stay moist. In order to keep your garden well watered, follow these tips:

  • Focus on the root zone. Wetting the foliage is a waste of water and can promote the spread of disease. This is why I prefer a soaker hose for my garden. You can even add a timer to your soaker hose and forget about it!
  • Water only when needed. Too much water is just as damaging as too little.
  • Water deeply and thoroughly. Your soil should be moist to a depth of 6-12 inches.
  • Water in the morning. It’s much more difficult for plant diseases to get a foothold when the foliage is dry.
  • Use the right tool. Use a soaker hose or create a drip irrigation system instead of a sprinkler.1

Weeding can seem like the chore that never ends. But there are some simple strategies to maintain a well-groomed garden. If you decide to do the raised row gardening, you will find that you have much less weeds! 

  • Let sleeping weeds lie. Only the weed seeds in the top 2 inches of your soil will germinate and grow. Dig only when you need to, and cover the freshly dug soil with mulch after you dig.
  • Mulch, mulch, mulch. Mulch keeps the soil cool and moist and deprives weeds of light. I wait till my plants are about 6-10 inches tall and then spread straw on the top of the soil and use it as mulch. You don’t need to spend lots of money on expensive mulch. Straw works great!
  • Weed when the weeding is good. “Pull when wet, hoe when dry” is wise advice. After a drenching rain, put on your garden gloves and get started. Try using an old fork to twist out weed roots, or an old steak knife to cut the weeds popping up through the mulch. Be sure to chop off weed heads before they go to seed.
  • Mind the gaps between plants. Close plant spacing will choke out emerging weeds with shade, but while the plants are growing, be sure to weed between them.
  • Water the plants, not the weeds. Keep your soaker hoses close to the plants, and let the nearby weeds go thirsty.

The key to a good garden is a good soil. Just like we need nourishment, so do plants. Understanding just a little bit about feeding your plants can help them grow big and strong and healthy. Organic and natural fertilizers add essential nutrients to the soil where they become available to the plants over time. There are three essential micronutrients your plants need: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

You can make your own organic fertilizer with some of the common items found in your kitchen or around your house. There is much good information online about how to do this, including this great resource, which provides four easy homemade fertilizer recipes.  Here is a list of some of these common ingredients:

  • Aquarium water
  • Banana
  • Blackstrap molasses
  • Coffee grounds
  • Cooking water
  • Egg shells
  • Epsom salts
  • Fireplace or fire pit ash
  • Gelatin
  • Green Tea
  • Hair
  • Matches

If you lack the confidence for making your own organic fertilizer, be sure that you purchase your organic fertilizers from a company that produces awesome, trustworthy organic fertilizers. Follow the recommendation of an experienced gardener, or a well-researched list of reputable organic fertilizer producers. You can find one good resource here. 

Be prepared to do a little warfare against those garden pests that want to take over your veggies and prevent you from ever getting your first good harvest. Be sure to read my earlier post about Natural Remedies for Garden Pests.  There are twelve bothersome garden pests to be aware of, and I give you helpful information for dealing with each. These 12 garden pests are:

  • Slugs
  • Squash bugs
  • Aphids
  • Imported cabbageworms
  • Squash vine borers
  • Japanese beetles
  • Tomato hornworms
  • Cutworms
  • Grasshoppers
  • Cucumber beetles
  • Corn earworms
  • Whiteflies

If you are eager to have a healthy, organic garden, you will want to limit your plants’ exposure to unhealthy chemicals. There are ways to deal naturally with garden pests, and you will want to incorporate these methods into your gardening efforts. In addition to the information I share in my earlier blog post, there are good suggestions online, including here. 

Once you are prepared with this information, all that’s left for you to do it simply BEGIN! By harvest time you will be surprised by the generous supply of fresh, organic, homegrown vegetables you have produced yourself. You’ve just taken one giant leap into your dream of becoming a modern homesteader, and  your family will be able to enjoy the healthy bounty from your garden.

Sources

  1. https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/when-to-water/8108.html 
  2. https://www.keeperofthehomestead.com/blog/5-ways-to-start-homesteading-today
  3. https://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/garden-care/ten-steps-to-beginning-a-garden/#page=1
  4. https://preparednessmama.com/starting-a-garden/
  5. https://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/planning-a-vegetable-garden.html
  6. https://lifehacker.com/the-seven-easiest-vegetables-to-grow-for-beginner-garde-1562176780