For HV Gardeners Without a Green Thumb There Is Help

Are you thinking to yourself, "This is the year that I am going to garden?" Then you should. You can start in pots on the porch or your balcony,  start small, see your successes and then get a little bit bigger next year.

Nope? Not the type to take it slow and easy? No worries. Lowes (the home and garden chain store) announced this week that they would be giving away "Garden to Go" kits for families this April. Each week would be a different theme, you do need to register the week before, but each week will be a project that you can complete as a family.

Here (according to Lowes) is what they are sharing with folks this April:

• April 8: Garden-to-Go kit sponsored by Miracle-Gro with exclusive recipes from professional cook and food stylist Amanda Frederickson.
• April 15: Lowe's Mystery Garden Pinata with mystery seed packets.
• April 22: 500,000 tree saplings given out in honor of Earth Day.
• April 29: Lowe's Butterfly Quest which helps families create a butterfly garden.

This got me to thinking, where else in the Hudson Valley could I get advice on how to grow items in my garden, be it vegetables, flowers or any type of plant?

I checked with my library and found a great deal of books, plus information on a seed exchange. Then I remembered the few other local nursery's where I have gone in the past and each time there was always someone to answer my questions, which usually had to do with me either over watering or using the wrong fertilizer. The other great place I have learned a lot about gardening and specific plants in general is talking to other people, asking what they have done, etc. Then before I know it, I have hints and tips from people who have also done the trial and error techniques like myself.

Do you have a garden? Did it start as containers on the porch? Or have you gone full on to raised beds? What are your growing? Do you have any tips for me?

In that spirit of tips from others:

• 3 Things You Should Not Do The First Week of Spring
• When to Start Your Hudson Valley Vegetable Garden
• An Open Letter to the Groundhog that Tears Up My Lawn in Spring
• 5 Things Hudson Valley Gardeners Might Want to Do Now