Vacation Proof Your Garden

                                      My Litte Garden Helpers watering the front Garden!!!

Going on vacation is always very exciting until you realize that you don't have anyone to help you with your garden while you are gone. A veggie & herb garden needs special attention before any vacation.

I have been fortunate enough to have my mother to water my garden while on vacation. But that doesn't mean that there were no casualties....LOL. I have come back to see that seedlings were over watered and stakes fallen over. But you still have to appreciate the person to be willing to look after your garden. After all they did do you a favor.

Here are the things to do to vacation proof your garden:

1. Remove all ripe & almost ripe veggies to avoid any pest problem
2. Check the garden for any diseased plants and pest problems. That will need to be taken care of and/or removed.
3. Mulch your garden to help keep the moisture in.
4. Water the garden well the day before you leave.
5. Try to move containers to the shade but can still get rain.
6. Remove all weeds.
7. Add any additional support like stakes to ensure that nothing loose gets knocked over.
8. Look at the forecast to see if there will be rain the week your gone. And cross you finger that it's at least an inch of rain. This way you're covered on the watering.

If you don't have anyone to look after your garden & give you updates. Here are a few ways to make sure that your garden does get watered:

• Set up a soaker hose & timer to fit your garden needs.
• Or use a homemade irrigation system. I have added a picture below so you can make it.



You must sterilize the recycled bottles with water & clorox before using it. And make sure you test the irrigation system and/or soakers before you go on vacation to ensure everything is working properly before you leave.