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I spent the better part of the day cleaning pots and preparing for starting new vegetables, perennial plants and plant cuttings.

I started my last planting of cucumbers, started more fresh garden greens and plan to save tomato plants for the next year. By removing parts of the tomato plant where they have formed roots you can replant them and grow them indoors. And in the spring you can use these plants to create more plants.

I don’t do this with all tomato plants but some heirloom plants and seeds are hard to find so this is a solution to the problem.

And with the problems with safe non-toxic greens I plan to grow my own supply all year long.

I have a large new batch of perennials to split and to start from seeds so I need large planters with no bottoms and seed trays. The large planters with no bottoms will be old dresser drawers. I pick them up at auctions for next to nothing. You can also make a rectangle or square form from salvaged boards and get the same result.

You may want to see if your neighbors have extra perennials in their gardens they are thinking of thinning and throwing out. You could do a plant swap and pick up new perennials for your gardens

And I am mixing up more compost to fill all the planters. This project is one of my September end of the growing season projects.

The plant cuttings are for new shrubs I am starting. I make 6 inch cutting from preselected plants in my yard and plant them in sand and use a rooting hormone. In a few weeks I will have roots. It’s still early enough in the fall for the roots to grow and to get new growth on the shrub.

The shrubs will be for my backyard and also for sale next year.

I also need to dig up peony plants and divide them but they dig up hard because of the long roots so I am not looking forward to this project. I will wait until we have a few days of rain to soften the soil and see what success I have.

There is always a gardening or backyard project to do. The garden season may be coming to an end for many people but starting and saving plants is almost a year round activity

Technorati Tags: gardening tips, perennials plants, starting seeds, tomato starts

Herbs are one of the easiest gardens to grow and perfect for the new gardener. They are not bothered by insects as much as many plants and once established seem to take take of themselves.

They are also perfect for the seasoned gardener.  After all with all those fresh vegetables you need fresh spices to compliment harvest.

The following are the rules for the

September Herbal Kitchen Garden Contest

• Win a

  Herbal Kitchen Garden
• 
  Contest starts August 27 and runs two weeks. Rules will be posted August 28.
• 
  
• Rules and article for the Herbal Kitchen Garden contest
  
  Take a chance and get a herb garden seed set up for many of the most popular herbs used in cooking. You don’t know how great it is to have fresh herbs picked minutes before you use them until you grow them in your own kitchen or patio area.

Good luck!!

A kitchen garden brightens any home, is easy to set up and has many benefits – especially for seasoning those family recipes.

The Gardener’s Rake is hosting an Herbal Kitchen Garden contest with Hometown Seeds supplying a wonderful prize of an “Herbal Kitchen Garden”

This Kitchen garden seed set up will supply you with many of the most popular herbs used in cooking and homes.

*** The contest will last until Saturday, September 11. During this time you will find helpful tips for herb gardening and how to use herbs.

So how do you enter? And how do you win?

To enter send an email to emagnthat@yahoo.com. This is an address set up just for this contest.

You can send an email about your favorite herb, an herb garden adventure, herbal recipe or a couple of herb tips.

* The grand prize winner receives the Herbal Kitchen garden but everyone who winds gets a prize!

* Ten other people will get several of my favorite herbs. (These will be in handmade envelopes as I save a lot of seeds and these will be from my garden.)

* And everyone will get a PDF of all the great tips and entries to the contest.

So take a chance and ether the contest today. And check back here daily at the gardener’s rake and its sister site, Our Backyard Oasis for herbal tips and garden help.

Also check out Hometown Seeds. They have a wonderful selection of seeds for any gardener’s and home owners needs.