Over the summer, I remember writing a post about growing a “salsa garden,” where you grow your own salsa ingredients, like tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cilantro. Apparently, “jelly gardens” are also now rising in popularity! It’s a similar concept, but you grow fruits that you can use for jellies. Check out this post by Amy at Tenth Acre Farm for a list of trees to get you started, as well as jelly recipes galore!

-Currant bushes

-Elderberry shrubs

-Mulberry bushes

-Rose hips

-Tart cherry trees

Photo Credit: Rebecca Siegel

If you’re a casual gardener, you probably go out and buy a bag of potting soil whenever you plant things. Your yard soil probably isn’t great for growing plants, and it’s easier to just buy a bag than to help your own soil out. However, if you are a major gardener and are trying to produce your own food, buying dirt can get quite expensive over time. It’s much cheaper to build up your own soil! Plus, you can make it completely organic. For how to do this, check out this post by Amy at A Healthy Life For Me:

-Make your own compost!

-Use coffee grounds make excellent mulch

-Encourage earthworms to live in your soil

-Mulch and add compost to your soil once a year to keep it healthy

Photo Credit: LA Green Grounds

I love having a huge tree right in front of my living room window. It gives me some shade, keeps my home cooler, and gives me a little bit more privacy in my home without having to constantly keep all the blinds closed. Many people choose to add a privacy fence, but that can be fairly expensive (and honestly sometimes an eyesore). If you want to shield your yard and home from any prying eyes, check out these awesome tips by Justin W. Hancock at Better Homes and Gardens on how to naturally add some privacy:

-Give your favorite plants better view-blocking power by growing them in raised beds or berms. 

-Transform a corner of your yard into a secluded getaway by placing trees around it to form a pocket.

-Add a lattice to your yard, grow roses or vines on it

-Use a hedge as a fence

-Mix it up- add a lattice in some spots, trees in another, hedges on one side, and a fence in another.

Photo Credit: Loren Kerns