Vegging out without a TV!

Many people, these days, are looking for ways to live healthier, save money, and reduce their environmental footprint.  Growing vegetables is a great way to do that.  When you grow your own vegetables, you have 100% control over what does and doesn't go into them, resulting in a low cost alternative to buying organic produce at the grocery store.  Vegetables, fruits, and herbs also pack the most flavorful punch when they are freshly picked.  Most people agree that there are few finer things in life than a tomato sandwich, made with a tomato, plucked fresh off the vine, still warm from the sun.

Another advantage of home grown herbs and vegetables is the reduction of our environmental footprint.  Not only will it cost you less to grow your own produce, but it will take less of a toll on the environment.  Even chemical-free, organic produce still has to be harvested with machinery, loaded onto trucks and shipped to the grocery store and then YOU have to drive to the grocery store to purchase them.  That's a lot of pollution generated.  

And then there are some benefits to growing your own vegetables and herbs that can't be measured, charted or graphed.  There is a certain sense of accomplishment that comes from enjoying a meal made from your own vegetables or flavoring a dish with fresh herbs that you grew yourself.  Children, especially, can learn early life lessons in responsibility and self worth, and enjoy spending time with their parents, when they are allowed to have their own personal garden.  Of course there are those times when many home gardeners find themselves with more than they know what to do with.  Sharing those extra tomatoes or ears of corn with friends and family is a wonderful, age old tradition.

Growing your own vegetables, fruits, and herbs can be such a fun and rewarding experience, but to the novice, it can seem intimidating.  Oak Ridge Shrubbery has a wonderful vegetable and herb garden kit that takes all the guesswork (and back work) out of building your own vegetable planter.  We will come to your home, install a planter made from Allen Block and fill it with the kitchen plants of your choice.  Your planter will be approximately 3'x3'x8' (sizes may vary from person to person, depending on their needs).  The advantage of having a a raised bed is that it is easier on the back and you don't have to worry about rabbits, skunks, and possums enjoying a free meal.  Total cost of the Kitchen Garden Kit is between $750 and $900, which includes all of the building materials, our custom blend top soil, soil conditioner, and ten plants of your choice:

• Tomatoes
• Zucchini 
• Carrots
• Blueberries
• Basil
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Mixed Mesclin Greens
• Sage
• Mint
• Fennel
•  Lovage
• Chervil
• Coriander
• Cilantro
• Marigold (to keep the bugs away naturally!)

For any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@oakridgeshrubberync.com or call us at (336) 255-2310