If you're planning on starting a garden for the first time this year, there has never been a better time to pick up a hand trowel. With the burgeoning urban homesteading movement, local food campaigns and the proliferation of small specialty farms cropping up in nearly every community imaginable, the availability of educational garden resources has grown equally in proportion.
For the first time gardener, this is great news.
I remember back when I took an interest in growing... there was no internet and there were very few, albeit good, books available for the organically-minded gardener. Rodale Press and Mother Earth News were the go-to resources or garden wisdom could be gleaned from family or friends who were already seasoned growers. The latter way of learning was often subject to the sometimes limited knowledge of the teacher and generally resulted in a severe learning curve on the part of the new gardener and was rife with superstition and non-scientific tales passed down for generations.
Gardening might look intimidating and yes, there is a lot to learn. Where does one start? Well, at the beginning of course. Here's a list of things to consider before you buy the first transplant or pack of seeds:
1) Pick a site. Vegetables need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. A spot that gets morning sun until mid to late afternoon sun will be best for most crops.
2) Are you going to grow in the soil, a raised bed or in containers? Each has merits with there being a varying amount of work from method to method. Container growing is probably easiest, but requires more water monitoring than growing in the soil.
3) What do you want to grow? I always recommend that the first time gardener start small with just a few different types of plants. Tomatoes, peppers and lettuce are easily grown in containers and can be grown by even the brownest of thumbs with the proper amount of attention.
4) Look up your hardiness zone. This will tell you what plants are suited for your area. The USDA hardiness zone map is by far the most popular, but there is also one called the Sunset climate zones. As per my experience, most nurseries, seed and plant companies use the USDA zone chart.
5) Look up your first and last freeze dates by your zip code. This will give you an idea of when plants should be set out if you are planting in a garden plot or raised bed. Planting too early can often result in vulnerable plants being killed by a late freeze or frost.
Next time: Where to get the best quality heirloom seeds!
For the first time gardener, this is great news.
I remember back when I took an interest in growing... there was no internet and there were very few, albeit good, books available for the organically-minded gardener. Rodale Press and Mother Earth News were the go-to resources or garden wisdom could be gleaned from family or friends who were already seasoned growers. The latter way of learning was often subject to the sometimes limited knowledge of the teacher and generally resulted in a severe learning curve on the part of the new gardener and was rife with superstition and non-scientific tales passed down for generations.
Gardening might look intimidating and yes, there is a lot to learn. Where does one start? Well, at the beginning of course. Here's a list of things to consider before you buy the first transplant or pack of seeds:
1) Pick a site. Vegetables need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. A spot that gets morning sun until mid to late afternoon sun will be best for most crops.
2) Are you going to grow in the soil, a raised bed or in containers? Each has merits with there being a varying amount of work from method to method. Container growing is probably easiest, but requires more water monitoring than growing in the soil.
3) What do you want to grow? I always recommend that the first time gardener start small with just a few different types of plants. Tomatoes, peppers and lettuce are easily grown in containers and can be grown by even the brownest of thumbs with the proper amount of attention.
4) Look up your hardiness zone. This will tell you what plants are suited for your area. The USDA hardiness zone map is by far the most popular, but there is also one called the Sunset climate zones. As per my experience, most nurseries, seed and plant companies use the USDA zone chart.
5) Look up your first and last freeze dates by your zip code. This will give you an idea of when plants should be set out if you are planting in a garden plot or raised bed. Planting too early can often result in vulnerable plants being killed by a late freeze or frost.
1 comment:
Great post! I appreciate your tips and well as the humor that comes through in your blog.
Hello!
I find your blog very inspiring. Thank you for sharing such treasures!
I wanted to let you know that I've included you on a growing blog list for those inspiring others to live simply: http://www.liveinart.org/2012/05/community-of-bloggers-for-simple-living.html.
Please check it out. If you have a moment, it would be great if you could share the resource with others and leave a comment.
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