I love gardening. I enjoy watching the miracle of growth from seeds to young plants and to when plants blossom and start producing. I love the fact that I can eat a healthy meal from my garden--hand picked vegetables, washed, and cooked and within 15-30 minutes- it is already being served for my family to eat.
I get excited when Spring comes. I try to prepare my seedlings ahead of time, I also enjoy picking out young plants from a nearby nursery, and start dreaming away all the crops I will be getting and the canning hours I will be spending. Gardening is a lot of work, but also very rewarding for me personally and my family.
Have you ever thought about raising your own garden? Are you feeling a little inadequate? Let me tell you my story. Before I moved to NC, I was living in a big city of Vancouver, BC, Canada. I was an office worker, a student, and raising a family at the same time. When I came here, I was not working, not a student anymore, and had no family or friends around. Suddenly I have all the time in the world and decided to try gardening. My husband built me garden beds, other than that I knew very little about gardening. Thankfully for me, I am neighbors with Sister Hanna and at that time, she was my Relief Society president. If you don't know her, well, she is a pro at home gardening. She often shared her wealth of knowledge on the matter as well as her seeds. So with a boost of little information and seeds, I started. I must say, I grew with my plants with the experience and learning that took place over the years.
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| A bountiful harvest! |
Let us look at some benefits of home gardening to help you decide whether you want to start growing your own garden.
1. Gardening is open to anyone. If you are willing to work, you can have a garden. Often times people think they need a big yard to garden. The truth is, even if you live in an apartment, you can raise a garden in containers and pots. Of course, it would really help to have a spot where there is at least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight (or less depends on the plant you are growing), other than that, all you need is a great attitude and some creativity.
2. Gardening is therapeutic. Personally for me, when I start digging in the dirt and preparing the soil or watering or harvesting and I am outdoor, it is very relaxing and I forget all the other cares of the world while I am gardening. I often sometimes have opportunity to ponder and have spiritual enlightenment while gardening. It helps me to relax. When I was living in the city, I tried to do container gardening and very little gardening plot in my patio garden. After work, after dinner and dishes or sometimes before dinner and dishes, i get out there and put on my garden gloves. It is such a change of pace from working in an office, it was soothing and relaxing. I remember telling my husband, if he ever get me a bigger yard, he may never see me at home. I would be gardening all the time because of the relaxing benefits I get from doing so.
In addition, I can plant what I want to eat that is not usually found in regular store like bitter melon, asparagus beans, taro root, etc. Furthermore, I can use more of the vegetable plant other than its fruit. For example, I use belle pepper leaves in my soup as an herb and it adds a great aroma and added flavor to the soup. I can also use broccoli leaves as I would use collard greens in my stir fry, soup, and even broccoli leaves for baked chips.
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| Bitter melon and asparagus bean (long green string bean to the right) |
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| Taro root (edible root crop/foliage) |
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| String beans, also known as Asparagus beans |
3. Gardening is a family affair. One of my favorite times with my kids is when they are helping me in the garden. They have their own little gloves and trowels, and they get dirty. I let them put seeds in the whole I make and I let them water the garden. We have fun times getting dirty and getting wet. I teach them about weed, plants that are unwanted, and plants we want to grow. I teach them different name of plants and what each plant look like. They learn hard work, and patience. Harvest time is another favorite time. I send my kids, my son Adam 2.5 years old, Audrey 4.5, and Elias 8, with their own scissors and basket and they have fun filling their baskets and bowls with green beans, or sugar peas when they start producing plenty. They love it. When I serve it on the table, I remind them and they know it that it was the seed that they planted that gave the vegetables they are eating. Gardening gives us the opportunity to bond together, learn and work together as a family.
4. Home garden can save you money. I have not really taken the time to weigh how many pounds my garden produce, but I know that in the immediate time, I am saving a some dollar by not having to purchase vegetables that I am growing in my garden and also being able to preserve some harvest through canning for future use.So make sure you plant the vegetables you like to eat. You can also grow herbs that you can use fresh or dried for future use then you do not have to spend the money to buy them.
5. Home gardening is Green and Sustainable. There is nothing like eating a meal with ingredients you know where they came from and when they were picked. That is organic gardening when you have them right in your backyard. You are helping planet earth and saving money at the same time.
Organic can be expensive, but if you can have your own compost that should help. Not only that you are producing compost material for your garden you are also saving some good food scraps from filling the land fill.
HOW TO START A HOME GARDEN
1. Check for the perfect sunny spot! When I walked around my yard, it was obvious where I needed to start building our garden beds. It was a spot that got the most sun. However, you also need to consider what kinds of plants you are planting. Some plants wants more sun, others like part shade.
You also need to consider whether the spot you chose have access to some water supplies. It will make it easier to water your plants in the future.
I have a combination of container gardening, garden beds, and vertical gardening. I have used old pails for container gardening. For vertical gardening, I have some plants planted on the bottom of my patio wall. You can plant cucumber,peas, or other plants that climb and use your fence as trellis. This can help you save space and grow upward as oppose to outward.
4. Consider your watering needs. I have 3 - 55 gallon water barrels at the corner of my house close to the garden beds. It has helped me save some by catching rain water. Some of us here maybe lucky to have well water and does not have to worry about the cost of watering plants. Make sure you have easy access to watering plants.
5. Green for Go! You are now ready to plant after you have prepared your garden beds or container gardens in a sunny or part shade are. Make sure to water your seedlings well before transplanting so they do not go into shock once transplanted outdoor.
Try to plant a good variety for better success! Sow seeds or plant at different times to stagger and prolong your harvest.
Points to remember once you have your garden going.
1. Ignoring soil heath: attempting to grow high quality plants from a low quality soil. I am pretty sure I am experiencing this somewhat. I always said I had beginners luck when I had my first year of gardening and I had more crops. I guess over the years I have not fully replenished the nutrients that have been used up in my soil so my plants are not as productive as it was in my first year that I brought in fresh new great dirt. I do compost, but I don't have enough to amend the health of all my garden beds.
I have recently done the soil testing to determine what kind of minerals I have in my dirt which helped me determine what I need to amend it to have better production.
Here is the link to Agronomic Services where you can get information on soil testing and reports. They have divisions near your areas so find out where they are located and you can drop or mail your soil samples for testing and you should get your result (call them back to follow up) within 10 days.
You cannot expect to have great harvest or better tasting ones if you do not have an amazing soil to start with. The easiest way to improve your soil's health and its nutrient holding capacity is to add organic matter to your soil like manure, vermicompost, peat moss, and other organic matter.
2. Poor timing. I am just not very patient sometimes. This year I was so eager to plant my tomatoes out by mid April and I should have waited a week or so more to avoid the cold spell over night. Tomatoes like warmer climate and needless to say, my tomatoes did not survive. It also important to acclimatize your seedlings prior to transplanting outdoor.
There are plants that loves the sun like tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants; and there are plants that like cold weather like broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, spinach, lettuce, etc. So make sure you plant the right plants in the right season.
3. Over watering or under watering plants. Drowning your plants is not good for them. It is also true when you do not water your plants enough. Find the right balance. Some plants needs more water than others. You can do well to water your plants 2 - 3 times a week on a good week. Try not to shallow water making the roots to stay on shallow or top area of the ground instead of deeper in the soil. On a hot day over 90s, you might need to water every other day. It would help to have some mulch around your plants to keep moisture, keep weeds out, and can add organic matter to the garden.
4.Remember to rotate your crops. This is a simple way is so effective at preventing disease because it always keep pests on the run. With crop rotations, pathogens and even insects can never anticipate or get use to certain crops being in a certain place. It would make it hard for insects and pathogens to successfully establish themselves and reproduce.
5. Do not overdo pesticide. Pesticides kills both good and bad insects. Maintain a good gardening habit to prevent having to use pesticide, but if you have to, keep it at a minimum use. It is not environmentally friendly.
Here are some helpful links to help you identify, eliminate, and control garden pests.
Eco-Friendly ways to get rid of garden pests
Squash Bugs
Tomato pests/disease: Hornworms , Aphids , Blossom-End Rot
Broccoli Aphids, Flea Beatles
The single best way to increase your soil’s health and nutrient holding capacity is to add tons of organic matter
The single best way to increase your soil’s health and nutrient holding capacity is to add tons of organic matter
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