Planting your own and actually liking it..
How many of you have actually wanted to start a garden and then googled it and found out how much work there is to it? How many started researching and then there were more questions on raised beds or ground?
What vegetables go with what?
What is acidic and will kill the others ones?
How big do I make one?
Yep there are a lot of questions that go through your mind when doing a garden that’s for sure.
I have been gardening for about 15 years when my mother in law actually said that I could have one at their house since they had about 3 acres to do it on. I was like let’s do this.
I started with a 10x20 one year, then went to a 20x20 another year, then went 30x50 the year after that, then a few years later I went to a 50x100 and then kept that for a few years and then finally downsized because all I was doing was weeding all the time.
I was finally happy with a 20x20 and kept within my limits.
Now mind you this was just a garden that I planted after my husband helped me with the rototilling and I was on my hands and knees pulling weeds and watering everyday. Putting the fence up because of the cute little woodchucks ( and later they became target practice IF they got into the garden) and then the deer.
With my bad back and getting older I just couldn’t do it anymore. My kids were not into the gardening anymore really and so it was up to me to take care of it.
Every year I would be complaining I don’t want to do the garden and then mumbling under my breath “ I don’t know why I keep doing this, its such a pain in the butt to do it and no one helps. Grumble Grumble”.
Well as the season went by I would look at my garden when it was giving me those great veggies and I would remind myself this is why I do it. There is nothing more satisfying than having fresh stuff and getting it on the table.
So even after we moved and our yard was smaller I still have my garden BUT it’s in raised beds and so much easier to maintain and take care of.
As you can see its still pretty big but I love the way that its done. There is a combination of raised beds, pots and yes there even are garbage cans.
STARTING OUT
The best thing that you can do if this is your first time growing a garden start small then expand each year. You don’t want to become overloaded and have it die on you.
You can start even in pots if you want. There are patio tomatoes that are excellent especially if it is just yourself. So make the decision of pots, raised beds or just ground gardens.
The first thing you want to be able to do figure out is how many people is this for. I have a family of 6 and they eat me out of house and home especially if its fruits or vegetables.
If you do overgrow items, friends and family love to get gifts especially if its fresh.
Next you want to figure out what needs to be planted indoors anywhere between 4-6 weeks before the last frost is done with. Know your region that you live in.
Since we live on the East Coast and in Buffalo, NY we are zone 5 so our last frost is usually around Memorial Day or the first week of June. So I will start all my seedlings about the last week of March beginning of April. It all depends on what the mood I am really.
Anyway if you look on the back of the packets of the seeds you will see when the best time is to plant. The reason being is that you don’t want the soil to be cold when you plant since seeds love the warmth when you decide to transplant.
Now with starting the seedlings inside I will usually do just about anything that I know I can transplant. Peppers, Tomatoes, Green Beans, cucumbers, squash family, pumpkins, and herbs.
Some of these like the cucumbers and squash you can also just put in the ground but I like to have them started a bit before hand.
With starting the seeds you can buy the trays that have the little compartments in them with the cover but really you can use anything that you have. I use old strawberry containers that I usually have.
I wash them out real good and put my soil in them and plant. They are great for watering as the water can come out the holes in the bottom and then you already have the lid on them that will keep the heat and moisture to help grow the plants.
Keep it easy as possible. (Make sure you keep the packets that the seeds were in- I will explain later)
So after the last frost is done its time to move your plants to the outside.
Before that you want to get your boxes ready or your ground ready. I will keep the old soil in from last year but I do add some compost ( the best is the stuff you make from the year before) and mix it in for the nutrients.
Soil does lose its nutrients so you really need to add some more in. If you don’t have compost you can always get some manure from a local farmer or even a store and add that in.
Some people add in lye but I don’t because the manure or the compost has always been okay for me. If you are using raised beds- mix your soil in.
When you build your boxes, make sure that you put the landscaping fabric to cut down on weeds. Its not going to keep all the weeds out because the soil you have always tends to have some of the weed flowerings in them. You will be weeding but not as much. (as you can see in my pic below there are a few in the gardens but its okay)
If you are doing ground- you are going to want to rototill it and do it a few times. My husband would actually do it 3 times just so that you have a fine soil and get all of it de-crumbled.
Also mix some sand in with it. This helps the plants roots spread out more evenly and better for growing. You can also add manure or compost to it.
So now your garden soil is ready for the plants that you need to transplant. The big question is what can be planted with what.
I got you covered with a little cheat sheet to help you along. The reason for certain placement is because some of the planets are acidic to other plants and will actually kill them. Others though will actually help with pollination.
Remember those packets you needed to keep- well look at the back of them and it will tell you how far apart you need to plant each one. After all the years I have been gardening, I pretty much guesstimate where I want them and that is only because I know how big they will get. You want to make sure they are spaced enough so that they can grow and also get sunlight.
After planting your plants- make sure that you water them.
When watering any plant make sure you do it at the root and in the morning. The reason being is that if you water the whole plant, depending on how big the plant is then the water won’t reach the root where actually the plants get the water from.
As for watering in the morning vs night time - in the morning the water that is on the plant will gradually be sucked into the plant and dried and used by the plant whereas if you are planting at night- the water will stay on the plant and it could cause mold later on and be cold for the plant. Remember plants like warm.
Keep watering your plants and eventually you will see the fruits of your labor. They will continue to grow and then you will be able to pick.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention- remember when I said you can plant in just about anything? If you look in the first two photos, you will see a few garbage cans- there are potatoes in both of them. Yes potatoes- they need a lot of room to grow and instead of digging a huge hole in the ground its was much easier to just put in the garbage can and as they grow- I covered the sprouts until I couldn’t anymore. I’ll send some pics when they get bigger.
My next article I will show you ongoing pictures of my garden and give some more pointers.
Nadine Fulle
ReelCamoGirl prostaff.
Reference: Companion plants, Windowbox.com