Gardening 101

Gardening can be intimidating. You may not think you have a green thumb (I used to think I had a brown thumb), be unsure of how to start, or where to start. Plus, it also depends on the space you have. First, let's tackle the where to garden. Some of you may be in high rise apartments, homes, dorms, or out in the country. Regardless of where you live, you definitely can get a mini (or large) garden going. Here are a few ideas of where to plant... 

Lacking space, but want an herb garden? Try planting your herbs in some tin cans or terra cotta pots. Make sure to poke holes on the bottom so water can leak out.

Not much ground to plant on or have a balcony? Try your hand at some metal containers or find a vintage wooden box and add some casters. Instant raised beds!

Got some ground? Then, plant straight in it. You might want to go to your local nursery to find out if there is anything you need to add to the soil to help get it ready for planting. We have really clay like dirt here so I had to buy good planting soil and mix it in to get my ground ready. 

Are you ready to get serious and grow your own produce section? Make some raised beds (and maybe add some wheels to make it moveable). My husband made ours (we used this as a guide), but your local hardware store might have some ready made ones available. If you anticipate possibly having any gopher/mole problems, put a 1/4'' wire mesh on the bottom to protect your garden. We didn't do that in the beginning and started having problems a year later, so we had to take all the dirt out of each bed, put down the mesh, and put all the dirt back in. It was a good arm and back workout! We also have one raised bed with wheels so we can move it around.

We have grown tons of stuff... various herbs, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, swiss chard, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, root vegetables, beets, peppers, and so much more. We have typically done a winter garden and a summer garden. We live in Southern California so we did research on books that were for our specified area. This book has been really helpful for us, but you might want to consult your local garden store for some resources based on your area. We are by no means professional gardeners. We make tons of mistakes and get better every year, but we enjoy the process. Here are a few tips that have been helpful for us...

1. Read up on what you are planting. Ben was the diligent one to do research on what we were planting and how to plant it. There is so much to know and having a garden can get costly, so make sure you study a bit, so you can really take care of your investment.

2. Space plants appropriately. At first I thought you just throw the seeds anywhere and they will grow. No siree. Plants need room to grow, especially vegetables. My husband makes a chart of how far to space everything out. It really makes a difference. As far as my floral garden, I like gardens that look messy and the plants tumbling over each other, so I do plant my flowers a bit closer, but I still give them plenty of elbow space too.

3. Not all plants need the same amount of water. Again, this goes back to reading up on what you are planting. Our first year we grew tomatoes, we thought it was good to water them every other day, then we went to a garden show and listened to a professional tomato grower speak, and he said they really only need deep watering once or twice a week! We did that the following year and got so much better results.

4. Pay attention to the sun. For us, we have found that most things we have planted require full, all day sun, so you will want to plant according to the amount of sun your plant will need.

Again, we aren't garden geniuses and these things are just basic things you may have heard already, but we just enjoy growing plants and vegetables for our family and encourage you to give it a shot. Having a garden (small or big) is wonderful and gives us yummy food on the table. Plus, gardening is just another way we like to make memories together as a family. Everyone is involved. It is all a learning process and you will learn something new every season. Not everything we have planted turned out great, but get a good garden book and read up on the basics and give it a go. I think gardening is a learn by trial and error thing and you will just get better every year! 

Happy gardening!!! Rubyellen

Comments

[Helen]

Great tips, thank you! Can't wait to try some gardening for myself :)

www.tomatopincushion.tumblr.com

[Annie]

This is such a beautiful post. I am changing apartments in Brooklyn again, and somehow all of my places have backyards. Maybe it is a SIGN (!!) that I should be gardening? I would probably start with flowers and if I ever live somewhere with fresher air and soil, upgrade to fancy plants.

Annie

http://eyeshadowgovernment.blogspot.com

[tia]

Love this post! Just started my sanctuary in the corner of my yard.. I love the pvc pipe greenhouse thing.. I don't know what I would do without my plant babies..
-Tia
Sewcalmama.blsogspot.com

[Meghan]

I have a little apartment in Chicago & am trying my hand at growing tomatoes this year! I just wrote a blog post about how excited I was to see the first sprout poke its head out:)

meghan
alionheartblog.blogspot.com

[call me debbie]

I have a green thumb, I just have it!!
Plants are one of my strongest love stories!!

(New blog needing some love: http://inwhirlofinspiration.blogspot.com )

[Caroline]

That's fantastic (exactly what I was looking for). I bought a condo in south eastern Canada where we have wonderfull summers but since I only have a balcony I have to be innovative. I didn't do anything last year but this season I'm making a small balcony garden with tomatoes and herbs (the rest of my vegies will be provided by my mother's garden...since she lives in the country with a huge garden space). My goal this year is to fill my place with greens. So thank you for tips :)

[Kayla]

*Love* this post! I've done some planter gardening already this spring, as we have very little outside space aside from a small back porch (which gets only part-sun). I've definitely had to whittle down what I could plant given the conditions... maybe one day I'll have a huge backyard where I can plant more than just daisies!

- Kayla ☆ http://www.kaylanaut.com

[Eva]

Oh wow, so cool! Wish I could do this in my backyaRD. The only problem is I have two dogs who totally destroy everything!

www.creativityandchocolate.blogspot.com

[Hannah B.]

*Love* the idea for growing in tin cans!

[itziar]

Love those little gardens in the city, in the place you less could imagine!
But as i said time before, i am a plant killer ; )

http://mykitschworld.blogspot.com.es

[Val]

WoW!

Val
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/

[Brooke]

Wow, great post and very insightful! I want to start a garden and this is a good boost!

Brooke

thebebebirds.blogspot.com

[Minna]

I love your little garden! =)

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[ash]

wow. so lovely ideas.

[Amy]

I always wish I could garden but unfortunately I do not have a green thumb at all!

These are inspiring though!

xoxo,
mon amy

[Trish]

LOVE the idea of growing herbs in tin cans. I've got a deck absolutely full of terra cotta pots and am always looking for creative things to grow in. I just started blogging and I adore reading yours. Thanks so much!

[Laura]

I needed this. I've been harassing (not really) bloggers for their gardening advice. And it's called a brown thumb? All this time I've been calling it the death thumb...and I definitely have that right now. Maybe your post will help change it ;)

[Julia]

I like the idea of planting in vintage wooden boxes. That would work great for someone who has a balcony. I'm a happy owner of a big big garden, but maybe will try it on my terrace:)
Julia

[Lady à la Mode]

LOVE freshly grown gardens with veggies... my mom just planted her summer batch and I can't wait for everything to be ripe... its always the best!

xxx
www.ladyalamode.com

[Honey]

Great post! My mum has an amazing garden where she grows loads of veg that keeps us going for most of the summer, it tastes so much better when you've watered it everyday!
http://afternoonteawithhoney.blogspot.co.uk/