THE FOUNDATIONAL QUESTION
What I mean by this is that the question, “How do I grow a garden?” is really both the heart and foundation of why I started this site. It was the question I asked myself and others years ago, and truthfully, I still ask this question with different modifiers: How do I grow a better garden? How do I grow a more abundant garden? How do I grow an indoor garden? How do I grow a huge flower garden? How do I grow a garden using less space? Using less water? Soil? Using NO soil?
But really, we are all here because we want to learn to grow healthy gardens either for the first time or the fifteenth. As in all things, I think it is a wonderful part of living to continually grow and improve our skills and experiences. After the past few years, I cannot imagine my life without the driving desire to grow. I hope you are here because you have the same desire. So, let’s talk.
WHERE SHOULD I START?
Well, that depends on your situation. Are you looking to grow a garden in a small space? Do you have a nice yard with space for a larger garden? Maybe you want to grow on your patio or balcony. Of course, we don’t want to bite off more than we can chew, particularly when just starting out. But, as I always say, just start somewhere. Do something. But what?
If you are brand new to gardening and think you do NOT have a “green thumb,” you have come to the right place. I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Hope and I am on a mission to green my own thumb and yours. I hope you will stay a little while and that the information and resources on this blog will give you some ideas of where to start.
LET’S DEFINE GARDENING
Ultimately, gardening is…. what?
In my mind, gardening can be broken down to this: the successful growing of healthy plants. That’s really what it is at its core, right? We are here because we want to successfully grow _____(fill in the blank). So, what we need to do is figure out the basic ingredients (light, nutrients, water) and strike the right balance.
1. Plant seeds. What I would tell you if you were hesitant to begin is that I think you should buy a pack (or a few packs) of seeds and just plant some. Maybe you could start with herbs. I sow my herb seeds directly in my outdoor pots on my patio, as long as the weather is good (past any chance of freezing) and they are mostly in the shade to begin with. But if you want to start vegetable seeds indoors in February or March, that’s great as well. Be sure to keep them moist (but not wet).
2. Alternatively, buy young plants from a local nursery. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Really.
3. Plan your garden’s location. Choose a place with many hours of sunlight every day. Most flowers and food crops want a fair amount of sunlight daily. If just starting out, it might be a good idea to choose a small plot (even if your goal is to have a very large garden). Or maybe, you want to just start out with some container gardening. One compromise is to do elevated raised beds on the patio or just outside your door. That way, you can see how things go and change your mind on the location if you want to. This was the route I took early on and it worked fabulously.
At any rate, typically, you should follow the instructions on your plant or seed label to tell you how much space your particular plants need. If you want to read an interesting and helpful take on easy gardening that saves space and gives a wonderful yield, I highly recommend the newest edition of Square Foot Gardening, which I wrote a review on here.
4. Harden your young plants and transplant. Hardening is simply making sure your young plants are acclimated to the conditions of your chosen garden location. In other words, you don’t want to shock the young plants by moving too quickly to hot or sunny conditions. If you bought plants from an outside nursery, you can likely transplant with no issue. Otherwise, you can leave your seed-grown plants outside for several hours at a time, near your garden location, then bring them back in. Continue this for several days. Once they seem acclimated, transplant by putting the entire young plant and soil into a hole in the garden location. Water well.
5. Tend your garden. Think back to the three ingredients mentioned above – light, nutrients (fertile soil), and water. You do not want to over water, just keep your garden moist. If you live in a more humid/rainy climate this may not be required very often. But if you are in a more arid climate, you’ll have to monitor moisture more closely. Pull any weeds when they are small. They can get out of hand if you let them get big!
6. Enjoy your garden! You should feel proud with every bloom, vegetable, fruit. You did that! Even if there are some bumps and hurdles (and there are bound to be), find joy in the growing – both of your plants and your ability! And just maybe you’ll be able to bite off a bit more the next time. In no time, you’ll have this “gardening” thing down, and you’ll have people asking you about successfully growing plants!
7. Explore other ways to grow your gardening ability, such as adding compost or starting your own ongoing compost pile (which I highly recommend looking into). Continue reading and learning, asking questions and watching what works for others. Most of all, get good at one thing, and then just do the next thing.
Feel free to click through other posts on this blog to get more ideas, as this page was only meant to get your feet wet (and your fingers a bit dirty). You might want to try your hand at growing sprouts or microgreens, grow onions from kitchen scraps, or even grow an entire food garden indoors.
A few questions for our community here at Green Your Thumb:
- When first starting out gardening, what part seems the most intimidating?
- What little successes have you found to be encouraging?
- Is there anything mentioned in this post that you’d like covered more in-depth?
- What things that were not mentioned would you like to better understand?
- For more experienced gardeners, would you share some of your experiences and what you have enjoyed the most about gardening? If you could go back, would you start out doing things differently?
As always, I really love to hear your feedback and truly want to build a community of helping and sharing information and experiences! Please comment below! I look forward to reading and responding to your comments!
