Posted on 03/21/2011 5:51:03 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Eager to join the grow-your-own-food movement and don’t know where to begin?
Tried your hand at gardening with less than satisfying results, while your neighbor’s front yard overflowed with beans and cabbage?
With the start of the traditional gardening season just around the corner — and four-season gardening offering never-ending opportunities — the time is ripe to formulate a plan of action that nurtures mind, body and spirit.
Here’s a pack of tips to help you plant the seeds for growing your green thumb:
1. Cultivate your inner gardener
Gardening is about so much more than simply growing vegetables, flowers or herbs. Part of its magic is discovering what gardening brings to your life, where it takes you and the many metaphors it unfurls. But be warned: Gardening has been deemed a gateway to numerous obsessions, raising backyard chickens and vermicomposting in your basement among them.
Allow space in your mind, as well as in your gardens, for surprises — an unexpected moonflower, or a volunteer tomato seedling or 20. But also think about what you’d like to get out of gardening aside from groceries, and let it evolve.
2. Don’t try to do it all, at least not all at once.
Nothing will discourage you more than becoming overwhelmed — by the amount of work required to prepare your plot for planting, the number of weeds that just won’t stop multiplying, and endless other garden chores. If you aren’t enjoying what you’re doing — the feel of the soil, the warmth of the sun, the physical workout, the clearing of the mind — make some adjustments.
Consider starting small. Instead of setting out to grow everything from asparagus to zucchini, take square-foot gardening to an extreme and plant a single square-foot garden with just one tomato plant, and add on next year. Or you can container garden, though you’ll have to water more to keep the soil from drying out and choose varieties best suited for pot dwelling.
If you really want to go all out, do it!
3. Decide what you want to grow.
If you never want to have to buy another tomato, you can easily grow enough to freeze, can, dry and eat fresh in season.
You’ll need more than a square foot of growing space, but you can get a lot of mileage out of varieties that are uber-productive as well as tasty. Tommy Toe cherry tomatoes are big and bountiful and can be frozen whole, then popped under the broiler to top pasta. Ditto for Principe Borghese, a variety traditionally used for sun-drying, that can also be dried in an oven or dehydrator.
High-yielding San Marzano paste tomatoes virtually melt in a pan, not to mention your mouth. Freeze or can sauce, or freeze tomatoes whole to add to winter soups, stews and pot roasts. Jaune Flamme and Peach Blow Sutton are also especially delicious and productive.
Don’t forget Genovese basil for pairing with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, as well as for making pesto, which also can be frozen for pasta and pizza.
4. Read seed catalogs, many and often.
Even if you don’t start your own seeds — though you’ll be missing half the fun — you can glean a wealth of information about the incredible number of varieties of vegetables, flowers and herbs available, as well as when and where to start, transplant, nurture and harvest them.
Some good ones to start with are Seed Savers Exchange (seedsavers.org), Johnny’s Selected Seeds (johnnyseeds.org) and Richters Herbs (richters.com). Look for sellers that have taken the Safe Seed Pledge not to knowingly sell genetically modified seeds.
5. Grow heirloom seeds.
Along with helping to preserve our food heritage and the genetic diversity of plants, these seeds have a story. Cherokee Trail of Tears beans were carried by the Cherokee people on the winter death march of 1838-39 that left a trail of 4,000 graves. Unlike hybrid seeds, the seeds of these open-pollinated varieties that have been passed down through generations of gardeners can be planted the following year to produce the same delicious vegetables or edible or decorative flowers.
6. Grow (almost) instant gratification.
Give your gardening ego a boost by reaping quick and easy rewards. Start by planting fresh seeds (old ones may disappoint) for lettuce and other salad greens as soon as the soil can be worked. They’ll pop up pretty rapidly if you keep them moist, not soggy, and before you know it you’ll be snipping baby greens for fresh salads and sandwiches.
Keep them watered and they’ll keep on coming after you cut them. Choose heat- tolerant heirloom varieties or give them a somewhat shaded spot where they won’t wither in full summer sun. Keep planting more seeds for a continual supply of organically grown (no chemicals) greens.
Some types are pretty enough to use as edible landscaping. And don’t forget to grow edible flowers (again, no chemicals!) — including colorful nasturtiums, pansies and calendulas — for salads and garnishes.
7. Have the most fun for $40, or so.
Get a jump on seed starting in your very own walk-in greenhouse. Farm and Fleet sells one for about $40, less if it’s on sale. It won’t last forever but should give you a season’s worth of enjoyment.
You might want to take the cover off if strong winds are forecast, especially if it’s not staked down.
Farm and Fleet, Jung Garden Centers and others also have more costly and sometimes sturdier options, or you can piece together your own creation with old windows and screens your neighbors are getting rid of.
8. Raise it up.
While you’re out scrounging, look for untreated wood to make raised beds, or invest in new (cedar’s the best). Plan dimensions so you can put a window, or two or three, on top for an instant cold frame to jump start seeds and seedlings — as well as extend your season into the fall. Screens can also be used to foil those pesky squirrels. A raised bed will help you contain your plot, and you can add good soil and compost that will warm up sooner than the ground.
9. Get the poop on soil.
Compost. Compost. Compost. Whether you get it from your backyard bin, worm farm, a friendly farmer or in bags from the store, add plenty of compost to create a rich, loose bed in which to tuck your seeds or seedlings.
10. Pick up a copy of the Wisconsin Garden Journal.
Published by the Madison Area Master Gardeners Association, it will tell you what to plant when. To be safe, wait until at least Memorial Day weekend for tomatoes, peppers and other frost- sensitive plants. It also will give you a place to record your garden activities and results to build on next year, and it supports the crew of master gardeners who provide information and assistance to budding growers.
You can pick one up for $14.95 at Jung Garden Centers in Madison and Sun Prairie. For a list of other outlets, or to order online for a $3 shipping fee, go to mamgawi.org.
Famous last words ...
Don’t even think about striving for perfection. Let yourself go and grow with the flow, and don’t allow perspiration to drown out inspiration.
We’re having typical DelMarVa spring weather -— 75-80 one day, frost warnings the next.
If not, you are being a highly intelligent donkey!
A little too early in the morning for you, huh? :o)
Like when I was in the Army, we got more things done before 9 AM than most folks did all day!
I have been waiting patiently for your comment.
Funny you should mention cold frames. This is the season for people to place unused items to the road. I have seen several “old” windows out. We will gather them for the cold frames.
Our asparagus is under about one foot of snow. Blech. I may shovel that area.
Last 2 years I planted ONE Bush Cucumber plant in a 20” pot. I had some hardware cloth that I placed between the soil and the pot. For the most part, the vines grew on the trellis and I had fresh 6” cukes all season. It was perfect for just the two of us.
This year I am trying a bush snap pea and bush green beans. They will go into the garden. I don’t know if they really don’t need support, but I am thinking of some tomato towers with cord between them, just in case they do. The peas are up and the beans have begun sprouting.
I ordered from Shumway for tomato plants this year. I had three bad years of Burpee tomato plants arriving rotted. I think it was their plastic containers, which were dripping with condensation.
I am experimenting with a winter sowing of Campari seeds in a water jug on my deck. It has been two weeks and nothing, yet. I will start some in regular peat pellets this week or next.
I grew annual ryegrass in my planting beds over the winter. The soil looked nice and loose on Saturday when I turned them over, not clay-y like usual. This is my first cover crop attempt so we’ll see how it goes.
That is the same thing my neighbor did this year. He used 8oz Styrofoam cups instead of seed trays. I just save small pots and use them to start my seedlings.
LOL
One of the posters was named granny, or grandma .. ???
Anyway I can't find it now. Do not have a link.
,or know about this thread?
Thanks.
How about I just sell you MY farm in 10 years, and you can run it and I’ll just sit on the porch? LOL! :)
Hey, that may be great news, Lightning is great for the soil I am told. The high energy of lightning causes the nitrogen to react with oxygen and form NO and N02, which, in turn, combines with water to seep into the soil and form HNO3, a form that the plants can use.
I believe you are referring to nw_arizona_granny’s threads.
I haven’t seen her threads lately. Is she okay?
Cool!!!!
There sure was a heck of a lot of energy in it - that’s for sure. I think the dog jumped about 3 feet and my coffee went EVERYWHERE! Scared the heck out all of us and shook the entire house.
Not that long ago there was a prayer thread for her, I believe her health is not too good.
Am searching for it now. ‘Not found’ is the response.
nwarizonagranny’s threads .
tried the freeper name too
Guess I am not very adept here.
Thank you for pinging. It is always amazing to me how soon an answer comes when a question is asked or searched for among the freepers.
, I will be most appreciative.
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