Gardening Through Trial and Error

First Time Gardening, How Did It Go?

Of course, I’ve never started my own garden, but I know many others who have. My mom has taken up this hobby and has surprised me with her dedication to it. I know she’s a busy woman but yet she makes the time to keep her veggies alive and thriving.

If her garden doesn’t show for it, then her excitement certainly does. I receive pictures of her progress and harvests weekly. Impressed is an understatement.

I asked her a few questions about her journey finding her green thumb in hopes to shed some light on the pros and cons of beginning your own garden at home.

She’s started her garden in May, so it’s fair to say she’s still a beginner. Although, she has come across plenty of defeats and victories to share her tips and tricks.

What does she grow?

In the time that she has taken this hobby, she’s grown a number of herbs and vegetables. Such as: cherry tomatoes, carrots, basil, cilantro, banana peppers, shishito peppers, purple potatoes, yellow potatoes, sweet potatoes, radish, butter crunch lettuce, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, green onion, red onion

How did she prepare?

She did her research before she dived in. this consisted of googling simple questions she had, reading pieces on the internet, and checking out a number of YouTube videos.

What problems did she run into?

When you’ve never had a garden, it’s hard to know exactly what issues you might encounter before you get the hang of things. In my mom’s case, she mentions that her garden overgrew more than she anticipated and would have done better to move the garden further away from the side of the house. At times, she has problems getting in the back of the garden to harvest the veggies on the far side.

She also said that she wishes she knew a few things before beginning. Such as the fact that cilantro is more of a cool weather vegetable so it's prone to do better in the Spring or the Fall. Then you’re on your way back to the store for more seeds. She also wishes she had made her garden bed a bit larger. This way, the plants are more spread out and it allows them to grow without touching side by side. Easier harvest.

Any recommendations?

Through her own at-home study, she discovered a special kind of fertilizer that doubled the production of her sweet potatoes. She used Bone Meal Fertilizer in two pots and he regular fertilizer in the third. Shortly after, she found the magic that this fertilizer contains.

She suggests that people should only grow what they eat. Otherwise, you have a surplus of food and nothing to do with it.

Fun fact

My mom makes her own sauces and pickles! She’s taken gardening a step further and made her produce into a whole new creation.

My mom's little helper 

More information about starting a garden can be found below:

https://commonsensehome.com/start-a-garden/