Gardening 101

Cold dark dirt between my toes, I reach down to grab the earth and let it sift through my fingers. I push the shovel deep into the earth hardened by winter’s storms and flip it over to let the sun and air work its way through every particle. It is gardening time and my soul is happy.

If you ever wished to have a garden, I strongly encourage you make it happen this spring! I know little about gardening: the ph balance, the ratio of mulch to soil to manure, how often one should pick or prune, or that exact quantities of water or fertilizer to promise perfect plants. But what I do know is feel. Much like a cry of a baby, a smell of a muffin baking in the oven, or the grumpiness of my mood, all give cues to know when they should be tended to and in what manner. The secret is compassionate awareness and a bit of prayer that God will give you wisdom to know what to do.

Here are my tips on vegetable gardening:

1. Get one sexy dude to build you some raised beds. If you don’t have a sexy dude like I do, then borrow one. (Really, I just wanted to watch him build me something. Can’t blame me can you? Whew! Love that guy!).  I prefer raised beds over in ground ones, but either do great! I currently have two 4 feet by 4 feet raised beds and one 4×6 in ground. I have had two 4×8 feet raised beds and that was a bit much to manage, more so in the abundance of produce!
2. Have good soil. As I said, there is a certain scientific ratio that will give you more of a chance of success, but in my experience its this: find manure, the aged kind, and mix it in with whatever soil you have or even buy the bagged kind of soil at your local store. 50/50 is a good ratio. If the manure is “fresh” then much less of a ratio of manure is required. Mix it well with the soil. I got my latest pile of manure from a local farmer in Pungo (same place we pick strawberries from – Brookdale Farm via Tom the farmer). It was free!
3. Weed blocker. I didn’t grow up with the stuff although it was around in a poor man’s version (newspapers). But the $5 roll at your local store does an even better job keeping the weeds away for the most part and totally manageable to pluck when they do arrive. I recommend putting it down over your soil, then cutting the holes needed for the plants, planting your plants, and then mulching. If you mulch before planting then you will likely mulch too thickly and your plants will be overwhelmed.
4. Plant what you want to eat! I get a variety of vegetables, but my usual goal is whatever is required to make salsa: tomatoes (I prefer roma), green peppers, jalapeno peppers, and this year for the first time – onions! We also planted (due to Ryder’s passionate excitement at the veggie shop): corn, yellow string beans, million tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and a variety of herbs. We also plant a border of marigold flowers as they keep the bugs away. They are edible too, but we’ve never been daring enough to try.
5. Mulch is essential. Ideally we would all like to have hours every day to bask in the sunshine and tend to our gardens but that is just not how life goes (and frankly, I think I wouldn’t treasure it as much if I did have that much time). Mulch gives you some wiggle room to tend to your garden every other or every couple of days. It keeps in moisture and protects your plants. An inch to two inches is all you need on your garden’s surface. I prefer cedar.
6. Water every other day to every three days depending on rain, how hot it has been outside, etc. You’ll know when any potted plants are looking a bit grumpy and early signs of wilting when you’ve waited a day too long. But don’t over water! If your soil feels mushy when you put a finger in it, you are doing fine. You don’t want to take your plants on a swim or let them play in the mud!
7. Miracle-Gro every two weeks or so. It’s not essential to a healthy garden, but it sure does help! I prefer the powdered version because it’s cheaper and easy to manage. One tablespoon per gallon of water. Water plants as you normally feel they need it with the mixture.
   
8. Stake your toms and peppers. They might think they are strong enough, but they aren’t. Stake them early and give them room to grow.
9. Have fun! Let the kids help water and talk about the different types of vegetables. Mornings and evenings are best for tending to the garden, as 11.30-3.30 is a bit too harsh for the gardener and the plants to enjoy the attention. The sun is greedy and will take your water from your plants fast, so water your plants when the sun is sleepy.

Fun gardening books to read with your little gardeners:

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, Pictures by David Small. Fantastic illustrations. Written in letters to home format of a young girl conversing with her family when she had to live with her uncle in the city. A true example of what gardening can do to brighten the grumpiest of souls.

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. An adorable redheaded gardener who loves to explore and see how things grow, need I say more?

Mortimer’s First Garden by Karma Wilson, Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. The mystery of what a tiny seed can become with a little bit of patience and obedient listening from the ultimate gardener, God. Little Mortimer mouse quickly learns how awesome gardening can be.