Table of contents:
Why to grow š¦šš§āš¼
If you haven't already tried growing things, I think itās worth an attempt.
š±Ā There's something pretty magical about planting a seed and having it turn into a living thing. (Iāve often wondered whether it could be therapeutic for would-be-parents and it also has some of the delights of those little mystery animal sponges that come out of capsules when you soak them in warm water. I also think that caring for something/tending to something is a powerful force for good in the world, with positive internal and external effects.)
Then there are the normal reasons:
- creating habitat for beneficial insects like bees and butterflies
- growing food you canāt get at the grocery store or that wouldnāt taste as good from the grocery store
- creating beauty in the landscape (or kitchen tables) around your home/school/work/neighborhood
š I also think that veggies, cut flowers, baby plants, and seeds are all wonderful things to share with friends and neighbors. Theyāre somehow especially touching due to the amount of care invested in your plants. If I ever give you a melon from my garden, I hope you feel the specialness of that gift. And know that if you share bulbs or tubers or cuttings from your favorites, I will always think of you when I tend to those plants šŖ“ (a friend made me a tiny succulent garden in a beautiful glass bowl and I treasured the gesture long after the plants had died).
What to grow š»š«š š·
I particularly like growing plants that are edible (bonus points if they're things I can pop in my mouth while gardening, e.g. cherry tomatoes or snap peas). Plants that totally overproduce like zucchini, or herbs that you can just trim now and again.
But even regrowing my scallions in water glasses on the windowsills for my next batch of Fermented Kimchi: easy, healthy, delicious is pretty delightful.
šĀ Cut flowers are also nice, especially if you're willing to bring them inside or share them with friends when they hit their peak. (They can also be dried, which Iāve recently become more interested in for lower pressure bouquets.) And creating support for pollinators is a worthwhile endeavor that pays off with fun insect visitors š¦š
š¹ š„ Note on vase life: once a blossom has been pollinated, it often seems to make a quick shift to setting seed rather than looking and smelling beautiful. So keep that in mind when choosing which blooms to bring inside; every flower is different (some wonāt continue to open after cutting, some will fully bloom as long as the bud has some color when harvested), but in general youāll want to grab them before theyāve released their pollen or at least early that morning so that they havenāt had any visitors yet.
Pictured here on the right is the vine that produced the best melons Iāve maybe ever tasted. If youāre only going to grow one variety, grow āSarahās Choiceā (itās a cantaloupe). I also think the best cherry tomato might be āsun goldā but Iām not as confident that I know the cherry tomato landscape well enough.
See also Advice: Consider adopting a bin of composting worms to live under your sink.
If youāre interested in starting plants from seed (which I recommend for the proximity to that first miraculous appearance of life) Johnnyās Selected Seeds seems to be a reputable and thoughtful research-based provider ā even Martha Stewartās garden is sown with Johnnyās seeds.
Hereās a guide to when to plant.
Here you can check your areaās āhardiness zoneā which will help you understand which perennial plants should be able to overwinter in your location:
NPR made a cool explainer when the zones were updated recently:
A lot of edibles (and cut flowers) are annuals, so knowing your last and first frost date tells you how long your growing season is. Some plants mature quickly, some take so long that you may need to give them a head start indoors so that they will produce before theyāre killed by the first frost. (Some cold hardy annuals can be sown in the fall and will basically hibernate all winter but have a jump-start when it warms up in the spring.)
Donāt forget about perennial trees and shrubs and even flowers or veggies (like asparagus). Older generations in my family planted carefully selected fruit trees in the 1970s and ā80s and ā90s and somehow Iām still harvesting them all these years later. šĀ
How to grow šŖ“š
If you donāt have a yard, you can still grow things in containers.
Iām pretty excited about āsoil blocksā for starting seeds indoors. (And since a number of seeds need warmth (but not light) to germinate, Iāve repurposed my mini fridge and temperature control setup from Inkbird for Fermented Kimchi: easy, healthy, delicious and sauerkraut for germination since I needed to put a small heater in there for winter fermentsāit might be perfect!). Iāll then keep them at room temperature indoors within a few inches of a full spectrum 5500 lumen LED shop light. (This one from Walmart is cheap and readily available and can link to others if I scale up.)
Seed storage:
If you order seeds, I highly recommend storing them in a binder (youāre supposed to keep them dark and cool and dry, so maybe you can put the binder someplace like that, while keeping this organizational format ā e.g. by putting the binder in a bin with silica packets or something)
These binder pages are perfect. Theyāre 3.5āx5ā and hold 4 packets per page vertically. I have four different sized seed packets and all but the lumpiest peas fit just fine. (they also come in a pack of 100 pages, but that seemed like overkill for where Iām at š ).
(Iād say about 15 pages with ~50 packets will fit in a 1.5ā D ring binder. More pages or seed packets and I would consider sizing up, or separating hardy cool season crops from tender annuals in separate binders)
(Iāve also seen people switch to using cases for their seed organization as their collection grows.)
If youāre in an area with a short growing season and didnāt get around to starting seeds indoors, look for local plant sales in addition to your local nursery or the garden center at big box stores (this is also great for perennials that already have a year or two behind them: hydrangeas, ornamental grasses, lupine, etc.). My co-op has one that brings in seedlings from a dozen local small farms, thereās also one at the local botanical garden, as well as a fundraiser for the master gardener program thatās attached to many university extension officesāthey all seem to happen within a week or two of our last predicted spring frost date. It seems like a good way to shortcut the process while also selecting for particular types of plants that are likely to be successful in your region.
You can also take advantage of huge price-cuts in the fall prior to the first frost as local nurseries prepare for winter and/or prepare for their plants either dying in the coming freezes or looking a little worse for wear as the plants go dormant for the winter. You wonāt be getting tomato plants, but maybe kitchen herbs or perennials like grasses or lavender or annuals like pansies or ornamental kale or snapdragons; sometimes even trees and shrubs. (This is often a good place and time to shop for pumpkins and gourds while youāre at it š)
Learning š©āš«
šĀ If youāre just starting out with vegetables, I think Iād recommend checking out āThe Vegetable Gardenerās Bible.ā I have it along with a few others from the library, but this one is the best ājust starting outā one; as an example, when talking about raised beds, he assumes that youāll be slicing out some of your lawn, whereas these other books (that are more aimed at āmarket gardenersā?) think you might be interested in constructing a mobile chicken coop that you can move 100ft every week to evenly fertilize before the planting season š Ā The other advantage is that he dedicates a couple pages to each likely vegetable or herb you might be interested in growing, giving facts like germination and preferred growing temperatures, trellising, pest management, harvesting, recommended varieties, etc.
For flowers, I recommend Cut Flower Garden from Erin Benzakein at/of Floret and In Bloom from Clare Nolan (theyāre both very giftable books with beautiful pictures).
šļøĀ Keep in mind that there are things to do in the garden basically all year, so the perfect time to start is right now!
For veggies, thereās also an adorable Irish TV show called Grow Cook Eat (streaming on Amazon Prime and YouTube):
And for more general gardening: Gardenerās World (a British show), and a recently revised tome by Monty Don: The Complete Gardener.
And of course YouTube is a wonderful resource. Though I think there are better places for the basics. Once youāre thinking about things like āwhat to plant in zone 6b in Augustā or tips on scaling up, I think YouTube makes sense. But even if itās not directly useful, it can be inspiring! (Though use caution wrt whatās realistic for youāyou might get hooked on a YouTuber in a totally different climate or with a totally different budget.)
For ornamental gardening/landscaping, hereās a (very informal) list of folksā favorites. Iāve bookmarked it to check out the channels that are new to me, both on the list and in the comments.
Six Floret's Growing Resources (Iām kinda in a Floret rabbithole at the momentā¦)
Soil health is key for everything you do, but tending to it requires a whole different set of learning. The folks at SARE have a guide to cover crops that Iāve found really useful.
Farmers are innovators. Itās like the startup community but without the ego and ambition, and people are reliably trying to solve their own problems (which is generally the hallmark of a good startup). E.g. this brilliant low tunnel design for extending your growing season without a bunch of hassle:
Or this object that automatically opens vents on your cold frame or greenhouse as it heats up, no electricity required.
And if growing your own vegetables isnāt for you, try joining your local CSA for getting local veggies (or bouquets!) at their peak with less work, while supporting a more diversified food system.
Further tips šĀ
Watering
Install an automated drip system as soon as youāve settled on your layout. The pieces fit together like legos (you can start with a kit from a hardware store to make sure you have the correct pressure and filters) and there are now hose timers that connect to wifi for easy adjustments.
Your plants will appreciate the consistency, theyāll do better without dealing with wet foliage, youāll waste less water, but most importantly, you can leave your plants home alone, and they wonāt suffer.
For hand watering, I love my watering canāI found it in the color I wanted at my local garden center (and I have it on my list to get a smaller 2 liter version for inside watering).
Cleaning your fingernails š Ā
Even if youāre diligent about wearing gloves, if youāre like me, you are probably still going to get dirt under your fingernails. There are nail brushes, but I find using my electric toothbrush (with an old head) is very effective while also being very gentle on my fingertips (which are often tender after a long day in the garden).
Protection against the sun (and heat) āļøĀ
Sun protection becomes a much bigger deal when youāre out in the elements regularly, whether youāre actively working in the garden or just going out to check on your plants.
- The best defense is to only go out in the early morning or evening when the UV index is low (most weather apps will track this for you).
- The next best is to create your own shade for your skin, whether thatās a patio umbrella on casters or a wide-brimmed hat and long pants and a long-sleeved shirt.
I have a recommendation for The Best Sunscreen (for people who hate sunscreen) but I find that the biggest issue with gardening is how difficult it is to protect my hands.
I wear gloves when I can, but some tasks are easiest with bare hands, and even if I start out with sunscreen on them, Iām going to end up washing it off in short order. So Iāve found that the safest thing is for me to wear a sunshirt with thumb holes like in my Advice: If you're thin with long arms, look for shirts with thumb holes ā because the fabric covers a significant part of my hands and wrists that otherwise get the worst of the sunās rays. (Iāve been laughing recently at how wrong Iāve been in thinking that the tan lines for a farmerās tan are on your upper armsāat least for this farmer, my wrists mark the spot with the highest color and weathering contrast š)
Over the years Iāve also found that my lower back is vulnerable to the sun, especially if Iām out in the fields where I might be crouching a lotāitās like a human sunset back there with layered burns š. Iāve tried a number of things, but the most reliable solution is overalls. My summer pair are Carhartt (though Iām favoring my thermal Freshley overalls from Dovetail Workwear even when itās not particularly cold because theyāre so cozy); my Carhartts wouldnāt have worked for me if they didnāt have tall sizes, so you may have to try Zappos or elsewhere to test a couple to find something that works for you (and keep in mind whether you want to wear them solo or if you want to layer them over your regular pants). Two other options for helping with burns from crouching: 1. Try a kneeling pad or a small stool to sit on. Working on your knees, whether you sit back on your heels or stay more upright can be easier on your body than maintaining a low squat, and sitting can be even better (see the next section on āComfortā below). 2. Try wearing higher-waisted boxer briefs (which I recommend to everyone as an alternative to traditional womenās underwear) and/or higher-waisted pants, along with a shirt that is long and doesnāt cling/ride up, especially once you start getting sweaty.
Speaking of sweating, donāt forget to hydrate. It can be dangerous to replace sweat with too much pure water, so I recommend supplementing with electrolytes. I use 40,000 Volts from Trace Minerals, but it tastes gross, so I just add it to Juice Spritzers. I also use Celtic grey salt when Iām cooking (my blood pressure generally runs low, so I donāt need to watch my salt intake).
Comfort š§Ā
New favorite gardening object: foldable knee cushion. Significantly more comfortable than the gorilla grips one recommended by wirecutter (that one is dense, almost like a yoga block). This saves my pants as well as my knees.
(Note: I found these on a list of the most āworth itā gardening purchases that this adorable PNW flower farming couple made)
I also use The best step-stool (thatās also great for gardening) as a little seat.
Protection against biting insects š¦Ā
If youāre out at dusk and dawn, itās likely that mosquitos will be too. š£ And I have a couple tips there as well Mosquito shirt and Mosquito bite relief: a tiny heater
I donāt live in tick country, but itās worth keeping that in mind: Tick bite avoidance & tick removal
See also: Plant Learnings