Garden Shenanigans: How to Start

Ok friends,

Although it really doesn't seem like it, spring is coming. YAY!

As promised, I will share my first experience with gardening this year. Hopefully the adventure will be entertaining and informative. :)

Note: All information will be pertinent to ZONE 5. That is where I live. You can check your zone here. This will be important to choosing what to plant and when to plant it. :)

So here we go!

How do I get started?
Step 1: Determine the space you have. 
Estimated time: 10 minutes

Do you have a piece of land to work with? Do you have a patio, but no grass? Do you have a balcony? Do you have a windowsill? ANY of these can become a garden! Allocate a part of this space to become your garden. The amount of space will (obviously) determine what kind of plants you can plant. Don't be discouraged if you don't have much room! Look at this cute herb garden idea:

I recommend measuring the dimensions of your garden, whether it be in feet or in number of tin cans. :)

I have a slightly unusual situation, as the space allocated for the garden is near a black walnut tree. The tree roots emit toxins, so I will have raised beds (an extra layer of soil) to avoid plant homicide. We are all friends here!

P.S. I can't tell you how big my garden is ATM because it's covered in snow...

Step 2: Choose what you want to plant.
Estimated time: 20-30 minutes

There are two things to consider here: what you like to eat and whether you have the conditions to grow it. Here is a guide to how much space different plants need. Don't be afraid to try new things! Veggies that you grow yourself taste WAY better than the ones in the grocery store. Usually. But we will make sure we do it right! Yes? Good.


I will be growing the following lovelies:

• bean chinese red noodles
• tommy toe tomatoes
• German pink tomatoes
• Amish paste tomatoes
• cucumber muncher
• cucumber mexican sour gherkin
• arugula
• lettuce rocky top mix
• butterhead lettuce
• red romaine
• radishes
• beets
• peppers
• butternut squash
• summer squash fordhook zucchinis
• spinach
• snow peas
• Parisienne carrots

Don't they look delicious?

Step 3: Go get your seeds!
Estimated time: varies

Woohoo! You made it to the most fun part! You can find seeds online or in stores. I recommend Baker Creek Heirloom seeds and Burpee seeds. Even if you don't end up ordering online, it's super fun to see all the different veggies that you've never heard of. And some of them look ridiculous (and delicious).
You can also find seeds at Menards, Lowe's, Home Depot, and probably other places too.

Once you have your seeds, keep them in a dry, cool place (like the pantry). Next time I will share info on how to start your seeds!

Gardens Will Save the World

Have you ever had a garden? If yes, awesome! If no, I'm with you, friends. But over the past year, I have become utterly convinced that gardens will save the world. So this spring, I'm planting one. I'm going to go through the process step by step, with beginner instructions on how to do everything as it comes along.

I have the privilege of being guided by a master gardener, my boyfriend. (Hey boyfriend!) Because you may not know anyone who is a gardening buff, I am here to relate my learning experience to you, in the simplest way. So stay tuned for posts that start with the word "garden" (and every other post). :)

WHY GARDENS WILL SAVE YOU & THE WORLD 

1. A garden will save your wallet. Less trips to the grocery store means less money spent on gas and less time in the car. Now if you must spend time in the car and you happen to abhor it, please see this post. Also, you can grow fresh, organic produce in your yard/balcony, and pay a fraction of what it would cost at the store. Anything you don't eat during the growing season, you can preserve and enjoy in colder months.
2. A garden will save your health in two ways :)
1. Food. I'm assuming that if you grow vegetables, you will at least try eating them, right? The overwhelming message from doctors is to eat more whole produce. Just Google it. Honestly, I don't think that your main source of food should be from a processing plant. Is it even food if it has so many unknown ingredients in it? You can also avoid ingesting pesticides and herbicides typically found in/on commercial produce.
2. Exercise. Maintaining a garden involves moving around. You'll be required to go outside and *gasp* even get some vitamin D while you're at it. Getting exercise by gardening has an advantage over going to the gym--you're getting fresh air rather than stale air. And no one is watching you. Except for GoogleEarth.
3. A garden will save your taste buds. Raise your hand if you know what kabocha is. You are missing out, my friend. It's a delicious squash, and while you may not like squash, there are so many varieties of all kinds of vegetables, you are bound to be astonished that these things even exist. Stores only carry a few varieties at most. You can grow a tomato that is so scrumptious, you can bite into it as a snack. You probably don't believe me. Please try.
4. A garden will save your social life. Make your garden a social project too. Get a couple of friends or family members on board. You can learn and share knowledge together. You can also split up the labor. Even better, recruit some kids. Your children, younger cousins, neighbors, etc. are the next generation. If we spread the awesomeness of gardening to them too, we'll be in even better shape for the future.
5. A garden will save the earth. This is the big one. So big I have to split it up! :)
1. Less garbage. This works in multiple ways. First, you can compost produce you eat now to make (yes, literally make) dirt for your garden. Then you can compost things from your garden (like it's feeding itself :)). Also, buying less food from the store will reduce the amount of garbage in your kitchen. Less plastic bags, less cans, less bottles, you get the point.
2. Smaller carbon footprint. By planting a garden, you are reducing your carbon footprint. I don't care if you believe in this or not, it is common sense that the less traveling your food does, the yummier it is going to be. So if you aren't doing it for the earth, do it for yourself.
3. Less pollution. I know I haven't discussed meat in this post at all, but this is relevant. By eating a more vegetable-based diet (and I'm not saying you have to go vegetarian or vegan or anything), you will be reducing the demand for CAFO animals. These are basically factory farms that are not sustainable and are creating a lot of trouble (including hyper-resistant disease and a lot of concentrated animal waste). With your saved money from having a garden, try buying Amish-raised meat, or find a local, sustainable farmer to buy meat from. Then you can see how things should be run. 
4. More variety. Every biologist knows that gene variety is important for resistance to negative events (weather, disease, etc.). By planting a wider variety of plants, you allow for greater variation among open pollinated crops. This actually increases food security. Also, if you were the earth and someone planted the same things in you all the time, you'd get pretty bored wouldn't you?
5. Appreciation. I truly believe that the key to taking care of the earth is to first appreciate it. My accounting teacher (of all people!) said something a few months ago that made my heart go thump-thump. wait. what? thumpthumpthumpthump. That probably doesn't make sense, but here's what he said, "We do not depreciate land. Why? Because it will always be there for you." It will always be there for us. We choose whether we return the favor.

If you are skeptical about starting a garden, I highly recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. You can get it at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and probably your public library. It is also available as an audiobook.

If you are unable to garden, for any reason, then this website is a wonderful resource to find farmer's markets. You can also become a member of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and receive boxes of yummy vegetables as they come into season. If the link isn't working, the URL is http://www.localharvest.org/

TL;DR: Will you start a garden with me this year?