We have started a new season as we come into March.
I have enjoyed getting outside and working in the garden when I can bend over and do the planting.
I was at a birthday party ten years ago for my grandson and his other grandpa, talking about the growing season. The other grandpa asked me, “How can a person with a brown thumb grow some good vegetables out in the garden?”
This perennial question has followed me for as long as I can remember. The challenge is that there are few easy solutions to this question.
His garden is average for Ashland. The only thing that has helped him grow his garden is the regular application of granular and liquid fertilizers.
Fertilizing the way we do is not how gardening should work.
Before we could produce granular nitrogen fertilizer after World War II, we used to spread compost over our gardens and incorporate it into the soil.
I remember the story of our pioneer forefathers learning from Indians how to make mounds of soil and stick a dead fish in each mound to help the corn grow. That sort of idea does work.
I want to answer some questions regarding spring planting.
The first question is, “What do you want to plant?”
Most of the time, we think of a vegetable garden. Given the expenses of buying vegetables, this makes a lot of sense in reducing the expenditure on grocery bills. Along the same lines of reducing your grocery bill, maybe you would like to grow your herbs.
We need some color in each garden, so what kind of flowers do you prefer in your garden? Perennials do not bloom if your annuals but come back year after year.
The big question in any vegetable or herb garden planting is: “Will your family eat the vegetables or herbs in the garden?”
You need to work with your family designing a vegetable garden with produce your family will eat.
Included with this, the first question of “What you like to eat?” is “What vegetable plants would you like to eat in the future?”
The second question is a subset of the first question and may indicate whether you want to grow some of your plants just for seeds for the following year. Planting a small portion of your garden for seed will require extra effort.
You may and may not want to expend the additional funds or energy.
Our third and almost as important as the first question is, “Where in my yard will be the best location to start my garden? When I go outside my door, I’m surrounded by trees.”
In most of my yard, I would only be able to get six hours of full sun each day. This creates a problem. Most of our vegetables need six to eight hours a day. When you observe your yard, you can lay out what you know is in the eight-hour zone.
Many seed packages and bedding plants that you would select will be marked with the light required to thrive. If you don’t see how much sun your plant needs, ask someone that should know.
No matter the location you select, you must consider the access to your water source. I have lugged gallons and gallons of water over hundreds of feet to help grow my gardens over the years.
For some of us, a location selection for a raised bed or the potted plants you want to grow goes along with this question: where to start your garden?
As I have gotten older, my ability to weed and plant seeds or bedding plants has also changed.
The advantage of pots and raised beds is I am not as bothered by bending over as I get older. If you are gardening in a raised bed, you can do most of your work from a chair.
I hope you have a great stroll through your garden this week and plan for the coming season. If you see challenges, let me know at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.