Authored by Noah Voss
Published on Yahoo.com 2010/2011
Or Lack There Of?
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In my gardening experiences, I've learned one thing; "that you can never follow one hard fast written rule." Not when it comes to growing another 'living' creature. Remember, gardening is a skill. Skills are born out of failures as much as successes. Here's where I have failed!
Hardening off. You can still remember the day you brought them home from the hospital - I mean store. The precious little seeds or baby seedlings you chose from the countless other options. You can't wait for them to look like the picture on the tag. You've tended to them nearly daily. You think it can handle anything as it's so much bigger now. Unfortunately, your plants are stable only for the environment they know. It's a big scary world out there, and they need to see it a little at a time, and for short periods to begin. Before you place them in the ground outside permanently, you need to 'harden them off.' They should be introduced to the protected outside world for a brief time during the day and brought in each night. Shelter from high winds and any pests. Continue until your plant has adjusted to your outside seasonal climate. This process may take weeks to do correctly.
Putting in the ground too soon will end with complete loss of the plant or severely stunted growth that will never reach its full potential. One week late will be immensely better than one day too soon.
Watering? Overwatering, under watering, and or improper watering. The only thing I can say is to take what you learned growing them from seed (or seedling) and apply it to the garden. For example, notice how long the top 1" of the soil dries or not depending on the day. No fancy tools needed, dig in a bit with your finger. Regularly wetting the foliage and branches is not ideal, so aim for just watering the soil as much as is possible.
Garden layout. I prefer sections set up in rows, likely because I like symmetry. I have done well with mounding the rows up and taking great care not to walk to near the plant with my heavy foot.
This approach may take a bit more regular watering.
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Aim to work proactively. Don't let it go too long without a visit;
until you have much skill. Turning up leaves and discovering a few
bug eggs before you notice half the leaves are gone is endlessly easier
to manage. The same goes for weeding. If they are growing,
they are robbing nutrients that could have gone into your preferred
plant!
And don't get discouraged! Keep your expectations reasonable, and
you will get more out of your garden and from your garden each year!
Making mistakes when gardening slowly becomes painfully clear; your
plants die, or your flowers don't bloom, or your fruit doesn't appear.
Take heart, the experiences honed from mistakes create the skill that
will provide bountiful future harvests!
When you have mastered these approaches to gardening, expand your skill
and mind by introducing yourself to permaculture. There you will
find less maintenance and more productivity. All from the same
square footage. Win-win!
