The Beginner’s Guide to Gardening: Sun, Size, and Soil

0

March 2, 2018 by Sarah

It’s already March! Which means daylight savings is coming and spring is almost here. I can’t wait. With all the cold and the rain, I’ve been daydreaming about our summer garden. On nice days over here, Pat or I have been outside, making plans and starting to prepare.

Gardening is one of my favorite things to do. I find it so satisfying in a lot of different ways. Seeing a seed sprout into a little seedling, then grow into a plant, and eventually bear fruit for us to harvest, will forever be magical to me. And its especially fun sharing it with my kids now.

I’ve learned a lot over the years about gardening, through classes I’ve taken, asking questions, and a lot of trial and error. I thought I’d put together a little guide for those out there wanted to try their hand at vegetable gardening.

18160492_119008765319790_3484182834652905472_n

Sun

With vegetable gardening, one of the first things you need to check before getting started is that you have enough sunlight where you want to garden. The vast majority of vegetables need a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight. There are a few like salad greens that can do okay with partial shade, but there’s really not a lot. I’ve tried to garden in partial shade and I didn’t have a good experience with it.

How do you check for sunlight? You’ve just got watch for it. Usually I’ll pay attention in the morning to where a certain spot I’m looking at is getting direct sun and check back on it every few hours throughout the day.

Size

If you’re new to gardening, keep it small your first time around. I’m the type that wants to go all out when trying something new, but with gardening, each new plant and each extra square foot requires extra time. I think it’s better to start with something manageable and have success with it, versus becoming overwhelmed by a larger space and giving up on gardening altogether.

Small might mean doing a few pots of herbs or just one small garden plot. My garden pictured below for me, is pretty sizable compared to the amount of time I have to give attention to it. I’m currently debating about the scope I’ll take this year, especially with a baby.

27575883_217024872190687_5564462944688799744_n

Soil 

If you’ve figured out the location and scope of your garden, the next thing is to prepare the soil. Soil is really important in gardening but it is often overlooked. Your soil is what your plants are going to draw all their nutrients from. The better your soil, the better your plants are going do it. Its worth your time to make it right. Over 5 years ago (!) I wrote this Soil Matters post where I share some of my mistakes with not getting the soil right.

If you are starting out brand new, get some good top soil and compost from your gardening store. There’s lots of different blends you can do, but that is the very basic. We get our compost for free from our local waste facility. We also have our own compost bin in our backyard, but it doesn’t generate enough for the size of our garden. Every new growing season, we top our garden beds off with a thick layer of compost, and mix it into the top layer of the soil.

I’m planning to write a few more posts in this series, let me know if you have any questions or topics you want me to cover!

18299045_1159216880874224_8120797315712679936_n-1


0 comments »

What do you think?