| Author |
Garden Gate:  Recommendations for a complete beginner?  |
|
|
Sobyn
True Blue Farmgirl
752 Posts
Sabrina
Kansas
USA
752 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 15 2011 : 1:40:01 PM
|
Hello. I am no good at gardening!! But I really want to be. I have tried growing things in pots, for the most part I kill them (even the "impossible to kill" stuff like aloe). I really want to grow my own food, I would love to turn more of my landscaping edible and grow my own herbs as well. The problem is I know NOTHING about gardening. I have read backyard homestead and square foot gardening, and I get the basic idea but I still feel lost. Do any of you have any recommendations for a complete beginner??? We have managed to get a few tomatoes and a few peppers from our "garden" but hubby deserves the credit for those. I've also managed to keep 3 dwarf citrus trees alive for about a year and a half now, although no fruit yet (not that I expected any!). So...suggestions? Where do I start? I feel totally overwhelmed there is so much to learn!!!
Farmgirl Sister #3275 |
|
|
oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2011 : 2:40:43 PM
|
Do you have neighbors thats grow veggys, if so ask them to take alook at yours and please give you advice, family members who grow veggys that live in your area, ask them also. Remember, that you need advice for your climate zone, "GOOGLE" garden zones to get yours, if you don't know it, and then you can google vegtable growing in your zone, and get tons of info...You will want to learn the basics from the ground up, no pun intended, learn how to find out if your soil needs amendments, and if so what kind, do you want to be completly organic, are you setting up raised beds, which is an easier way if your soil is really bad, do you want to grow from seed, or buy seedlings in the spring, or a combination of...do you have an area with good sun, or is your yard mostly shadey or partialy shadey...this is just some beginning ideas, and there are girls that live in your area, who will be able to give you more exact advice...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
 |
|
|
LuckyMommyof5
True Blue Farmgirl
500 Posts
Suzanne
OH
USA
500 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2011 : 3:02:34 PM
|
Sabrina - first of all, as your Farmgirl Sister, I have to point out that you are being WAY too hard on yourself. Learning any new skill is a process, not a race. You need to be patient with yourself and take time to congratulate yourself with wanting to get better at something you are interested in even though you feel it is daunting. No one was an expert at something the instant they started it. And, even seasoned gardeners face challenges and uncertainties - sometimes you can do EVERYTHING right and something goes wrong (bugs, creatures stealing your produce, fungus, or even just a plant dropping dead for no discernible reason...) I've had a yard and garden for 8 years now (ever since my husband and I moved from an apartment to our house) and I'm still learning things I can't wait to apply to the next year. Gardening is sometimes an exercise in patience and humility.
I think you need to demystify it and start to think of the process and the joy before you set your hands to working in the dirt again next year. I would suggest two books - ZEN AND THE ART OF GARDENING by Gill Hale and YOU GROW GIRL by Gayla Trail. Gayla also has a website - yougrowgirl.com. The second of these two books has a little more concrete info, but in a more fun style so you might not feel so stressed. You can also get one of those "Beginner's Guide to..." books about any type of gardening you are interested in (Organic, container, vegetable, etc). Another suggestion is to go to a local plant nursery and see if they have an expert on staff who may be able to answer some of your questions.
You may think you are "no good at gardening" now, but gardening offers you endless oppotunities to work on these abilities. I started by growing "easy" tomato plants like Patio Princess in containers on my back patio just to gain confidence and moved on to now having a fully functioning raised bed. And if something doesn't work, rip stuff up and start again.
Don't give up. Have faith in yourself - if this is something you want, you will find a way. Just relax. Things may work out or not - but gardeners always have hope!
Farmgirl Sister #3243
"The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong." - Laura Ingalls Wilder |
|
|
|
Sobyn
True Blue Farmgirl
752 Posts
Sabrina
Kansas
USA
752 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2011 : 5:53:17 PM
|
Thanks. I know a few people around here who garden but not many (and none in the same neighborhood). We are in zone 8 and I would prefer to keep everything organic (kind of the point of me growing my own). I can't think of the name of it but the method where you plant all your landscaping in stuff you can eat or use....I would like to do that in my front yard in addition to beds in the back. I have two beds in front that right now have UGLY bushes in them....would really like to replace those with prettier AND useful plants but no idea what would do ok there. We have very little shade and the sun here seems to fry almost everything. I would love to use seedlings but I would really prefer heritage plants (not hybrids)....another challenge. I think I'm overwhelmed because there doesn't seem to be a linear way to learn about gardening, all the information is intertwined and there is so much to absorb.
Farmgirl Sister #3275 |
|
|
|
rksmith
True Blue Farmgirl
858 Posts
Rachel
Clayton
GA
USA
858 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2011 : 6:33:09 PM
|
The soil here is pretty acid (at least in Pembroke), we have a lot of sand here as well. Do some soil samples first. You can drop them off at the local ag extension office (I'm not sure where the one in Effingham county is) and they will send it to UGA for testing to tell you exactly what (and how much) your soil needs. The first year we planted here, our soil test came back highly acid with NO nutrients or anything good in it whatsoever (we didn't even have earthworms) So, we started out by amending the soil where we wanted to plant. That year we did absolute crap for a garden. We got nothing for a harvest. But we learned ALOT!!! I've also discovered that I suck at starting plants from seed...so I prefer to buy small plants to transplant. My husband is a little better at starting stuff from seed than I am but not much :D. I'll look through my books here and see what I've got as far as gardening in our area and can bring them to the meeting if you like. I also HIGHLY suggest using the Old Farmer's Almanac. It is just awesome (also check out their website, I think it's almanac.com or either.org-- I can't remember). There is a nifty shop in Garden City called Savannah Hydroponics and they have lots of organic fertilizer and amendments, kind of pricey but if you've gotta go organic it's about the best place around here and they have stuff that Lowe's doesn't. I do like using Bonnie plants they use Heritage breeds and while not 100% organic they are closer than most anything else available around here. There is also a place called horizon organics in Oregon (I think) where you can order started plants, again kind of pricey but worth it if it's what you really want. Also, look to see what weeds are growing in your yard--many of them are very useful and edible. You might want to consider starting with them and just rearranging or transplanting them where you want them. And don't be hard on yourself, no one is born knowing how to garden (or anything else) some people are just way better than others (like my mom who could grow a fence post from a toothpick darn it)
Rachel
Farmgirl Sister #2753
Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps, if you are not willing to move your feet--Dr. Kioni
http://madame1313.wordpress.com/ |
|
|
|
Sobyn
True Blue Farmgirl
752 Posts
Sabrina
Kansas
USA
752 Posts |
Posted - Aug 16 2011 : 1:48:32 PM
|
Thanks Rachel!! Can't wait to meet you at our meeting. I do need to do some research about useful native plants, considering my house backs up to the woods I could send hubby on a scavenger hunt (nope I'm not hard core enough to do it myself there are snakes back there!! lol). Would you say its easier/more effective/more economical etc to ammend the soil or just build raised beds? Our tomatoes and peppers are in a raised bed now and I think I'm going to have to raise the bed in the front because it doesn't drain and there isn't a way to fix it.... Oh and as far as "organic" ok so lets go "natural" or "close enough" basically I'm looking for better than the grocery store :). I would prefer heritage plants to hybrids just because I would like to start saving seeds etc...but for annuals it won't matter as much as long as I can switch to it eventually...I got the farmer's almanac last year and it looked useless...all horoscopes and such I didn't find anything useful for planting, maybe I just don't know where to look, not sure what I did with that one.
Farmgirl Sister #3275 |
|
|
|
Sobyn
True Blue Farmgirl
752 Posts
Sabrina
Kansas
USA
752 Posts |
Posted - Aug 16 2011 : 1:50:42 PM
|
Oh where is Bonnie Plants? And I live in Chatham county (by half a mile) so would I have to use the Chatham extension? The effingham one is probably closer.
Farmgirl Sister #3275 |
|
|
|
oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Aug 16 2011 : 2:18:34 PM
|
Sabrina, you need to find or google "The Old Farmers Almanac", or go to www.almanac.com ,it gives tons of info between the book and the website...there are many of us who have been gardening all of our lives, and have generations of families we learned from, that does not mean we have great/perfect/bumper crops, every year, some years we have partial/full crop failures do to many reasons, most being not our faults, such as major weather upsets, sudden storms, rodents, etc...so all you can do is your best, start a garden journel, write down everything in it regarding your garden, that way, hopfully you won't make the same mistakes a differant year, and all advice can be checked and decieded whether or not it will work for you, books are great, but don't overwelm yourself with too many...start small, and grow as you learn, and most of all, HAVE FUN!!!
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
|
|
|
rksmith
True Blue Farmgirl
858 Posts
Rachel
Clayton
GA
USA
858 Posts |
Posted - Aug 16 2011 : 6:22:40 PM
|
You can get Bonnie plants at Lowe's, Home Depot, (not sure about Walmart--I do not go there), places like that. I think the actual company is based in Alabama. http://www.bonnieplants.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx Depending on how your soil is, it may be better to start out with raised beds. I think pretty much anything grown at home is better than grocery store. There are several different farmer's almanacs out and they are not equal. By far the best one IMO is the Old Farmer's Almanac. It does take a little getting used to as far as reading the info in it but it is AWESOME and well worth the effort. Not sure why I was thinking you live in Effingham, lol, but I don't know where the one is Chatham is either.
Rachel
Farmgirl Sister #2753
Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps, if you are not willing to move your feet--Dr. Kioni
http://madame1313.wordpress.com/ |
|
|
|
camiesmommy
True Blue Farmgirl
113 Posts
Anne Jeannette
Stagecoach
NV
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - Aug 16 2011 : 9:55:54 PM
|
You're talking to the queen of black thumbs. I've killed every house plant I've ever had. No luck with pots outside either. My husband who always planted the garden had to take a job as an over the road truck driver last year after he was laid off from his local job. Anyway, I got the lucky task of planting and maintaining the garden. To suprise it turned out great and I was so excited. Since I was working really weird hours I decided to set the garden up with a drip system that utilized sprayers. My biggest challenge was making sure the sprayers didn't get clogged (we're on a well).
I truely loved working out there.and was really excited when stuff started to grow. I didn't really know what I was doing. I just made sure everything was watered twice a day and kept my weeds down. If I ran into problems I looked it up in a garden book.
I know how overwhelming it can be when you want to do something and don't know where to start. My advice, just jump in with both feet and you'll be surprised just how knowledgable you are from all the things you've heard over the years without ever realizing it. Happy gardening! 
A.J.
Work is love made visible. ~ Kahlil Gibran |
|
|
| |
Garden Gate: Recommendations for a complete beginner? |
|
|
|
Recommendations for a complete beginner?
