Part 1: What do you need to start gardening for food
Once I bought my first fruit tree, I soon realized I did not have much in terms of tools, and how to care for it. I didn’t know much about plant behavior, and a lot more. I resorted to look at different websites to accumulate knowledge. The more exotic, the more likely you will not find much details. I am still learning new tricks and nature has its way of continuing to teach us how to respect her power.
This compilation comes from the last 3-4 years of raising my green babies. The stories, laughs and cries are all part of this journey and I hope you will enjoy what I am sharing. And most important, gardening is available to all of us to any level of knowledge and experience.
First, what are your goals in starting a garden?
Maybe the joy of seeing a plant grow, grow fruits and vegetables to eat, decrease your food bills (I can tell you; it may take a while), stress relief (just don’t bring up unwanted caterpillar, it is not very relaxing). Show the kids where food comes from to familiarize them with the joy of growing and the work needed to achieve this. I think all the efforts you will need do to grow our own garden will make you find a new respect for our agriculture industry.
How much space can you use: from balcony to acres of land
Know your zone. The USDA (US department of Agriculture) has a map of plant hardiness zone map. You can input your zip code or state to easily find it. It can be found at the following website:
https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/
A zone is determined by the average annual minimal winter temperature divided into 10 degrees F sectors.
This will help you know which type of plants will likely thrive in your geographical area. Some plants need a certain amount of chilling to produce flowers/fruits. If this does not happen, like in some southern states, some plants will not or will produce low yields (more on that on a future post).
How much hours of sunlight at your property depending on the side of the house, property layout, time of year? I am still trying to figure which part of the house works best for certain plants. Sometimes I will just place the same type of plants in different areas to see what works best (more sun in the morning or afternoon for example). I have what I call a dead zone at home. Nothing much grows there; it just gets too hot during the summer and I need to cover most growth. The dragon fruit and the lavender do best there. I live in sunny southern CA, however someone along a beach zone may never have enough sunlight to grow certain plants due to a usual morning layer.
Budget. How much money can you spend? There is this funny cartoon found on social media with the caption” spend $300 for a 0.50 cent tomato” feels not too far from the truth sometimes. However, we got well established chives which produces enough 6 to 8 months out of the year, so we do not need to buy any at the store for that length of time.
Time. How much time can you devote to your garden? Do you need to plant and forget? Or will you compulsively look at it anytime you have a moment, fertilize, take care of pests, do manual pollination, etc?
More parts to this story coming up!