SO YOU WANT TO DO A GARDEN

It seems that this year everyone is trying their hand at gardening, especially in light of this year’s events. Food shortages, bare shelves in the supermarket, stay at home orders and all the recalls for e coli in fresh foods have people scared for their food supply, and rightfully so.

This is good news and bad news. First the good…I have always thought that folks should know where their food supply comes from and the only way to do that is to get down and dirty…literally. It is amazing how many people have no idea where produce and meat comes from other than the grocery store. I am in no way putting city folks down because I would be just as ignorant if I tried to get somewhere on the subway.

The bad part about this scenario is that fear makes folks jump into this new venture without really knowing what they are getting into. In some ways I feel sorry for them because delving into something without knowing the full scope of what it entails is the best recipe for failure. In other ways this just makes me mad.

Let’s start at the beginning. To plant a garden, you need seeds and/or plants. Many of us seasoned gardeners had a horrible time finding these this year because the newbies were gobbling them up. I am not saying that we have more privilege to them, but we do know how precious of a commodity they are. I daresay that many beginning gardeners rushed to the stores, greenhouses and seed companies and ordered everything that looked pretty in the pictures or what they liked to eat.

Without doing the research, they don’t have a clue how the seeds grow or how to take care of them. Many newbies actually believe that all you need to do is get the seed in the ground and in a month or so, those tiny dormant pieces of seemingly lifeless material will flourish and yield masses of whatever they are supposed to be. Well, little do they know!

When I tried to order my seeds this spring, all the big name seed companies were already sold out. I had to scramble to find what I wanted. While I was scrambling, I noticed comments on FB to the tune of, “OK, I have all this time off because of stay at home orders, so can I just put my garden in now?” Really? That day there was three inches of snow on the ground!

I am quite sure that all the newbies don’t realize how much work there is to getting a mature crop from a tiny seed. Young plants like just the right amount of water, not too much and not too little. Then there is fertilizer. All purpose is fine for the garden, but then you need to tweek what nutrients different varieties of plants need. It’s definitely not always “one size fits all.”

Another thing that new gardeners don’t realize is that they are not the only ones counting on tasty fresh veggies from the garden. Just when the plants are looking green and lush, every insect and bug around comes to partake in the feast. Many of them, like Japanese beetles, literally arrive overnight. Plants can be fine one day and then the next day there are gazillions of beetles chomping away.

If you don’t stay on top of pests, they will definitely eat all of your green thumb efforts in no time flat. This really isn’t the time to ask Miss Google how to take care of them because it is amazing how much they can eat while you are researching and tracking down your line of defense.

Once the insects are eradicated, there is “fungus among us” that loves to live on your plants too. So, you will need a fungicide to take care of this unwanted guest. Then there are the tiny mites that also love to attach your best efforts.

So, along with successfully taking care of the critter problem and providing the right amount of light and water, your plants should have a good start. However, so will the weeds; they grow even better than the plants you planted.

These are almost harder to be rid of than the bugs. You can’t use a herbicide because, along with killing the weeds, it will also kill the plants. Yep, when you planted your little darlings, did you actually realize that the only way to keep them weed-free was to get down on your hands and knees and pull them out…by their roots.

This is where I get upset. Many…not all…new gardeners don’t realize how much work goes into raising your own food. So, after buying all the seeds and plants and the weeds and bugs take over, we gardeners see these neglected weed patches that were supposed to be the flourishing gardens.

This maybe isn’t even the worst part. We all have big dreams, including the newbies. They may not have been prepared for all the work that goes into a garden, but they did prepare for when their dreams would come to fruition. They bought up all the pressure canners and canning supplies so now they are in short supply. They have even gone so far as to start buying freezers to preserve their crop.

Imagine how frustrating this is for us who were looking to buy an extra cooker or other supplies and can’t find them.  But then, if we have a little patience, there should be a slew of them for sale this fall when many new gardeners give up! There is always next season for us.

Speaking of which, I hope all those who decided that this was the year to garden but weren’t prepared to tend to one will use the winter months wisely and research exactly what it takes to be successful.

A young lady from my online gardening group proves my point that many wanna-be gardeners leapt before they should have. She posted a beautiful picture of her garlic plant and asked when she should harvest it. Someone answered that she could try any time since it was a lily instead of garlic! Really?

Remember, all of us seasoned gardeners had to learn the ropes to get where we are today. Some of us were lucky and gardening has always been part of our formative years. However, even if a garden was the most foreign you have ever encountered, it is a skill that can be learned.

I hope that, even if this year was not a success, that you won’t give up. There is no better feeling than that of sticking your toes in the warm earth and having plants provide bounty thousand-fold from a tiny seed that you planted. There is just no other feeling like it.