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Now that you have the horticultural know-how, it’s time to apply it and get dirty! Here are easy 1-2-3 steps to getting your garden growing.

Lay the Groundwork

Yes, it’s as simple as digging a hole for the plant and plopping it in, but not that smart. Take the first steps to preparing your terrain.

1.) Know your home. Keep an eye on soggy spots after showers when selecting the garden site. Track fully sunny and completely shady areas and mark them on a map of your yard, as each plant has its preference.
2.) Set up compost piles now as a future fertilizer for your garden. Start collecting grass clippings after mowing the lawn and toss in any fruit and vegetable peelings. Aim straight into the compost pile for watermelon spitting contests–who knows what may sprout!
3.) Make friends with a rancher for manure and a lumberyard for wood chips or savings. These materials may be needed as soil amendments.

Plot your Plot

1.) Compare seed needs to your sunlight and rainfall maps to select the most appropriate varieties.
2.) Identify how much cultivable space you have. Leave room for walkways, ideally a mower’s width wide. Plan for which plants grow up (will they run into a tree or roof?), down (do you know where underground lines run?), or out (are you okay with them taking over the rest of the garden?).
3.) Draw a map of what you want to plant and stake it out in the yard.

Dig In

1.) A raised bed system is usually recommended. Shovel out a walkway and pile that dirt to create an elevated planting surface.
2.) Clear out weeds and rocks. Expose soil to sunlight to purify it.
3.) Top with mulch to add nutrients.

Sow the Seeds

1.) If starting with seed, radishes are the quickest and easiest plants. You’ll be pulling up plump bulbs in less than a month.
2.) Get a jump-start with seedlings already started by a farmer you trust at the market (as in, you’ve tasted the end results you hope to achieve).
3.) Companion planting, like the classic Italian combo of tomato and basil, are beneficial for pests and make meal-planning after harvest a cinch.

Pick the Fruits of your Labor

Eating is the most rewarding part of the farming process.

1.) Ask for recipes from the farmers you’ve studied under or bought from. In the case of Asian greens, some of the easiest plants to grow leave us confounded in the kitchen.
2.) For continual picking rather than one overwhelmingly abundant harvest, plant a few new seeds every couple weeks.
3.) Even if not directly off your land, eating produce in season can happen year round. Some nerdy chefs created this amazing pie chart to chart pies for every month.

With ice cream and pies, I hope your summer is off to a good start!

 

Carrie

 

Carrie is an environmental educator, anthropologist, and translator. She took her passions for ecological, health, and women’s rights advocacy from the offices of Washington, D.C. to the streets of South America. Now in Colombia, she is slowly opening women’s eyes to the wonders of “la copita de luna” (Moon Cup) and Keepers.


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