7 Simple Tips

for Starting Your First Garden

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If there’s one thing that has come out of self-isolating that I didn’t see coming, it’s this new collection of hobbies and interests I’ve been accumulating for the last 5 weeks. This week? We’re talking about gardening!

With Earth Day coming up on the 22nd, or 5 days from now if you’ve become as date and day challenged as I have, I’ve wanted to find a way to celebrate and do something nice for the planet as well as keep myself busy while I’m hanging around the house. Luckily, my husband suddenly got the urge to create our very first garden using the victory garden concept as a main motivator. 

Victory gardens were a popular form of morale boosting during World War I and World War II when food supplies and money were both pretty low. It’s amazing how we always tend to come full circle, eh? Lots of people in the U.S., U.K., and a few other countries went hard at creating private gardens to help supplement the food rations that were scarce due to the war going on in Europe. These gardens also gave people a sense of pride and empowerment since it gave them something meaningful to put their time into. 

While we’re not at war with the Axis Powers this time around, we’re still fighting a war of attrition against the Coronavirus with no idea when the tide will turn in our favor. People are out of work, stores are low on essentials, and we’ve all got a lot more time on our hands. It all creates a perfect storm to bring back the victory garden to a backyard/windowsill/greenhouse near you!

Full confession…my thumbs are very brown. Not a hint of green to be found on them. I have a cactus I’ve managed to keep alive for a couple of years but I can’t tell you how often I forget it even exists. This lack of skill is sort of a shame because I come from a family that knows how to grow things. My aunt is great with flowers and bushes and all the pretty stuff while my pap kept a huge garden every summer of my childhood filled with peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and all kinds of other veggies ready to be picked.  I’ve managed to kill every flower and plant I’ve ever tried to nurture, except, of course, this cactus….for now.  Jonathan, my husband, has been interested in putting together an herb garden for as long as I’ve known him but hasn’t had any luck with actually following through. 

So between us, we are highly unqualified to start a garden. But learning is part of the fun! In the last few days since we decided we wanted to put together our own little victory garden we’ve discovered a handful of helpful tips I thought I’d pass along to any of you who might be as lacking in the horticultural department as we are.

7 Gardening Tips for Beginners

Know Your Zone

     - If you’re thinking about starting a garden it’s important to find out which zone you live in. The country is made up of 11 climate zones developed by the USDA to determine which plants were hardier and able to survive in which regions. Pittsburgh falls under zone 6 which makes it an ideal weather zone for a vegetable garden. For more info on your zone or what plants best in it, check out Urban Farmer.

Composting Is King

    - If you want your garden to be it’s best, you’ve gotta have good soil. You want your soil to be nutrient dense and a place for your plants to thrive? You’ve gotta compost. Composting provides a natural alternative to using fertilizers that may have chemicals that can harm the planet. It’s also an easy way to recycle certain kitchen scraps that would otherwise sit rotting in a landfill.

Change It Up

    - Maybe you started your gardening adventure sometime in the last couple of years. If you have, make sure you’re changing up what vegetables you’re planting in which plot each year or two. By changing what gets planted where, you have a higher chance of the soil staying rich with all the good stuff certain plants need. 

Friends in Low Places

   - Companion planting can be mighty helpful as you start to plan out what exactly you want to put into your garden. Companion planting is pretty much just like it sounds, planting veggies near each other that will provide benefits to one another in some way like helping keep certain bugs at bay. But keep in mind, for every companion plant there’s also ones you’ll want to keep far apart.

Friends in High Places

   - Bees are the gardener’s BFF. Pollinating bees will help your flowers or vegetables grow bigger and better, and might even produce new types of both! Think about investing in a bee house to help them stay close to your garden. I’ve actually had a leafcutter bee house for the last few years and I’m already excited to see how they flourish with the garden in play.

Early Bird

   - Water your plants in the morning so the water has time to soak into the roots instead of evaporating from the hot afternoon sun. 

Keep It Basic

   - You gotta get the right tools for the job. Make sure you get good pair of gardening gloves to keep your home done manicure right, a kneeling pad to keep your knees from bruising too much, and a bottle of ibuprofen for when your back hurts cause it’s all downhill for your body after 30. A weeder and a trowel should probs get thrown in your cart too.

Ya’ll, that’s just a drop in the bucket of all the info that exists to help get a garden growing. Who knows which of the tips on this list will come out on top and which might end up being more trouble than helpful but that’s all part of learning something new. Trial and error. All I know is that by the end of this quarantine I’m gonna have me a backache, a farmer’s tan, and (hopefully) a sense of accomplishment.

What tips do you have when it comes to getting a garden up and running? Are you a beginner, been at it a season or two, or a full on gardening expert? What’s your favorite thing to plant? Any gardening horror stories? Let me know your in the comments below!