Connecting over food or with food doesn’t always involve cooking. The next three in this series all touch on that in one way or the other. Spring has sprung, at least on the calendar, and that means it is time to think about the plethora of fresh vegetables that are in our future.
Know where your food comes from and how to grow it can be very rewarding and eye-opening. It can also make you more likely to eat fresh vegetables. If you have never started a garden there are plenty of resources to help you get started. You can get some books at the library, ask the people working at your local nursery (your nursery will have better info than a large hardware store), or volunteer at a community garden and learn while doing. Another great resource that most communities have is a Master Gardener phone line or resource. These people spent a lot of time learning and studying so that they could be a wealth of gardening knowledge. Use that resource and help them keep their skills sharp.
Starting a Garden
I just ordered my seeds the other day and I am excited to get our garden going. We didn’t plant any vegetables the last two years since we were working on other projects so this will be our first potential harvest. I say potential because over my first few attempts my harvest wasn’t very good. I learned some lessons the hard way. You can see some of the photos from my last gardening adventure here, here, and here. We went big! The problem is I didn’t think it all through and our soil was not as ready to handle the grand plans I had. I am going to share some of the lessons I learned from that last project.
- Topsoil, even with a little compost, doesn’t have the nutrients needed to create fruits and veggies. Lots of green, but not much to eat
- Start small add new varieties ever year. While the seed catalog can be like a siren song, stay strong and only plant what you can manage
- Be prepared to tend the garden. The plants will do most of the work for you, but you need to watch it and pay attention to potential problems. This is the key way to learn how to garden.
- Ask questions. Know someone who gardens and loves to talk about gardening then hit them up with what you need to know. You will be amazed at what you will learn in one season.
- Be patient. This is not a sprint. If you put zucchini seeds in the ground it will be a while until you see a blossom or a squash. Keep taking care of that plant and it will likely come through for you in the end.
What is your favorite vegetable straight from the garden?
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