Growing Tips

There is nothing quite as satisfying as growing things. It’s an elemental activity that connects us with the earth, both spiritually and physically. Your hands are in the dirt, they plant, nurture and tend, and in the end there is the fruit of your labors whether it be actual fruit, vegetables, flowers or just the lush green of foliage. As a hobby, gardening offers such a wide range of opportunity to grow things that anyone of any age, living anywhere at all, can grow something for fun or practical use. But what to grow, that is the question.

Enthusiasm is great, but needs to be tempered with a little practicality or you may find your first efforts end in disaster, all for want of just a little planning. Let’s take vegetables as an example. Almost any suburban yard can turn up a little plot for carrots, peas, maybe a few potatoes and a tomato plant or two. But do you have the right soil for all those things? If you’re unsure, check with a local garden center about soil testing. It may be that your soil is too hard packed and needs loosening up by digging in a little peat moss, vermiculite or other materials. And of course, fertilizer is always important. If you have a compost project that’s great! But if not, this is the perfect time to start one. Household and yard waste can be deposited in a container or open bed, turned regularly to provide the essential nutrients for the year’s crop. There are even containers that will fit on the patios of apartments and contain any odors so your neighbors won’t be turning up their noses at your nasturtiums. And compost is free! But if you don’t have any, you can get a jumpstart on a project with manure from a friendly farmer, or by investing in commercially sanitized manure or chemical fertilizers appropriate to what you are growing.

Make sure you place your garden where it will get the sun required by what you are growing. This applies equally to flowers and vegetables. Some won’t take full summer sun, while others will be stunted without it. Adequate watering is also important, keeping in mind that the squash may require more than your potatoes.

Pesticides! Yes, you may very well need them. If you are environmentally conscious, there are many organic gardening books where you can find recipes for natural pesticides, or techniques for getting rid of bugs attacking your produce. Potato bugs can be picked off by hand and tossed into an empty milk carton half-filled with water and dish detergent. Plastic cones in the shape of a toilet paper roll can be shoved into the dirt at the base of plants like broccoli to keep them from being cut off below the surface by grubs. Make sure the cone is stapled closed for the whole length, and is buried four inches down and sticks up just above the surface.

Everything that you need to do for vegetable growing applies to flowers as well. That includes the placement of beds according to what kind of sun they get, appropriate watering, possibly adjusting soil pH, fertilization and choosing appropriate companion plants, i.e. those that will not choke out or overshadow their neighbors.

If you own your own home and have the land to "play" with, there are some wonderful and exotic things you can have a go at, including bamboo, for that exotic air, citrus trees for fresh fruit, or even a night blooming garden, an incredibly beautiful sight, especially in the moonlight.

But if you’re an apartment dweller, you can still give that green thumb free rein to work its magic. Orchids are a magical and magnificent plant that take as much tender care and work as any outdoor garden. Vegetables can be grown in pots and small beds on apartment patios, as well as in ground plots. You can also have the fun of starting and growing a windowsill herb garden, miniature roses and potted plants that come indoors when the weather turns cool.

Don’t forget the kids, either! Even young children are thrilled to find that a seed they have placed in the earth is now pushing its way to the sunlight. Giant pumpkins are a real favorite, as are the “fun” plant gardens that can be bought in kits and contain your growing medium, seeds, accessories and instructions. Choose a seed size and plant appropriate to the child’s age and ability to care for it and watch them become hooked on gardening, too.