4 Hints for Getting Started in the Garden

Guest blog: Christopher Waddell (Hanson, MA). Chris has been growing his own fruits and vegetables organically for more than two decades.

Chris Waddell in his garden

Chris Waddell in his garden


His suggestions for your success follow. He begins…

The best way to learn how to garden is to read all you can and then go out and kill every plant at least once.  Try any/everything and learn from mistakes.  Any hints I share were earned that way.  Here are some for early in the season…

  1. Not yet!!!

    Seeds started now languish from low sun on windowsills and in the sky.  If they do take, they’ll grow long, skinny and weak way too soon to be put out. 
    Exception:  geranium seeds.  They’re slow. You’ll interplant them with veggies to ward off and kill beetles.

  2. Read catalogs

    They glow and motivate and work to get you daydreaming and planting.  Paper catalogs are more chock-full of info, like planting zones, pollination, ad infinitum, than the online ones.  Go online to order a copy. There are many; some with too much hype, others limited in scope or just middle retailers.

    Authentic seed growers include Park Seed Co. (my favorite), Burpee, Miller, Jung, R. H. ShumwayEnjoy; then believe about half the outlandish claims.  Read for what they fail to mention.

  3. Avoid heirloom varieties

    Those are types of yore with little resistance to plant diseases and pests that have evolved over the past few decades by destroying crops. To keep these plants healthy requires tons of spraying.

    Hybrids were developed to build in natural resistance to plant stressors like fungus, rust, aridity, insects.  Go a season or two with your hybrids. Then try some of the old varieties.

  4. Go outside

    Throw all the organic matter you can on your soil, like leaves, grass, seaweed, manure (any), kitchen waste.  Snow is an excellent slow-release fertilizer.  Then go in, get warm, browse the catalogs and dream of a sun higher in the sky.

Thanks, Chris! I mentioned gardeners’ traits in my Seeds are in post (imagination, faith, patience, diligence, hope…). Chris embodies all these and then some.

What makes your garden grow? Share some of your hints!

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