Just follow these few easy steps. 1) Plant a seed in some soil. (I should add a caveat here: this step can be more difficult than it sounds. If you'll remember, we had to rent a big piece of machinery from our favorite DIY home store to tear up our grass and sow the soil. But once you get that done (easy, right?! I find that a big strong man helps), just plant your seeds). 2) Add some fertilizer. (Preferably organic fertilizer...you are going to eat what you are growing.) 3) Water on a somewhat regular basis. (Rain counts and is extremely helpful for those of us who forget to water manually; however, convincing Mother Nature to turn the sprinklers on can be a bit challenging - may I suggest a Rain Dance?!). 4) Get sunlight. (You should factor this step in when you are planning whereabouts to plant your garden...but if you figure out how to move the sun to meet your needs, by all means, and let me know the secret). 5) Give your seeds lots of love and hope for the best. And voila, you have veggies!!!
The proof is in the pictures - taken from La Garden des Swans.
Some additional tidbits I've learned from my first season as a "gardener":
A - You should weed your garden. It's a pain in the behind, BUT, very well worth it. Think about it - the little seeds you planted need to grow roots and get big. In order to do this, they need water (remember step 3 above!). If you have weeds, your little plants have to fight with the weeds for that water; but if you eliminate the weeds, your plants can soak up all the water you (and nature) give them.
B - Squirrels are evil. They are eating my tomatoes. We're going to try to fix this problem this weekend - we're still deciding between a fence around the garden or a scarecrow. Thoughts? Not sure yet which works better. Maybe we'll attack the squirrels with a double whammy - fence AND scarecrow! (Sidenote, I'm thinking we'll definitely put up a scarecrow...it's a fantastic way to rid Mr. Cob of some of the not-so-stylish clothes that occasionally pop up in his wardrobe. But shh, don't tell him my ulterior motives!)
C - When a package of seeds tell you they are best grown in the fall/winter, you should heed this warning/advice. Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts really don't like hot weather. Or maybe we just killed them. Actually, I'm going to blame the squirrels. Yea, the little critters are responsible for those too.
Mrs. Swan & Mrs. Cobb,
ReplyDeleteYour narrative of gardening was quite entertaining. Mr. Cob's father's green beans fell into dire straights. Yep the rabbits had a wonderful buffet. We had a rabbit scarecrow and that worked until the beans got big and the rabbits stomachs got even bigger. Mr. Cob's father put up a fence just around the bean row to salvage two plants. The rabbits did not attach any other veggies. Lucky. Let us know about the fence, etc.