Month: March 2020

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Gardening in the age of coronavirus

There are so many things to talk about but I haven’t been able to slow down. Today, I am sick, in bed. It really sucks. While I’m down for the count and trying not to be scared and just slow down.

I want to post a how to get started guide, since I’m seeing a lot of activity online from people who want to get garden started.

  1. find the space you want to use. Meaning, where is the area that you envision your garden. You can grow something whether you’re on a balcony or you have a lot of space.
  2. how much sun do you get during the day? The reason why I ask you to pay attention to this is because you need to find a natural system that works. You don’t want lettuce getting blasted by 12+ hours of sun a day.
  3. A water source is important, you want accessibility for either a drip system or a close enough water source if you plan on handwatering.
  4. What zone are you in? Determine your zone so you know when your frost dates hit, what you can grow in your area, and so on. You will learn more and more through experience but this is a good space to start.
  5. Find a reputable nursery in your area, one where you can ask questions. Find a seed company while you’re at it. I like rareseeds.com and seedsavers.org.
  6. Find a support group, some friends who you can bounce ideas with and learn and share.
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Kitchen garden in late winter

I really like to work on kitchen gardens, and that seems like an understatement. I love to work on kitchen gardens, and I really enjoy setting up the soil and rolling the sandy soil between my fingers. Rolling the sand, I get to see what the grains look like and see what I can do with the soil to get it to a level where you can grow some edible plants. I love seeing my clients light up when they realize they have grown their own lettuce from seed, and they can just pick a beautiful french radish from the soil and snack away in the late morning. It’s so great to anticipate and plan for weather changes and transition a garden from one season to the next.

lettuce abundance at Laura’s garden

Check out Laura’s kitchen garden. Laura is an amazing client and friend to have, not only because she’s incredibly smart, incredibly tuned into her garden but also because she can be a challenge in the best of ways. She’s a scientist and my explanations with her are always initially concise but she wants to learn more and know more about how plants grow, why they do the things they do and she really keeps me on my toes. I like just winging it, and feeling the changes but she is great at working with me on reasons why things work the way they do.

French Radishes

let’s just say, I never have to explain transpiration to her. Anyway, check out the yield she’s been getting. This is all hand watering and an abundant supply of compost, grown on site from her hearty compost bin with worms.