Starting a garden...
Apr. 24th, 2009 10:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Are there any amateur gardeners out there?
I've had this desire, on and off since I bought my house 4 years ago, to start a garden. A vegetable/fruit one, to be exact. But I don't know anything about gardening. :( I don't even know if having a vegetable/fruit one is possible in the soil I have, or whether they can be grown together, or other obvious things that an experienced gardener would know. I don't need anything fancy ... it would have to just be things that can grow in Seattle's climate.
I'd love to be able to make dinner by going out in the garden and plucking whatever's available. I'd love to have an excuse to be outside more, and to dig into the soil and work the land a bit. I think I would enjoy it. I'm not trying to be extremely ambitious and have a huge vegetable garden or anything. It'd have to be something I could manage spending maybe an hour a day, if that.
I have a huuuuge yard that I do nothing with. My house is about 1,500 sq ft while my lot size is 9,500 sq ft. So I have a lot of room for a garden. Right now all I do is pay someone to come mow it for $980/year (which I am thinking about stopping ... they come like once a month and it's an expense I feel is kind of wasteful). If I had a garden that would mean less grass to mow, too.
So ... anyone have any pointers for a beginner starting her first garden? I know if I want to start one I need to do it soon in order to get things planted by mid-May, I think. That's what I've been told, at least. Maybe it's already too late for this year?
I've had this desire, on and off since I bought my house 4 years ago, to start a garden. A vegetable/fruit one, to be exact. But I don't know anything about gardening. :( I don't even know if having a vegetable/fruit one is possible in the soil I have, or whether they can be grown together, or other obvious things that an experienced gardener would know. I don't need anything fancy ... it would have to just be things that can grow in Seattle's climate.
I'd love to be able to make dinner by going out in the garden and plucking whatever's available. I'd love to have an excuse to be outside more, and to dig into the soil and work the land a bit. I think I would enjoy it. I'm not trying to be extremely ambitious and have a huge vegetable garden or anything. It'd have to be something I could manage spending maybe an hour a day, if that.
I have a huuuuge yard that I do nothing with. My house is about 1,500 sq ft while my lot size is 9,500 sq ft. So I have a lot of room for a garden. Right now all I do is pay someone to come mow it for $980/year (which I am thinking about stopping ... they come like once a month and it's an expense I feel is kind of wasteful). If I had a garden that would mean less grass to mow, too.
So ... anyone have any pointers for a beginner starting her first garden? I know if I want to start one I need to do it soon in order to get things planted by mid-May, I think. That's what I've been told, at least. Maybe it's already too late for this year?
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 06:07 pm (UTC)What you can do now is start ripping up any sod where you're going to put the garden, because that can be ridiculously hard. (Re: my icon. I had to use the super-sharp archaeology trowel I got in my field school to cut through it, and even that was rough. So I took that picture for fun.)
You'll also pretty much have to start with the pre-grown seedlings from a garden store. Many seeds that you buy you're supposed to pre-grow them yourself inside in little cups, and you don't really have time for that anymore. (Unless you do, here....)
I've been thinking of growing some tomatoes or something just for fun, but I think my aunt's yard is to shady. Oh well.
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Date: 2009-04-24 06:31 pm (UTC)Pre-grown seedlings are a good tip. You're right that I probably wouldn't have the time to do it myself ... any shortcut for me would be good!
It does get pretty cold here at night, prob high 30s/low 40s right now, though obviously that will rise in the summer. I'm just going to stick with stuff that's known to grow OK in the pacific NW.