Gardening: Plant and Garden
Gardening
One of my earliest fascinations in life was watching things grow; Observing tiny seemingly lifeless seeds turn into overgrown fruit-bearing vegetation was to me simply remarkable. My mom had a garden in the back yard and I would always help her tend to it. I used to pretend I was a farmer working on my land. Every morning I would be so filled with excitement as I went out back to check on my crops. As I grew older and made some friends I gradually lost my enthusiasm for growing veggies. However, this past spring I did not attend school and had some time on my hands, so I decided to try and revive an old flame of mine. Gardening. The following is a guide on how to start and manage a garden devised from my own experience on “the farm”.
First let me make clear that in order to have an aesthetically pleasing and bountiful garden it takes a lot of work. There is constant maintenance that is required. You have to want to take care of it. If a garden is not properly tended to your plants will die and be overrun by unwanted weeds/pests. To begin your first task should be to select an appropriate spot for your garden. When selecting the perimeters of your garden keep in mind that you want a relatively sunny spot year round. For instance if you choose a spot in March when the trees are bare it might be sunny but, in June when the surrounding trees are covered in leaves they may overshadow your garden. Some shade is okay but, to get the best results from your garden pick a spot that your fairly certain is sunny or will be sunny most of the time. Make sure your spot has good drainage; if the area where you’re considering putting your garden regularly floods it is not the best place for a garden. Another decision you need to make is whether to use raised beds or not. A raised bed is basically an open box filled with soil usually about 6 inches tall. This year I tried a raised bed garden and found that it has some advantages: It basically eliminated regular
One of my earliest fascinations in life was watching things grow; Observing tiny seemingly lifeless seeds turn into overgrown fruit-bearing vegetation was to me simply remarkable. My mom had a garden in the back yard and I would always help her tend to it. I used to pretend I was a farmer working on my land. Every morning I would be so filled with excitement as I went out back to check on my crops. As I grew older and made some friends I gradually lost my enthusiasm for growing veggies. However, this past spring I did not attend school and had some time on my hands, so I decided to try and revive an old flame of mine. Gardening. The following is a guide on how to start and manage a garden devised from my own experience on “the farm”.
First let me make clear that in order to have an aesthetically pleasing and bountiful garden it takes a lot of work. There is constant maintenance that is required. You have to want to take care of it. If a garden is not properly tended to your plants will die and be overrun by unwanted weeds/pests. To begin your first task should be to select an appropriate spot for your garden. When selecting the perimeters of your garden keep in mind that you want a relatively sunny spot year round. For instance if you choose a spot in March when the trees are bare it might be sunny but, in June when the surrounding trees are covered in leaves they may overshadow your garden. Some shade is okay but, to get the best results from your garden pick a spot that your fairly certain is sunny or will be sunny most of the time. Make sure your spot has good drainage; if the area where you’re considering putting your garden regularly floods it is not the best place for a garden. Another decision you need to make is whether to use raised beds or not. A raised bed is basically an open box filled with soil usually about 6 inches tall. This year I tried a raised bed garden and found that it has some advantages: It basically eliminated regular