Hey y’all!
As I’ve been in the beginning stages of getting my first real garden off the ground, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and a lot of YouTube watching which has all equaled a lot of planning. I want to talk to you today about the importance of planning.
When I first decided to start my garden this year, which was about 3 weeks ago, I went online and started adding all the things to my cart. Without really considering what I was doing, I almost checked out with it all. Thankfully, something in my gut told me to hold off a couple of days incase “I needed to add anything else”. Little did I know, I would actually be deleting about half of that list in a couple of days.
Before you go buying all the things, please, plan out a few things first.
- What do you want to grow?
- What type of soil, compost, combination is best?
- Are you going to start from seed or seedling or buy plants that already have some growth?
- If you decide to start from seed, like I am, where are you going to plant the seed?
- When it’s ready to move outside, where are you going to move it to?
Finding a local community of gardeners who can help you answer many of these questions is a great idea.
Get Involved In Your Local Gardening Community
The knowledge and experience of those who came before you can be invaluable when beginning a new lifestyle, and if you’re anything like me, that’s the direction you’re looking to go in. A more sustainable and independent way of living. A journey towards becoming more connected to the earth and less connected the outside world around us.
There are many different ways that you can reach out to those who share a passion for growing food,
- Your local library – Ask your library if they hold any classes or know of any local gardeners who would be willing to take you under their wing.
- Garden Centers – A great way to gain knowledge from those more experienced
- Church/Church groups – Join a church gardening group, or start one yourself!
- Social Media – Look up your area and see who is close, reach out to them! YouTube is a great resource to find those who are willing to openly share their experiences in hopes of helping others learn from their mistakes and/or downfalls!
It is important to first see what growing zone you live in.
This is something I had not done before I started adding all the things to my Amazon cart. Come to find out, I had several seed packets in my cart that just wouldn’t have grown well in my zone. Which meant that I was unintentionally setting myself up for disappointment because I just didn’t know, I wasn’t aware. You see, I grew up in America, South Carolina which is zone 7b to be exact. However, here in our area of the UK, we’re right in zone 9a. While many of the same things may grow here, many won’t do as well or last as long since our growing season isn’t exactly the same as it is in southern USA. Through reading and researching and watching/listening to a lot of YouTube videos and Podcasts, like Jess at Roots & Refuge Farm, and Jill at Whispering Willow Farms, I have learned quite a bit over the past month or so and I ended up changing or even deleting some of the things that were in my cart. Including some supplies that I just don’t need, at least not yet.
When you’re just getting started, it can be easy to get excited and just have the urge to get whatever you possibly can into to dirt. But, I caution you, take it easy. Expect to have some thing fail, expect to have some things succeed.
There is definitely a learning curve, but the reality is, you will learn.
I will learn.
I’m just getting started and I’m excited for the journey.
Won’t you join me?
As always, thank you for being here!
~Tori
Leave a Reply