Spring: the season of birth and renewal, when the clouds of winter disappear and the sunsets happen later. A great way of taking advantage of the extra rays is planting a garden, volunteering at a community plot or at the LCC Learning Garden.
The first step to starting a garden is assessing the land and the soil where the garden will take root. Locate the garden in a place with plenty of sun and enough room for sufficient drainage. Improve soil quality by digging out any rocks and adding soil, clay, sand, compost or fertilizer.
To increase the amount of nutrients and minerals for the plant, add organic material such as manure, compost and yard clippings which increases the amount of nutrients and minerals the plants will soak up. Finding the right fertilizer to stimulate happy plant growth is simple: any gardening store or online resource will show the type of fertilizer needed for vegetables or flowers.
A soil test is sometimes needed when you are unsure of the acidity of the soil. For vegetables, an approximate pH level of 6.5 is ideal.
Tilling the soil with organic matter and compost is the next step. Work in the fresh layer of matter evenly. This needs to be done a few times during the year. Next create the plots, rows and beds in which you want to plant your vegetables.
For potatoes, corn, squash and melons, a single low row works best. For potatoes, dig a trench 5 or 6 inches deep and place a budding potato chunk in the furrow. Cover that spud up with soil and watch it grow.
For other veggies, you can make a rectangular plot as many feet across and wide as you like. This works well because it occupies less space and yields more crops in a single plot than a single row. This clumping helps keep out weeds and locks moisture in the soil. This is perfect for beans and peas. For planting beans and peas, leave about 2 inches of space between each seed, cover with 1 inch of soil and press it down a little.
Raised beds are another option for growing carrots, onions, turnips and beets; any plant with deep roots needs this extra layer of soil. Raised beds help trap heat, so they work better in cooler climates. For root crops, using fertilizer with high phosphorus content helps stimulate epic root growth.
Once you have planted the seeds, lay some fertilizer over the tops of the rows. The most important step after planting and fertilizing is watering your Garden of Eden. Keep the seeds moist until they begin to germinate. Then, hold back on the water and let them dry out a tad between hose downs. Success! Now just sit back and water, tend your crop, and enjoy the bounty of nature.
The hardest part of growing a successful garden is putting in the effort and time. But you can get past this. You’re better than this!
If you don’t have the room to grow your own crops, or you want to get some gardening know-how but don’t want to start your own just yet, LCC Learning Garden supervisor Jamina Shuback says she has all the tasks and tools to teach you whenever you want to volunteer.
(Photos by Turner Maxwell)
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