You Don't Need a Green Thumb to Garden

I grew up in a house that had a yard with lots of flower gardens and a big vegetable garden. I can remember learning to pull weeds in the garden beside my mom. It took me a while to learn which were weeds and which weren’t. She never seemed to get upset when I pulled out a plant by mistake.

You can learn to garden just like you’d learn any other skill.

I now live in a house that has lots of flower gardens and a big vegetable garden. My children are beside me in the garden helping me weed. My hands and feet are dirty and so are theirs. They’re also learning a couple things about gardening along the way.
Here is what you need to know to start gardening:

Learn As Much as you Can

• Do you know someone who likes gardening? If so, ask them questions. Spend time in the garden with them. Gardeners love to talk about their gardens.
• Read a book or blog
• Listen to a podcast
• Sign up for classes at your local nursery

Choose your Garden

• Is there a spot in your yard already with a garden that could use some TLC?
• Do you need to create a spot outside? If so, mark out your garden and turn over the grass and soil

• No ground to plant a garden? That’s okay. Decide where you’ll put your planters
• Not outside space? Find an area in your house that gets sunlight and put your planters there

What to Plant

• Decide if you want to grow flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs or a bit of everything
• See how much sunlight your garden spot gets
• Buy or acquire some plants and seeds that like the amount of sunlight your garden gets

Practice

• Put some plants/seeds in the ground!
• The instructions on the package will outline:
  • how deep to plant the plant/seeds
  • how far apart to put each plant/seed
  • how much sunlight the each plant/seed will need
• Water regularly
• Weed around your plants
• Make mistakes
• Try again

When you try something new, you might not get it right the first time. That’s okay. You can read about my gardening fail here.

It takes practice and time to learn to garden. Ask lots of questions. Read lots of information. Learn from your mistakes.
Most of all, enjoy the beautiful plants and tasty food you grow! Nothing beats food grown in your garden that you get to eat.

Follow me here to see what I'm growing in my garden.