Gardening for Beginners
I have been away from the computer quite a bit these last few weeks as spring has finally sprung here in Edmonton and I’ve been able to get outside and spend some quality time in my garden. I consider myself very much a beginner gardener, as I only started attempting to do serious gardening a year ago. My daughter was finally old enough to “help”, and I didn’t have to chase her all over the yard to keep her from hurting herself. This spring is a series of firsts for me: first time I started seeds indoors, first time I am making use of the entire raised bed I put in last year, and first time I am planting seeds outdoors (I was too scared to last year, and just got plants).
So! When you’re a beginner gardener, where do you start? There is so much information out there and so many possibilities for what you can plant! I still have a problem with getting too excited at greenhouses and garden centres, and just putting plants in my cart without really thinking about whether I can sustain them. I thought I would compile some of the posts out there that I have found most useful as a beginner gardener in Edmonton (because of course our growing season is much shorter up North in Zone 3A!). Here are some of my favourite resources on gardening for beginners:
Vegetable Gardening: Great starter guide with links for each vegetable to get a good description on how to grow them.
How To Grow Organic Strawberries: Very thorough article on all of the ins and outs of planting strawberries. I have been adding more and more strawberries to our garden because my daughter LOVES them, and they taste amazing straight from the garden!
Follow This One Tip In Your Garden & Get A Ton Of Organic Strawberries!: Last year I did not know that the term “runner” meant. Now I do!
Ten Mistakes New Herb Gardeners Make (and How to Avoid Them!): Great little tutorial for beginners planting herbs!
Pruning tomato plants: how and when to do it: Great tips for caring for tomato plants – which are pretty easy to grow in my opinion!
How to Plant Garlic: It may not be the right time to plant garlic – but I’m really excited because I followed the instructions in this post last fall and have very healthy garlic plants that sprouted without me doing anything else! So pin this one for the fall! Note: I used some organic garlic cloves from my Organic Box – I’ve heard other people say to ensure that you use organic garlic when you do this, not cheaper garlic, otherwise you may not get good results.
DIY Raised Garden Bed: Easy to follow instructions – I did something very similar to this last year!
12 Spring Gardening Maintenance Tips You Must Do Now: I follow Anna Hackman’s GreenTalk blog and really love it. She gives very sage advice for us beginner gardeners!
Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?: If you have a coffee drinker in the house – this one is a great read for how to use coffee grounds in the garden! I put a ton of them on my hydrangeas last year and got beautiful luscious blooms! Here’s another resource for ways to use coffee grounds in your garden.
16 Foods That’ll Re-Grow from Kitchen Scraps:I tried the celery last year and indeed got a little celery plant out of it! I did it late in the season so this year I’m going to try it ASAP. Fun to do with the kids!
Thanks so much for posting my articles. I am so glad you follow Green Talk. I make a lot of gardening mistakes so hopefully, you can learn from mine!
I have learned a lot from you already, Anna! Mistakes are the spice of life! 🙂
You mentioned doing the toilet paper rolls and getting mold…I’m having that problem too 🙁 Any idea why and can I still plant them?
I think that it’s likely due to overwatering? I believe that using a misting spray instead of actually pouring water on them is the better way to go. I salvaged some of mine and took them out of the paper towel rolls and tried moving them into something else (I ended up cutting some juice cartons, poking holes in the bottom, and putting several sprouts in each). Some of them did survive and I transplanted them successfully. So I don’t think the mold necessarily affects the plant, it’s more the moisture building up on the paper towel rolls. And the mold can definitely be bothersome to you if you have allergies (I do, and my respiratory system was not happy!). Does that help?