Gardening for Beginners
When I first started trying to grow vegetables in my own garden, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. I still say “I just throw seeds in the dirt and see what happens” on a regular basis when people ask me for gardening tips.
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.
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! My favourite is dill, and I love to freeze it to use the rest of the year! You can also easily dry herbs as well.
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: 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 organic garlic cloves that I purchased from a local grower - 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 in my yard.
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! Apparently they can make the soil more acidic for things like changing pink hydrangeas to blue (this is only for certain species) and for blueberry shrubs that need more acidic soil. 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!