There is something special about your first garden. Every day is a learning experience, beginning a lifelong education for most gardeners.
With the right preparation, your first garden might be as productive as that of Dick and Mary Davis of Sharpsville, Mercer County. Last spring was their first try together at gardening. With the help of Mary's aunt, Lucy Michael, and a good dose of mushroom manure, their first garden was a great success.
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| Dick and Mary Davis of Sharpsville, Mercer County, planted their first garden last summer. The bounty included a variety of peppers that they jarred and are still enjoying. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette) | |
As I sat at their kitchen table, they shared their story and a few of their peppers roasted in olive oil. Their experience is a great example for people who want to try their hand -- or their green thumb -- at vegetable gardening.
The first step is to decide where to put a garden. The ideal location would get sun starting in the early morning until about 3 p.m. For the most part though, anyplace that gets at least six hours of sunlight will do. Take your time: Careful site selection will reward you later. Will the garden be shaded when the trees leaf out? Does the area have standing water after a hard rain? Will the plants get destroyed by rebounding rug rats near the basketball hoop?
The Davises chose a 450-square-foot, level spot along a fence in their back yard. The fall before they were to begin planting, they tilled in a few loads of mushroom manure. Then they planted a cover crop of winter wheat that was turned in during the early spring.
Once the site is chosen, it's time to go to work. It's very important not to dig too early in the spring. To find out if the soil is ready, start digging. If the soil sticks to the shovel, it's too wet. Squeeze some of the dirt and drop it on the ground. If it falls apart, it's ready to dig. Like comedy, timing is everything. When a week of dry spring weather arrives and the soil is ready to work, don't delay. The window for digging can be short in April; today it might be 70 but tomorrow it could be 40.
The one thing that can give any gardener a green thumb is good soil. Unfortunately, most people inherit a combination of rocks and clay that is nearly invulnerable to shovels, picks and hoes. It's a good reason to start small, because improving the soil is the toughest part of gardening. Mushroom manure, leaf mold (composted leaves), compost or peat moss can be added to the garden to help loosen and improve the soil. Before planting, rake a balanced granular fertilizer in at the recommended rate.
The Davises tilled in compost in fall on the advice of Mary's aunt.
"She has the best garden in Sharpsville," says her doting niece.
Mary's family had always gardened.
"I always remember my grandmother working in the garden. She sold her vegetables, made macaroni, homemade wine. She died in the garden trying to pull up a tree stump."
Dick, on the other hand, never dreamed he would be a gardener. He just wasn't interested, but he agreed to give it a try.
He and Mary planted 40 tomato plants and 50 peppers, not realizing what monsters tomato plants can become. As soon as those tomatoes found all that mushroom manure, they went crazy.
"Too many plants," lamented Mary, who had to tear out several to make room for others. It was survival of the fittest, as faster-growing plants crowded out less vigorous ones.
"Once I got in the garden, I had to crawl through it to get to everything," she said.
She would call the neighborhood kids over to get the bounty, passing baskets back and forth over the fence. It is very easy to go overboard. Keep your plans simple and work on small areas at a time.
Tomatoes and peppers are among the few vegetables that aren't direct-seeded in the garden. They should be started indoors in April, then planted in the garden with the seeds of beans and zucchini in mid-May. Since peas, lettuce, spinach and radishes like cool temperatures, they can be started now.
When to plant? Pick a day that's overcast. If you have to plant on a sunny day, wait until the sun is low. It makes the transition from pot to the ground much easier for the plant.
Dig a hole twice the size of the pot and loosen the soil as deep as your trowel will go. Turn the pot upside down and tap out the plant. Place the plant in the hole and give it a good soaking. Carry the watering can with you when you plant and give each plant a drink as it's planted. Don't plant the whole bed and then come back to water it later.
Seeds need a finely raked bed. Be sure to just barely cover them, and keep them moist until they germinate. I love to do my planting in a light rain; the plants love it, although the neighbors think I'm crazy.
Keep the new plants watered well the first couple of weeks, then water as needed. The garden needs 1 inch of water a week either from your garden hose or from Mother Nature.
When Mary went on a trip, it was Dick's job to water the garden. The plants started to take off in the early summer heat. When she returned, Dick swore that the plants were knocking on the windows for water. But his efforts paid off. Upon viewing the garden, his friends accused him of putting Viagra on the plants.
Once everything's growing, weeding is the main task left. The best tip I ever read about weeding was to use just mulch over the weeds throughout the season. Eventually, you will smother even the most persistent invasive weeds.
Despite Dick's gardening reluctance, he enjoyed the fruits of their labor at the dinner table. Mary would pick zucchini, onions, garlic and eggplant and saute them, adding tomatoes last.
"God, we miss that," Dick said.
As we headed outside and looked over the winter onions and garlic that had sprouted this year, the couple talked about their plans for this season. As Dick explained where each crop would go, Mary smiled and said, "He's hooked now."
Here's hoping you will be, too.
