How Do I Start Gardening?
Everyone, whether you know it or not, has a connection to nature. From an early age we realize that being outside is a great place to be! Gardening is a good way to foster and develop this relationship to nature and before you even know it, a relationship with yourself.
There are many reasons why you could want to start a garden:
Locally grown produce is significantly healthier than food shipped out from around the world and therefore supports environmental conservation- the closer we are to the food, the less it has to travel.
Growing your own food connects you to plants and nature, something so primitive that we have moved so far away from, helping you take a step back find connection, be more mindful, live more intentionally, and be more sustainable.
Our health is the biggest benefactor from home grown produce and herbs. Many of the foods we consume are nutrient deficient from constant applications of excess chemicals like pesticides and herbicides.
Since the food is lacking nutrients, the people eating them are lacking in nutrients. Mix the poor food quality with poor dietary habits and education, you get an unhealthy population, desperately looking for ways to be fulfilled.
So you’ve embraced all of that, you want to live more sustainably, you want to grow food, but how??
The best way to get started is understanding the fundamentals! There are certain gardening and nature fundamentals that will make your life and gardening journey 1000% easier and more successful.
Which leads us to step one-
1) Learn and be open to learning:
If you're reading this blog post right now, you're off to a solid start!
There are plenty of books, podcasts, and videos on the internet to get you going. Here are a few key terms you’ll want to prioritize:
Healthy soil- There are many reasons why you could want to start a garden. Locally grown produce is significantly healthier than food shipped out from around the world and therefore supports environmental conservation- the closer we are to the food, the less it has to travel. Growing your own food connects you to plants and nature, something so primitive that we have moved so far away from, helping you take a step back find connection.
Biodiversity- Diversity is the key to life, especially when it comes to building healthy ecosystems to grow an abundance of food. Traditional agriculture and landscaping practices have been eradicating biodiversity for decades. To successfully grow an abundance of food, you have to successfully build an abundance of diversity
Gardening Fundamentals- There are 5 fundamentals that I preach to new gardeners, they are: responsible watering practices, working with the sun path for light, integrating natural management of pests, building layers to suppress weeds.
I cover these fundamentals in much, much more detail in various different posts all under the “Fundamentals” category, you can click here and read those!
The next is something we do everyday, but also don’t do at all-
2) Observe.
The best way to see what fits into your landscape and your life is by paying attention.
So many times, we are looking into our landscapes (and even our lives if you want to get deep) but never seeing what’s going on. One of my favorite quotes comes from Tristan Gooley’s How to Read Nature, “Nature will never look the same twice”.
Even in split seconds, nature is always changing-
Being observant, taking notes, really connecting with your landscape will help you create a perfect design that works with nature and strengthens the ecosystem rather than trying to control nature and depleting resources.
Here are a few examples:
Find out how the sun moves around your landscape to see where the sunny/shady and hot/cold spots are around your space.
When it rains where does it falls the heaviest? And more importantly, where does it drains to? Does it even drain or does it pool up? By simply being in a position where you can observe and note different things going on you'll be able to make connections, see patterns, and truly understand your space.
The third step is a deep dive that’s gonna require a little introspective work, ask yourself a super important question-
3) What do you like to eat?
Express your creativity and see what your style is. Personalize your garden to fit your unique lifestyle and landscape’s microclimate.
Do you love having fresh blueberries for your smoothie? Or maybe you love figs like I do (who doesn't love figs)? Adding your favorite foods (when in season) to your garden and mixing them with native plants, mature trees, and lots of flowers will take your garden and really personalize it.
The 4th step is really a friendly reminder,
4) You DON’T have to know everything to start gardening-
As a matter of fact you will never know everything.
The people who claim to know everything are either too confident or they have been trying things for so long that they have figured out what works for them. You are no different. Try and learn, the next time you try you will "know" just a little more.
One more introspective step for you,
5) Eliminate the limiting beliefs:
A common misconception is that you need to have a huge, healthy space to grow plants, but obviously I am going to tell you that's not true. Check this out, this is what my first garden looked like:
Pots! Sunflowers, peppers, cranberry hibiscus, mint- all things that I like and wanted to grow. I was renting, just starting out, looking for a way to get some fresh herbs and produce. Eventually, after years of gardening, practicing, and immerssing into the lifestyle, my current garden looks like this:
Staying true to the fundamentals will help you push past any frustrating times in your gardening journey and will always give you something to fall back on.
Get started, fear is a part of life- once you begin your journey you will look back and wonder why you were so hesitant to start in the first place.
Good luck & Have fun! It's all about enjoying the process.
Best wishes,
TQ
