From the Windows Magazine
Starting a Garden?
Try These Tips from Ventana’s Gardener
There’s something incredibly satisfying about growing food for yourself. Not only are you taking part in a time-honored tradition, you’re also giving yourself control over things like pesticide usage, genetic modifications, and other concerns we have with today’s ingredients.
If you’ve never tried gardening before, there’s no time like the present—and it’s probably easier than you think. Here are a few tips from one of our resident Ventana gardners to help you get started.
- Go organic. It’s easy for the home gardener to go organic—you just need to not use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. That doesn’t mean you can’t use fertilizers or pesticides at all, of course; just find ones that are derived from natural sources such as plants, animals, and minerals.
- Check your soil. An ideal garden has well-draining soil, with half composed of pore space and the other half solid particles. That means it crumbles easily, so water, air, and roots can all penetrate. Don’t worry if the soil in your yard isn’t quite there—you can work compost into it to reach the right ratio. (It’s also a good idea to have your soil tested for pH and nutrient levels.)
- Choose the right plants. How do you know what to grow? This USDA map is a good place to start—it shows the “hardiness zones” across the country. Once you know your zone, you can easily research which plants will grow best in it.
- Watch when—and where—you water. It’s better to water your garden in the morning, when cooler air means it won’t evaporate as quickly. Watering in the evening can leave water on plants overnight, which can actually lead to disease. And be sure to try to hit the soil/roots, not the leafy parts!
When you do it right, you’ll find gardening to be fun and rewarding—much more so than wandering the produce aisle at the supermarket. Good luck!
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