MEMORIES: ANGIE’S GARDENING 101 – PART 2 -” THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT GARDENING “S”: SIZE, SOIL and SUN.

You can garden anywhere in the USA as long as you do it during the growing season. The growing season is usually defined as after the last frost and before the first frost. That depends on where you live. The States are divided by zones. My recommendation is to Google your gardening zone to know when is safe to start gardening in your area. Once you gather that information, pay close attention to what you need to succeed in gardening. These are my three most important elements to ensure a good harvest; size, soil and sun.
 
SIZE: We can choose to do a small garden or a large garden depending on how much space you have in your property suitable for gardening. A large space will give you the advantage to select a larger number of plants for an even larger harvest. For instance, you can plant more than one tomato, pepper and eggplant plants or the veggies of your choice. This will give you an abundance of home grown produce that taste 100 times better than the ones you purchase at the grocery store.  

​However, if you live in a condo, townhouse, or do not have a large property, then container     gardening is for you. You can even plant tomatoes, peppers, herbs and other produce in flower pots and keep them in your balcony or a sunny window.
 
SOIL: This is the key component to feed your plants and get them to grow successfully. A lot of people make the mistake of planting their veggies in last year’s soil. What we need to understand is that plants pull’s most of the nutrients of the soil per season. Therefore, if you plant this year’s new seedlings in that old soil, chances are that you will harvest poorly grown veggies and herbs. Trust me, I learned my lesson, smile. My recommendation, spend some extra dollars and purchase the best soil you can get, better yet, buy it organic. 

SUN: Finally, perhaps the most critical component of gardening. Without sun there are just few plants that will thrive without it.  However, the options available to us, if our homes have suitable sunny locations for planting are fantastic. You just need to do a nice walk through your property during the day, select a spot (or two) and record how much sun that space gets in the morning, noon and afternoon.  If you get at least 6 hours of sun during the day you are good to go. To be continued next week…..