Why I love gardening+some tips

Good Morning Sagely readers!
I have some pretty exciting news for you all today! My first strawberry is almost ripe and ready to eat.

I should probably back up and explain one of my favorite hobbies. I'm the type of person that has a ton of hobbies, I just like to learn how to do things! I knit, crochet (kinda) I make friendship bracelets, bake, I do yoga and origami. Okay so I don't really do any of these things well, but I think you get the picture.

In January Dylan (my husband) and I moved to this really awesome apartment. When we moved everything was covered in snow. But when the snow melted I realized that I had a dirt patch! Yes finally! My own dirt patch! I could have my own garden!!!!

I had wanted my own garden for a really long time. When I was in middle school my parents ordered a ton of seeds and plant starts from a catalogue and I helped them plant the seeds. Well we didn't find out for a few months but one of the "flowers" ended up being a tomato plant. Well actually there ended up being 4 tomato plants! My parents were really mad, but they told me I could take care of it! So the sprinklers watered it, and the plants got put in a really teeny bed in the front yard so they took over the whole thing and almost got as big as our crabapple tree! So I didn't really have to weed anything! and we had tomatoes for ....days. So many tomatoes. I would harvest probably 10 tomatoes a day. Some were cherry tomatoes, some were regular tomatoes... in summary there were just a TON of tomatoes.

Eventually the plants got wayyy too big for the flower bed and started getting on the lawn. My dad loves to mow the lawn (we did live in suburbia... there isn't too much else to do than mow your lawn.*) Well the tomatoes were really cramping up his style, they were messing with our "curb appeal" or something. (urban gardening wasn't as "in" 10 years ago.) Oh gosh, as I write this... some of my teenage angst is coming back. My dad. Took his weedwhacker. And cut. My tomatoes. To the ground.

Yes, I was really mad (I may or may not have cried...okay I cried) and yes I did yell at my dad and said "But daddy I love them!" We had a long road before I got out of my teenage years. My dad is a really cool person, normally he totally respects my weird need to protect growing things. Like one time we were digging daffodil bulbs out of the garden (that curb appeal...) and he let me save one of the bulbs in a mason jar to see if it would bloom next year. It didn't. But that was still really cool of him. Anyway, that fateful day I hoped to have my own dirt patch so that I could have a garden of my own. That day is finally here.

In my garden I have 4 tomatoes, two zucchinis, one pepper, 3 strawberries, one cucumber, 4 garlics, oregano, mint, chives, and basil.

And today I found that one of my strawberry plants is almost ready to be picked!!



I have a few tips for future gardeners

1. Do research (I used pinterest)
2. Know your soil and climate
...like I wanted to plant a lemon tree but Moscow, Idaho is just not conducive for the type of plant
3. Starting from seeds is cheaper but starting from plant starts is easier
4.  Water every day, usually in the morning before the sun hits the leaves
(the water magnifies the sun and could burn the leaves.... I learned this the hard way)
and number 1 is sooo important!

Plan out your garden based on what needs shade and what needs sun, and what needs part shade and all that. I made a "garden plan" type thing. Because I love drafting.

*excuse my architecture rant, I just get so passionate sometimes.