Beginner Gardening Tips Blog

Ever since I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver last year, I’ve been inspired to grow more than just a couple of tomato plants and the odd herb. It seems I’m not the only one… every newspaper and magazine has been extolling the virtues of urban vegetable gardening of late. And with the wealth of information out there, picking your dinner from your yard doesn’t seem so unattainable. I now have a new garden all laid out and I can’t wait to plant what I hope will be a bumper crop of veggies.

I’ve got the seedlings that made it through my fungus gnat infestation—hot peppers, fennel and cilantro—as well as some heirloom tomato plants currently growing in my sister’s apartment; a couple of promised plants grown from Gina’s tomato seeds–carefully saved each year by a friend’s mom (apparently they yield giant, juicy and delicious fruit!); and a few other plants to join my seeds—a zucchini, a green pepper, and a strawberry (though I may save this for a different spot). I’m also growing beets, beans and a few other treats from seed.

Still on my list are tomatillos, since they were so successful in my yard last year. Apparently my parents, who also grew them, have a bunch coming up in their garden already. I had read that they reseed themselves, but I haven’t seen any sign in my own garden so far. Either way, I want to be able to make my own salsa verde again.

There are definitely some lessons I’ve learned since last year’s growing season, the most important, I think, revolving around feeding my soil.

I’ve also consulted Canadian Vegetable Gardening written by Douglas Green. I love Douglas’ stress-free approach to gardening and how the book devotes a couple of pages to each vegetable, making it easy to consult and gather the necessary tips. I had a chance to chat with Douglas recently about gardening when I interviewed him for a Homemakers.com story on growing herbs and took away some helpful tips from that conversation, too.

Another resource I’ve been consulting is the notebook I took to Canada Blooms. I attended a seminar by Ken Brown who, like Douglas, has a very laid-back, resourceful approach to gardening, yet still reaps tremendous rewards all season long.

I noticed someone in our forums recently had posted her three favourite reference books for veggie gardening, so I added my two cents.

What  are your favourite veggie gardening resources?

Tags: canada blooms, canadian vegetable gardening, douglas green, herb gardening, ken brown, seedling, vegetable gardening