Even if it's just a tiny amount. Really! The toughest thing about gardening is remembering to water regularly (which also means not too often in fact the key is to water a lot infrequently). Maybe the next hardest thing is actually taking the plunge. Putting those seeds or plants in dirt. It’s risky. They might not come up, they might die. You might forget to water them. You know what? Just do it and see what happens.
Buy organic seeds/starter plants and organic compost (*not* soil starter, not miracle anything!). Organic compost is the soil and it’s all you need for soil. Really! If you don’t have some already it can be purchased in bags at your nursery or for larger quantities - delivered to your house by the yard (a cubic measurement) from nursery/landscape material providers. (Check under Landscape Materials in the yellow pages).
Seeds are a lot of cheaper to plant but organic starts will get you up and running faster. If you can’t find a nursery locally which carries organic plants try your local Natural Foods Store – in Northern California Whole Foods offer a limited selection of organically grown vegetable starts and also usually sell organic seeds. The starts are usually from Sweetwater Organics and the seeds from Renee’s Garden (not organic – but some heirlooms) and Seeds of Change. Or choose to help save heirloom varieties from extinction by buying heirloom seeds and planting them!
1. Because Organic seeds had organically farmed parents the seeds should result in happier, healthier and stronger plants which are more naturally disease resistant.
2. Non-organic seed can also be coated with chemicals or pesticides.
3. Non-organic seed likely comes from parents who lived a pesticide and chemical lifestyle – I would think some of that is going to get into the DNA eventually.
4. By buying organic seeds you are supporting organic farming.
I’ve found every gardener finds their strengths and weaknesses. Some types of plants work better for some than others. Try tomatoes (water initially deeply every second or third day – not every day…you want the roots to go deep), peas, strawberries and squash.
We have two pages on our site, Fork & Bottle, which might help you: Organic Gardening Basics and Organic & Heirloom seed sources.
Container Gardening:
Don’t have much space? Build a bed or raised bed using cedar or redwood that’s at least 12” high and 1” thick. We’re not sure about the rest of the US, but here in wine country you can buy wine barrel halves for (roughly) $14 each.
They have more than enough depth to make for an excellent little porch garden – just remember to drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Strawberries can go in a windowbox – as well as most herbs. A medium pot will grown tomatoes, or peppers, miniature carrots, peas, potatoes. You’d be amazed what you can grown in a pot. - Jack & Joanne
Jack & Joanne live in Sonoma County – not just wine country, but food country! They create/write the website Fork & Bottle which focuses on artisan food, wine and cheese but also offers information on gardening, what to feed kids, gourmet food reviews, local foods, etc., etc.
