A First Time Gardener Blog
By Melissa ChristensenElizabeth Smith, certified herbalist from Johnston RI can regularly be found digging in the dirt near home. She is an avid researcher of the many benefits of herbs and quite frequently uses her family and friends to test her concoctions. Liz has voracious appetite for learning about what plants can do for the human body, this has led her to create her product line, My Wicked Garden. Frequently Liz teaches workshops for local colleges and for neighborhood organizations, she enjoys helping foster health awareness in the community.
A First Time Gardener’s Blog - Part 2:
Let’s Get This Garden Started!
By Melissa Christensen
As April came around to Rhode Island, spring didn’t exactly follow closely behind. As we all know, and had numerous conversations and complaints about, the weather was not good. It was chilly, and very very rainy this spring. Ok, extremely rainy. I mean, does anyone else ever remember that much rain? Anyway, getting into the gardening mode was tough, because the weather was anything but spring-like. But, I remained hopeful that the weather would get better at some point, and began to plan my garden.
Our backyard is not a big yard by any means, only about 24 feet x 32 feet. Due to size, our choices as to where to place our garden was limited. But we still had to make sure that whatever spot we chose had enough sunshine. After monitoring the sunlight factor, we decided on a location. If you recall from Part 1: Sweet Support System, my husband Pete utilizes his green thumb to maintain our organic lawn. It looks great this year again - all lush and green. Therefore, we were a little sad about tearing out a portion of it for the garden. But we knew it was for a good cause, so continued on. On a fairly warm and dry day in April, we armed ourselves with shovels and trowels, and dug into that green carpet of lawn. This proved to be harder than we thought it would be, as the portion we were tearing up was amazingly strong. The roots were deep, and the lawn itself seemed impenetrable. We managed to dig up the area, but not without exerting much effort and tiring ourselves out. As we were digging, we noticed that the soil contained many worms. Good news, as wormy soil is healthy soil. We made sure to save the worms attached to the grass being dug and place them back to the soil. This will help keep our garden soil healthy. Pete and I were very pleased that our soil is so rich. Now we know why the lawn flourishes, and hoped our garden would flourish, too.
A First Time Gardener’s Blog - Part 1: Sweet Support System
“There is nothing like a garden fresh cucumber.”
“Have you ever had a string bean plucked right from the garden? The taste is indescribable.”
“We used to pick the tomatoes, and take big juicy bites out of them, before even stepping out of the garden!”
I think I say these statements every time I cut into a store bought vegetable. Well, this year, I won’t have to wish for fresh veggies, I can actually eat them...right from my own backyard. My husband and I are ready to garden! But I won’t be going about this blindly. I come from a family of green thumbs. My aunt is a gardening extraordinaire. She lives just outside of Boston, in a very urban area, but has a garden that is about 12 ft. x 20 ft. in her front yard. I always smile at the opposing sites when we visit - my aunt’s flourishing green nirvana, with a backdrop of endless storefronts, cars parked everywhere, and a plethora of traffic signs. But her veggies flourish and her flowers brighten the gray street - and I swear that when people are in the middle of that garden, you can barely hear or see them through all of the greenery.
