Garden Tips I Learned While Planting Our Own!
We planted a little vegetable garden this weekend! I hardly know anything yet about gardening, but I thought I would share what I learned from getting started. Here’s what we planted:
Tomatoes, Basil, Carrots, Onions, Arugula, Spinach, Red Bell Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, Strawberries, Avocado, Pink Lemons, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Poppy flowers!
Companion planting
Companion planting is worth a quick Google search! Some vegetables help each other out as they grow, or hurt each other if they grow near each other. For example, I learned that carrots, onions and tomatoes grow really well together — carrots’ common pests hate the smell of onions, onions’ common pests hate the smell of carrots, and carrots love the shade from the taller tomato plants.
LIGHT
First, we picked an area in our yard that would get the most sunlight throughout the day. Generally, more light is a good thing! Although, I moved the lemon tree to another area that gets a few hours of direct morning light and then filtered light throughout the rest of the day.
SOIL
We filled the planters with Topsoil, which is a basic, cheap soil mix that works for many purposes, but doesn’t have much fertilizer/organic matter in it yet. We added some potting soil (or garden soil works) on top, especially where we planted seeds. Potting soil/Garden soil has more organic matter and promotes more growth.
Fertilizer
We mixed in Jobe’s Organics Vegetable & Tomato Fertilizer just along the top of the soil. You can follow the directions on the bag, or just sprinkle some around with your hands and mix it in.
WATERING
I was surprised by how much water was needed — it’s still very hot and sunny in Southern California, so I have been giving everything a good soak every day. Fruit trees require different watering than vegetables — I have a lemon tree and an avocado tree. Apparently lemon trees like to have soil that stays somewhat moist (but not always wet), while avocado trees like to dry out between deep waterings.
I will share more as I learn about all of this! Hoping to work on some cute DIY pots soon too to make this space an aesthetic little garden haven! Nathan, his dad and my dad made the planters. In the mean time, any garden tips for me?!
