3 Things I Learned from My Newbie Garden in 2013

In the spirit of taking stock in the new year, I've given some thought to one of my newest hobbies: gardening.

At the risk of a little bit of cheese, here are three lessons I took from my gardening experience in 2013:


1. I have a lot to learn.
Gardening is incredibly humbling. Plants are fickle things. They really really are. Like, why could I grow zucchini without even trying but butternut squash wouldn’t budge this year? What’s also frustrating is that something that worked the prior year won’t necessarily work this year. I had a fantastic harvest of grape tomatoes last year, and a just-OK one this year.
 
And sometimes things beyond your control – mildew, unseasonably cold weather, floods, the occasional grasshopper – pop in and no matter your best effort, especially as a beginner, you’re going to lose a plant. Or two.
 
No matter how many books I read or websites I peruse, it can be an uphill battle. I still enjoyed the fight. Don’t get me wrong. It’s fun. In fact, it’s probably the challenge of it all that makes it fun. I have even found I love it.
 
And I’ve made progress. What I’ve realized in the past couple of years is that gardening, like many skills, is not something you ever stop learning about. Practice makes perfect, or at least moves you closer, even if you never make it.
 
That is a lesson I can keep in mind for everything else I love to do and get frustrated with from time to time: writing, mountain biking, cooking and whatever else I decide to take up in my next decades of life.
 

My sad-looking, failed bell pepper plant.

2. On that note, hard work pays off.
My husband calls me a garden nerd. I come home from work in the spring, summer and fall and immediately go out to my garden. I check on the plants – look at their leaves, look at the soil, pull any random weeds (of which there were plenty last year) that popped up overnight, harvest any veggies that are ready to be harvested. I water what needs to be watered.
 
Then I move inside and Google anything it is that I don’t have an answer for. I plug in the symptoms and find out what bug or what disease may be causing it – if any. Or whether I just need a little more fertilizer or even just patience.
 
And while I do get frustrated sometimes (See #1), I also have a lot of successes, in large part due to my daily focus on the health of my garden.
 

Love tomatoes!

3. Find what works and stick with it. Stop doing what doesn’t.
I know I said above that sometimes things that worked one year won’t work the next. But there have been some things that have worked both years I’ve gardened.
 
One: Tomatoes grow really well in my garden. Which is fortunate because I love tomatoes. I cook with them all the time. I buy so many canned tomatoes I should buy stock in Muir Glen.
 
And yet for some reason, I only added one tomato plant (my San Marzano) to my garden last year, which incidentally did well.
 
I dedicated space to a couple of bell pepper plants – a green and a gold – and once again they did not grow this year. I’ll try those in a grow bag next year. They apparently don’t like my soil.
 
My soil loves tomatoes. There is nothing better than a garden-fresh tomato – straight off the vine or in salsa, tomato sauce or canned with green chiles. Yum!
 
So in the spirit of sticking with what works, next year I’m going to dedicate more than half of my actual garden space to tomatoes and finally learn to can, courtesy of a gift from my husband: Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff and another book, Saving the Season by Kevin West.
 
I’m looking forward to a fruitful 2014 in the garden. Year No. 3 will be my best yet.