Bulbs are usually planted in October, but in most ways the garden is winding down. Still, a big part of preparedness is the planning ahead, thinking about what you want and how to get there. Now is a perfect time to think about spring.
The counsel to plant a garden is well known, as are the benefits. Gardening tends to improve muscle and joint strength while decreasing blood pressure and keeping the mind active. Gardeners tend to eat better, as they can incorporate more variety and fresher ingredients into their diets. Although the initial outlay can be expensive, in time it can be a cost-savings. In addition, there are various pricing models available, depending on your resources and needs.
Young singles may end up staying in the same place for a long time, but since being single feels like a temporary state, often our residences feel temporary even as the years pass by. In this frame of mind, it is hard to feel motivated to tear up a patch of ground and commit to planting and maintaining it, even if you have the space. Many of us do not, living in apartments with nothing more than a small balcony.
Again, there are many different options available. I live near some housing where the residents have about eighteen inches of dirt before it slopes down several feet into a ditch. This has not stopped one of the families from having a garden. They set up a wooden frame that hugs the side of the house. It is only eighteen inches wide, and probably about five feet long, but they nonetheless get a pretty impressive crop.
Those particular units are single-story, so everyone has some ground—just not very much. If you are up on a second story, you probably don’t even have that, but you might have a small balcony, on which you can set up containers.
Container gardens don’t hold very much, but they are a start. It is a chance to practice, and prepare for when you are ready to till actual ground. The also have their own advantages: you can bring the plants in for severe weather, you have complete control of the soil and water, and it is also easier to keep weeds under control.
One plant that grows well in containers is the tomato, and now you have even more options with tomatoes, because there is the technology to grow them upside down. This can increase your available patio space, as you can have plants on the ground growing up, as well as plants growing down from above. This method can be used for other plants as well, but works best with vines with lighter weight fruit (so cucumbers or zucchini would work, but probably not melons.)
If you really want to be creative, you can look into hydroponics, or building a grow box, but these projects can become overly expensive and ambitious. If you are just starting out, it may be best to start small.
You have probably seen small plastic cartons shaped like greenhouses with small pots and soil disks. Even if you don’t have the patio, and all you have is a windowsill, you can grow something. These sets usually focus on herbs, but I once had a set that grew strawberry plants from seeds, which I later transferred to a planter. Most of the possible items will eventually require transplanting, but in the meanwhile you have several months of watching the seeds sprout and grow and develop. There is a sense of accomplishment that comes with having produced something, and eventually you could be eating strawberries, or using fresh herbs in your homemade tomato sauce.
Perhaps you are thinking that you would never be interested in making your own tomato sauce, and that leads to an important point. You should grow things that you will eat, or you will lose most of the benefits of having a garden.
This is not just about what you plant, but also how much. If you plant more than you can eat, and do not have a way to preserve the output, your efforts may go to waste. Sharing with others can be a wonderful solution, but then if they don’t have a use for it they feel wasteful. (This is a common issue with zucchini.) Learning what your yield will be and how to use it is one reason to start slow and expand gradually. Maybe you need a whole row of green beans, but only a very small radish section.
If you are not a huge fan of vegetables now, don’t give up just yet. One drawback of our current agricultural system is that most food is shipped a long way, so plants are bred so that the fruits and vegetables will travel well, not spoiling too quickly or being too squishy. Unfortunately, the best travelers are often not so flavorful. You may be surprised at how different something homegrown can taste.
Obviously, going through an entire cycle of planting and harvesting to find out if something tastes good could be a frustrating process, but we have a valuable resource in this area with the many farmers’ markets.
At the markets you can sample varieties that grow locally. You can do this by purchasing, but many of the market stalls will have free samples, allowing you to get an idea. Even if a sample convinces you that no matter what heirloom varieties are available, you should never grow Brussels sprouts, it is still interesting to see them on the stalk.
Sometimes they will have recipes, and ideas for preparation. In addition, assuming the farmer is not too busy, you may even be able to get some tips on growing. If the farmer is too busy, the Master Gardeners will not be, and you can find tips and information from them:
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/
Want to learn more? Look for books on the subject. Even if you are an absolute beginner, not only is there a Gardening for Dummies book, but the for Dummies series has installments on container, organic, herb, vegetable, and fruit and vegetable gardening.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, or to start small. One challenge asked people to start with just a four foot square plot on May 1st, which seems modest, but still requires property, and a rototiller, and maybe even fencing before it can be successful. It’s okay to start with a small pot and build up skill. Actually, doing it that way is probably better.
