Productivity Tuesday: No Better Time for a Garden

After reading the title for this blog post, you may be thinking that I’ve lost it, but I assure you that I’m of sound mind. So sound of a mind that I’m going to propose we consider this time we’re living in as a great time to start growing your own food (if you haven’t started already).

Okay, this type of project isn’t going to be a priority for those who have very pressing survival mode and health issues to deal with in these times. But for those stuck at home, looking for something constructive to do to pass the time, I’m going to suggest starting your own garden.

Honestly, we may not be in a position to ignore such an opportunity. Case in point: Have you seen the scarcity effect lately in your local grocery stores? And with a deadly virus roaming around, it’s hard to not be concerned about the safety of your foods, especially foods that are exposed in grocery stores, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.

But look on the bright side. There is a bright side if you look for it.

We’re at the beginning of April and this is a lovely time to see if we can get something else to grow besides our beautiful array of outdoor flowers, bushes, and trees.

For some time, I’ve been an admirer of those who are successful in (or at least try to) grow and raise the food that they eat. And my family is no stranger to getting our hands involved in some dirty work. As a matter of fact, we’ve had multiple years of food growing in pots above ground, in the ground, and on trees.

So, I think we’re sold on seeing what healthy goodness we can extract from the earth, using our own two hands. Well actually, my children have been much more active on the gardening front than I’ll ever claim to be . . .  husband, too. And what I’ve come to learn is from observing their handiwork with their “green” thumbs.

I want to take the opportunity to mention how important it may become in having access to growing your own food, even if it’s just a very modest start. I’m all about using what you’ve got and doing what you can with it. In fact, I’ve heard of many people who don’t have a lot of outdoor space, making the best use of their balconies, patio areas, hanging baskets, pots (indoors and outdoors), and raised beds to grow the good stuff in limited spaces.

So, no excuse. And you can get some inexpensive seeds, pots, and soil to start small and work your way up. Here’s an excellent resource you might want to check out. Click on the image below if you’re looking for a reference that provides creative ways to grow your garden cheap, in tight places, or in spaces where you’re not allowed to dig where you live.

(This post contains an affiliate link.  As an Amazon Associate, I can earn a commission when you click on affiliate links on this site and make a purchase.  Please read my full Disclosure for more information).

Now, I’d like to turn the focus on to my daughter, Toodlez, who tried her hand at this whole horticulture thing when she was back in high school and has grown in knowledge over the years. She tried an indoor garden back then and is doing a second run-through now as a young adult.

And, Little Man has been an exceptional sidekick in assisting her with the garden thus far, especially since they’re both getting plenty of quality time here at the old homestead.

The indoor garden was started back on February 23rd and tomatoes were planted on that day. Then, the melons followed on March 8th with the bell peppers and jalapenos planted on March 22nd.

What I just mentioned are the foods growing indoors, but we have some strawberry plants outdoors that look like they’re doing a little something. They just came back on their own, and I’m not sure if anything’s happening with the blueberries just yet. Furthermore, our pear trees have pretty white flowers blooming and currently losing their petals, which are blowing all around our backyard. But, I digress. Let me get back inside.

For those interested in attempting an indoor garden, until it’s safe to start planting seeds outside (after the last frost day for your locale), I wanted to leave you with some words of wisdom from my daughter and her experiences with the garden thus far.

After interviewing Toodlez, here are some suggestions for your indoor garden:

• It’s fine to start out with the little soil/peat pellets (pods) initially for your indoor garden. Read the instructions that come with the pods or kit, but it’s usually suggested that you plant multiple seeds per pod. Planting multiple seeds gives you better odds of getting at least one plant to germinate per pod.
• With the tomato plants, all three seedlings germinated in all of the pods where they were planted. So, two of the plants were cut down to leave the strongest one to grow. The kit stated that there should only be one plant growing per pod.
• It’s good to invest in a grow light for your plants and to make sure and establish a structured lights on/lights off routine, where the plants are getting 14 – 16 hours of light a day. The grow light should not be on at night.
• As the plants start to grow up, it may require moving the grow light further and further up and away from the plants. Too much light/heat on the plants can cause the leaves to shrivel up.
• As for the watering schedule, just make sure to water the plants when the soil looks dry. Self-watering pots can be very helpful to regulate water consumption, because the water is poured into the bottom of the pots and soaks into the soil to water the plants.
• When leaves turn yellow, that usually means that you’re over-watering your plants. You probably need to cut down on the amount of water you use or cut down on the frequency in which you water your plants.
• The leaves turning colors can also be an indication of deficiencies or unfavorable growing conditions for the plants. When the tomato plants’ leaves turned purple, it meant that they needed to be transplanted into a bigger pot with more soil.
• You can use regular potting soil when transplanting plants from the soil pods to pots. However, it’s important to fertilize the soil every once in a while with plant food. You can search online to see what nutritional food option would be the best for your garden’s soil.
• You want to make sure that you keep your soil rich in nutrients so that it doesn’t suffer from a deficiency in phosphorus. (Tomato plants are heavy phosphorus feeders.)
• Look up your last frost date by city, state, or zip code to determine when to transfer your plants from indoors to outdoors. You’ll want to make sure and transfer your plants AFTER the last frost date.
• Also, you’ll use the last frost date to determine how far ahead you should plant each fruit or vegetable indoors (before the last frost date). The time to plant differs by type of plant. You can search for this info online or check out the book I previously mentioned.

Tip of the Week: Always remember that any progress made (no matter how small) toward a goal is a building block in getting to your desired result. So, keep going. It may take some time; but you’ll eventually arrive at your destination if you keep pressing forward. “Keep your eyes on the prize.”