5 Things the Newbie Gardener Should Get

About six months of gardening experience logged now, and here is what I've come up with:

1.        Knee Pads

I first saw these knee pad contraptions that you strap to your knees on my elderly next door neighbor, who uses them frequently.  I picked up a pair for myself and have been pleased with the results.  No matter how young or fit you are, there is only so much crouching you can take. Knee pads enable you to kneel and do your gardening business with ease. 

2.       Hand Shovel

For planting, pulling weeds, and all other gardening pursuits.  I use my frequently.  I prefer the  non-rust kind for those thoughtless moments when I forget them outside and they get wet!

3.       Big Shovel

For big gardening overhaul, you need a big shovel.  This will help you turn over more dirt at a quicker pace, and everyone should own at least one.

4.       Gloves

Bugs ick me out, so if I have to touch them, I do it with gloves.  Invest in better quality ones so you don’t have to keep replacing them.  Mine are pig skin. 

5.       Sticks and Tomato Cages

I have lots of wooden sticks and tomato cages in my garden.  I use sticks to cordon off  new seedlings, prop up unruly plants, and so forth.  For the tomato cages, I use them to prop up plants (mint, spinach, tomatoes, beans, etc).  It is essential to keep plants from plopping over on the dirt, where slugs and the like enjoy burrowing into them and causing destruction. 

Trying Again

It’s round III in the garden. After two disastrous attempts at having a fall “crop” (I say crop, but my house isn’t big enough to have a real “crop”), I’m trying again.  I tried not to get discouraged the first couple rounds when pests destroyed all my new starters.  I didn’t even get too upset when I found hundreds of cutworms lounging in the soil beneath the ruins of my spinach and lettuce. 

I figure that the first couple years will be a learning curve anyway, right? 

So this weekend I finally got around to double-checking to make sure there weren’t any cutworms in the dirt I had carefully combed the weeks before—there weren’t.  I put dirt back in their appropriate places and transplanted starters (spinach and lettuce) and I’m waiting patiently.  I did go to Lowes to look for some pesticides “just in case” (remember I’m trying to be organic) but didn’t find any to my liking, so I’m back to holding my breath.  I also want to try putting a nail next to each starter to prevent cutworm destruction, but I haven’t gotten around to that either.  Such is the life of a gardener with kids…you gotta do things in stages.  Hoping the bastards don’t get the munchies before I get out there to do my preventative measures. 

I also planted some onion bulbs I bought from Lowes.  I haven’t been very successful growing root plants, so here is some new experience under my belt!