Here are some of the gardening lessons I learned (1 of 5) last year. I have grown vegetables in the past when food prices were more sustainable. The lesson I learned then was any crop I raised was already cheap and plentiful as they were in season. You grow veggies for fun. Most of my years of gardening have been with ornamentals, you know, bushes, trees and flowers in the yard.
I never paid much attention to the details when growing veggies, I just did it. Growing stuff comes naturally to me and I do it without overanalyzing it. This year, I decided to look at it more closely and write about my adventure. Things were different now with food prices skyrocketing every time we went to the store. I wanted to blog about growing food and help others grow their own and save a couple of shekels too.
I Have Sand For Dirt
My back yard is in gardening zone 10A. My native soil is very sandy and does not hold water. Consequently, I have always grown veggies in raised beds. I line the bottom of the bed with weed cloth which is semi permeable. It holds moisture in without drowning things. This season I also decided to experiment with growing food in pots to learn how effective it could be.
Besides the sandy soil, I also faced the problem of having too much shade. I know that must not seem like a real problem, but I assure you it is. Shade is wonderful for keeping our house and yard cooler in the summer and a bit warmer in the winter. Plants need sun, even our brutal Florida sun. I have shade from several large live oak trees. They were big when we moved here over 25 years ago. They are huge now. I have specialized in growing unusual shade loving ornamentals that won’t grow elsewhere. My yard is full of plants like bromeliads and tropical type house plants like corn plants and dracaenas. Add that to shorter days in the winter and I am faced with light issues which slows plant growth. Short days adversely affect the plants that are the most phototropic.
Getting To The Root Of Things
One of the big things I have learned to appreciate more than ever is the absolute importance and value of plant root systems. It’s all underground and has always been out of sight, out of mind for me. I have always been guilty of crowding them. It’s not such a big deal with ornamentals, but food! That’s a different story. The root systems are like our heart and lungs. They are out if site and essential to our well being. This became abundantly clear when I started with my pot adventure. Just planting two of a thing like peppers in a single pot instead of one made a noticeable growth difference as well as a production difference. Even in the raised bed, crowding hindered production.
