The Garden of Eatin’
Did I decide to write about my new garden endeavors purely to make a pun about them? The answer is yes, fiends. It’s always yes.
Because of my recent move, I now have access to both a backyard garden box and a screened-in porch. This provides room for very important Ce Jaye experiments. Growing things! Specifically herbs, flowers, vegetables, and a few melons.
How It Came About
Well, I moved. That one’s kind of obvious. But there are two additional factors that made me want to start a garden project: mental health and free seeds.
There’s lots of studies about how being in nature is good for humans. I won’t insult your intelligence by assuming you don’t know about them. (If you don’t, a quick google search will reveal a plethora of them!) Whether it’s taking a light hike through my local state park, padding down our increasingly crowded community path, or caring for tiny seedlings just poking their way up inside their egg carton containers, nature relaxes my anxiety and energizes me. Plus, most garden plants take only a short-term, project length amount of energy and time. That way I don’t have to commit to anything long-term just as I’ve arrived. Given how frequently I move, I try to keep my number of plants down to a handful. A garden can’t move with me so I don’t have to hold back on the number of annual plants!
The next factor for choosing to garden is the fact that as I do not have money coming in right now. Therefore, I need to stick with mostly free or completely free hobbies. As I said before, my family already had a garden area prepared. They also have pots, potting soil, and the random tools every gardener seems to accumulate. I also discovered my local library has a seed library. They give away seeds. For free! The only complaint I have is the fact that their online catalogue does not match their actual seed stock, but what online catalogue does tbh? I look forward to visiting again at the beginning of April to see if I can pick up a few more of their coveted seed types.
Why Bother Gardening Short Term?
But CJ, aren’t you going to be leaving to live on your own soon? What if you end up moving part-way through the growing season?
A very reasonable question. First, I would like to thank you for your assumption that I’m able to find a job which pays enough for me to live on my own that quickly in our American economy. Second, I made sure to choose seeds that were beneficial to the whole family. Vegetables put in the garden are consumable by at least one other person in the household. Flowers are perennial and will hopefully bring some delightful and low-maintenance color to our memorial garden. Anything that is CJ-centric is placed in portable pots like my beloved dill. (You can pry that plant from my cold, dead hands.) Basically, short term doesn’t equal a pain in the ass to other people. I’m pretty good at thinking ahead!
Prep Work
Anyone who has actually gardened from seed knows there’s actually a fair amount of upfront work to do.
I, dearest fiends, had not done this before.
I have either gotten mature adult plants from a store or younger but still-far-out-of-seedling-stage plants. The last time I recall growing something from seeds was in elementary school when we put some seeds in a plastic cup. I am sorry to say mine did not grow…I also recall trying an experiment of planting a peach pit (also elementary scho0l). Given its location right beside the patio pavers, I do not think my parents would have been pleased if it had actually managed to grow…
My point being, when I decided to start growing from seeds, I had no idea what I was doing. This is often the case so I was not incredibly daunted. I had eight packets of seeds. Surely one of them would grow if I stuck them in the dirt, right?
In stepped my mother.
Why don’t you start indoors? Once the seeds successfully sprout, you can transfer them to the pots or garden.
Fiends, I dimly recall seeing this technique somewhere on the internet, but I admit it didn’t even occur to me to try with my own seeds. Thank god for my mother. She provided an egg carton, half of a styrofoam take-out box, and an aluminum pie plate from a graham cracker crust. Into these common items I spread topsoil, carefully buried my seeds at the recommended depth, and gently watered. (Shout-out to my seed library for having incredibly detailed care and planting instructions for each plant!)
Then I waited.
I’ll admit, I was more than a little worried none of my seeds would sprout. (Our chicken incubator eggs didn’t hatch in elementary school either. Not that I’m bitter about it or anything.) But as of the time of this writing, I have four radish seedlings bravely pushing their way up through the soil. I confess to messaging a large quantity of friends with dimly lit pictures of this discovery. I appreciate everyone who indulged in my excitement.
I wish I could triumphantly say I have an overflowing number of pots and a garden stuffed to bursting with healthy plants. The reality is I have no idea how many seeds will sprout nor if they will ‘take’ when I move them to their more permanent homes. And, let’s be honest, the whole point of this project wasn’t to feed half the state. It was to shore up my mental health with a fun plant-based project. Given that I’ve already learned a lot about growing plants and spent time squealing over my new seedlings, I think we can count this as a successful experiment.
Until next time, fiends.