With the New Year fresh upon us, now’s the time to set some goals for improving your gardening experience in 2024. Recognize that gardening is a perpetual journey of discovery, improvement, and continuous learning. Building your garden skills and knowledge is a life-long process. Regardless of your age or gardening experience, it’s important to stay curious, keep learning and making good investments.
Investment Number One: Build your gardening skills. The more you know, the better you’ll grow. Taking classes, joining a local garden club, applying for Master Gardener training, and finding someone to mentor you along your gardening journey are four ways to strengthen your gardening knowledge and technique.
Gardening groups are a great way to meet fellow gardeners. Hoe and Hope Garden Club is a well-established local organization whose membership includes all levels of gardening experience. Discover more about Hoe and Hope here: http://hoeandhopegardenclub.com/
Avail yourself of all the resident knowledge at The Flower Bin. Internet research is just a click away, but it’s important to realize that all the information on the web may not be applicable here. Sign up for our e-mail, follow our blog, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram. You’ll also find us on Nextdoor.
Observe and learn. Keep a journal. Take pictures, to track your experiences, successes, and challenges. Document what works and what doesn’t. Incorporate those lessons learned into your garden plans.
Find a garden mentor. A garden mentor is someone with the training, knowledge, and experience to help you make good decisions when it comes to planting, growing, and harvesting your crops. This could be a neighbor, a friend or someone in a local garden shop that you can discuss garden questions and ideas with.
Investment Number Two: Build your garden soil. Soil quality has the greatest influence on your crops and yields. You can overcome a lot of gardening mistakes if your soil has good structure, drains well and is healthy and rich with microbial activity. Adding organic material on a regular basis, utilizing cover crops effectively and incorporating strategies that build and maintain soil microbial health are methods that will pay off in larger yields. Start by testing your soil. You can use a DIY kit or send a sample off to Colorado State University for a more extensive test. You'll receive a report detailing the quality and fertility of your soil. Bring us your report and we'll help you figure out what to do.
Investment Number Three: Know, don’t guess. Whether it’s a problem with your houseplants, herbs, tomatoes, or vegetables. There are many factors that influence your garden. Our Diagnostic Center is open year-round. We’ll help you identify the issue and offer recommendations on how to solve the problem. You can be confident the advice and information you receive will work in your garden. We offer these services free of charge.
Investment Four: Buy the best tools you can and take care of them. Good tools make every garden task easier, safer, and more effective. Create a designated storage spot for each tool and get in the habit of cleaning your tools and putting each tool away after you’ve used it. This way, you won’t waste time looking for tools.
Gardening is a continuous learning process. Embrace the process! Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned gardener, there’s always something new to learn, discover, and cultivate.
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