At long last, the winter months are over, days of cold are quietly vanishing, leaving way for the warm embrace of the sun.
Spring has arrived!
It’s a nice time in which many people seize the opportunity to break open their tools and work hard on their gardens. Some real down-to-earth work.
“It’s a fun activity to do,” says Paris Badgley, a senior at New Hartford who is proud of her garden. “It’s a lot of work, but seeing your plants grow is really rewarding.”
Gardening is comparable to raising children, minus the crying, diapers and all the little tasks associated with it.
Growing life from its infancy till it stands big and strong motivates gardeners.
For any wannabe gardeners it’s imperative that a routine is created and stuck to. These green children would die if proper care is not taken.
The number one advice, courtesy of Paris, is “not and absolutely NOT watering your plants when the sun is scorching out in the afternoons.”
As much as you are compelled to relieve your little greenies from the sun by watering, you would literally cook them alive. Water is a terrific source at storing heat, so the thermal energy from the sun will make it a little boiling pot for your plants.
Raised beds are also another useful tip in gardening. It helps to prevent worms and other critters from eating your leafy child up.
A nice raised bed; credit to Paris
Then there are the bane of gardeners -weeds. These pesky plants would be fighting your own for resources and make the final yield very subpar even if they lose hence its essential to pick them out regularly as soon as you see them.
Sophomore Lin Khine, a sporadic gardener, also has all kinds of things growing in her backyard, from leaves like mint to flowers like roses and even trees too. It’s a whole lot of work to keep up, but the results are really delicious.
Especially in an age where every food is highly processed, growing your own eats out of your backyard is extremely satisfying.
Gardening is not all sunshine though.
Paris and Lin both have their fair share of crops that fail due to varying reasons- but that’s okay. Sometimes a crop that doesn’t grow well enough, or maybe doesn’t grow at all.But you don’t have a PhD in gardening -probably. When you’re starting out, the most important thing is to enjoy yourself and learn.
