Any new hobby with a storied history and accomplished practitioners can feel scary to indulge in for the first time. For example, when writing a first novel, you might feel implicitly worried that throwing your hat into the ring will invite comparisons to every other novel written since the dawn of time. That’s big competition.
The same goes for someone trying to become a chef for the first time – there are so many opinions on what constitutes great and necessary food, how cuisine should be treated, and of course, cooking food correctly to begin with that it’s hard to know where to start.
Gardening is a wonderful hobby, deeply satisfying, and better yet, is more than welcoming to newcomers. But as a newcomer, you may still feel a little worried. After all, you don’t want to see your vegetable crop come to nothing, to damage your garden, or to spend money and time with mistakes to show for it. Well, even veteran gardeners can make mistakes or have bad luck, so it’s important not to stress to much about this.
All that said, it’s still quite overwhelming for a newbie gardener to understand what tools they need, how to work their soil, or what objectives they should seek in their gardening pursuits to begin with. Let’s help you ease into that pool a little more comfortably:
Try An Indoor Garden
Not everyone has a garden, but not everyone is confident enough to rent out a patch in their local allotment space either. Thankfully, you may me surprised just how much utility you have over an indoor vegetable garden, and this can help you learn the basics such as planting seeds, caring for the soil, and watching your plants develop as you hope them to.
Moreover, this can help you avoid conventional seasons of growth and pretty much grow what it is you want, when you want, thanks to the artificial conditions you create within that space. Better yet, here you can make mistakes in a microcosm, allowing you to explore the hobby and tips you read online without having to commit to a full garden space.
Find The Right Tools
If you were to learn DIY for the first time, you’d no doubt go the hardware store and pick up a toolbox, hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, levels, pliers and more. The same goes for gardening, which you could consider an exterior form of DIY.
Here you should pick up a watering can, gloves, a trowel, a pruner, a spade, a wheelbarrow, and also the implements you may need to separate space, like 2×4 wooden planks to border your vegetable patch.
You can also find the characteristics of your soil and see if it needs any additional treatment, or build a small compartment for compost (you can also buy compost bins). Simply having the right tools to hand will make a big difference to your overall approach.
Join Local Gardening Communities
Gardeners tend to be a very pleasant bunch – they enjoy peace, mother nature, growing crops, and the bounty of a good harvest, or the displays of beautiful flowers and color. Sure, there might be some inter-bickering between those disputing who grew the biggest marrow at the vegetable competition this year, but by and large, gardeners are lovely and more than willing to help those just getting started.
Joining gardening communities in your local area or even following insights online can be helpful. You’re reading the prefect blog for that, but you might also join more local meetups, gatherings or voluntary efforts (such as those tree planting in your local woods), to get involved. You may even make friends for life here.
Observe
You will never be a good gardener unless you learn to relax, to listen, to watch, and to spend time in your garden. Here you learn about its comings and goings, from the squirrels sneaking up to your bird feeder, to where moss grows around your house, to where weeds need to be pulled, and how to protect certain vegetables from bug bites.
Observation might not seem “productive,” and yes, that’s not the exact purpose of spending time there, but keep an eye out. Watch for everything going on. Before long, you become more connected to your garden space than ever, and will instincutally make sharp decisions based on how you hope to mold it.
You can also do this if hiring out your allotment for the first time, as watching how other gardeners treat their space and asking questions can grant you many wonderful tips.
With this advice, you’re sure to make first time gardening just a little less intimidating.