Three months ago, the dark raised bed of my first garden was pregnant with possibility. Seeds, soil, compost, water and sunlight. That's all there is to it, I thought. I may have been disconnected from my food source, buying fruits and vegetables most of my life at grocery stores, but now I'm "connected."
Three months later, a better word is "humbled." How in the world do farmers grow that bounty in the farmers markets and grocery stores? Even after the chard came up, before I realized it was infested with leaf miners, there was the question of how to harvest it. How do you know it's ready? Do you whack the whole plant at once or just break off a few leaves? And what are those white bugs crawling all over each other at the base of what's supposed to be my cauliflower, but is just a bunch of green leaves? And why the heck do the snap peas taste like cardboard?
There are many resources locally for first-time gardeners. There's Metro's demonstration garden, which has free presentations. There's the Oregon State University online gardening encyclopedia and much more.
I called Garden Fever in Portland where I had purchased my seeds. Tricia Taylor was like a detective and figured out that part of my problem was that my soil likely was low in nitrogen and needed more phosphorus since the plants didn't flower well.
In the end, I ripped it all up to plant anew: zucchini (it's my understanding it's so easy to grow a cat could do it), peppers, lettuce and onions. Being a successful gardener, I'm told, is about not giving up when you fail. So onward ...
-- You can reach Carrie Sturrock at email@example.com