AT HOME WITH KAYLA PRICE 3/24: In the Garden

Gardening Season

This time of year is when Mother Earth has been known to play a few tricks on us.  We plant our flowers and sprouts thinking that warm weather has arrived only to have a bit of frost take its toll.

I always remind myself of what my mom always advised…to wait until Easter to put out plants.  But like a child on Christmas morning, I just can’t wait.  In the past, I have tried to use smaller outdoor planters to house new plants that I could take indoors if a cold spell was forecasted.  This has worked well.

As a gardener, I still have a lot to learn, but I do feel that I have outgrown my raised planters.  I daydream endlessly about a lovely English green house, but since they cost almost as much as a house, I acknowledge that there is slim hope that I would ever actually get one.  I recently got new raised beds installed which are patiently waiting to be filled with soil and new plants!

It would be wonderful to grow enough vegetables to feed us during the summer.  I know my grandparents grew their food.  Surely somewhere in my DNA I inherited their ability to be a successful gardener.

Since my gardening work has not always rewarded me with fruits of my labor, I do wonder about those who garden to save money. It takes a lot of time and supplies to get a harvest. Sometimes it seems like it might be easier and cheaper to run to the grocery store.

A year or two ago, I found a gorgeous vintage portable greenhouse which is perfect for starting a few seeds or keeping plants warm on a chilly night.  It is small, so only a few seed trays and potted plants will fit.  I don’t mind.  Not only is it useful, but it is so cute!

There is such satisfaction in eating something you grew. I have kept kale alive for over a year now by forgetting it is in a planter and just neglecting it.  If only my other plants responded as well to neglect, then I would be in business!

No matter how hard I try, growing a plentiful tomato crop seems to elude me. Either the birds beat me to them (but I have a new way of overcoming that issue) or my vines just don’t produce many. There is nothing better than a fresh, homegrown tomato off the vine. This for me is a gardening goal!