Who says you can't dream big?
It is so disheartening to suck so bad at something you really work at, and what makes it worse is when people say, “Oh, anyone can grow squash.†Oh, really? All the while wondering why I only got 5 or 6 pieces (total!) out of 5 plants.
I used to not want to garden. No interest whatsoever. I had a grocery store, cash and they had tomatoes and lettuce. Voila! Salad. Why in the world would I want or need to grow my own?
Well, it all started when gas prices shot up over $4 a gallon last summer and I noticed how it impacted food prices. It made me think, “What if gas prices kept rising and people couldn’t afford food, or even worse, what if the wheels of the big trucks that deliver food to us stopped altogether? What would we do? How would we survive?”
Our community isn’t even close to being able to sustain itself at any level — we depend on everything to come from outside our community. Just go pick up a cucumber at the grocery store and see where it came from — the last few times I checked they came from Mexico and Canada. It is summer in the South; why in the world do our grocery stores have cucumbers from Mexico?
These days, we develop farmland, not grow food on it. We cannot feed the people of our community without gas. Are we prepared to handle a severe gas crisis when it comes?
Am I the only person that thinks that is scary to think about? How did we ever let ourselves become so dependent on outside sources for one of our most basic necessities? It’s food. Not clothes or video games. It is something none of us can live without, yet we’re outsourcing it to Mexico and Canada. No offense to Mexico and Canada, but that bothered me a lot. I decided I needed to learn more.
So, I figured why not have an urban garden? I gathered some advice. I was given a variety of reasons of why I shouldn’t. Like, “You get no sun.” And, I admit, that was a really good point. I learned the hard way the first year. You really do need sun to grow a garden. Who knew?
This year, I tried the Square Foot Gardening and container gardening and moved my garden to the sun. Things grew more … they just didn’t produce so much. That’s one I’ll have to figure out before next year, I guess.
My hope? To provide my family with food even if just a little bit as well as promote sustainability in Spartanburg. Just think of how much we could reduce our community’s overall impact on the grid if we could get a large number of households to plant a small garden? It is a great way for an individual to make a difference because every little bit adds up.
Since starting my garden, I’ve had this daydream that one day I’d deliver Mayor Barnet a basket of veggies from my garden and say “See, if I can do this, everyone in our city can do this, and we should encourage them!†in hopes that he’d be so impressed that he’d encourage everyone to grow some of their own food. Maybe the City would even let us reclaim some vacant land to use for community gardens, and plant fruit trees around the city so citizens could pick local apples and plums — just little efforts to make Spartanburg a little more self-sustaining and healthier.
But, I can’t do it quite yet. I’ve got a basket full of banana peppers and some pretty sad-looking tomatoes and, unfortunately, we can’t live on banana peppers and tomatoes. So back to the drawing board I go, but don’t think I plan on giving up on my green dream yet. This gal doesn’t give up quite that easy.
Tammy Stokes
I had the same exact problem with my garden. I worked my ass off cultivating the soil for it, planting seeds and plants, weeding and have gotten 3 zucchinis, 4 squash (squashes?), and 2 tomatoes. I’ve had good result with my banana peppers and jalapeno plants but I was looking forward to squash. My mom got more squash and zucchini than she could eat off of 2 plants that she randomly threw into a flower bed. But she used miracle grow and I went organic so I am assuming that had something to do with it. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you’re not the only one dreaming of a real garden.
I have had horrible luck with attempting a garden. We tried last year. Now we had some success with lettuce and spinach and maybe 3 cucumbers, but the peppers,and the tomatoes? Nothing. We keep talking about giving it another try, but I think we are cursed with black thumbs. Even the crab grass grows poorly around here.
Next year I want to at least try some herbs.
I tried to start a smallish patch in my back yard, clearing out a little area and planting some strawberries, zucchini, watermelon and some other stuff, not to mention random bit from various salad leavings. But as soon as it started getting hot out, I decided to just neglect it rather than spend my time out there gardening. As a result, there’s all kinds of stuff growing back there, but I have no idea what any of it is. I’m sure the birds have taken care of anything even remotely edible.
One of the most important things in growing a garden is the soil. Plants are picky, but if the soil is rich from composting and plants are watered at the sensitive times and get enough sunshine, there should be no problem. I had a lot of peas in the spring and lettuce, and now tomatoes and peppers, squash, carrots, and onions. I should have planted some pole beans. I am getting ready to plant more garlic soon. susan
Cheers to my fellow failed gardeners! Maybe we can get Susan to come teach us a few things. She’s an expert!!!
I have the sunshine problem in my back yard. I’m going to try some cold weather veg’s and see what I can get in the winter and early spring. I’m also trying to look at this as a process–all the books I read are written by folks who have gardened for thirty or more years.
It would be great if the local CSA, Farmers’ Market, Horticultural Society, Hatcher Gardens, Library, etc. etc. worked together to have some garden clinics as well as some cooking clinics on how to prepare local food. (These may already exist though) If you know of such programs please post them.
Great idea JG!
Glad there are other failed gardeners out there too – we should start a support group…seriously. I’m 0 for 2 springs of planting – harvested about 4 grape tomatoes this summer. Even my basil and parsley failed. Determined though and am working on getting soil ready in a different part of the yard. Fingers crossed for a successful fall planting…
I use the Square Foot Gardening method (and I am a certified SFG Teacher). I live in WNC, and some of the growing conditions have been different than in Spartanburg, but I have done better than average with my boxes–and I can attest to the notion that you can grow 100% of the crop in 1/5th of the space, with a whole lot less water, seed, and work.
I would like the opportunity to come and teach a workshop on the method in your area in the coming months.
Let’s start that “support group”
hmichaelrich@gmail.com
Just wanted to let everyone know I’m reading all the ideas and want to see what we can come up with for learning opportunities/support groups, etc. in the future. Thanks for posting everyone!