Shall I take up Gardening?

[StephieJean]

We will be retired in one year. I want to take up gardening and grow those items we eat regularly; however, neither of us have green thumbs. Is this such a good idea?

 

[gayl]

Welcome!

I can't grow anything

 

[KB]

It is absolutely a good idea.

The Sacramento County Master Gardener program has a demonstration garden in Fair Oaks called the Fair Oaks Horticulture center. There are workshops about 10 times a year where you can ask questions from the Master Gardeners and get handouts on the particular gardening topic you are interested in. The next Workshop is January 20th from 9 - 12.

There are also plenty of documents on this website that you can read also. The Vegetable gardening 101 is the basics, and then other document layer on top of it.

Home vegetable gardening - Sacramento MGs

Hope this helps. Sacramento has the perfect weather for growing vegetables year around. The planting chart will show what vegetables grow at what times of the year.

 

[John Galt III]

You don't really need a green thumb. Just follow the directions. If you have good soil, and not many local plant diseases, it'll be fine. And don't stress out if the plants get some disease and the leaves wilt, etc. Happens a lot. Just roll with it, maybe plant something else next year that will do better, be more resistant to disease. Just have fun. That's what I do, anyway, with my garden. (OK, I do get somewhat obsessed with it at times, yes)

 

[Sunset]

Absolutely, but start small and expand your garden as you find you like it.
I think my first garden was 8x10 feet.
I once dreamed of buying a small 20 acre farm, until I visited an actual farm and helped till the field, it was a lot of work...

I recommend growing tomatoes as one of the things you grow. The flavor of home garden tomatoes is incredibly fantastic compared to store bought tomatoes

 

[tmm99]

I used to frequent https://davesgarden.com/

I started out with EarthBoxes (self-watering containers - Actually, you have to water the containers but they have a hydroponic kind of reservoir at the bottom of the containers) which made it kind of foolproof. I grew tons and tons of tomatoes using this method when I lived in Northern California.
www.earthbox.com

 

[RAE]

Absolutely, but start small and expand your garden as you find you like it.

Yes, this is good advice. I LOVE my vegetable garden, and plan to always have one, but it can be a fair amount of work, especially when you are first getting the garden established. Start by planting just a few veggies - pick ones that you like, and are relatively easy to grow. Lettuce, carrots, kale, bush beans, and onions (from sets) come to mind as ones that are not too difficult to grow. Tomatoes are great, as someone else, said, but I'd start with just a few plants in your first year, as tomatoes require a little more care.

There is nothing better than going out to the garden in late summer to harvest the fruits of your labor, and then preparing a meal using your harvest. Once you've had fresh veggies from your garden, you will be amazed at the difference in taste and texture, compared to anything you can buy at the grocery store. The nutritional value has to be better also.

 

[audreyh1]

We will be retired in one year. I want to take up gardening and grow those items we eat regularly; however, neither of us have green thumbs. Is this such a good idea?

Gardening is a learned skill. You can learn a lot by simply observing the results of whatever you do.

 

[Souschef]

Absolutely, but start small and expand your garden as you find you like it.
I think my first garden was 8x10 feet.
I once dreamed of buying a small 20 acre farm, until I visited an actual farm and helped till the field, it was a lot of work...

I recommend growing tomatoes as one of the things you grow. The flavor of home garden tomatoes is incredibly fantastic compared to store bought tomatoes

+1
I live in a +55 park, and there is little ground for a garden. Every year I plant 4 plants from seedlings. and I have them in cages. Right now the plants are 6 feet tall and 4 feet across. The are still blooming, and I have tomatoes ripening.
I am in southern CA, and it is 80 today

 

[haloFIRE]

Good for your soul

I highly recommend a small garden! Fun to watch progress, and eventually enjoy your efforts on your table. Can be very peaceful

Best of luck!!

 

[chicamuxen]

Worth a try anyway. Not much to lose. I had my first garden this summer after i retired. It was successful, i learned a lot.

 

[Red Badger]

One more idea. Buy small plants instead of seeds - at least for year one. You should be able to find organic babies locally.

Even though we live in the burbs, we had chickens several years ago. Probably gonna get a couple this spring. Love going out to the coop and grabbing the freshest eggs ever.

 

[Gumby]

We have a small garden that we have been gradually expanding. It really is enjoyable to grow some of your own food. We currently do potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, asparagus and almost any herb you can think of. We also have strawberries and blueberries, but they mostly end up feeding the birds. I planted two fig trees in 2015 and two apple trees this year. No fruit yet.

 

[Jerry1]

I second the start small recommendation. It can be rewarding. It's a learning experience and you'll likely eat better quality and better control over things like pesticides.

However - I have found it to be a battle against nature. Between the deer and rabbits and the insects (I hate japanese beetles), it can be very frustrating. Personally, I've never found gardening to be financially beneficial. Of course, where you live can make a big difference given growing season and animals/pests/disease issues.

What we've started doing is spending more time learning to can and freeze food when in season. Food tends to be pretty cheap in season and if you can preserve it, you'll eat better in the off season for less money.

Beyond starting small, find a support system like a good forum but even better is a local club where you can share local practices.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I'd recommend trying it. Hire someone with a tiller to work the ground for you each year, it's much cheaper than owning a tiller and the large commercial ones do a better job than the units you see at the hardware store.

You'll find most gardeners are very helpful to anyone who asks them for advice.

If you find that it's not for you, buy some grass seed and cover it back up.

Also, the farmers market is a great place to buy local produce and meet some of the best gardeners around. You're not apt to meet any Master Gardeners, but you'll meet some great folks who really know how to grow things.

Good Luck!

 

[audreyh1]

Personally I think the green thumb thing is just paying attention. Some folks overwater, underwater, etc. Checking the soil and watching how the plant is responding goes a long way. Lots of great books out there. I’ve had several successful gardens and I was mainly self-taught by books.

Planting things appropriate to your area/climate is also really important. Chain/box stores often carry poor choices, so going there and buying whatever looks good won’t necessarily work well. OK - it took me a few years to learn that one. Instead find a high quality local nursery or two with knowledgeable staff and you’ll make better choices and get great advice.

Growing your own vegetables is about quality and taste. It rarely saves money.

 

[Mango1956]

Personally I think the green thumb thing is just paying attention. Some folks overwater, underwater, etc. Checking the soil and watching how the plant is responding goes a long way. Lots of great books out there. I’ve had several successful gardens and I was mainly self-taught by books.

Planting things appropriate to your area/climate is also really important. Chain/box stores often carry poor choices, so going there and buying whatever looks good won’t necessarily work well. OK - it took me a few years to learn that one. Instead find a high quality local nursery or two with knowledgeable staff and you’ll make better choices and get great advice.

Growing your own vegetables is about quality and taste. It rarely saves money.

+1

 

[Souschef]

Growing your own vegetables is about quality and taste. It rarely saves money.

+1
I tried growing snow peas.. Had all the vines running up strings,etc. I ended up with a pound of snow peas. I could have bought a pound of them at Trader Joe's for what it cost me for seed.
But, I have a 2 foot strip of ground next to my driveway, and I have chives, basil, and thyme growing. It is nice to pick fresh herbs for cooking.

 

[tmm99]

I grew different vegetables in Earthboxes and they all grew fine. The box took all the guesswork on over-watering, under-watering, the amount of fertilizer, etc. Anyway, just about all the vegetables tasted the same or similar to what I would get in stores. If you grow anything, I highly recommend growing tomatoes. The flavor of tomatoes is the reason why many people do vegetable gardening. They taste so much better than store bought tomatoes. I never liked fresh tomatoes very much until I had a taste of home grown tomatoes.

 

[tmm99]

+1
I tried growing snow peas.. Had all the vines running up strings,etc. I ended up with a pound of snow peas. I could have bought a pound of them at Trader Joe's for what it cost me for seed.
But, I have a 2 foot strip of ground next to my driveway, and I have chives, basil, and thyme growing. It is nice to pick fresh herbs for cooking.

I can relate on the snow peas. Mine got so much mildew (this was in Northern California..)

Have you tried Rosemary bushes? I hardly ever had to water my rosemary bush, but it kept on growing. I also planted a small bay leaf tree. I had to prune it every year since it grew so fast, but I just loved having fresh bay leaves for cooking, any time I needed them, and the fragrance was so much nicer than the dried.

 

[pacergal]

I do container gardening on our deck. Vary what I try each year. Carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, blueberries, peppers, basil, parsley have been most successful. The berries were new this year, I will see how they winter over. I grow enough for us to eat as they are picked, as I haven't learned to home canning yet--thats on my list to do!

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Straw-bale gardening looks like an interesting approach. https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/straw-bale-gardens/8882.html

 

[ERD50]

Consider herbs, in addition to any veggies you may want to try.

Herbs are generally easy, resistant to disease and pests, really nice to have fresh, and are often expensive if bought fresh, and the store-bought won't stay fresh for long.

Rosemary, parsley, oregano, thyme, basil(assuming those all grow well in your area, I would expect they do). Cilantro/coriander can be just a bit more difficult, it will bolt early depending on conditions, but you can usually harvest enough to make it worthwhile anyhow.

We've pretty much given up on veggies, just not worth the fight with the animals in our area, but many people have better luck.

-ERD50

 

[Winemaker]

Start with something simple like zucchini, 1 plant can feed you for weeks. Plant 1 in a pot or plot every 4 weeks. Since plants grow simply to produce mature seeds to reproduce their species, pick them young and small. Growing them will give you a lot of confidence, and if you tire of them, you can give them away. Excellent starter plant, they can be trained to climb a fence, up a trellis, over an arbor.
I have been gardening for over 35 years, some good years, some bad years, some great years. The larger the garden, the more time, and the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Like anything else, do make it fun and not "w@rk".

 

[O2Bfree]

+1
I tried growing snow peas.. Had all the vines running up strings,etc. I ended up with a pound of snow peas. I could have bought a pound of them at Trader Joe's for what it cost me for seed.

Maybe it's too warm where you are? We're in the PNW, and get loads of snow peas, so many that I've reduced my planting to 1/2 of a row, and we're still eating some nearly every day during the growing season.

I agree about the cost though. Home grown carrots for example have a superior crunch and sweetness, but they're so inexpensive to buy that we don't bother with them. Tomatoes are definitely worth it, though.

I like to grow kale, it's pest-resistance and so easy to grow. I harvested some this weekend after several days of frost, which makes it sweeter. It overwinters well so we can have fresh kale early the following year. There are many ways to prepare it, and if we get too much, I'll blanch it, squeeze out the water, and freeze it to add to soups or casseroles later.