The Importance of Patient Gardening | Family Economics

By Erin

As the winter months drag on and we hear the groundhog promises an early spring, it’s hard not to get antsy about getting started on your garden. 

Just the thought of homegrown, delicious fresh fruits and vegetables makes it just plain tough to be patient! But it is vitally important for the health and wealth of your garden. I’ve compiled a few tips and tricks that will help you be patient, and will help you get into your “dirt therapy session” long before the final frost date.

1. Study your area: Learn about your zone and your final frost date range. Also, research what seeds will do well being grown indoors, and what do best sowing outside.

Learn about the different fruits and vegetables that need cooler temperatures to thrive (like spinach and greens), I have found gardening books to be very helpful as I plan my garden out each year.

2. Plant some seeds indoors: This will help ease some of that “I want to get out to the garden now!” antsy-ness. Getting the seeds started in some starter trays or small containers and getting your fingers and hands into the dirt will not only help with the antsy-ness, but it will help get your garden off to a great start come time to transplant them after the final frost. You’ll be weeks ahead of your neighbor who waits to plant the seeds in the ground after the danger of frost has passed.

3. Pest control: Ask other gardeners about the different pests that affect your area and the plants in your garden.  For example, if I wait to plant my green bean seeds about two weeks AFTER the last frost date, then I won’t have to battle the Mexican beetles that like to eat all the leaves and green beans. While I’d love to start those earlier and get them growing, it’s best to be patient and not have to battle the beetles.

Being patient and waiting to transplant your sprouts until after the frost date, and waiting to plant some of the outdoor seeds so you won’t have to battle the pests is so important to having a vibrant and fruitful garden.

How do you handle the “I just want to get out and work in the garden” antsy-ness that hits this time each year?