{"id":652,"date":"2020-05-02T20:12:19","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T20:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/blog\/?p=652"},"modified":"2023-05-11T11:51:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T17:51:31","slug":"how-to-start-a-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/how-to-start-a-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Start A Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just begin.  Remember these four words: Soil, Sprout, Spot, Season.  Accept that gardening is a lifelong journey.  First I will present you with questions, please consider them for a moment, but don\u2019t worry, below I will provide answers.  I just want to be clear up front that there is a huge range for each of these items and the more imagination mixed with practicality you can bring – the more fun you will have.<\/p>\n

Soil: The future plants must grow in a substrate.  What will it be?<\/p>\n

Sprout: What type of plant will you grow and how will you get it?<\/p>\n

Spot: Inside or Outside? Wet or dry? Sunny or Shady?<\/p>\n

Season: Where do you live and what is the time of year?<\/p>\n

I have found that the greatest gardening success comes from considering those items.  Usually I don\u2019t have to look beyond this list to understand mishaps.  My favorite plants are those that thrive across a range of conditions.  That range must include Houston summers.  Collard Greens, Okra, Garlic, Lemons, Jasmine, Gardenia, Bidens alba, Fig, Sweet Potato.  Depending where you live you can follow along with my schedule and plants, or you may need to consider your area to find the best fitting plants.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/a>
Fire Ant Lisa with a recent collard green harvest. Sorry about the overexposure on the leaves, our Texas sun is bright, even in the shade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reasonable expectations.  Please begin gardening with an open heart for yourself and for the little plants that are sure to follow.  It is life and death.  It can be exciting.  It can offer perspective.  It can make us very appreciative of the produce section at the grocery store.<\/p>\n

\"four<\/a>
Known by me as cabbage worms even though I know they are caterpillars. Gardening gives us practice learning about life and death. The caterpillars have to go, i usually toss them into the lawn, I think if you squish them they have little prickly hairs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I like to grow plants that don\u2019t need much attention and don\u2019t need a super specific climate window.  Collard greens are amazing and I do think that anywhere you live you can get these growing.  This is the plant I recommend to all.  It is healthy to eat.  Which brings up an important point:<\/p>\n

What is your goal with gardening?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think that there are many noble goals in the gardening world.  Food production, native plants, soil regeneration, aesthetic appeal, fragrance, privacy.  There is one that I think we would all do well to move away from, endless lawns and unproductive shrubs.  There is so much in the world that we don\u2019t control.  Our lawns are something we do control.  Let\u2019s really make the most of them, the best way we can.<\/p>\n

\"Basket<\/a>
Fruit trees are the on of the lowest effort highest yield most inconspicuous yet radical transformation you can make in your suburban landscape.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ok, I told you I would give you answers so you can get started with something while you let your imagination run wild with plans:<\/p>\n

Soil: Potting Soil<\/p>\n

Sprout: Collared Green Seed<\/p>\n

Spot: Indoor Window Sill<\/p>\n

Season: Anytime Indoors<\/p>\n

\"Easy<\/a>
Starting some sprouts on my windowsill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thanks,<\/p>\n

Fire Ant Lisa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just begin.  Remember these four words: Soil, Sprout, Spot, Season.  Accept that gardening is a lifelong journey.  First I will present you with questions, please consider them for a moment, but don\u2019t worry, below I will provide answers.  I just want to be clear up front that there is a huge range for each of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-early"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":886,"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okragardensupply.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}