New to Gardening? Me too!

Both of my parents have green thumbs. My dads back patio was wrapped in floral jasmine vines and the front yard had beautiful wildflowers and mint. My mother had raised garden beds that included every herb, zucchini, pineapples, artichokes and pumpkins. She now has a succulent garden and it continues to grow.

I appreciate nature. I love being outdoors and it makes me sad when people harm trees and plants not realizing how much goes into it. I love farmers markets and the love that people have poured into their goods. I love smaller farms (looking at you Queen Creek Olive Mill) and am fascinated by plants. However, since turning into an adult and living on my own, I have had NO luck growing anything, including cacti. I have the skill of finding a way that offends cacti. I don't know what went wrong with my DNA strand but I struggled. I have tried multiple times to have herb gardens. I tried making a trendy succulent garden and one of my cats thought it was for them to pluck every plant out with. After that, I decided to leave gardening to the experts. 

Circle to 2019, I started dating my college boyfriend again and we moved in together. We currently rent his mother's house from her and I started to get the urge to start gardening. No reason, but I did silence those real quick. Our backyard is lined with hibiscus, a tree with flowers that smell like bubble gum and a handful of others. There is a raised, elongated flower bed that needed some attention. Since my boyfriend was living here solo for 7+ years, there wasn't too much excitement in the garden. I was dreaming about salsa gardens, jasmine vines, and flavorful herbs. I couldn't shake it. 

Then, my boyfriends mother came into town, and we went to town on the garden. I mentioned one thing about wanting to start a vegetable garden and she JUMPED on it. We were at a nursery in less than an hour of that statement. This was at the beginning of March.

The garden started off with:

• 3 Jasmine Vines
• Jalapeno
• Meyer Lemon Tree
• 2 different types of rosemary
• Dill

Jalapeno Plant Right After Transplanting

Then a couple weeks after she left and we realized that everything was actually growing, we added:

• Cherry Tomatoes (potted)
• Roma Tomatoes (potted)
• Basil (potted)
• Yellow Bell Pepper (potted)
• Oregano (potted)
• Strawberries
• Navel Orange Tree

There were struggles with each plant  as time went on. 

Jalapeno Plant - did NOT like the amount of water it was getting on the drip system. It was growing but none of the jalapenos stayed on. I believe they called it "dropping the buds". After adjusting the drip system, there are SO many jalapenos on the plant. Also, jalapeno plants need supports. Since getting it, there is not a support trellis and a stake.

Bell Pepper - definitely was struggling. This plant likes partial shade and where we had it placed was partial shade but still too much sun. After we put a shade cloth around it, it took off. There are so many flowers on it turning into bell peppers. I'm excited for our first one! Same like the jalapeno, needs a support cage around it. 

Basil - you need to prune basil. Otherwise it'll just grow straight up like a mo-hawk. I also learned that flowers on it cause the basil to be bitter so be sure to trim them off when you notice them.

Strawberries - we didn't have any struggles with the strawberry. It was actually growing beautifully. We parked it in a spot in a pot actually by one of our hibiscus. Every where I read said strawberries were temperamental and didn't like excessive heat. I was fearing I would need to bring it in during the summer heat. That was not the case. We've already hit highs above 105 and the strawberry plant was looking great. Tragically, we lost our first strawberry plant due to a feral cat squishing it :( It has been replaced since with a larger strawberry plant in the same spot. This was just a few days ago so we'll see how it goes!

Dill - The dill had the same fate as the strawberries. A feral cat thought it would be a great spot to lay down. We know it's a feral cat because our security cameras caught it on camera. The dill was growing great. Spread evenly and was a beautiful rich green. I have been unable to find a starter dill since we lost it so I'm trying to start them from seed. I just planted them today so I'll keep everyone updated.

Oregano - as the temps went up, I didn't up the watering and the oregano struggled. I do not have the oregano on a drip line since it needs more shade than not. I water it on my own. I noticed it was drying out and caught it a little too late but totally saved it! There is plenty of new growth!

Tomatoes - they are the easiest and they grow SO FAST. There are types of tomato species I have learned. The kind I know produces fruit year around and another produces fruit during seasons. I was lucky enough to buy one of each. The cherry tomatoes grow year around. There are several new flowers on it and there are tomatoes popping up everywhere! The roma tomatoes have growing seasons. Once the ones on there now ripen, will be it until the fall. Did not know that before I planted them. Also learned that this needs a support cage.

And that was it for plants..for a while...Today I planted a new dill, green beans, and cilantro. Eventually I would love a salsa garden! Growing some onions and garlic as well and my backyard will have the ingredients to make salsa! I'm super excited for it when that time comes. It probably won't happen while we rent my MIL's house, but definitely at the next house. FULL BLOWN salsa garden. And a lime tree...All citrus. I'm hooked!

Something to note! And this was something that common sense told me at a certain point. All of my veggies (besides the trees) are in either a planter box or a pot. So they don't get the same nutrients from the ground as other plants would. Feeding them plant food is a must to get the best quality. I have noticed a difference in feeding my plants plant food and it brightens them up. I give them food every two weeks and that seems to be the perfect amount and timing.

I'll do another post with all of the before and currents of the plants to show how much they've grown in a very short amount of time!

If you have an insiders tips, leave a comment! I'm excited for the growth!

Cheers!

-A