In April I got my garden started along with Hobby Club, a program that introduces a new hobby into your life each month. For a $12/year membership, subscribers receive weekly emails with "homework" and motivational tips. For the rest of the year, we'll be gifting badges to some people who participate in each month's hobby.
So, how was my first month? The hardest thing so far has been patience. Each morning I've been checking on my seedlings and giving them a drink, but only a few little leaflets have shown themselves. This is one hobby that will last all summer!
Here are some things I read—some from the Hobby Club newsletters and some research I did on my own—that I thought were worth sharing:
A Q&A on starting your seeds indoors, including troubleshooting tips.
You can grow plants in just about anything—light bulbs, cupcake trays, old rain boots, you-name-it. There's even a Pinterest board with lots of ideas for up-cycling.
Some like it hot: Why bottom heat can help boost your seedlings.
The importance of the "lift test," and why a nursery owner has new employees spend their first two weeks on the job watering plants.
For those of you without large yards, some plants like to be grown indoors.
A nifty, downloadable planting schedule.
When and how to transplant seedlings into your garden.
Some simple gardening mistakes (and how to avoid them).
And the vertical garden of my dreams. Maybe one day I'll build something like this, but right now I'm starting small.
The first seedlings to sprout in my garden were these tiny cilantro stalks. Now tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, carrot, radishes, arugula, sunflowers, and lettuce are starting to grow. Each of them looked similar and delicate at the beginning, but there defining features are already starting to show through. I can't wait to taste the fresh veggies later this year—but again, it's going to take patience.