[HN Gopher] Fail Gardening: Low Expectations for Skillbuilding a...
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Fail Gardening: Low Expectations for Skillbuilding and Eventual
Success
Author : simonsarris
Score : 54 points
Date : 2022-06-22 13:41 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (feastofassumption.substack.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (feastofassumption.substack.com)
| [deleted]
| notJim wrote:
| The part about not doing _too much_ research really resonates
| with me. There 's a lot of bad, vague or conflicting information
| out there, and plants are to varying extents resilient and
| adaptable.
|
| That being said, I went with the opposite approach in certain
| regards. I only planted 2 (additional) crops, and only things I
| wanted. My state's ag extension has great information about
| growing strawbs and tomatoes here, which I follow depending on
| how lazy I'm feeling at any given moment. And I made raised beds
| because it was trendy I guess? But I don't regret it and it was a
| fun project.
| UncleOxidant wrote:
| Given what the article seems to be going for, I'm not sure why 15
| crops? A garden newbie should start with no more than 5. Seed
| packets are approaching $3 now, so 15 would be $45 for seeds
| alone.
|
| As for site prep: pick a spot in the late Summer/early Fall where
| you want your garden to be in the next Spring. Put down a layer
| of newspapers and cardboard then pile at least six inches of
| leaves and lawn clippings on top of that (more is fine). Your
| site will be ready for planting the next Spring, just scrape away
| any leftover leaves over to the edges and keep them around for
| mulch after the seedlings come up.
| aimor wrote:
| The article hits on it here: "Plan to plant 15 crops, and
| expect that maybe 1 will succeed, and you won't know in advance
| which one."
|
| We only get about 50 gardening seasons in a lifetime. It's
| better to find what works, what's fun, and what you want sooner
| rather than later. I think space and time are more limiting
| than dollars, so 5 crops or 15 or 45 is just saying: plant as
| much variety as you can to find at least some success your
| first season.
|
| On the whole I'm not sure how allegorical the blog post intends
| to be.
| feast wrote:
| Yes, you nailed exactly why.
|
| I'm hoping the post can be allegorical for other things--I
| extrapolate this advice beyond just gardening--but it's also
| my exactly literal gardening advice--because, as you say,
| time and space are more limiting than dollars.
|
| Thank you!
| feast wrote:
| The mulching advice is great if you don't have persistent
| plants currently where you want your garden to be.
|
| And almor nailed why 15.
| zafka wrote:
| The main point is" Just start!! Growing plants is one of the most
| rewarding things you can do. Grow too many flowers, give some to
| strangers. Have too many seedlings, share. The community of
| fellow growers you will meet will also enrich you.
| jspash wrote:
| Site prep "just scrape the sod back from where you want to plant"
|
| This advice should be qualified. I live in outer London in a mid-
| century house. My garden soil has been collecting lead-laden dust
| for most of those years until leaded petrol was outlawed. If I
| were to plant directly in the soil, there is no telling how many
| heavy metals would be pulled into the vegetables.
|
| Not to mention, I was digging one day and about 3 feet down I
| found a discarded television. What else could be buried there?
| Did the previous owners operate an illegal motorcycle repair
| yard? There could be gallons upon gallons of who knows what in
| the dirt. I've heard stories about the next door garden which was
| used to breed all manner of house pets. Dogs, hamsters, rabbits
| and snakes. Then there are the pesticides from the perfectly
| manicured gardens that one might inherit when buying a house.
| Although I think they degrade after a short while (could be wrong
| about that)
|
| Point being... if you're in the city DO NOT just plant in the
| earth. I suppose you could get the soil tested, but I'd rather
| spend an afternoon and a little bit of money on lumber and build
| the boxes. And free compost from reliable sources is easy to find
| on the internet.
| spikej wrote:
| Or simpler yet: container gardening with pots and big totes
| feast wrote:
| I didn't /specifically/ qualify this because if you're
| gardening in your city backyard, you likely don't have enough
| acreage to be providing a very substantial % of your yearly
| calories via your own garden.
|
| Strictly speaking, though, you're right that urban soils have
| accumulated unpleasantness--so if you're not cash-constrained,
| maybe container gardening or raised beds is worth it for peace
| of mind. I haven't personally done research on which plants
| uptake heavy metals in which amounts, but I'm inclined to
| figure that a summer's worth of tomatoes, even if grown in
| leaded soil, will still have less lead than I would have gotten
| had I lived in the leaded gasoline days. Totally fair to want
| to do your own math, or/especially to insist on container
| gardening if your family includes pregnancies/toddlers, though.
|
| On the topic of pesticides from gardens--in general what is
| available to homoeowners is not going to have a lot of
| persistence. (What is available to farmers is not going to have
| a lot of persistence, either). The places I _would_ be careful
| of long-lasting pesticide residues are railroad right-of-ways
| and (depending on your state & power company) around
| transformer stations.
| pvaldes wrote:
| > Make the coast of your failure as low as possible, less than
| 50$
|
| cowards never win.
|
| 1) Fail as many times as possible and kill plants.
|
| 2) If you want to spend money in a plant that you like, for
| Pete's sake, do it.
|
| Is cheaper than your twenty pairs of shoes that you rarely use
| and didn't feel guilty for buying it. Why with plants should be
| different?.
|
| Fruit trees involve a small money investment but a big time
| investment, so do your homework and
|
| 3) buy the best quality that you can afford
|
| (And I'm not talking about size, I'm talking about quality). We
| graft trees for some reason. We culture some varieties and not
| other for some reason. Money is not so relevant here when fruit
| trees will pay for themselves. You will need to water and care
| the plant and wait for three to eight years (yup) to see if this
| is the right thing or just a pale weak thing that never keeps its
| promises, so maximize your chances from the start.
|
| 4) Educate yourself.
|
| You will spend five years in a project, wouldn't you spend an
| extra day to save five years? Take your time before to think
| about it. Spend a few hours studying how to care for it. Buy a
| book. Browse on internet. Send an email. Ask a friend.
|
| 5) Buy plants from a professional, and talk with him/her.
|
| Not in your warehouse. Not in your supermarket. Not in a dark
| coin of the street. Never buy plants by compassion impulse unless
| you know why are you doing it.
|
| 6) Repeat. Insist. Abort if necessary and start again.
| feast wrote:
| 1, yes. 2, yes--I think we're different in that I don't have 20
| pairs of shoes, and I would feel guilty if I bought them. As
| somebody else mentions, I have a lot of soil with no lead in
| it, but I don't have a lot of capital to spend on things I'm
| not going to use ;) I didn't consider that money might not be
| somebody's limiting factor. Good point. If money's NOT your
| limiting factor, don't bottleneck yourself there artificially.
| 3, absolutely yes. I'm a huge fruit tree proponent. I get mine
| from Stark Bros, and I do plant double what I want to
| "eventually" have. 4, 5, and 6--yes.
| janj wrote:
| I've been gardening for a while but still try to do this. I plant
| more than I want in a variety of locations and conditions. I
| usually end up harvesting more than I need but still get upset
| when any one plant doesn't succeed.
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