Are you looking for an activity you can do to your new home Melbourne Fl that includes your entire family? Why not attempt your own vegetable and herb garden? Gardens breathe life into our homes, require light maintenance, and can teach valuable lessons. There is something truly magical about planting something, tending to it, and then watching it grow. It is even more fun to pick fresh veggies and have them for dinner.
Gardens are a great way to get even the youngest of your children involved. You may think you don’t have a “green” thumb, but you never know. Sure, some of your plants may wither, but that is okay! All you really need to have your own garden is a little time, soil, planters, and plants. The rest is up to experimentation.
There are so many options when it comes to establishing a home garden. If you don’t want to plow up parts of your yard or have little space, container gardening may be your best bet. Container gardens are a great way to bring fresh vegetables and herbs into your home with little expense. So how do you get your own container garden started? Try beginning with these steps.
Location
Choose an area that receives full sun. Vegetables, in particular, need at least six hours of sunlight to grow. Find a spot in your yard or perhaps your patio or deck that gets the appropriate amount of light. Once you know your location you can determine how much room you will have to get started. You can get away with less sunlight when it comes to tender vegetables and herbs like lettuce and basil.
Choose Your Plants
Newbies are best served by purchasing plants that have already been started. Planting from seeds is a viable option but it takes more work and you may not be interested in that. You’ll want to choose plants that are in season. Our area of Florida is in Zone 9. This is helpful information when it comes to choosing appropriate plants that will do well in a given time of year. September and October are great planting months as the weather begins to cool off so keep that in mind.
Choose Your Planters
There are tons of options when it comes to planters. You can choose stone, ceramic, plastic, even wooden boxes will do the trick. There are three main concerns when it comes to choosing appropriate containers: size, depth, and drainage.
You will want to choose a container that is large enough to accommodate the plant you choose to put inside it. This goes for width and depth. Tomatoes and eggplants, for example, like lots of growing room so choose a larger size that is deep. Basil, thyme, and oregano will work just fine in a smaller pot. You can also go larger with these if you choose. Lettuce, on the other hand, does not need much room or depth so smaller pots will work.
Plants don’t like to be soggy so make sure there are drainage holes in the containers you choose. If there isn’t sufficient drainage water will get trapped within the soil and waterlog your plants.
Select Your Soil
There are lots of options when it comes to soil so don’t get overwhelmed. A good potting soil that has fertilizer included will serve you well. If you want to get fancy try mixing in some compost or composted cow manure.
Feed and Water Your Plants
Once your plants are resting comfortably in their containers all you have to do is make sure they are getting enough water and food to sustain life. This is the easy part. You should water in cooler parts of the day and try giving them a little fertilizer once a week or so.
There you have it! Container gardening can be something your entire family can be a part of. Little ones can help dig dirt and plant. They can even assist you when you water your garden each day. The most important thing is to have fun. Over time you will learn what works best and then you can begin again trying new techniques.
