5 Things You Need to Learn In Gardening

    Written by Peter Otieno

               

   

Have you ever sat back and thought, what are some of the things that push, motivate or guide me as I practice gardening? or what is that force that drives me in gardening? Do not worry if you haven't figured them out. In this post I summarize them as the 5 things you need to learn in gardening.

I call them valuable lessons or principles as they have a great impact towards creating a successful garden.

In gardening, growth takes time and many farmers and gardeners can attest to this fact. Its quite a process for plants to grow from seed to harvest, be it in two weeks, three months or even three years. Therefore these lesson will resonate with you, either as a beginner or experienced gardener. Here is my list.

1. Patience - Whatever plant you want to add on your garden, you need to be patient as it will take time for it to mature.

When you look at this principle, it does boils down to the type of garden you are involved in or want to start. For instance, a fruit gardener will have to wait three years or more to start getting produce from fruit trees while a vegetable gardener may need three to four months or even weeks to harvest his or her crop.

Patience here is active and not just sitting and waiting. This means you sow your seeds, take care of the plants in their early development stages that is weeding,irrigating, adding manure, until they reach harvest time.

It does build your consistency in your daily gardening activities and by understanding how to grow your crops you are able to take care and maintain them throughout their shelf life.

2. Constant Education - Gardening requires you to get the right know how on plants that you intend to grow.

I know some people have gained experience on gardening from a younger age while others have not. All in all we still in the quest for more practical knowledge to better learn and understand the crops we grow.

We can learn (about gardening) by listening to audios, watching videos, interaction with other plant gardeners and attending agricultural forums.

None the less, constant learning also comes from day to day management of your garden. It includes knowing how to utilize space, using tools that make your work easier, understanding farm practices and the do's and dont's that could make your garden a success or not.

Lastly, through constant education you can have the ability to plant variety of vegetables such as kales, spinach, carrots and onions on your garden.

3. Being Well Organized - Like any other venture gardening requires you to have a plan for your farm. A plan provides efficiency and effective management of a garden.

A well organized garden entails a written workable layout that ensures easy mobility and provides clear walking paths which are suitable during planting, weeding and harvesting. An example of a layout that I have used is having long raised beds, rectangular in shape and in between I have paths for easy watering and weeding.

Farm organization also encompasses designated storage area for farming tools and equipment, composting area and nursery area for seedlings.

Gardening involves physical work and with a well organized plan, you will have the efficiency you need in day to day activities

            

4. Adaptability - This is the ability to correct, change and adjust to whatever nature brings to your garden. 

As farmers we mostly rely on rain for our crops to grow, but what if this natural source is scarce? Yes, you need to have alternative like borehole water, water tank stage and direct pumping from nearby stream. As a result of changes in climatic conditions, rain is sometimes unpredictable.

Further more, pests and diseases may attack your vegetable garden. How do you handle this? You have to be adaptable and think of a practical solution. The best way to go about this is just to apply control measures for pests and diseases as per the plants on your garden.

5. Love For Nature - Most farmers whom I have interacted with have found gardening to be therapeutic for them. Its not all about making profits, rather a work of fulfillment and satisfaction not only to yourself but others too.

A key take note from this lesson is that, getting started with fruit or vegetable gardening  means that you love it, have a passion for it or you have developed interest in it. For me, its like creation, you sow seeds and see your vegetable and fruit seedlings grow into mature edible plants.

My Conclusion

As a beginner, starting a garden may be a daunting task, but as you pick up knowledge perform tasks and learn lessons you begin to appreciate and love it.

Time flies so fast when we are involved in gardening activities that we never realize some of these valuable lessons.

Did you find these things or lessons helpful?

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