How to Prepare a Garden
There are great guides that you can use to help you build your first garden! Take a look at some of these helpful links we’ve gathered to learn how to start your own vegetable garden at home!
What type of soil do you have: compact, grainy, sand, clay, etc. You want something that will give plants necessary nutrients and allow water to disperse well. When planting, give each plant enough room to establish and grow a root system and enough room above soil to grow! If your soil is too compact, some plants may have a hard time sprouting. If it’s too loose, they might not be able to anchor themselves to the ground and fly away! (not really; they just won’t hold up and be able to produce as expected!)
pH
pH of the soil should be around 6 or 7. Too acidic or too basic and your plants will not grow well.
Soil Food
Composting, cow manure mixes (you can buy these), straw, and mulch are all really good soil foods to use in your garden! They provide nutrients to the plants, oxygen, and allow for moisture to be held. They also bring in bugs and worms that are helpful to maintaining the health of your soil.
- Composting: your veggie scraps, coffee ground, loose leaf teas and grass clippings/ papers, egg shells in vinegar, banana peels (anything that will eventually break down in a couple of months!)
- Soil Testing: Iowa State has a great site with information on soil testing to determine important nutrient and pH levels of your home soil. Please follow this link to learn more about home soil testing, including when to soil test, how to do it, and how to understand your results.
Normally, you will need at least 6 hours of pure and unblocked sunlight for your plants. You’ll want to find out the different requirements for each plant, as some may need more shade than others. Before starting to build your garden, take a few days or weeks to observe what the sunlight is like in the area you are considering.
It is important to know what planting zone you are in as this determines the different months/times that you can begin planting your different plants. Make sure to keep your planting zone in mind while you plan your garden and what you want to put in it and when. Grinnell is located in a 5b zone. Follow this 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map | USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map to find your planting zone.
When watering, make sure you are watering the roots, not the foliage! The roots are the ones that absorb the water. Do not drown your plants with water; water them slowly and thoroughly. Make sure that you are not overwatering your plants; that is, do not water your plants if the soil is still wet/moist 1 to 2 inches below ground. When you first plant new plants, you will want to water them more consistently in order to help them get established.
You’ll need a watering can or hose and gardening gloves (not necessary but definitely recommended!!). Hand pruners are good to have after your garden is established and a hand shovel (or hand trowel) is one of the most “handy” tools you can have. A hand rake can also be very helpful to turn the soil. If you have thicker weeds, investing in a weeder would be good!
Here are some basic families of gardening that will be helpful to know when deciding what to plant next to each other and where to plant during a new season! Nightshade: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and potatoes. Cruciferous: cabbage, broccoli, kale, and radishes. Cucurbit: cucumbers, squash, zucchini, and melons. Legume/pea: peas, beans, and lentils. Umbellifer: carrots, celery, parsley, and cilantro.
Starting small is a great way to find what works and what doesn’t work! Don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t work out the first time around – gardening takes a lot of patience but it’s very rewarding and provides fresh food for you and those around you!
The best time to weed is when they are young so keep looking and checking in on your garden! You’ll want to get the roots of the weed out so that they can’t grow back. Easiest time to weed is after the soil is wet or moist as it is easier to get the roots out. Here are some common garden weeds and what they look like!
When to Harvest Your Garden
It often depends on the type of plant you are growing that determines the signs you can use to see when they are ready to harvest. Most of the time it is dependent on color, firmness, and size.
Please click the button below for more harvest tips on common plants.
What does it mean if my plants start flowering?
If your plant is going to produce vegetables (like cucumbers, zucchini, squash, etc.), flowering is a sign that your plant is on its way to producing food! These flowers will turn into the vegetable you will harvest later on. However, if they are flowering, but not producing, there are some reasons why this might be occurring: there might be a low number of pollinators (you could plant milkweed or zinnias to encourage bees or other pollinators to come to your garden), it could be too hot, or the soil could be too wet. Click the link below to learn more.
If your plant is being grown for the foliage, this is not a good sign. It means your plant is now directing more energy towards the production of flowers than it is to the desired foliage. If you see this happening, you can deadhead the flower or cut the flower off at the base of the flowering stem. This will allow the plant to redirect energy towards the parts you will soon enjoy! Fun Fact: In herbs or annual vegetables (lettuce, spinach, etc.), when they start to flower, this can be known as bolting! See these helpful guides below for more information on what herbs flower and what it means for those herbs.
If your potatoes start to flower then that means it has reached maturity and it’s ready to give its energy into creating potatoes! If the flowers do get pollinated it might grow a small potato, do not eat it, this is a seed potato that can be planted but does not taste good.
Come on down to Bailey Park Elementary School Garden and Fairview Elementary - Grinnell Newburg School District Garden to see the amazing progress our plants have made! Ripe tomatoes were spotted at Bailey and broccoli heads were found at Fairview! Stay tuned, as more produce is starting to come in, such as potatoes and squash at Bailey Garden and tomatoes and more broccoli at Fairview Garden! 🍅🥦
Thank you to our volunteers who have been such a big help in weeding and watering weekly to ensure the success of this harvest!
Thank you everyone who came by last Friday in the heat to explore Marvin Garden!
We had Garden Passports, ice pops, and FRESH PRODUCE!
It was great to see everyone enjoying Marvin!
If you missed the event, no worries! We have plenty of opportunities to get involved in the Gardens. Check out our sign up page on Point for some fun volunteer opportunities at: pointapp.org/orgs/4549.
Heat is rising and plants are wilting! Make sure you are watering your plants at least every other day to keep them healthy and cool!
To avoid burning your plants, water early in the morning or later in the evening and try to avoid the leaves as much as possible so the water does not magnify the heat of the sun and hurt your plants!
As important as it is to water your plants, make sure you are staying hydrated too!
Friendly reminder that we are putting on an event at Marvin Garden (near Andy's Auto Shop) on June 17th, this Friday, from 7-8 PM! We'll have ice pops and waters to help defeat the heat and you'll have the chance to collect your own Garden Passport and win prizes!
We look forward to seeing you there!
If you would like to volunteer to help us with this event, please sign up at dash.pointapp.org/ and search for the Get to Know Your Garden Volunteering event. If you are having trouble navigating Point, please look at our other post about how to use Point.
What is kohlrabi? How do you use it? How do you eat it?
Kohlrabi can be a struggle to handle, especially if it's your first time using it! Follow our short and sweet guide on how to prepare and use kohlrabi in your next meal!
Visit this website for a guide on how to use kohlrabi in these different ways! You can't go wrong! howtomakedinner.com/blog/how-to-cook-kohlrabi/."
Come over to one of the Giving Gardens and enjoy books from the Little Library nearby! This one is from Summer St. Garden, but you can find Little Libraries all over Grinnell, including at Marvin Garden, Bailey Elementary Garden, Ahrens Park Garden, the Community Early Learning Center Garden, and Fairview Garden. Happy reading!