I started gardening in May 2023. It's not something I had planned to do or thought I would ever do. I never had any interest in it at all. However, I had just come back to NY after my father passed away. The front yard and the back yard were disasters. The landscaper/gardener would mow the grass and blow the leaves but that's about it. We had removed all the shrubs and flowers from the backyard the previous fall in anticipation of doing something new. Hence, it was completely barren except for some weeds.

Knowing how much my father cared about the aesthetics of a garden and how much time he spent gardening, I took it upon myself to rip out all of the weeds and start fixing the barren soil. I didn't even know where to start. Thank goodness for the Internet!

• The day the Fence was going in but before all the shrubs were dug up.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the fall of 2022 or early 2023 that would show the actual condition of the back yard but this should give you a good idea.

• The fence is in and everything has been cleaned up. *

As with many first time gardeners, I went to the closest big box retailer to me and started browsing the various evergreens, perennials, annuals, trees and more. I have to admit, it was a bit overwhelming at first. I narrowed the selection down to things that would work in full sun and part shade.

I bought two boxwoods, two yarrow and two balloon flowers to start.

I was still struggling with a lot of weeds so I picked up a few bags of BigCo brown wood chip mulch. I didn't even think of dyes until I laid it all down. After putting it down, I decided that side of the back yard would only be ornamental and I wouldn't grow anything for consumption. I would like to avoid as many chemicals as possible in my home grown food.

Here are a few things I learned in my first few months of gardening:

• Don't believe everything you hear on the Internet, even from reliable sources. Yeah, we all know that the Internet is filled with misinformation but what I'm talking about is more about the organic aspect of gardening. Conditions that you may be dealing with are vastly different than someone else. For example, I'm gardening in a small urban space with limited full sun exposure. What and how I grow will be very different than someone in California or Thailand or Italy. What works for me, may not work for them.
• If you can grow in the ground with ample sunlight, do it. Earth is better to grow in than the bagged stuff we pick up from big box centers. Even the worst soil is better than the expensive bagged stuff.
• "Organic" soil and mulch can be questionable. There are brands that are well respected and sell certified organic raised bed, potting mix and top soil. I find that the soil is filled with bark. It could be from trees, fences, pallets, furniture. The point is, they don't have to disclose where it's from and what quality it is.
• Gardening can be quite a bit more expensive in the beginning. Budget for it but also try to pick up good tips and tricks for getting more plants inexpensively. For example, I started experimenting with growing certain herbs from cuttings.
  Try to buy things like fertilizer or soil at the end of the season so you get them cheaper. Have space to stock up.
• The importance of fertilizing can't be emphasized enough. Pull out a calendar and get on a regular schedule for fertilizing your fruits, vegetables, flowers, shrubs, tress, etc. That being said, understnading the importance of NPK and when to apply what kind of fertilizer is just as important. Here's another tip - you don't always have to buy a ton of fertilizer. You can make your own with the peels of your kitchen scraps. I will try to do a seaprate post on some of the things I've tried.
• Edible doesn't necessarily mean the plant can't be ornamental. For example, I put in some beet and calicasia tops in the ground last year. They grew some gorgeous foliage during the summer. One of the beets, popped up earlier this spring again and recently bolted. The stem is about 4.5 feet tall now and flowering.
• Keep experimenting with your garden. Try growing from seeds by direct sowing. Try different methods of fertilizing. Try planting different things in different parts of the garden.
• Everyday is an adventure in gardening. You learn something new and being out in the sun isn't so bad either. Enjoy the failures as much as the successes.

This pot is 100% responsible for me getting into gardening. A couple of volunteer cherry tomato plants that my father had planted the previous year popped up after his passing. I didn't even know what was growing in that pot but within a few weeks, it was flowering. As you can see, I didn't even know how to cage the tomato plant properly.

Keep growing and feel free to HMU on X (FKA Twitter), Instagram or wherever your online wanderings take you.