Started gardening - albeit in a small way - about 4 years ago when I decided that I needed fresh air and to give myself permission to wear a huge floppy hat like Greta Garbo (about the only similarity between us), whilst working on making various parts of my body vigorously protest at the unaccustomed exercise.
In that time I have tried growing all sorts of vegetables and flowers with varying degrees of success. Only this morning I learned a new gardening word 'Chitting', and, as instructed, have laid my Jersey Benne seed potatoes on newspaper in the garage waiting for them to sprout so that I can plant them in September.
Last year as Christmas approached, with barely contained childish glee (not called 'Peter Pan' in my family for nothing), I dug deep into my potato sacks, ferreting around for my carbohydrate treasure trove to tumble out onto the patio; the reward for all my hard work. The end result was pitiful - Nothing; Naada; Nein; Zippo - OK, slight exaggeration but certainly just enough for a plate at most.
Where had I gone wrong? Well, obviously I hadn't done enough research on the subject... I needed a book devoted entirely to the 'starchy' issue and I hadn't even thought to look in the Children's section, opens a new window!
Gardens come in all shapes and sizes and there is an abundance of information via our library resources whether it be non-fiction books, magazines, eMagazines and library website. Personally, my garden area is small so I concentrate on pots, opens a new window, containers, opens a new window, raised beds, opens a new window, trying to get as much as possible - produce-wise - as I can. I am still working on it, but have now got sidetracked by the necessity of colour in my garden and my search for minimal, low-cost ideas designs has proved very enlightening.
Check out all the resources available to you with simply a library card and a PIN/password - it promises to be more bountiful than my last crop of potatoes.
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