Know Your Plants

Know Your Plants

I imagine, like anything in life, there are a lot of ways to approach gardening. Some people may just jump right in and learn as they go. I’m not one of those people. Naturally, I’m a planner. So I’ve been trying to learn about the plants I want to grow and gardening in the south. 

For instance, I have learned about USDA hardiness zones (click here to learn more). We are in 7b. This means that our average, extreme lowest temperature every year is 5-10 degrees and our average last day for frost is April 11.

I’ve also learned that spinach is a cold weather plant, harvested in spring and fall if replanted. This means I have decided to include a third vegetable for summer, carrots. Carrots can’t be transplanted from seed pots to bigger pots because it damages the “crop”. So those will get planted straight into their pots. 

I went ahead and purchased some seeds as peppers will need longer to germinate and spinach, as I said, is a cold weather plant. 

I purchased “Short N’ Sweet” carrots, “Right Stuff Hybrid” sweet peppers, and “Baby’s Leaf Hybrid” spinach. The basil is for my dad. 😊 He wanted to try it so I’m going to do that on the side. I have no idea if these are the best kinds or not but we are in motion. Here goes nothing.

My dad also grows shamrocks and I agreed to repot some and pot new bulbs. The repotting pots I bought were too small but we divided the plant so here goes. I used potting mix and “topsoil” which is a mix of manure and dirt... I think. I also put a coffee filter in the bottom to prevent the soil from leaking out the bottom of the pot.

And so we begin. May the Lord richly bless this endeavor. See you next week.

ISM