Easy Ways To Get Started In Gardening

Gardening is a hobby everyone can enjoy, and it offers so many amazing benefits. Gardening reduces stress, anxiety and depression. It can boost strength and improve memory. It brings beauty into your life and puts delicious and nutritious food on the table.

You can enjoy the quiet, solitude of gardening or make it into an activity the whole family can enjoy together. Whatever and however you choose to garden, you’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for easy ways to get started.

Potted Plants

Growing potted plants, both large and small, is a great entry point into gardening. Taking care of plants in pots lays the groundwork for all future gardening endeavors because many of the principles are the same. Successfully growing potted plants increases your confidence and prepares you to take the next step whenever you’re ready.

Growing herbs on a windowsill is an easy garden project. Parsley, thyme, basil, mint and chives are common herbs used in the kitchen. These herbs also do well in a sunny south- or southwest-facing window that has direct sunlight or under a grow light for 12-14 hours of light each day. Timers make the use of grow lights easy. Your plants will need water when the top half-inch of soil is dry. Position the plants so that their leaves don’t touch the windows themselves.

Turn your cooking into gourmet fare with fresh herbs you’ve grown yourself.

Self-Watering Indoor Gardens

Self-watering indoor gardens such as those sold by Aero Garden and Click and Grow make indoor gardening extra easy. After placing plant pods into the gardening system, seeds soon sprout and grow into vegetables or flowers.  These self-watering indoor gardens give the plants everything needed – food, light and water. All you have to do is provide a little TLC and soon you’ll be enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Microgreens

Get quick gardening results with microgreens. Microgreens are fresh, delicious and nutritious superfoods grown and harvested in as little as 2 to 10 days. Microgreens are the plant stage between sprout and baby greens. They add a punch of flavor and nutrition to salads, sandwiches and smoothies. Growing kits and supplies can be purchased from companies such as True Leaf Market, Hamama and Urban Leaf.

Regrowing Vegetables

Some common vegetables you can eat and regrow, again and again. Vegetables regrown for greens include scallions, onions, beets, carrots, lettuce, bok choy and celery. When preparing these vegetables initially, you typically cut off and discard the roots. Instead, place the roots in a shallow amount of water in a tray or suspend them with toothpicks in a jar of water and place them on a windowsill. The plants will produce new growth, both leaves and roots. The leaves can then be cut and grown over and over again, providing you with a continual source of nutritious greens. Regrowing vegetables is easy, thrifty and fun.

Happy gardening.