Learning How to Start a Simple Garden at Our Little Pine Cottage
Learning how to start a simple garden at our Little Pine Cottage may have seemed crazy at the time since we were still living in renovations! Like I even had time to take on another project! I know I’m crazy that way!
While all these projects were happening around our house and we were living in it, I decided to be very ambitious and start planning a garden. I know that it’s probably the last thing that I should’ve been thinking of because I was working a full time job, living in a construction zone, and trying to help Nate make decisions with our renovations.
REASONS WHY I STARTED A SIMPLE GARDEN
Starting a garden was something I really always wanted to do and this was the first time I’d be able to start one because it’s the first house that we’ve ever bought.
I also figured it would be better to start as soon as possible because it takes time to learn and build garden beds and design the garden, and I know it just takes a lot of time. I was also doing a lot of research on gardening and how to start a garden.
HOW I STARTED A SIMPLE LOW COST GARDEN
I did spend some money, but not a lot to get started. First, I bought some popsicle or craft sticks at the dollar store and marker for the labels for the seeds. I also bought several grow bags and some soil at the local hardware store. That was my humble beginnings of the start to my gardening adventures.
The easiest way that I could think of starting a garden was to initially try out the whole thing in grow bags. So I bought several grow bags and I started my seeds in toilet paper rolls. I didn’t want to go out and buy a bunch of supplies and seed starting trays. Because what if I decided later on that I didn’t actually want to garden anymore. Or it was too much for me at the time and I didn’t have the time to dedicate to it.
This was my simple low cost way of just getting started. It seemed like it would be best if I could just use as many supplies as I had on hand. I must have come across how people were starting seeds in toilet paper rolls. I would save all of our toilet paper rolls and I would cut them up and fold them at the bottom. That is how I made my own handmade seed starting containers for my first seeds ever that I would be planting.
The huge bags of soil were really heavy so Nate helped me to pour them into the grow bags. That way they would be ready when it was time to transfer the seedlings into a bigger space. My sweet pea roots were starting to come through the toilet paper rolls and it was time to begin to transfer them to the grow bags along with other seedlings.
Learning how to start a simple garden at our Little Pine Cottage took some planning and creative ideas to make it happen for a low cost.
PROGRESS OF STARTING SEEDS
Two days after I planted my seeds (in my handmade toilet paper containers), I already started to see some sprouting up! That was really exciting for me as I’ve never tried to grow anything like this before. Nate was trying to help me document the progress and said that I just found my first sprout and was about to break down in tears. I’d have to say, that was quite true. My first sprout was actually from a Korean red lettuce seed. The second was arugula, which looked like a little heart shape.
In my gardening research, I kept hearing people say that the easiest crop to start growing was radishes. Well, because they are easy to grow and have a shorter growing timeframe than other crops.
Within three days, I was already beginning to see a bit of seeds sprouting into seedlings already! That was a lot faster than I had anticipated. I thought it would take at least 5-7 days to see anything sprout. The conditions must have been just right!
The seeds that were sprouting were my Korean red leaf lettuce, napa cabbage, tomatoes, arugula, and radishes to start.
LEARNING HOW TO START A GARDEN FOR THE FIRST TIME
I don’t think I’ve ever really planted seeds and I know that sounds kind of crazy. It would be different if you grew up with gardens or people gardening around you. I grew up in the city and we didn’t really have a garden growing up. So this was very special and really exciting for me. This is kinda how I began my gardening journey. And I will take you through the process as it has evolved over time.
More seedlings started to sprout like the jalapeños, which takes a bit more time and my cilantro seeds. I planted the carrot seeds directly into the grow bags instead of starting them in the handmade toilet paper containers.
In the grow bags, I had eventually planted napa cabbage, sweet peas, radishes, basil, and spinach. I had the grow bags placed on our front porch, which is south facing and was getting too much sun and heat. I ended up bringing them indoors right in front of our south facing windows to help them keep growing without getting wilted or too scorched. The sun and heat in Texas is brutal so you gotta keep an eye out for the tender seedling babies! My cucumber seedlings were certainly happy to have some much needed shade as they were beginning to wilt out in the hot sun.
Learning how to start a simple garden at our Little Pine Cottage taught me many things. The biggest thing~ just get started, today! You will not regret it!
Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS
Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own. Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead!
You can also watch a video about this here.
To see more adventures of our tiny fixer upper journey, click on the links below.
🏚 PREPPING COTTAGE FOR HVAC AND FIGURING OUT HOW TO DESIGN OUR SMALL SPACE 🛋️📺
