It's Time to Wake Up Your Garden (and Your Inner Gardener) for Spring
Struggling to cook healthy? We'll help you prep.
We're getting stoked for spring's arrival—which is officially this Sunday, March 20—and all of the beautiful budding flowers and emerging produce that it brings. Regardless of the climate where you live, it's fun to think about the edible and ornamental plants you can potentially enjoy for many months to come.
For many of us, our gardens have been lying dormant over the winter. Now's the time to start thinking about waking them up for the growing season and learning what—and how—to plot your garden.
That's where we're turning to a cool intersection of education and technology: online gardening boot camps from the duo behind Garden Tribe.
Garden Tribe is an online education company teaching gardening classes through video. "Gardening is not really formally taught in America, and a little bit of education goes a long way," says Jen Long, one of the co-founders of Garden Tribe.
The company's online classes provide detailed step-by-step instruction with close-up shots and thorough instructions. "You can take these classes anywhere and anytime," Long adds. "We have a whole tribe of experts on different subject matters leading these classes."
Beth LaDove, Long's business parter and fellow master gardener, comes from a multigenerational Italian family with a rich tradition of growing and preserving the food they ate. She's also helped chefs plan and grow their own restaurant gardens, a trend that's increased in recent years, along with the rapid interest in edible gardening. "The average person wants the experience of growing her own food--it's not just reserved for chefs at high end restaurants," LaDove says. "We want to empower people to have that experience for themselves."
Regardless of where you live or what your growing space is like, Long and LaDove have tips for getting your garden ready to spring forward.
Five ways to wake up your garden (and your inner gardener):
1. Do a spring cleaning. Pull weeds out by their roots, clear debris, plan your garden beds.
2. Liven up your soil: Soil is a living substance--nourish it with a fresh application of compost.
3. Add in diversity: adding flowers and natives to your edible garden will support the pollinators & beneficial bugs that keep you and your plants healthy.
4. Connect with your community: buy seedlings from local farmers, visit your local master gardeners with questions.
5. Try something new! Take a class, try a new variety of what you usually grow, plant a veggie you've never tried before.
Visit Garden Tribe's website to purchase online classes. Topics include container gardening, growing edibles, irrigating, and so much more, and prices range from $19-39. Get started with their spring edible bootcamp for $19.
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