I had just moved into my first house. There would be grass to mow, bushes to trim, and flowers blooming everywhere. I could just picture it in my mind. I had lived in apartments and never had been responsible for anything outside my balcony. Before getting involved with the inside renovations, I thought I’d plant a garden for some fresh produce and to put the yard to good use. Even though I new nothing about gardening, I figured, “Hey, how hard can it be?” Silly me!

There was a grassless patch in the back of the yard left by the previous owner, but it was full of rocks and weeks, nothing that looked like a plant. I spend a couple of days trying to clear the area, getting rid of everything but dirt. At that time, I had no idea there was a difference between “dirt” and “soil.” My patch of land was barren, hard and unforgiving … with no nutrition in the soil.

I tried setting up the garden once it was cleared. I used some old boards I found in the garage for a border. A pile of rocks I had been collecting was used for some decoration. Not sure why I thought this was a good idea.

I could hardly wait to get started so I hit the garden store. Seeing all those seed packets was like finding hidden treasure. What was I going to grow? Corn? Yum. Peppers? Oh yeah. Tomotoes? Come to mama! My mouth was watering.

Once home with my treasures, I punched a hole in the rock-hard ground and dropped in a seed. I watered my garden everyday, but nothing happened. Nothing was growing. Where was my corn? My peppers? My tomotes? Where was my goodies? I continued to have faith and watered the garden. But eventually I realized that my garden was not meant to be.

Discouraged, I turned to my trusty computer to find the answer. After all, that’s what the Internet is for … finding solutions to questions. I quickly found a site where I learned about soil consistency, nutrients, correct watering methods, seasons, and all the things I needed to growing a healthy garden. I created a plan and was ready for the next planting season. Now you should see how my garden grows.

If you are longing to start a garden, learn from my mistakes. Do research on your soil, plants, and climate. Good soil, fertilizer, and garden tools are the keys to a good garden. The right information makes all the difference. Hopefully you won’t have to go through all the upsets I did.