GARDENING
Gardening in a Time of Quarantine BY KARLA A. DALLEY
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y the time this is published, I hope that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. I certainly hope that the days of food shortages are over. This spring has been like nothing any of us has ever seen, and I am not referring to the cold April or the late snows. But one bright spot—if it could be called that—is gardening. Those of us with existing gardens surely know what I mean. My own garden has provided a place to get outside, a place to safely converse with neighbors while social distancing, and even a way to ease frustration by pruning. Another way that gardening is providing respite is by providing some relief from the feeling of food insecurity. There is some comfort in knowing that while we may not be able to find certain items at the market, we can grow our own berries, vegetables and herbs. This trend is not new. Our grandparents, or perhaps great-grandparents, did exactly this to combat food scarcity and rationing during World War II. It was called victory gardening and while that trend was short-lived, the idea of backyard fruit and vegetable gardening has never completely died out. The pandemic has resurrected the idea of victory gardening, quarantine gardening, or pandemic gardening (it’s being called a few different things in various media). Existing gardeners are growing more edibles and people who perhaps had never thought of gardening before are trying it for the first time. If gardening is new to you or you want to add some edible plants, this is the perfect time! The danger of frost is past, and our growing season is here. The
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32 Vol. 10, No. 2, 2020 west hartford magazine
garden centers are well stocked with transplants of vegetable plants ready to go into the ground (with the exception of green beans; it is too late to start seeds at this point). Be sure that you have adequate sun—most vegetable plants need 6-8 hours of sun a day. And assess your “critter” situation before beginning. There’s nothing worse than growing tasty vegetables for deer and squirrels! You may need some fencing or organic repellent to deter them. Follow the spacing instructions on the labels for the plants. In fact, it’s good to read those labels for all the information that the growers provide. They tell you growth rate, habit (which will tell you if you need to stake, cage or trellis in the case or tomatoes or beans, for example) and days to harvest. It’s important to know “days to harvest” so that you how long until you’ll be eating from the garden. As for insects and disease control, remember that there’s a reason you are growing your own food. So if you see a bug or two, or if you see a chewed leaf, it’s generally not the end of the world. I can’t think of a time when I have used any sort of control—not organic and certainly not chemical—on my edibles. For those of you with smaller yards— or who might not be sure about digging up a portion of the yard—gardening in containers is a great way to start. There are many varieties of vegetables that have been bred specifically for containers and your local garden center will be able to direct you to the best choices. Be sure to choose a container that is large enough to for your choice—there’s nothing worse than having to water
multiple times a day, or worse yet, than having your newly planted plants fail to grow properly. You definitely want success this year, when all else around us is not normal! If you’re concerned about weight (but not about appearance) fabric grow bags are a great choice for vegetables. You can set containers of decorative annuals around them (annuals for pollinators would be a great choice, or even herbs). Be sure to choose container or potting soil for your containers, not something like topsoil or garden soil. You can also plant smaller edible varieties directly into sunny ornamental borders (provided that you use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides there). So many herbs and even smaller vegetables are decorative: curly-leafed parsley, with its frilly edges, tri-color sage with lovely purple cream and green leaves (and blue flowers, as a bonus), tin-leafed globed basil, silver and lemon-leafed thyme, peppers that come in colors of red, yellow and brown (as well as the traditional green, of course)—your choices are just limited by what you like to eat. So this year, take a trip to the garden center—and then get growing! You won’t be sorry that you did! Karla Dalley is a garden writer and speaker from West Hartford. kdalley@comcast.net. gardendaze.wordpress.com Photo courtesy of the Olive Gypsy Boutique, by ADRIANA LAJOIE PHOTOGRAPHY
