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Patience

April 2nd, 2014

Today for our 5×5 Challenge Garden feature, I figured patience was a timely topic as I wait for my garden to thaw. Patience is a valuable thing to learn if you want to be a good gardener. It makes gardening much more enjoyable and increases your likelihood of success.
5x5 garden in winter 2
It seems like more often than not, as gardener, we’re waiting for something in the garden. In the spring we wait for the snow to melt and the ground to thaw so we can plant hardy things. We also have to wait until after last frost to plant for our tender plants. If we jump the gun too much we can end up losing them to a last frost or freeze.
frost-5
We wait for seeds to germinate, we wait to plants to be big enough to transplant then we wait for flowers to form. We wait to for things to ripen so we can harvest them. The good thing about gardening is that you’re not just sitting around twiddling your thumbs while you’re doing all this waiting, there are plenty of things that can be done, mostly weeding.
morning_frost
Learning to be patience in spring is key, don’t plant things too early. You might get lucky some year, but you’ll be sorely disappointed in others.

Do you have trouble waiting for things in the garden?

7 Comments to “Patience”
  1. Lemongrass on April 2, 2014 at 6:11 am

    right now I am waiting for my garlic chives, arugula and mustards to self-seed in my tropical climate. my three cotton seeds surprise after a three-week wait, with three healthy seedlings.

    Reply to Lemongrass's comment

  2. Joan on April 2, 2014 at 7:28 am

    I’m tempted to put in a few peas, knowing I might lose them. But if they make it, peas before July 4th are quite a treat!

    I expect to see self-reseeding herbs coming up any day now – I can’t wait. My overwintered onions should show some green soon. And it’s almost time to dig overwintered parsnips and leeks!

    I think by growing things that can be harvested in spring, and other that come up on their own in my garden it helps to curb the planting urge. It’s fun to watch for that little bit of green!

    Reply to Joan's comment

  3. Sara on April 2, 2014 at 8:12 am

    One of the reasons I like doing season-extension (now with the hoop house, but before with low tunnels on a bed or two) is that it helps me be more patient with the rest of the garden. If I have a little space where I can plant or putter in, I’m less likely to make a rash decision elsewhere!

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  4. PennyAshevilleNC on April 2, 2014 at 8:33 am

    This year we have had cold temps and even snow through the end of March. Everything is a bit later than years before. It is definitely a lesson in patience for me!
    I put peas in mid-March versus last year at the end of Feb. No sprouts yet, but chickweed and bittercress weed are out so I have used those in my meals.

    Reply to PennyAshevilleNC's comment

  5. Misti on April 2, 2014 at 9:27 am

    This spring has been a trial in waiting since we’ve had some later freezes than usual. I can’t imagine what y’all are having to deal with.

    Reply to Misti's comment

  6. Nebraska Dave on April 2, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    Susy, yeah, I’m having trouble waiting for the temperatures to get warm enough to put out the cabbages and onions. It’s time to start the tomato, green pepper, and eggplant seeds on the heat mat.

    Rain is coming today and tomorrow. That’s good too as it will start filling up the rain collection storage tank. It’s all good …. if I just wait for it.

    Have a great garden patience day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  7. KimP on April 2, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    And then there’s patiently waiting for pepper seeds to come up (because they tend to take a little longer than the tomatoes at my house) only to discover that in my hurry to get the seeds planted a few weeks ago, I only THOUGHT I planted those pepper seeds. The package never even got opened. Sigh…

    Reply to KimP's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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