Bumper crop of gardeners puts pressure on supplies
Early on in the stay-at-home period, I heard that due to the pandemic, lots of people were turning to growing vegetables, many of them for the first time. “That’s great!” I thought. But there was a dark side to the good news. When I went online to buy seeds, I quickly discovered that wherever I turned, the varieties I wanted were out of stock. Even ones I DIDN’T want weren’t available. Feeling a bit like I’d been locked out of my own house, I put my name on several waiting lists, settled for a packet each of lettuce and spinach seeds I found at the grocery store, and had some tomato, pepper, and basil plants — the bare essentials — delivered from a nursery.
With the goal of saving my back from too much bending and stooping, I decided to order a couple of “elevated” raised garden beds. I should have ordered earlier, because those were out of stock, too. Just how many new gardeners were there, and were they all as creaky as I?
At that point, I started feeling like a character in a psychological thriller. This was worse than that first week, when I ventured out to get groceries, only to find row after row of empty shelves. Warm weather doesn’t last forever; would I be able to have a garden this year or not? Thanks to a tip from a friend, I finally found some elevated raised beds online. I ordered those puppies immediately, before they, too, became unavailable. And then I discovered what “There may be delays in shipping times” meant.
The waiting game had a bright side, though. Because back troubles or not, I had to get going in the garden somehow. I started out slowly, just 15-20 minutes a day, and found that it wasn’t that bad. It was good to be outside, even if I was working slowly and not accomplishing too much. Day by day, I could do more. Gradually, I found that I had cleared and prepared enough of my in-ground garden so that I could plant some things. First in were seed potatoes that I’d set aside to grow “eyes,” the lettuce, and spinach. Yes—something planted!
In the process of recovering my garden space and expanding into the new elevated beds, I was reminded once more of how much I love gardening. I am happiest there, or puttering around in the yard. I love how going out for “just a few minutes” can turn into hours. Most especially and importantly right now, I’m finding that when I’m in the garden, the rest of the world falls away. I end up feeling refreshed and restored, as if I’ve been on a vacation.
So, I’m glad that those boxes didn’t show up for several weeks. The delay got me into the garden, got my hands in the dirt, and I regained a missing piece of my spirit. The elevated planters did arrive, and someday that may be all that I can manage, but I’m going to garden inground as long as I can. And order what I need way in advance.
One thing to note: If you’re planting by the square-foot method, it’s helpful to know that with wood boxes, the dimensions given are for the outside.
The 2’ x 4’ boxes I ordered are 22” x 46” inside, which means that there’s only seven square feet of actual planting area, not eight. On a 3’ x 6’ box, there’s a loss of 1 ½ square feet. This isn’t a tragedy, just something to be aware of. With plastic planting boxes, there may be no area loss. I have one that is three by three feet, and because of a clever design that strengthens the side panels, the interior measures a full 36 x 36 inches.
Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to pamelacbaxter@gmail.com, or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442. Share your gardening stories on Facebook at “Chester County Roots.” Pam’s book for children and families, Big Life Lessons from Nature’s Little Secrets, is available on Amazon, along with her new companion field journal, Explore Outdoors, at Amazon.com/author/pamelabaxter.