How do I find the time for gardening?

The one comment I get as a result of my gardening is, “How do you have the time to do all that work!” The answer is pretty simple really; it is NOT a lot of work!!

Sure, the first day when I build a garden box is pretty hectic but I typically build one or maybe two garden boxes a year. After adding two more garden boxes this year there are now six boxes in our front yard and one in the back.

This spring, for the first time, I had a yard and a half of garden soil delivered. Within one hour I had the soil moved into the boxes and all the material that I had composted over the winter (leaves and seaweed mostly) covered and ready to plant.

If you are not too up-tight about things, the planting is super easy. On a seed package it will say something like, “place one seed half an inch deep, and two inches between each seed in rows that are 12-18 inches apart.” Me? I just dig little trenches and sprinkle the seeds along the trench. A little swoop of my hand and the row is covered.

I also plant the rows 4-6 inches apart. The tighter the rows are planted together the less room there is for weeds to grow! The less room for weeds, the less weeding later on in the season!

The amazing thing about gardening here in Metro Vancouver is that you can basically be growing food all year round. Of course the garlic went in last fall (like any bulb you plant). But you can also grow kale, chard, spinach and green onions and all sorts of stuff all winter or at least from very early in the spring.

But back to the time thing, my girls and I planted a bed of potatoes this spring in less than 20 minutes. I took a trowel and dug a hole and one of my girls would scurry around and drop a seed potato in the hole. Once the bed was planted with twice as many potatoes as the package recommended, I scooped a little dirt over each one, wandered around to my neighbours place and grabbed his bag of lawn clippings (I know he uses no chemicals on his lawn) and covered the bed with grass clippings.

A couple months later we were eating potatoes from that bed. There was no weeding, no fussing, no hilling, NO work to it.

One last thing, many people “dig” or “turn the soil” in their gardens in the fall or in the spring. I rarely ever put a spade  or shovel into the soil. The soil develops an ecosystem full of worms and perfection that I do not feel any need to disturb. To plant something I dig a small trench with a hand trowel. This also saves me from a lot of back breaking work.

Interested in gardening? Start with one garden box and experiment. Have fun. Make it something that gives you joy. Have fun.