Milwaukee is warming up, garden centers are filling their aisles, and magazines are showcasing the ideal garden space.
This time of year, many people choose to begin gardening — determined to grow their own food, save money and become more in tune with what they eat.
But the hobby can be a pricey one to pick up.
The hardest part is often securing a space to plant flowers and veggies.
Martin Ventura says there are alternatives if you can’t put forward the funds for a raised garden bed or a professionally landscaped bed at home.
Ventura is the agriculture program coordinator with UW-Extension.
“Creative people, I've noticed, often find ways to turn branches and the stems of trees into really inspired raised beds for examples or edging for gardens or small structures even, using sticks and logs,” Ventura says.
Ventura says sticks and leaves from those trees also can be used to help fill the bottoms of beds to build a healthy environment and cut the cost of soil.
If you don’t have access to a yard, local gardener Rachel Skoczek suggests that it may be in a beginner's best interest to look into community growing spaces. There are more than 80 of them in neighborhoods throughout Milwaukee.
“So, the feeling of stability no matter how unstable my housing situation is, the stability of having a rental plot that’s your committed plot every year has like really changed the way that I think about it,” Skoczek says.
The cost of supplies is another challenge. Seeds, soil and tools can add to the overwhelming nature of starting a garden.
Sometimes sticking to plant basics can make things more cost effective and less stressful. Skoczek says perennial plants like broccoli and rhubarb live multiple life cycles. So, it’s possible to enjoy the benefits for more than one growing season.
“I think the best hack is like, if you have a plot, a little soil or a pot or whatever — growing something that's going to come back every year is my favorite,” Skoczek says.
While tips and tricks are helpful, first-time gardeners may need more in-depth instructions on what to do to be comfortable in the garden space.
Often, information comes like a flood. And beginners might feel they have to do it all “just right” to succeed.
Martin Ventura of UW-Extension says changing how we talk about “best practices” in the garden can take pressure away and add to the learning experience.
“I think there’s really a tendency in media, and extensions and other kinds of publications to dictate a ‘should’ in relationship to new growers, and newer growers are eager, are hungry for that should. I remember that point in my life where I was making my first couple of gardens and thinking 'Oh gosh, I’m messing things up because I am not able to follow the prescribed best practice,'" Ventura says. "There’s a should involved."
Community gardener Skoczek says hands on experience is the most accessible and easiest way to learn.
“I tried to do volunteering for other people and learning from people who were more experienced. I learned by doing it when I could, a little bit at a time,” Skoczek says.
For those looking to get into gardening this season, the garden space is deeply personal and can look however a grower decides. It can be a lot less intimidating and cost effective with creativity and community.
