{"id":429,"date":"2023-04-01T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/?p=429"},"modified":"2023-03-31T18:44:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T18:44:42","slug":"april-2023-beginning-your-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/2023\/04\/01\/april-2023-beginning-your-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"April 2023: Beginning Your Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Hello, potatoes!! We hope you\u2019ve had a wonderful start to your spring!! \ud83c\udf3c\ud83e\udeba And, in honor of this glorious spring, our next three-month theme is gardening! \ud83c\udf38 Gardening is a good way to be more sustainable and self-sufficient and <a href=\"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/2022\/03\/01\/march-2022-relating-to-local-ecosystems\/\">connect with your local ecosystems<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>April is an excellent month to begin a garden! And if you don\u2019t have space outdoors, fear not \u2014 you can make a lovely garden in just a few pots!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some things you\u2019ll want to do to start your garden this month:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Plan your garden; you\u2019ll want to consider which plants want more light, shelter, fresh soil, etc. and which plants grow well together (consider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.burpee.com\/blog\/companion-planting-guide_article10888.html\">companion planting<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.umpermaculture.org\/permaculture-principles\/\">principles of permaculture<\/a>)<\/li><li>Plant seeds of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gardeningknowhow.com\/garden-how-to\/garden-by-region\/general\/what-to-plant-michigan-april.htm\">plants who start growing early<\/a>, such as radishes and other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gardenersworld.com\/plants\/what-to-plant-april\/\">plants to grow in April<\/a> (AADL has a <a href=\"https:\/\/aadl.org\/seedsampler\">seed library<\/a> where you can get seeds for free!!)<\/li><li>Plant seeds for seedlings you\u2019ll start growing indoors (you may want to do this for squashes, for example, so they have more time to grow without being exposed to the cold when very young)<\/li><li>If you can, start <a href=\"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/2021\/07\/01\/july-2021-compost\/\">composting<\/a> your food scraps and yard waste; it\u2019ll turn into rich soil to help your new plants!<\/li><li>Research the needs of the plants you\u2019ll be growing (for instance, tomatoes need LOTS of water) \u2014 follow the labels on the seeds you get, but also make sure to \u2728commune with the plants\u2728 and check on each plant personally<\/li><li>Prepare a place for your plants to be planted once they\u2019re ready (locate good patches of soil, build garden boxes, or get pots)<\/li><li>Watch the magic begin! \ud83c\udf31<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, planting a garden is a big project and not for everyone, so we have a few suggestions of smaller gardening-like things to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Spread native seeds in your lawn or in places in your city where they&#8217;ll spread and grow. Here are some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlive.com\/travel\/2016\/08\/the_most_beautiful_wildflowers.html\">wildflowers native to Michigan<\/a>!<\/li><li>Volunteer at community gardens near you, like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trueearth.org\/food-forest\">Community Food Forest<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/growinghope.net\/\">Growing Hope<\/a><\/li><li>Start a small garden (LED or tiny pots in a window) of herbs to keep inside and use in your cooking; you can also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gettystewart.com\/how-to-regrow-romaine-lettuce-from-the-stem\/\">regrow plants like lettuce<\/a> from their stems<\/li><li>Forage, identify local plants, and help your local wildlife however you can<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All the best with your gardening adventures, and join us next month for tips on later-growing plants and maintaining your garden!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello, potatoes!! We hope you\u2019ve had a wonderful start to your spring!! \ud83c\udf3c\ud83e\udeba And, in honor of this glorious spring, our next three-month theme is gardening! \ud83c\udf38 Gardening is a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":431,"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions\/431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/potatosquad.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}