By China Cassidy Since schools have been closed, countless businesses ordered to shut their doors and events were canceled or postponed, people have been looking for productive ways to occupy their time. According to the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Administrative Secretary Cathy Bawden, this is the perfect opportunity to start a garden. Gardening can be a convenient and inexpensive way to get out of the house and allows you to be more self-sufficient as very little supply is needed to get started, like soil, seeds and fertilizer. According to Bawden, even though the weather is still a little chilly, there are plenty of vegetables that can survive infancy during the cooler temperatures. “In Holbrook, it’s not so iffy as far as frost goes, although we can get a frost here in the next couple of weeks but they withstand the frost. Any of your leafy lettuces, spinach, kale, collard (and) turnip greens, any of those; those are easy to grow and they’re fast,” said Bawden, adding that the timeframes for when the vegetables mature are generally printed on the back of the seed packets. Because some plants need more sun than others to thrive, it is essential to know when it is okay to plant the vegetables in the ground. According to Bawden, now is an excellent time to plant peas and leafy greens. “Things like lettuce and peas are wonderful to start even now. Peas are best to plant right where you want to plant them,” said Bawden. She suggested finding an area near a chain-link fence and planting them directly into the ground so they can climb up the fence, adding that it also helps to soften the soil and add fertilizer. “Loosen the soil and maybe put some amendment, fertilizer 10-10-10 in there.” Fertilizer 10-10-10 indicates it includes 10 percent each of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Bawden suggests planting vegetables and herbs like rhubarb, asparagus, oregano, thyme, and mint because they do well in Holbrook. In Bawden’s experience, one vegetable that can pay out year after year despite not being a perennial is lettuce. She said that by letting one or two lettuce plants bolt and go to seed and replant themselves, they could come back each year. “I’ve got lettuce coming up in my garden (and) I probably haven’t planted lettuce in my garden for several years because it just comes back.” For those looking to engage the kids in a fun and simple learning experience with quick results, Bawden suggested the salad bowl garden. This can be made by punching holes in the bottom of an inexpensive plastic punch bowl that can be found at most dollar stores and filling it with potting mix. Bawden explained that it’s important to use the right growing mix to ensure proper drainage. “If you’re doing something in a container, you want a potting mix, not garden soil because a regular garden soil is too heavy and doesn’t drain as well.” Bawden suggested putting leafy greens in the middle and other preferred vegetables around it. “I did lettuce, radishes and peas,” said Bawden. She also recommended instead of discarding them, taking the outer stalks of celery or the bottoms of green onions and allowing them to root in a bowl of water, then planting them in the bowl. “So then you have this bowl that you set on your table and as it matures, you can harvest a little bit of lettuce, a few peas, a radish or two and make your own salad right there at the table.” According to Bawden, when it comes to starting a garden, there is no time like the present. “Now is the perfect time to go play in the garden. It is a stress reliever (and) good exercise but it’s nice to know with a little bit of effort I can put food on the table for my family that came out of our garden. The taste and nutrition of fresh-picked cannot be beat. To plant a radish and let your kids harvest them, that is a fast feeding and it’s amazing how much better lettuce tastes out of the garden than when you buy it at the store.” For more gardening tips visit their website at extension.Arizona.edu under the Explore category. Anyone who has photos of their seedlings or gardens and would like to share is encouraged to tag the Tribune on Instagram at @tribunenewsnow.
