I am very good at killing plants.  Sometimes it is too much attention, sometimes cluelessness (I’ve got spidermites??) and other times, sheer neglect. Needless to say, my better half just laughed out loud when I told him I wanted to grow a garden this year.  ”But food grown in the garden just tastes better,” I argued. He didn’t disagree, but pointed out the operative word was grow–which he was skeptical I could make happen.  I tried argument number two.  ”It will be fun for the kids and isn’t it good for them to learn where food comes from and play in the dirt?  Aren’t you worried about nature deficit disorder?”  He thinks the sandbox is just fine and rolled his eyes at nature deficit disorder.  I finally unloaded with argument number three.  ”They say it’s cheaper than buying organic in stores….”  That caught his attention.  He is an accountant after all.  So after some number spinning, he said it MIGHT be worth looking into.

I started reading “Gardening for Dummies” and then realized I needed more serious help—in the form of a local service called Green City Growers. They specialize in helping super busy people and/or clueless people build and manage gardens.  While I’m both, I didn’t envision outsourcing this completely to them. I just need help getting started—selecting the site, building the beds, picking the right plants, and someone to call when I have bugs I can’t identify as friend or foe.

Most of you are probably way more attuned to your plant life and find DIY gardening very easy. But just in case, I thought I would use this process as an excuse to create Practically Green’s first How To video series and the team at Green City Growers has graciously agreed to let me document their attempts to help arguably one of the brownest thumbs in town.  This week, it was all about figuring out where to put the garden, how big to make it, and gently let me know that all this composting might not actually be usable.  Hope you enjoy it (and get a chuckle out of the home-movie style ;-))

Do you have any gardening tips, war stories, or homemade videos to share?

This post is for the Green Moms Carnival on gardening hosted this month by Green Talk. Be sure to check out stories and tips from other green moms who are preparing their families and gardens for spring.