Help me grow my garden

ANNOUNCER: We're going to turn now to our series on Minnesota Now called Professional Help. We all need a little help to get through life sometimes from everyday questions to more complex problems. We're asking the experts to lend us a hand. This week, the Twin Cities experienced what was likely the last frost of the season. So Minnesota Now producer Ellie Roth asked an expert for advice on spring planting.

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ELLIE ROTH: Last year, I failed miserably. For the first time as an adult, I was living in a home where I finally had enough space to have a tiny garden. I was so excited. We got pots and planted herbs and tomatoes, but it quickly went south.

I think we got maybe three tomatoes from our tomato plant. I really wish I had a green thumb, and I want to give my little garden another shot. But how do I make sure I'm doing this whole thing right and not just flushing money down the drain? I decided to reach out to an expert for some Professional Help.

MEG COWDEN: My name is Meg Cowden and I am a full-time gardener. I'm a garden writer. I have a gardening blog called Seed to Fork, and I am known for really pushing the growing season in Minnesota.

My husband and I had a garden very first year we were married. We tilled up our backyard and amended it with compost on our rental property. There was no questions asked-- we just did it. We didn't ask permission, and we had a little 20-by-20 garden for the first two years there.

And that really set the stage not only for our marriage to be-- the garden is an anchor of our marriage. It's where we connect really on so many levels, physically, spiritually, and just really enjoy to spend time there together. And so it's been part of my life ever since, and I can't imagine going through a season without having my plants. My plants are like close relatives.

ELLIE ROTH: And this is maybe a loaded question, but are there-- if you know nothing about gardening, how do you start? How do you know what to plant? How do you know if you can plant these things. What advice do you have for people who are finally in a space where they could have a garden and they're like, I want to do this, but I have no idea where to start? What do you do?

MEG COWDEN: I think herbs are great. So very flavorful things that grow quickly. Cilantro and arugula are two of my favorite fast crops, so if you've got listeners listening like this week and they want to get a nice pot, even a container with half potting soil, half compost and get it good and damp, cilantro and arugula are fantastic. So they're great.

And then, as far as vegetables, think about the food you see in a produce section and some things are there because they're growing on a vine that is continuing to produce, so things like green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, summer and winter squash. The vining crops produce over a long period of time. They continue to produce and for me it's over two, three, four months if there isn't a frost.

But then there's other plants, other pieces of produce that we pick up in the produce aisle that produce a single thing. So it's like a predetermined length. I'm thinking cabbage, onions, leeks, broccoli, things like that. So I like new gardeners to think about those crops that give more than once.

ELLIE ROTH: I feel like a lot of our listeners may not have the space to have a full-blown garden, but I'm curious if there's anything to keep in mind when you want to start a garden, but you only have space for pots.

MEG COWDEN: I am a firm believer in soil nutrition. I've mentioned this, so for pots, I would go 50/50 potting soil and compost. Compost is a must because it will help take the guesswork a little bit out of nutrition.

The thing about containers is you're going to have to be watering them pretty consistently. And a lot of people say you need to feed them again and again. I just go heavy on the compost, and let the compost do the work. I like to take shortcuts. I can't be bothered with, oh, I need to get liquid fertilizer because, as the water moves through containers, it's going to leach out some of the nutrition that's in the soil.

ELLIE ROTH: Let's say you have no rental apartment. You're in your home. You have this space. How do you make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew?

MEG COWDEN: Oh, that's a good question. Always start small. I would say start with one 4-by-8 raised bed. And start with what you absolutely love. If it's tomatoes, start with that.

The easiest, fastest garden to make, though, would be overlapping cardboard and then laying compost on top of it. The cardboard will smother the grass, and then the roots growing into the compost will make their way through the cardboard and through the grass. For anyone who's new to gardening and has more permanent space and wants to grow in the ground. I think one of the most important things to do is to get your soil tested.

And what it gives you is it gives you your main soil macronutrients, which is nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. And those are three of the big building blocks for what plants need to grow. So that is really important.

And don't be afraid to garden in your front yard if that's your sunniest spot. I really, really believe that it's just a really great way to meet people and to share your love of trying new things.

We had a great city lot in South Minneapolis, and our sunniest spot in our yard was our front yard. And we made it pretty with raised beds because we were worried about what the neighbors would think. And it became this focal point of community. Dog walkers would stop and talk to us and ask us what we were doing, and then they would get to watch the plants grow. And it was really this lovely community hub.

ELLIE ROTH: Well, Meg, thank you so much. I am very excited for my gardening adventures this year. Sounds like I will be moving my garden to potentially the front of my house where there's sunshine a little bit more. But I really appreciate all your help with this. It's been great to talk to you.

MEG COWDEN: Yeah, it's been so fun to chat, Ellie. Thank you so much. And good luck to everyone's gardens.

ELLIE ROTH: Yeah!

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ANNOUNCER: That was producer Ellie Roth. You can hear our series called Professional Help every other Thursday here on Minnesota Now. And if you missed one, find the whole collection at mprnews.org.

WOMAN: Support comes from JTR Roofing, locally owned since 1992, providing a variety of residential, home, or commercial business exterior needs, including roofing, siding, gutters, and more. Serving the Twin Cities area and Western Wisconsin, jtrroofinginc.com.