https://growing-joy.simplecast.com/episodes/backyard-transformation-how-a-first-time-gardener-nailed-it-on-the-first-try

 

Plant friends, I have to tell you about someone who has completely blown my mind this gardening season! Her name is Lily, and she happens to be my brother's girlfriend, which means I've had a front-row seat to watch her absolutely blossom as a first-time gardener. She nailed it on her first try, and I mean that she has had the most incredible success I think I have ever seen from a beginner. In this episode, you're going to hear about how she and my brother were pretty much harvesting and eating from her garden every single day for the entire summer!

 

In this episode, we learn:

• [02:40] Meet Lily and her garden obsession!
• [04:15] What childhood memories inspired Lily’s love for gardening?
• [06:16] When did Lily decide to start her first backyard garden?
• [06:53] Why did Lily start almost everything from seed?
• [09:54] Lily's creative dining room seed-starting setup
• [15:00] Refresh your fall garden with ease using Espoma Organic
• [16:25] Bring your farmhouse garden dreams to life with The Vintage Farmhouse Garden
• [18:46] How did Lily handle pests, heavy rains, and a mosquito invasion?
• [22:01] Exploring composting to solve the pear tree problem
• [22:58] What surprised Lily the most about gardening? 
• [24:26] How to freeze tomatoes and preserve the harvest for winter
• [25:30] Ice cube tray preservation tricks
• [26:06] My ramp butter memories from the Catskills
• [27:33] Is canning worth a full day's work?
• [28:45] Garden harvest tour: What did Lily grow?
• [31:30] Adding a pollinator garden with pest-deterring plants
• [33:26] Which medicinal and edible flowers should you try growing?
• [36:36] How to use AI in growing plants
• [37:17] Lily’s biggest lessons: labels, sunlight, and spacing
• [39:04] How gardening brought peace, joy, and connection to Lily’s life
• [40:14] Southern tomato pie: Lily’s star garden recipe
• [41:25] How Lily used garden-fresh rosemary and pears in her baking
• [42:34] Lily’s favorite ways to use her bounty
• [43:44] What will Lily focus on growing next year?

 

 

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Lily’s Childhood Roots in Gardening

Lily grew up around plants but never really took an interest in gardening. Her grandmother had a big garden, and Lily spent hours listening as her grandma explained every tomato, cucumber, and flower. It was just something nice they shared at that time, and she didn’t realize how deeply those memories would stick.

This spring, Lily moved into a house with her first real yard. She knew she wanted to grow food the moment she saw that space! And by May, she had turned half the backyard into raised beds and decided to start almost everything from seed, which I should applaud her for because it’s not easy to seed start if you’re a beginner.

 

 

Why Starting from Seed Is Worth It

Lily decided to start almost everything from seed because gardens are very expensive to get started. That way, she can spend less on going to the nursery and getting the starters.

She set up an impressive small garden in her dining room, and it was covered with heat mats, trays, and peat pods, totaling around $500. Then she was just saving seeds from pretty much anything she and my brother ate for like a month.

However, she forgot to label each, so by the time they were ready to move outside, she couldn’t remember which plant was which. She planted them anyway, and even though it turned out quite chaotic, they still grew successfully.

 

Gardening Challenges

Aphids attacked Lily’s zucchini. Heavy rains hit while she was traveling. Mosquitoes were so bad that she could barely stand to be outside. Lily’s garden wasn’t without any problems.

She addressed the mosquito problem using a full mesh suit that she bought from Amazon and covered herself from head to toe. It looked ridiculous but worked perfectly.

Spacing and sunlight were also tough lessons. Some smaller plants didn’t get enough light because the larger ones shaded them out. Lily learned quickly that planning plant placement matters as much as planting itself.

Then there was abundance. By July, she was harvesting so many tomatoes and zucchinis that it felt overwhelming.

 

 

Harvesting Abundance From a Backyard Garden

Despite the challenges, or maybe because she faced them with such a positive attitude, her harvest was beyond anything she expected. She shared vegetables with friends and neighbors, made salsa and bruschetta, and froze bags of tomatoes to enjoy through the winter.

She was so proud when she managed to save a butternut squash she’d bought at the store last spring, planted it, and by summer, she had three beautiful squash of her own.

She also began experimenting in the kitchen. A homemade brown butter rosemary pear tart using pears from her own tree. Fresh ketchup from her tomatoes. A thick bread topped with garden tomatoes, mayo, and a sprinkle of salt.

 

 

Lessons for First-Time Gardeners

Lily’s story shows what’s possible, even in your very first year. Here are a few lessons she learned:

• Label everything: seedlings, rows, raised beds.
• Plan for sunlight: tall plants can smother smaller ones.
• Start small: grow a few crops you love, then expand.
• Embrace the chaos: every garden becomes wild by August.
• Celebrate every harvest: big or small, it’s worth savoring.

 

 

How Gardening Changes Your Daily Life

Gardening changed Lily's perspective on food and daily life. She now walks through grocery stores noticing how her green beans go bad in a day or two after picking. This makes her wonder what's sprayed on store-bought versions to keep them fresh. She plans meals around what's ready in the garden rather than wandering the store aisles wondering what to cook.

 

 

Lily’s Exciting Plans for Next Season

For the next garden season, Lily wants to focus her seeds on things she cannot buy at the grocery store. Unique, non-GMO varieties ordered online. For everything else that's available at nurseries, she'll buy healthy starter plants.

She's also planning to double her garden space because, naturally, now she wants more. She wants to add a pollinator garden with flowers like marigolds and zinnias.

What matters most is that she’s hooked, and gardening has become part of her daily rhythm.

 

 

Mentioned in our conversation:

• Growing Joy Episode 202: How to Can and Ferment Vegetables and Fruits from Your Garden with Stephanie Thurow
• Growing Joy Episode 195: Homesteading for Beginners with Michelle Bruhn and Stephanie Thurow

 

 

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Espoma Organic

Set yourself and your garden up for better success when you use organic gardening products! Espoma Organic is dedicated to making safe indoor and outdoor gardening products for people, pets, and the planet. They have an amazing variety of high-quality, organic potting mixes, garden soil, fertilizers, and pest control products that are organic and eco-friendly. To top it all off, they have a huge sustainability commitment with a 100% solar-powered plant, zero waste manufacturing, and eco-friendly packaging.

Visit espoma.com to find your local Espoma dealer or check my Amazon storefront.

Quarto: The Vintage Farmhouse Garden: Your Guide to Creating a Vintage-Inspired Outdoor Space by Rhonda Kaiser

Whether it’s a stunning tablescape, a front porch that says “come on in,” a peaceful garden oasis, or seasonal plants paired with vintage accessories—Rhonda Kaiser's The Vintage Farmhouse Garden will show you how to bring all the classic comforts of a farm home into your garden, no matter where you live. Turn your farmhouse garden vision into reality and learn how to select fruits, flowers, and shrubs, weave vintage finds into your garden design, decorate greenhouses and toolsheds, and many more.

Grab your copy of The Vintage Farmhouse Garden at quarto.com and wherever books are sold.

 

 

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