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Karen’s Corner: Get ready to garden this spring!

by Karen 

April 3, 2024

Category: Karen’s Corner

Hello friends!  Spring is upon us, and I will be sharing some gardening tips throughout the Spring, as well as in all other seasons.  I have considered what might be most useful to you, and will be sharing web articles that I have found helpful.

There are endless  articles and videos across the internet. To be sure, I do not want to “re-event the wheel”, so instead of re-writing information that is readily available to you, I am  sharing some of my favorite resources, and encourage you to look for additional articles as needed.

To start at a good point, we should be preparing our plant beds, containers, and raised garden beds for Spring, But, this article reminds us to be particular about cleaning out unsightly and seemingly messy yard debris.  That mess of yard debris may be a habitat for pollinators.

This is something of which I was not aware of until recently.  Please enjoy this article from Monarch Joint Venture, and do more research, if interested.

A few tips for a safe start

  • Enlist family, friends, neighbors and children to help you.
  • Plan your gardening time in projects. Don’t try to do everything in one day
  • Pay attention to and remove anything which may be in your way. Have a clear path!
  • Wear garden or work gloves (I have long ‘rose’ gloves, like these)
  • Use a ‘reacher’ tool (like this one), rather than bending or reaching using your body or limbs.
  • Use a simple, aluminum frame walker (I bought mine at a thrift store for $4) with a tray to keep garden tools and supplies handy and well within your reach.
  • Disinfect old pots and gardening tools with undiluted Lysol cleaner or 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and rinse. You can also use a solution of 10% bleach (9 parts water to 1 part bleach), but be very careful, as bleach will discolor clothing and is corrosive if not thoroughly rinsed off tools.
Image: Karen shares the quote, surrounded by flowers, “In search of my grandmother’s garden, I found my own.”

Do you have gardening tips? Comment below! Or check out some of Karen’s other blogs:

Tips and Tricks for Accessible Gardening – A Video Blog

The Dirt on Dirt 

about the author

A black woman wearing a grey headband and silver earrings is smiling at the camera. She has grey hair styled in long thin locs and is wearing a blue jean jacket. There is green grass and sunshine in the background.

Hello! I’m Karen. The basics: happily married 33 years, 2 adult sons, and 2 adopted dogs (now 12 & 13); retired (twice) as an Operations Manager for a giant telecom company; post 2nd retirement went on to teach middle school Special Education (loved it) until my diagnosis with SCA III around 2009. I love just learning and all things creative. My hobbies include photography, furniture & decor up-cycling, gardening, dog behavior-modification training and genealogy. An absolute favorite item I hope to review is the Aerogarden indoor hydroponic gardening unit, which makes growing anything indoors from seed, flowers to salad greens & tomatoes, a breeze! My mantras: Someone said, “I don’t know how you do it.” I said, “I wasn’t given a choice.” And from poet Mary Oliver, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

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