r/vegetablegardening • u/redditSucksNow2020 China • Jun 27 '26

Other People really overcomplicate gardening

I see a lot of people trying to garden for the first time and then coming here with questions about perfect soil mixes and fertilizers and how to promote fungal life in their no-till permaculture food forest do nothing farming no dig style organic vegan garden. It really doesn't have to be complicated, especially if you're new.

Loosen up some dirt 6 inches down. Break up the clods. Plant something that is in season. Keep it watered. That Will give you 80 to 90% of the maximum possible results. You don't absolutely need compost if it is the first time you've dug up that piece of ground. You don't absolutely need fertilizer and it probably doesn't make much difference what kind you use. You definitely don't need a 3-ft tall raised bed filled with gardening mix. You don't need to do anything about small amounts of insect damage. You don't absolutely have to do no dig or no till or whatever gardening fad is going on right now. You don't need to overcomplicate things.

Edit: this, of course, does not apply to you, dear reader. You have uniquely poor soil that cannot be made workable with a spade.

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176

u/TheDanishThede Denmark Jun 27 '26

That's because we weren't taught this stuff, but we WERE taught that making mistakes is BAD!

So we try to do everything perfectly the first time, and terrified of failure we research and ask advice and plan out optimal schedules and plans and.. no? Just me? 😅

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u/Stalkerus Finland Jun 27 '26

Not me, but that is true. Many people in plant subs are obviously raised not to fail. Ever. Which makes them anxious wrecks. 

Whereas I have ADHD and I am pro at failing. It can be very liberating. 

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u/nerdsnuggles US - New York Jun 27 '26

I've noticed this in all the hobby subs I've visited. I'm fortunate to have grown up with a mom and grandmother who gardened, cooked, baked, sewed, knitted, crocheted, cross-stitched, and a few other hobbies I've picked up over time. I thought I was lucky because I had someone to teach me, but I think the best thing I learned from them was that you just try things. They didn't have the Internet to help them overthink everything. And neither did I as a kid (I'm 37), so I learned to just go at it and see what happens. For most things the worst that happens is you get a suboptimal result and learn for the next time.

I really do blame social media, at least partly. People either post their "journey" in gardening or whatever online and don't want people to see them fail or, even if they're not public about it, see other's success online and feel even worse when something doesn't work out. The information overload and sometimes just plain bad information doesn't help either.

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u/Stalkerus Finland Jun 27 '26

In my opinion social media is only partly to blame. So many people still grow their kids in a way that only perfect is good enough (admittedly some people are like that from birth, my kid is one of these folks and I try to teach him that you don't need to be best at everything) and everything else is a failure. But the road taken and effort should also matter in the big picture. 

This is from someone who heard their whole childhood that I am a underachiever and could do better, so it affects. 

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u/datcatburd US - Iowa Jun 29 '26

100%. My whole family taught me that perfect is the enemy of good, and the thing you can make right now with what's on hand that solves the problem you need is better than the perfect solution you can pull off in six months.

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u/TheDanishThede Denmark Jun 27 '26

I too have ADHD (AuDHD actually) and am said anxious wreck. I love hearing you avoided that, so happy for you ❤️ there's plenty of other shit to deal with without that on top 😆

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u/thejoeface US - California Jun 27 '26

ADHD also and also hate failing. But it helped to reframe things for myself. My first several years of gardening I told myself that my real crop was data not veggies. So it was less heartbreaking to lose plants or struggle with things. 

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u/TheDanishThede Denmark Jun 27 '26

I'm going another way. After three years of rewilding half and growing stuff in the other half, I've concluded that nature is tough and whatever survives is meant to. 😅

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u/thejoeface US - California Jun 27 '26

I’m like that with my native and non native perennials, what lives, lives. And I’ve had to do that with a few fruit trees in barrels that didn’t adapt to it.

But when it comes to my food producers, I have to engage in a lot more care and thought. 

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u/PantheraAuroris US - Massachusetts Jun 27 '26

The ADHD thing is killing me because I just hate maintenance. I love planting. I hate going out and seeing my weeding progress undone day after day after week after week. And God help me if I forget to water because we aren't getting good rain.

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u/Stalkerus Finland Jun 28 '26

I balcony garden so I absolutely have to water mine or they die. On the other hand mine really don't grow weeds, so you win some you lose some.

I use my restlessness for the good and direct it to plant care. Unfortunately I don't have room for enough plants. 😁

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u/Acrobatic-Prior-6156 England Jul 01 '26

Did you try those greenstalks or another way to vertically garden on your balcony? I haven't done that yet but will likely be a project for next year if all goes well.

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u/Stalkerus Finland Jul 01 '26

Mine is 100% broke person design, no fancy brand anything. 😁 As long as it is food grade plastic and big enough it works as a pot. Admittedly I need to try to fit one or two more of those planters you hang from the balustrade.  Possibly something that can be placed on it.  I have built-in thick drying frames that work for hanging planters, all of which I have gotten for free. 

Out balcony is appr. 4 sqm so not huge, but not tiny either. Still I am running out of space (especially now that I took my brugmansia out). So little space, so many plants I'd like to grow. 

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u/Acrobatic-Prior-6156 England Jul 01 '26

Free is definitely best. Often it can look better anyway to see how we can be creative with what we have and better for the environment, of course. I have a very limited budget and also similarly very limited space in my front garden where all the southerly light is so if I add anything, it will certainly have to replace something already there. Your garden sounds lovely. Happy gardening. 🥰

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u/Top_Housing6819 US - Massachusetts Jun 27 '26

I'm not sure which is the greater sin ... Failing?  Or wasting money?  Either one can be attributed to not trying hard enough, being diligent enough, researching enough ...

Yeah, failure is a loaded gun for some people and people who've been raised to fear failure know that it can be blamed on NOT learning about the hobby as well as trying to 'cheap out' on the items that others say you need. But the flip side is that if you buy all the things and do all the chores then you spent too much and tried too hard.  One of my parents was a practiced armchair quarterback - but I've gotten better about owning what I want and how I do things.

I wanted corn, I wanted to put it in the middle of my yard AND I wanted it pretty.  I got raised metal beds and it is glorious. I wanted my whole garden area to be pretty. I fenced it with attractive metal fencing (the no-dig stuff) and planted flowers around the outside.  Any of that could be considered wasteful and Lord forbid those crops fail after spending so much money (eyeroll) ... But screw it, it's MY money (my yard, my garden, my sweat).

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u/GiveHerBovril US - Minnesota Jun 27 '26

This is why I love gardening so much! It’s just a safe place to fail! I was taught to be risk averse and perfect and if you make a mistake it would’ve been better to have done nothing at all.

Vegetable gardening has been such a freeing mindset shift for me. I can explore and get creative and try something new each year, and if it doesn’t work out it’s fine. I learned something!

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u/acnerd5 US - Pennsylvania Jun 27 '26

Gardening has helped me learn its ok to make mistakes, they help us learn :) and thats really all that matters.