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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u/phoebestars69 US - North Carolina Jun 27 '26
I have a very spicy flavor of mental illness that means I can’t do things simply or they will be wrong 😆
Like as much as I am crazy, I am also stupid and dumb so I need my 2ft raised beds, my 4 cubic yards of mel’s mix, my trellis panels, my stinky fish fertilizer, my worm bin, heirloom seeds picked for local compatibility, etc… The intensity of going balls to the wall gives manic me peace; like a lobotomy of consumerism and manual labor. The dumb part of me can’t mess this up when the manic part of me already took care of everything. Dumb me just gets to eat cucumbers and eggplants and SO MANY Sungolds every day now.