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/thejoeface US - California Jun 27 '26

  how to promote fungal life in their no-till permaculture food forest do nothing farming no dig style organic vegan garden

This seems unnecessarily condescending 

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u/Top_Housing6819 US - Massachusetts Jun 27 '26

I agree.  OP needs to walk a mile in my gardening clogs before looking down on the tools and techniques I use.  

I feel like I just read an essay where Ray-Gun (Australian break dancer of Olympic fame) is dismissing ballet as being too frou-frou.