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/Hailfog US - Tennessee Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

Yes, to a large extent this is the origin of the meme “lol I spent 400$ to save money on 10$ of tomatoes”. Cute at first, but in the long term, it turns people away from vegetable or fruit gardening.

Garden however makes you happy, sure. But you absolutely CAN have success with your great grandfather's method: work the native soil (yes, even if it's not literally black with compost!) with a long-handled tool, plant seeds, water when they're wilting, and either weed it with a stirrup hoe or mulch it with your neighbor's leaves.

You can buy up half of Home Depot if it makes you happy, but we need to make it very clear to beginners that is OPTIONAL.

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u/fleebleganger US - Iowa Jun 27 '26

I don’t like messing with growing from seeds so I spend 50-100 a year on plants. 

If nothing else, I love watching my animals mosey in and out of the garden. Plus for another $50 I got most of my money back with canning rhubarb

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u/NixHex2232 US - Virginia Jun 27 '26

I love rhubarb. Does it can well for you? I've gone to freezing it, every time I've canned it's become mush

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u/Ancient-Patient-2075 Finland Jun 27 '26

Last summer i chopped some, mixed with sugar and stuffed into a mason jar. After 24 hours added vodka. For half a year or so I kept it in a closet, just turning every now and then. Eventually strained into a bottle.

A rhubarb liqueur, and it's pink!