Sponsored by: Tractor Supply Company
As food prices continue to rise. A lot of us may be going to dig in the garden this spring to grow our own. So how do we get started? I am not a green thumb. By any means, we’ve got Tyler Potts from tractor supply joining us now with some tips for
A spring garden project and maybe it will possibly help with those grocery bills. I like the sound of that. Tyler, thank you so much for joining us. So, what are some of the latest trends you’re seeing right now in the gardening world first? Thank you for letting us join this morning uh to
Talk a little bit about gardening and what we’re seeing. Uh So we’re seeing more and more people uh become more aware of not only the quality uh but where they’re consuming their food from. So more and more people are getting into gardening. Uh and it’s not just your traditional in ground gardening,
It’s more of an increase in your raised bed and container gardens as uh people are getting more uh wanting that instant gratification uh for a patio already. Uh vegetable or herb. Yeah. So does it matter though? Which one we choose if we prefer in ground or raised bed.
So it doesn’t matter. Uh It just depends on what the person’s looking for. So there’s definitely pros to each one. from an in ground garden, you have uh a lot more space so you can have a lot more variety of the plants that you’re planting.
Uh What is important here is you wanna make sure your soil is good quality. Uh So you want to stop by your local county extension office and do, do a soil test if you haven’t done so already. Uh, a raised bed garden as what we’re seeing. I mentioned a pretty big increase in
The good thing about a raised bed is you can control the quality of the soil which leads to one less weeds and less pest. Uh, and it’s a perfect height for someone looking for that as well and then a container garden. Uh,
This is what my wife and I do just because we are very restricted on space right now. Uh So think about your patios, your balconies. Uh, someone who’s wanting to mainly just get into the hobby but doesn’t have the space and,
Or someone who doesn’t need a lot of plants, they just need one or two, for their growing season. Yeah. So just a little something for everybody. Right. No excuses there. Since we have plenty of options. Now, if we want to start a vegetable garden, what should we have on our checklist.
So there’s really three main things you need to know before you go into your local store. Uh, one being, what zone are you in? Uh, you wanna make sure that you pick the appropriate plants for your zone. Uh, you wanna make sure, you know your last average frost date, uh,
And make sure you don’t plant the plants before that day because to cause any harm, uh, to your yield in the spring. Uh Then you wanna make sure that you know what you’re gonna plant as far as uh in ground,
A raised bed or a container and make sure you have the adequate space and then last would be your sunlight. Uh Your sunlight is really important. Vegetables love the sun uh for a tomato plant for an example. Um Do you wanna make sure you have enough sun to make
Sure that you can get the most yield out of your plant? Uh And then once you have all three of these things visit your local store, uh Jacksonville has an awesome garden center. I would definitely recommend you going in there. Um And you have everything you need from soil fertilizer,
All the tools and the plants uh there for your purchase. Yeah, we are, we have a tractor supply by our house. We’ve already made the run for the, the weed and feed and everything. Our grass is already looking really nice.
I know that’s not necessarily the case for uh some areas of our, of the country. Um But yeah, things are looking really good here and we do go to tractor supply for our supplies. Um But in terms of you, you talked about the yield,
What plants will give us the more bang for our buck in terms of vegetables. Yes. Um, the uh tomato plant is definitely the plant that I would recommend. One. It’s really easy to grow if you’re new to gardening. Uh, there’s also tons of different varieties of the tomato plant.
Um, and the yield roughly depends on the, the health of the plant and also the variety you’re looking at 20 to 90 tomatoes throughout the growing season, which is really important, especially if you’re trying to save some money at the grocery store this year. Um, other thing too, uh, is if you’re
Exactly, and if you’re not, if you’re new to vegetables, um, and you don’t want to do a vegetable garden, you can always do an herb garden. Uh, that’s a really good way to get into the hobby, but also a lot of times they’re called, uh, for and Recipes.
Yeah. I think that’s probably where I’ll start. I feel like that seems a little safer for me than maybe a little container garden. So where can we go for more information on everything? So, definitely stop by your local store. As mentioned. Y’all have tons of garden centers, uh, in the Jacksonville area.
Uh the team members as a former team member myself, I can tell you they’re equipped with the knowledge and they’re eager to help anyone from the uh experienced gardener to someone who’s new to the hobby. Uh If you need more details than that, you can visit tractorsupply.com/garden and it looks
Like you’ve got a farmer’s almanac there. I haven’t seen one of those in a while. Yes, I do. So, if you need more details, then outside the tractor supply website, you can always visit your trusty farmers almanac for more details there on your zones and your frost date. Very cool. Well,
Thank you so much for helping us out with that today and everyone at home if you’d like to see this interview again for those tips one more time. Just head to first coast news.