By Samaya Murillo
Secretary Sadie Kennedy began gardening three years ago because she enjoyed watching things grow. Her favorite plants are “zinnias, because they are really easy to grow, and at the end of the season you just cut the heads and save the seeds till next year.”
One of the things that Sadie really enjoys growing is tomatoes. This included a silly garden story that had her painting a tomato while her dog kept eating it.
Kennedy said that one of the hardest parts of gardening for her is the bugs, since they get everywhere. Sadie had the most success with pumpkins last year, calling them “the biggest crop we ever had.”
Sadie gave the first steps on what should be done before setting a goal to start a garden: “Do some research, especially on companion plants.” She then gave a tip on gardening, “Just try it, if it dies, it dies.”
Someone who also shared this interest is Mrs. Fay, a business and computer science teacher. “She has a big, huge garden.”
Mrs. Fay shared her own gardening experience. “I have been gardening for about 7 years now. Our garden is typically about 25 by 10 feet, so it is a pretty large garden.” She prefers her own homegrown food to that of the store. “My tomato soup and salsa are bussin!”
Mrs. Fay approaches pruning by saying, “You should have pruners and there are techniques that should be done, but no need to buy more things.” Mrs. Fay says she pulls things off that are in her way with her hands.
Mrs. Fay's favorite flower is the spider mum; she has said that she will be planting one soon. One of her favorite garden plants is her tomatoes. Her second favorite would be beets since they are so easy, “You just plant them and pick them, they require nothing else.”
One of the plants she had most success with in her garden is her tomatoes: “We usually have about 20 tomato plants and will harvest hundreds of pounds.” Mrs. Fay also preserves canned salsa, tomato soup, spaghetti sauce, rotel, tomato juice, and diced tomatoes.
The hardest part of gardening for Mrs. Fay was the weeds, “They grow faster than everything else! Also, the squash bugs…… I spent so much time looking for and killing squash bugs. They still got my spaghetti squash plants this year. So I only managed to get one spaghetti squash and I was sad.”
A silly garden mishap that Mrs. Fay has had would be about one of her spaghetti squashes named Bobby. “My kids laughed at me because when the squash bugs got to my plant and I only had one spaghetti squash on the vine, I named him Bobby! Every time I went to the garden, I said I was checking on Bobby. I still have him on my counter because it is just bigger than a softball, so that wouldn't be big enough for a meal. I will have to buy more.”
A first step given by Mrs. Fay was, “The first step would be to think about what you will actually use. Try something small and only a few things at first. If you overdo it, it can get overwhelming very quickly.”
Fay then went on to give tips to people who want to start gardening, “Tips would be to start small and try at least one new thing each year. Focus on the things your family eats the most. Also, start with easy plants!”
Fay, who shares the same interest as Sadie, has not seen her garden, but she would like to talk to her about it soon.