When Amy Ballard wants green beans, she goes downstairs and grabs a jar that she canned last year that were grown in her garden. When she wants eggs, she goes outside and collects them from the hens.
During a pandemic, simple pleasures like this mean even more.
“We’re very thankful that we have a garden because of what’s happened,” Ballard said.
Ballard and her husband, along with their three daughters, moved to Franklin two years ago. They looked for a large property because they wanted to have a garden. They felt it was important to teach their children how much work goes into growing food and how it doesn’t just miraculously appear in grocery stores.
“They’ve enjoyed seeing it grow, the harvesting,” Ballard said. “We have a couple teenagers, so they grumble a little bit about the harvesting part of it, but they’ve definitely enjoyed having fresh vegetables that we grew. I do think they taste better.”
It’s likely there will be more green thumbs in Macon County than previous years.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic and the stay-at-home order by North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, many people are working from home and are spending more time there than ever.
Because entertainment options are very limited, it’s created an abundance of free time. Many people are using this to plan and prepare to plant a summer garden.
For anyone looking to start a garden for the first time, some basic guidelines will go a long way to reaping a bountiful harvest later this year.
Determining where to start a garden is very important. Christine Bredenkamp, Macon County extension director, said you’ll want the garden spot to receive direct sunlight for 8-10 hours a day. Also, having a water source nearby is beneficial for when it doesn’t rain enough or with regular frequency.
Next, you’ll want to get a soil sample test. The cooperative extension office, which shares a building with Macon County Soil and Water located at 191 Thomas Heights Road, has boxes available for the dirt, along with paperwork and instructions.
Gardeners send their soil to the N.C. Department of Agriculture lab in Raleigh. The test is free from now until Dec. 1 (and $4 from then until April 1).
The office typically performs 8,000 samples a month during peak season, Bredenkamp said. However, she noted the normal turnaround of 5-10 working days to get the results isn’t holding true because of the pandemic.
She still encourages people to send in their soil samples, and once the full staff returns working, hopefully it will expedite the process.
The cooperative extension office can help gardeners determine how much lime and fertilizer their garden needs.
“That will help transform your potential plot night and day to just really take off,” Bredenkamp said.
Knowing what you want to plant is important, and so is keeping a record year after year. You’ll want to track where you plant certain items and rotate vegetable families.
“That helps minimize disease and insect incidents,” Bredenkamp said. “It doesn’t eliminate it, but it helps to reduce that and minimize that.”
The recommended time in Macon County to begin planting is after Mother’s Day, May 10. Bredenkamp said folks will be safe planting warm weather vegetables eight out of 10 years if they wait until Mother’s Day.
How much it costs to have a garden obviously varies greatly, depending on the size of the garden and the types of vegetables you want to grow.
“People are understanding that it’s worth the small investment to start a garden at home,” said Katie Doe, farm manager at Winding Stair Farm.
Doe oversees the growing of vegetable starts on the farm. The plants then get transferred to the Winding Stair Nursery located on Highlands Road, where people can sign up for an appointment to visit and make purchases.
“We’re seeing a big uptick in folks starting their own home gardens through our sales at the nursery,” Doe said. “We have a really large variety of naturally grown vegetable plants that are sold at the nursery.”
The nursery offers your basics, such as tomatoes, squash, peppers and cucumbers, to items you might not find at a big box store, such as varieties of kale, broccoli and rainbow chard.
A positive through this crisis, Doe said, is the hope that more people realize the importance of being more self-sustaining and having a connection with the foods they prepare at home.
“So many more people are cooking at home, which is wonderful,” she said. “Gardening is an important part of the process of a home-cooked meal.”
Buying organic food at the store is great, Doe said, but what will ultimately change the food system is if people start home gardens or buy produce from their neighbors.
“Once people understand the time and energy it takes to produce a pepper, that’s when the magic happens,” she said.
Macon County is also home to many gardeners who grow things other than vegetables.
Fern Aspen recently planted 17 peach, apple and cherry trees. She and her husband moved here from Florida two years ago, and she’s transforming their seven-acre property in Burningtown.
She started a vineyard, and has blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. She also has six flower gardens.
When her granddaughters visit, she has them help spread used coffee grounds for fertilizer. However, the coffee grounds take on a magical power for the youngsters.
“We have three granddaughters,” Aspen said, “and we’ll have them ‘sprinkle pixie’ dust on the plants.”
Aspen has taken informational classes that Bredenkamp hosts through the cooperative extension office, and she considers it a fantastic resource.
Dyan Taylor also moved to Franklin two years ago, along with her husband and kids, from Houston, and has used the office for advice for growing flowers.
“I’m way into gardening,” she said. “I am just nutty about it.”
Taylor has planted some foxgloves, peonies and hydrangea. She frequents the Winding Stair Nursery so much she joked they should know her by name.
“Part of this whole gardening thing is really supporting your local gardener and local center,” Taylor said. “I’d much rather give my money to a local business. That’s a big deal.”
Aspen, Taylor and Ballard have all heard mentions from friends who are considering also getting into gardening. They’ve also heard about more people planning on getting chickens so they’ll have their own eggs.
Ballard encourages anyone who’s interested in gardening to give it a shot. It’s great for teaching children where food comes from, plus you can’t beat the taste of fresh vegetables.
“Even the ones in the grocery store have to travel by truck to get here. They’re fresh, but not just-picked fresh. There’s a big difference in that,” Ballard said.
“If more people could be encouraged to do it, I think that would be an awesome thing.”