There is such a thing as too much gardening research — even for someone who knows very little about gardening.

Sure, taking hourly pictures of my balcony** to determine that the space is too shady for tomato plants showed me I should, um, stop trying to grow tomatoes on my balcony. That spurred me to get ideas on what could actually grow in less-sunny conditions, then design a more appropriate garden.**

At that point is when I should’ve stopped — and actually started creating the garden. But buoyed by my plans for a more perfect garden, I kept researching to make my garden-to-be. Now, I’m overwhelmed by all the little things I could — should? — do to make my garden perfect.

It all started with reading too many articles of Michelle Obama’s garden. In my defense, so many articles were written about her garden that reading too much about it was practically unavoidable. I especially liked the more in depth look at the implications of the garden laid out in Michelle Obama’s Fresh Food Revolution** in Yes! magazine. But reading about the impressive garden can quickly get intimidating. We’re talking about a “1,100-square-foot plot that will feature fifty-five kinds of vegetables” plus “various herbs and berries” plus “two boxes of bees for pollination” that “could spark a new green revolution!” Now my 16-square-foot, 4-veggie balcony garden seems a little pathetic.

I should’ve stopped reading there, but I kept seeking out new gardening posts — and found a post on how to make a garden even greener on the In My Kitchen Garden blog.** I was hoping for ideas I could easily apply to my container-grown chard — but this was the first tip: “Fertilize with manure from the sheep, donkeys, and chickens.” Hmmmm…. Must first move, get sheep, raise them, harvest manure…..

And the tips didn’t get any easier from there. Remember my debate about what composter to get,** if any, to recycle my kitchen waste and help fertilize my garden? Yes, that means I don’t have a composter, as of yet — which is why In My Kitchen Garden’s second tip, “Keep five compost bins full of kitchen and yard waste,” also didn’t sit well with me.

Clearly, I needed gardening advice that didn’t require so much — effort. Which is why I was happy to run into Kelly Rossiter’s Earth Day post on Treehugger.** Her advice: Listen to your garden. Apparently, if you listen carefully, you can hear tulips and daffodil bulbs break through the earth and move the dead leaves that were above them! You do, however, have to have tulips and daffodils planted in your garden to actually achieve this sound effect.

I’ll make do with just listening to the recording of Kelly’s garden** — and now, just get to the work of actually getting my garden together. That is, after I resolve the whole composter debate…

Photo via The White House

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