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I've been getting into gardening lately. I grew some herbs and small vegetables many years ago, but otherwise I am completely new to it again.
Two months ago I made the rookie mistake of using "garden soil" in planters (garden soil is to be used in the ground, or in raised beds) and unfortunately nearly all of the plants died. But the California growing season is forgiving, and I haven't lost much time. Last weekend I bought a strawberry plant, a cherry tomato plant, a larger tomato plant, and six zucchini squash plants. This weekend I'm setting up a drip irrigation system to keep the plants watered, as I have quickly learned that the plants I currently have will need a lot of water.
AI chatbots have been very helpful for answering every question I could possibly have, and capturing the nuances between different varieties. (Certain strawberry varieties have runners that you should snip off to encourage upward growth! Zucchini squash may need hand pollination when flowers appear! Switch to liquid fertilizer when fruiting!) What could've been hours of searching in the library, or talking with the local gardening club, in the good old days, is now a half hour conversation at my desk. In one way, I am glad that I am able to kick off a new hobby successfully, but in another way, I'm a bit sad that I no longer have a reason to get up with the local gardening folks to figure out what's going on.
I've got a lot of planters sitting around. What should I grow next? What is everyone else growing?
On the one hand they're easy to grow and highly productive which is gratifying from the point of view of gardening. On the other hand you'll be inundated with a glut of courgettes that nobody likes eating that will quickly turn into a glut of giant marrows that nobody likes eating.
Now you're talking. People will tell you to propagate more plants from the runners, which is okay up to a point, but you'll end up with a monoculture of plants that all fruit at the same time. If you want more plants consider getting some different varieties that crop early/mid/late to extend the season. I'd also recommend alpine strawberries - they're too tiny for anyone to grow commercially and they taste twice as good.
I'm sceptical of garden techno-fixes. It's often swapping one form of maintenance for another.
For edibles grow things that you love eating, that are expensive and/or rare, and that grow well in your locale. Unless you have acres of garden and are growing for self sufficiency don't waste time growing staples like onions and carrots (or zucchini) that you can buy by the sack for pennies. Soft fruits and fresh herbs are a good choice, cut flowers if you like flowers, or premium vegetables like asparagus. Basically start at the apex of produce and work your way down, not vice versa.
Zucchini bread is a godsend when this happens. It turns out people love zucchini if you bake it into a cake that's full of sugar, butter, and sour cream.
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