Tips for those trying their hand at a vegetable garden

Member Spotlight: The Shirleys dig in the dirt to grow community

Why SMI? Sharing out of gratitude

Nina Shirley mainly teaches about gardening through her “Gardening with Nina” course available at The Dirt Academy. But it’s also possible to follow what she’s doing through her Instagram account.

“We post inspirational things from our house in Jupiter, Florida, and also try to give people a behind-the-scenes look at how we grow our own food and raise our livestock,” Nina said.

She offered some tips for those just starting out.

• “Experiment! Build a small garden. Plant some seeds. Try pruning your tomatoes two different ways. Experiment to learn. I think personal experience is the best teacher.”
• “Don’t disturb the soil. There’s a whole microbiome underground that most of the time doesn’t need to be disrupted and is actually a healthy soil structure.” For example, when Nina recently harvested broccoli, she cut it off at the surface level and left the roots in the soil. “It’s like no-till farming, but in raised beds. It’ll feed the microbacteria. When it decomposes, it creates long-term soil structure.”
• “Give yourself grace. When something grows beautifully, celebrate! When other crops crash and burn, learn what you can and move on. A garden is a constant learning curve, and if you embrace the changing seasons and lessons learned, you’ll enjoy it more.”