How old were you when you figured out that different plants in the garden have different leaves? I was yesterday years old. LOL. No really, it has taken me years to learn to pay close attention to leaf shape, size and the vascular bundles—you know, the specialized cells called xylem and phloem, which transport water, nutrients, and food throughout the plant… Too technical? Yeah, let’s just call them veins.

A few growing seasons ago, I forgot to put the little tag/label in the plant cups for the squash and cucumbers I was planting. Oh boy, that was awful but at least we were not selling plants at the time! A family member asked me what was growing in the garden space and I told him “cuash” (cucumber/squash) because I couldn’t tell what they were at that stage. This was pre-Google Lens so I had to figure it out the old fashioned way: waiting and watching. Waiting for the leaves to grow bigger and then looking online for photos of plant leaves until I could correctly identify the plant.

Now that I am a bit more “mature” (both in age and in growing experience!), I don’t always need the tags/labels anymore. I can identify all of the plants that I grow by their leaf shape, color, size and/or smell. Some leaf identification is simple because they are unique, such as sorrel and nasturtium. Others that are similar often take a little bit of effort, like bell, cayenne and jalapeño peppers. I still use a tag for those.

So if you’re getting confused by your plants, be sure to tag them as you plant them. Otherwise, take some time to study the leaves, their growth cycle and rates, feeding needs. We will all become master gardeners in time!

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Gardening is an exciting hobby, especially when the plants, and/or their fruits, are ready to eat. Pre-order plants for each growing season and order herbs year-round at our online store or come out to see us on opening day of the Canton Farmers’ Market on Saturday June 28th.

Let’s grow something!

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A quiz before you go: What are these plants?

[ANSWER: yellow squash and pickling cucumber]