Spring Garden Planting!

Now that the fun and excitement of Winter is headed to its end and life is getting back to some since of normal for you and your family, it’s time to get busy on your garden and start planning for that Spring garden planting.

After spending time researching on what to plant it may be realization sinks in that this could be some major work.  What to plant, how to plant, when to plant, what will grow, should I start my tomatoes from seed or just buy starts, what do I need to do for the type soil I have, and what exactly in order should I be planting.  All these are questions and need answers.

A Spring garden planting may be slightly intimidating and is not for the weary of heart. Remember, everyone was an amateur at some point, starting out with little knowledge and pretty much always seeking advice with questions and help.   What you need to know is Today just by using the internet more than any other time in history you can do a serious download on the brain with the mountains of information and education out here and it is all easy to find. The Internet is full of great gardening advice in many areas.

What we will look at are points to consider about your garden and the initial planning with tools that will be helpful in building your gardening expertise and problem solving.

Right about now on the East Coast is your time to start planning for what you want to do in your garden.  Just get the planning started, then continue to work on it as ideas come along.  This way, you won’t be caught short when time is ready to dig in.

Key Points for Spring Garden Planting

1. Review year before. How did it do? Did you start enough seeds/seedlings to compensate for your losses with transplanting, weather, and animals. Were plants healthy and productive, or were there issues that needed more research, such as pests, insects, disease, weather conditions to plan for or try to mitigate to get that exceptional Spring garden planting.

2. Plan early for varieties and longer growing season.  This isn’t just the typical beginner’s mistake, many experienced gardeners get caught out on the timing for their spring garden planting. We’ll show you how to do the date planning. It is just a matter of writing down the seed starting dates on a garden calender and sticking to your plan.

If you give yourself at least the one week “cushion” on the timing, you won’t be as stressed if you can’t get the seeds started or transplanted on the date you may have chosen, whether due to busy schedules, weather, or some unforeseen happening.

3. Try variety.   It may be something that you don’t think you’ll like, or it may be something you’ve never had fresh just moments before from your own garden.

4. Make a plan. This will greatly help with spacing, intensive planting, succession planting, and growing more food in your the space you have designated for your spring garden planting.   Download and use a Garden Journal for more information and help.  The Old Farmer’s Almanac has a Vegetable Garden Planner that has a guide for getting started for your Spring garden planting.

5. Pick an herb this year. You won’t believe the exquisite flavor that one fresh herb can bring to the aroma within your kitchen and meals. If you have previously grown herbs before, or are growing some currently, then try a new one.  As an idea, try something that is used extensively in cooking like Basil, Oregano or Thyme. All of these can be dried and used year round, with the added benefit of saving money versus buying expensive dried herbs and get your Spring garden planting moving out.

6. Plant to improve garden production. These can be herbs or flowers and will dramatically help your garden’s production.  Just one or two varieties planted throughout the garden can make a huge difference.

7. Plan to save one of your variety seeds this year. Start with something easy and something that you are interested in and want to try. Do a google search on Seed Saving articles to get started, or take a look at these books- “The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds” is a new book that has great illustrations and introductions, while “Seed to Seed” is the established reference for all things seed saving.

8. Plant and share.   Consider your spring garden planting to provide additional for a neighbor, senior center home, or food bank.  Plant an extra row if possible, a couple of plants extra if space is small. The difference even one gardener can make in another’s life is very rewarding.

9. Involve your kids. Have them help plan the garden and plant something just for them.  Start them on growing food and learning where our food comes from and how it makes it to the table. You will be surprised at how interested kids are in doing these kind of things with the garden once they are there. Combine this with #7 above and help them learn the full cycle of the garden from planting a seed to harvesting a seed.

10. Prepare a wonderful meal with your kids. Plan a simple and easy to make meal.  Have them help harvest, clean, and prepare the meal and you will see the little lights shine up in their eyes of what they have accomplished.

Here’s how to view it, when following the certain steps and guidance you will have a better garden, more fresh veggies, and more food. You can give some to your neighbor, who notices your garden is much more productive, disease, insect and pest resistant and they ask how you do it with your Spring garden planting. You share what you learned and they will possibly want to have a garden too and do the same as you.

Now that you have plenty of ideas of what to do with your garden this year, how do you get started?

Getting the timeline down is one of the hardest parts, as there is some real confusion on when to start seeds, when to till the soil, when to direct sow these seeds and transplant those to get great food growing in your garden. There is no fail-proof method, as even experienced can make mistakes or be thrown off by an early spring followed up by a sneaky late cold snap that kills seedlings.  Just do an internet search on the term “First and Last Frost Dates by Zip Code” to see where you fall and allow you to plan accordingly.

Final on Spring Garden Planting

One last mention is to leave you with is your local Master Gardeners. Make sure you search for this on the internet so you can be informed and by the way it sure is easier now that the internet lets us find information so easily.

The Master Gardener manual will list good planting timelines for local conditions for pretty much all of the garden crops, what kind of production can be expected for each crop and how many feet of garden to plant per person.

Ok, well a wealth of information to help get more out of your garden and some great tools to get the planning and timing under control.  It can seem like you need to be paid like a job to get this together which maybe in your mind is tiring, so start small and simple, get a good feel for it and then expand as you can. Make sure to use a Garden Journal to keep track of what worked well for you and what did not so that you do not repeat your mistakes.   I wish you God’s Blessings for a Beautiful and Wonderful Spring garden planting this year.