I am in the process of beginning a brand new hobby, because apparently six hundred hobbies is not enough for me. I have an intense desire to be a beekeeper. How strange is that? I know! I've enlisted the help of my grandfather, who knows slightly more than I do about bees, but not much. We spent part of this evening watching youtube videos on how to install a package of bees into a hive. I think we know what to expect when they arrive one week from today! It is a weird thing to be excited about, but my brain won't stop being excited about it.
Even though I have bees on the brain this week, all this beautiful weather has me thinking about my garden too. Today I want to share some ideas for some things we can do now to get ready for a successful gardening season.
I'm sure many of you are a billion times more experienced than I am, but maybe some of you have never tried to grow anything. I'd like to encourage you to give it a try. You can start small. That's what I did. Two years ago we built two 4'X8' frames using saw mill lumber and started a couple of raised bed gardens. I read THIS book on Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew who pioneered the whole concept. This is an updated version of his original book which sold over two million copies.
Last year in our two raised beds we planted 4 tomato plants, 3 peppers, onions, okra, beans, some herbs, carrots, eggplant, lettuce, spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. The cost outweighs your savings the first year, but in following years you can really make a dent in your weekly grocery bill by growing your own produce.
Maybe a raised bed is too much to take on right now. That's okay. You can also try container gardening. The internet is full of resources to help you whether you live in a subdivision with a small yard like we do, in a condo with a postage stamp sized yard, or in an apartment with NO yard. I've learned that where there is a will, there is a way. We are fortunate to have so many great resources available to us. The internet is full of wonderful articles and videos that can be accessed for free. You can have free access to hundreds of books at your local library. I find myself wanting to own the best books available on any subject so I can access the information anytime.
Okay, enough blabbing... Lets talk about some things we can do NOW to get our gardens ready.
1. Make a plan for what plants you want to grow this year. Consider how much space you have. Last year I planted a couple squash and zucchini in my small beds and they took over! I might plant them somewhere else this year. However, if you want something that is easy to grow, plant squash and zucchini. Take my word for it when I say you will only need 2-3 of each at MOST! Even then, you will still be giving it away.
2. Look up when is the best time to plant those particular plants in your area. You have two options. You can buy plants from a nursery or farmer's market or plant seeds. It is usually less expensive to plant seeds. It also gives you the ability to get the exact variety of plant you want. Seed catalogs have many different varieties of each plant. If you plan to plant tomatoes, you might have ten different options if you buy plants at a nursery, but if you order seeds you might have fifty different options. It is fun to browse through the seed catalogs and see all the different plants available.
Some of the seed catalogs I use are Johnny's seeds, Baker's Creek, and Seed Savers. They all specialize in heirloom varieties that are non-GMO.
If you choose to plant from seed, on the back of the packet it will tell you how many days before planting you should start the seeds indoors. This way you start with a plant that is a couple inches tall and will have fruit much sooner than by planting the seeds directly into the soil.Click HERE to see a sampling of ways you can start your seeds indoors.
Be sure to check the last frost date for your area to help you determine when to plant. You can look it up here.
3. Try container gardening. There are many things you can grow in pots. Lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, just about anything really. Just make sure you have good soil and proper spacing. Herbs are easy to grow in pots and you can bring them inside in the fall to extend their growing season. It is really fun to cook with fresh herbs, especially if you grew them in your own garden. Look at just a few of the ways you can grow plants in containers. Don't allow yourself to be limited by space. There are so many creative options, anyone can find a way to grow at least some of their own produce.
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4. Prepare your soil. Good dirt is the key to successful gardening. This is true whether you are planting a traditional garden, doing raised beds, or container gardening. This is where your plants get the nutrition they need to produce nutritious vegetables. In our raised beds we use composted leaves from the trees behind our house along with Black Kow manure and mushroom compost. It is a pretty equal mix of the three with a bag of vermiculite mixed in. Vermiculite is a natural substance that is mined from all over the world. It expands with heat and holds a lot of moisture. This makes it an ideal soil amendment for your garden. It makes your soil light and holds moisture. Peat moss is also a good thing to add from time to time as it also makes your soil hold moisture better, which is particularly useful during the hottest days of summer.
The time to add these amendments to your soil is now, before you plant, for what I hope are obvious reasons. Last year I tried my hand at composting and pretty much failed. I was inconsistent about turning it and adding to it regularly, but we did add what we made to the garden bed this year and mixed it in with the other. I can't stress the importance of getting a good base.
This year I plan to do more container gardening than I have done in the past. I will use the manure, mushroom compost, peat moss, and vermiculite for the containers. The advantage of having a light soil is that the roots can grow freely and quickly. You can also plant much closer than you can in a traditional bed, so if space is a factor, definitely look into this.
5. Clean out your beds from last year if you have them, or begin preparing them for this year. It only took about an hour for me and my youngest to pull the weeds that had started growing since fall. The advantage to this soil mix, is that it is so loose that weeds pull out easily and bring their whole root system with them. It is oddly satisfying. Here are before and after pics of our beds.
If you are starting from scratch, allow a full weekend to get it done. You can purchase raised bed kits at garden centers. When we built ours in 2013 we used saw mill lumber and made 4'X8' beds, which is a common size. You can make them any size you like, to fit your space. It is not recommended to go more than 4' deep because you want to be able to access every area without having to step into the dirt. Soil compaction is to be avoided at all costs. It is the loose soil that allows you to be able to plant in 32 square feet what would normally take 3-5 times the space.
6. Plant. There are some plants that prefer cooler weather, and now is the time to get them in the ground. Lettuce, kale, spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower are examples of cold loving plants. I planted two kinds of leaf lettuce, spinach and kale this past weekend by direct sowing into the newly spiffed up beds.
The idea of growing your own vegetables can be intimidating if you don't have any experience. Pick a couple of things you would like to grow and read up on the best way to get started. Remember, start small so you don't get over whelmed. You can build slowly by adding some new things each year. That is what we are doing. Have fun and happy gardening!
Kristy
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