Now’s the time to Plan your Vegetable Garden

 

  

Whether you are establishing a new bed or renewing last year’s garden, it’s important to have a plan. Among other things, a plan will help you decide what you’re going to grow this season. Planning your garden now will help you achieve the most in the space and location you have available. Having a plan will also help you apply lessons – good and bad, from past gardening experiences.    

  

When deciding what to plant this year, it’s always good to grow what you’ll eat. If you don’t like beets or broccoli, don’t plant them. Once you’ve made your list of crops to grow, the next question is whether to direct sow, start your own seedlings or buy rooted starter plants from The Flower Bin. The best choice may be a combination of all three.  

  

Many vegetables can and should be sown directly into the garden. This is true because they don’t transplant well.  Cool weather and short season crops are good candidates for direct seeding in the garden, including radishes, beans, carrots, spinach.

Warm weather, long season crops such as tomatoes and peppers need to be started indoors from seed, then transplanted into the garden when the weather moderates.

Buying well-rooted starter plants is also a good option.  

  

  

A plan helps you map out the garden for the full season, from cool spring to warm season crops, then back to cool weather crops in the fall. Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and radishes can be planted in early March. Corn, tomatoes, peppers, and other warm weather crops need to be planted after Mother’s Day. You could plant earlier if you can provide protection against late frosts. By the time August gets here, you’re ready to replant cool weather crops for fall harvest. This is called succession planting and following this plan will optimize the amount of garden space available as well as the length of the season.  

  

Consider your growing experiences from past years. Each season brings its own share of successes and failures. For example, 2023’s tomato crop suffered from sustained 90⁰ temperatures most of the growing season.

Lesson: You may need to supply some afternoon shade for your tomato plants and other vegetables. In seasons past, insects have been a problem. Lesson: Make plans this year to clean up the garden thoroughly before you plant. All this does is emphasize the importance of keeping a log during each gardening season. Taking pictures and writing things down is easy and provides valuable information when it comes to planning your garden.   

  

Plan the garden on paper before you start to plant. Draw a map showing the arrangement and spacing of the crops you want to grow. Arrange crops from tallest to shortest, North to South. Group plants by the length of their growing period. Plant spring crops together so that later crops can be planted in these areas after the early crops mature. Finally, practice crop rotation. Try not to plant the same vegetable or a related vegetable in the same location year after year. This is particularly important with tomato and potato crops.   

    

Whether you’re growing in raised beds, containers, or a traditional in-ground bed, having a plan will help you enjoy the many benefits of gardening, while optimizing your space, and resources.