February brings ridiculous amounts of snow here in the mitten state and in complete contrast so many garden dreams. I seem to spend more time on Pinterest oohing and ahhing over all the latest container garden ideas, new woodland perennials and herbal annuals, unique flowers for our home and seeing it all flourish under the warm glow of our favorite sun. There is nothing like putting your hands in the warm soil for the first time in Spring. I love to see the trees budding and eagerly anticipate a fresh breeze floating into our open windows full of rich floral notes. I’m giddy with excitement. As we get older, our investments in food, plant medicine, trees and berries, foraging for mushrooms and such only continue to become a bigger part of our everyday lives. Today I thought it might be fun to share how we prepare our vegetable gardens here in zone 5a. I’ll tackle herbs and flowers in another post.
What is your plant hardiness zone?
You’ll first want to know what zone you live in. This will be important in learning your growing season, what plants do well in your area, how early to start seeds and when you should be safe for sowing directly into the soil outdoors. You can find your plant hardiness zone here.
What location and soil conditions are you working with?
Second, you need to decide where you’re going to garden. Do you have shade, part sun or full sun and is your soil ready for plants? If you’re developing a garden spot outside for the first time, you’ll want to remove the grass and weeds on top, till up the soil to loosen the dirt, remove any sharp stones and rocks, and then test the pH of your soil. There are various at-home DIY ideas online (like normal, just google it) or you can take a soil sample to your local Health Department or agricultural office for analysis. With those results, you can decide what kind of fertilizer or nutrients you may want to consider adding to your soil. Don’t skip this step! Healthy soil produces healthy plants and an abundant harvest!
Also its also a good time to decide if you want to try container gardens, raised beds, trellis and vertical growing, lettuce and microgreen tables or sow directly into the ground. We do a little bit of all of them and place plants/seeds based on their growing needs. If you’re really new to the gardening scene and not sure its for you, try a few tomato plants in containers and/or a small patch of fresh dirt for cucumbers, beans, squash and carrots. Herbs are easy to grow in your window ledge or box or a nice container on your back deck. Even as a seasoned gardeners, we still get out the graph paper to plan where things are going to go. Hubs and I tend to look at each other and say “Where was this going to go now?” if I don’t.
Lets shop for seeds!
Next, lets choose some seeds! This is one of my favorite things to do! It brings so much hope while winter is still hanging on. And please, please, please GO ORGANIC!! The whole idea behind having a garden is to keep healthy plants and sustain your families nutritional needs. Chemicals shouldn’t be part of this process! My favorite seed suppliers are also NON-GMO and I try to pick heirloom seeds too! Most heirloom seed varieties have been around for MANY years and yield delicious dependable crops which are often naturally disease resistant. Did you know there are almost a million specimens of heirloom seeds stored in a special vault in the arctic!!??
Based on where you live, you may need to start some seeds indoors while the risk of cold temps and frost passes. This year we started about 400 seedlings including jalapenos, brussel sprouts, sweet red peppers, 2 varieties of cabbage, eggplant, 5 varieties of tomatoes, 3 varieties of cherry tomatoes (its my year to preserve tomatoes) and some herbs. If your seeds don’t germinate well or tend not to be very prolific, don’t worry! Local farms and home stores often have sales on live plants once its prime time for planting. Its important to note where the plants came from, if they were chemically treated for growth and diseased and if they will be beneficial to your garden and mini ecosystem at home.
Our favorite seed resources NOT associated with Monsanto/Bayer right now are here:
For several years now, most all our vegetables seeds come from High Mowing. We have had really good performance with germination, overall growth and produce production.
Often when I am looking for unique varieties or something special in a small quantity, I find it here. This year, I really was hoping for Moon and Stars Watermelon… sure enough, they had ’em! I picked up a few others too.
My FAVORITE resource for all things herbal! They are so passionate about quality product and great customer service. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, they often will help you find a dependable source for it! Truly a gem when shopping for herbal plants and seeds.
Heirloom seed and rare seed jackpot! Just go look for yourself! Its amazing!
Planting
Once all your seed packets have arrived, separate what needs to be sown indoors and what can be put directly into your soil after danger of frost. Beans, peas, cucumbers, squash and gourds, pumpkins, sweet corn and watermelon can all be sown directly into the fresh dirt. We protect the small plants with buckets or gardening cloths on chilly nights.
For the seeds that need to be started indoors or in a greenhouse, follow the directions on the seed packet. Some seeds need to be scored or soaked prior to planting. Some need a cold snap in your fridge. Some like to start in a plastic bag hanging in a sunny window. Remember doing that in elementary school with beans?!? Now, fill the starter containers with organic potting soil, water it pretty good (not saturated but definitely wet), plant seeds and then cover lightly. I gently pack the soil to ensure the seed wont wash away with watering. While the seeds are still very small and vulnerable, I only water from the bottom of the tray. I let the soil carry up the moisture to the seeds. Once I see true leaves (often the second set of leaves on the seedling) I will then very carefully water from the top. Once your plants have grown into sturdy green kids, its time to harden them off and get ready for moving outside.
When sowing outdoors, prep your soil with fresh compost or organic fertilizer and till it in. Sometimes we let it sit overnight or a couple days. Don’t overdue it here. Balancing that soil pH is key for successful gardening. This can be a big job too depending on the tools you have at hand. Try not to rush it. I mean, at least have a couple beers on hand. 😉 We will water our soil after fertilizing to instigate release of nutrients and also to measure how fast the water soaks in. If you have very sandy soil or very thick, hard packed clay-like soil, this is important. You don’t want the plants to dry up mid day or worse drowned because the water doesn’t have anywhere to go. You may want to avoid raw cow or sheep manure. Its great at enriching your soil, but will bring LOTS of weeds with it.
Now lets lay down some seeds. We like to keep things in lines or hills depending on the plant. Carrots, onions, beets, radishes and like root vegetables (corn too) do well planted in lines. Potatoes, cucumbers, squash, gourds, watermelon, pumpkins and zucchini do well planted in small hills so their vines can spread out. Also research companion planting. Plants often help each other grow and Pinterest has some great visuals. Seeing our beans climb up the corn stalks is just awesome! Don’t forget to provide stakes, trellises and labels for your freshly sown garden!
Harvest
Once plants start producing, its time to harvest! Be prepared to check on your crops daily. I swear those little cucumbers will grow 3 inches bigger in one night. Have a good plan as to what you want to eat fresh, preserve, sell or give away. I’d hate to see all of your hard work go to waste and or worse yet rot on the vine. Don’t be alarmed if your early producers don’t look so good in later summer. For example, our peas and beans provide early yields and once they are done we let the whitetail deer gobble up the rest of the plants. In their place, we plant something for a late autumn harvest such as a quick germinating squash or some speedy lettuce greens.
Tips & Tricks
- Start small. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
- Once plants have established well, try to water in early morning and late evening to prevent scorching the leaves. Talk to them and share your love for them. I promise they will be grateful for your diligent care and genuine affection for the earth.
- Collect rainwater which has tempered to ambient warmth instead of shocking plants with cold well water.
- Make your own compost if you can. Its really great for the earth, cuts back on waste and helps enrich your soil. Be prepared for unwanted guests (raccoons, skunks, etc) trying to get to your food scraps!
- Space out plants as directed on the seed packages. Often thinning out your crops will create stronger plants in the long run. I hate doing this. I always feel bad for my little seedlings.
- Regularly till soil with a hoe or small rake. Keeping the worms and health bacteria happy with some fresh air is a good thing! Gardens are living ecosystems! 🙂
- Yank those weeds. Hubs and I take turns with this task. Using mulch, a weed barrier cloth or planting ground cover helps control their growth.
- Avoid RoundUp and chemical herbicides like the friggin’ plague!! These chemicals are now being shown to strip plants of their nutrients, interrupt our hormones and enzymes, chelate the trace minerals and nutrients our bodies need as well as poison our water supply and native wildlife species. Just say NO!
- Well established plants are often more susceptible to disease and pests. Keep a look out for beetles, bad worms and bugs, rogue leaves, mold or severe plant malformations. Treat the situation naturally (we love essential oils for this), prune if its an option and/or remove the plant from your garden.
- Keep a garden journal of what works for you and what didn’t. Its nice to look back year after year to see how far you’ve come.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Most all communities have garden clubs, agricultural gurus, arborists, horticulture and permaculture specialists, old farmers, even better farmers wives. I find gardens and growers alike love to trade seeds, plants, veggies and stories.
- Once you have a little experience under your belt, research permaculture practices in your area. These regenerative activities encourage happy soil, plants and people to live in a more sustainable fashion and offset our carbon footprint.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself. Not everything will be successful all the time and that’s okay. Replant or start over next year.
I hope this has inspired you to get your hands dirty and start an organic garden. Please use this as a source of inspiration as it’s what works for us! The beauty of growing your own is you can plant and dream any way you would like!
If you have any good tips and tricks or ideas for us, please share! We’re always excited to try something new.
XOXO,
