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| Spring garden ready to go! |
Sunday, March 26, 2023
March 21st was the official start of spring season! and April are prime time for cold season crops like greens, cabbage, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, beets, radishes and cauliflower. In March, you can direct sow (plant seeds in an outdoor pot or your garden bed), start seeds indoors or transplant plants that you have bought locally or raised indoors.
It is time to take stock of your garden and plan for getting ready for planting. I plant in pots and in my mulched garden beds. I find that planting edibles in with my flowers not only looks good but the pollinators the flowers attract improves the harvest. Mulching keeps weeds to a bare minimum and adds organic matter each year that plants love.
1. Do a clean up of last year's debris. I leave the seed heads over winter for the birds to eat. Come spring, it is time to clean out all the dead debris and fallen leaves that have blown into the garden bed and pots. Diseases can overwinter in them so it is best to clean the debris out before planting.
2. Prune/divide perennials, bushes and trees. Early spring is a great time to prune and divide. You can see the structures of your bushes and trees clearly this time of year making it easier to decide how to shape them. As perennials sprout, go ahead and start dividing them. Re-planting early in the season gives them time to re-establish their roots before the hot, dry summer is here.
3. Make a list of what you want to plant this year. I make a list at the end of the growing season in fall on what went well and what did not, what I think I want to plant for the next growing season. I have added to it with the new seed catalogs and what we took from the pantry and freezer over the winter. With my final plan in hand, I take a look at what can be planted in pots and what does best in the garden bed. Edible garden plan for 2023
4. Layout the plantings for your existing beds and pots. Verify that you have the space in your garden beds and pots for what you want to grow this season. If you don't, you will either need to pare back the plan or add more planting space. How to develop an edible garden plan
5. Have a soil test done. A soil test will give you exactly what your garden bed needs to be at peak nutrition for your plants. If you don't have the time to do a soil test, at least add compost and natural nitrogen to your beds (manures, alfalfa meal, fish meal, bat guano, etc.). Nitrogen typically needs to be added every year unless you have a nitrogen rich compost. The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals
6. Add amendments like compost and fertilizer, top beds with mulch. Nitrogen will oxidize with the air so you should cover it with soil or mulch after applying to keep it in the soil and available for your edibles.
7. Decide on expanding the garden. If you have more to plant than space, decide if you want to use pots and bags for the extras or creat new beds. There are many edibles that do great in pots like greens, bush cucumbers and zucchini, pole beans, snow peas, peppers, tomatillos, and eggplant. Potatoes can be grown in potato bags. Okra and tomatoes production is significantly reduced unless they are planted in a garden bed. Vegetables you can grow in pots
8. Put in new beds, if needed. For any new beds, the easiest way I have found is to use a garden hose to outline the new bed, apply amendments, cover with cardboard and top with mulch. The cardboard will smother the grass and weeds. Plus it attracts earthworms that will loosen the soil will adding fertilizer to the bed. Mulch keeps it all in place while suppressing weeds and adding organic matter to your beds. Put in a new garden bed the easy way-really
9. Verify your planting supplies. Make sure you have the worm castings, char, fertilizer, and gardening tools you need to sow seeds and plant seedlings. Get what you are missing. Quick tip-the few tools needed for edible gardening
Now you are ready to plant!
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