Time to get seeds started for edible greens, indoors and outdoors

Spring greens

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Greens thrive in the cool temperatures of spring.  To get a jump on spring salads, start seeds indoors now for arugula, celery, chicories (endive, cultivated dandelions, radicchio), collards, cress, kale, lettuce, mache, miner's lettuce, mustard greens, orach, pac choi, parsley, purslane, salad burnet, sorrels, spinach, sprouting broccoli and Swiss Chard.  You can also start hardy green seeds outdoors.  

Spring is my favorite time of year.  Everything turns green and the air has that earthy smell.  Now is a great time to get a jump on spring salads by starting seeds indoors and for the extra hardy varieties, directly in the garden.

Since you are harvesting the leaves, you want a soil rich in organic matter, nitrogen to fuel the leaf growth and a pH between 6-7.  Add an inch of compost to your garden before planting and a side dressing of fertilizer when planting outdoors.  The fertilizer should be covered by soil compost or mulch.  

As a general rule, you typically plant a seed at twice as deep as it is.  Here are the seed depths by variety:

1/8" depth: Arugula, celery, cress, lettuce, salad burnet 

1/4" depth: Chicories, collards, sprouting broccoli, kale, miner's lettuce, mustards, orach, pac choi, parsley, purslane, sorrels 

1/2" depth: Spinach, Swiss chard 

For the smaller plants like mache and spinach, I space 6" apart if direct sowing or when transplanting.  For the larger plants, 12" spacing is what I use.

Indoor seed starting tips for beginners  

Outdoor seed starting tips 

Hardy greens started outdoors

I also direct sow greens seeds in my portable greenhouses outdoors.  You can even direct sow orach and spinach in the garden with no cover right now.  As soon as the conditions are right, the greens will sprout.  

To keep yourself in salads into summer, practice succession sowing.  Sow seeds every 3 weeks so as one crop is harvested, you have another ready.  This approach will keep you in greens throughout all four seasons.

Want continuous harvests? Succession planting!

After transplanting, be sure to keep even moisture.  You likely will not need to water until May as the spring rains usually keep the soil moist.  Once the temperatures start hitting the upper 70's and 80's, greens will turn bitter if the soil stays dry.

For more on growing greens, see Growing fabulous lettuce and greens.

March 2022 Edible Garden Planner

March garden with lettuce and spinach

Saturday, February 26, 2022

Feels like spring is getting close!  We are finally out of the winter blast and back to more "normal" temperatures.  The cold snap has put the garden behind where it was last year.  The daffodils are up and have flower buds, but are not blooming in our yard quite yet.  I have not yet seen any forsythia flowers.  When forsythia blooms, it is time to use pre emergents like corn gluten to keep weed seeds from sprouting.

If you have not already, it is time to test your soil, get your garden beds ready for planting, finalize the plan for your spring garden and get planting! 

Soil Testing and Bed Preparation

Now is the time to clean up your beds and determine what your soil needs to feed and support your plants through the coming growing seasons.  Remove all the dead plant material still left from last season.  If you had any disease problem, do not compost.  I always leave anything with seed heads through the winter for the birds.  

You can take a soil sample to our local county co-op extension office to have it tested or buy a do it yourself kit at any big box store or local nursery.  You can do a more extensive soil test by sending your soil sample off.  Here is a link to my blog on soil nutrition:  The next step in garden production and your nutrit...  There is a great analysis web site that will provide a specialized fertilizer designed just for your garden deficiencies that you can make yourself.  Well fed plants grow better and are more nutritious for you, too.  A win-win.

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of testing, a sure way to enrich your soil is to use a balanced organic fertilizer and compost.  I add organic material every spring with a layer of compost then top with hardwood mulch in the garden beds, building the soil’s fertility and its ability to hold water.

A local CSA farmer and organic gardener told me a few years ago that it is important to not let your fertilizer just lay on top of the ground as many of the nutrients will be lost, especially nitrogen.  My spring routine to build the soil is always to put down an organic fertilizer like Espoma or Re-Vita Pro, then a layer of compost and top with mulch.  Nitrogen oxidizes easily with the air so be sure to cover your fertilizer with soil, compost or mulch every time you fertilize.  You can make your own balanced fertilizer, too, which is pretty inexpensive  Make your own all natural, complete fertilizer

If this is your first time gardening, it is super easy to buy plants and put in pots or plant in your established flower beds with your flowers.    Easy kitchen garden  How to know what to grow  Surprising veggies that can be grown in pots  If you are really nervous, the easiest garden to start with are herbs.  They love to be neglected!  My first garden were herbs.  Most herbs are perennials so you plant them once and they come back every year.  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Finalize your garden plan

Before your start planting, take pen to paper and finalize your spring garden plan.  Every fall, I capture what went well for the growing season, what I want to learn more about over the winter, and a plan for the coming season.  You will forget if you don't write it down.  A garden journal is a great tool for gardening.

Keep a garden diary 

  Reflecting back on the 2021 edible garden, planning for the 2022 garden

How to develop an edible garden plan

The big box stores have out their seed and plant racks so they should have transplants soon.  This is a good and easy way to look for what will grow well in your area.  The types that like cold weather that will be out soon are cabbage, spinach, lettuce, leeks, onion sets, potato sets, blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry bare root plants.  Spring edible garden

Wait until the soil has dried out somewhat if you are getting the amount of rain we are this year before planting potatoes or they could just rot.   Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a patio 

I'm not planting any crops from the cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower this year to reduce the pest problems I have been seeing with these crops in my garden.  Cabbage is nutritious and easy to grow   Broccoli and cauliflower growing tips   I say that every year, but I have a hard time resisting sprouting broccoli.  It gives small broccoli florets and broccoli tasting leaves for salads spring, summer and fall.  I have several plants that made it through the winter that I can use right now for salads.  Sprouting broccoli- a year round fav

Mid March garden

The greens I will plant in our mini greenhouse to keep them warmer and encourages growth so we get fresh salads as soon as possible.  They will do just fine in the garden bed too.  I just love spring salads!

Some varieties I enjoy growing in the spring garden:  

Green Oakleaf Lettuce-ready to harvest in 45 days  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Wild Garden Kales-ready to harvest in 30 days Grow one of the super greens this year-kale

Mesclun Valentine Lettuce mix (red tinted lettuce and greens)-ready to harvest in 30-55 days

Marvel of Four Seasons Butterhead Lettuce (I love the sweet taste of butterheads)-ready to harvest in 55 days Everything you need to know about growing lettuce
Red Sails Lettuce (a ruffled red and green, stays sweet even after bolting)-ready to harvest in 45 days

Space Hybrid Spinach-ready to harvest in 38 days  Grow spinach-a super nutritious, easy green

Gourmet Blend Lettuce (Prizeleaf, Royal Oak Leaf, Salad Bowl, Ashley)-ready to harvest in 45 days

Sugar snap peas-ready to harvest in 70 days Time to plant peas!

All kinds of broccoli or cauliflower-ready to harvest in 50-80 days (leaves are great in salads) Broccoli and cauliflower growing tips

Cabbage-ready to harvest in 68 days.  Cabbage is nutritious and easy to grow

Carrots-ready to harvest in 50-75 days  Grow crunchy, colorful carrots practically year round

Parsley-70 days to harvest  

Potatoes-ready to begin harvest in 70 days  Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a patio

The above can be companion planted with radishes, beets, chives, garlic, and onions.  Since they are shallow rooted, they grow well with root crops.  Get the most from your space-plant intensively!

When I plant in pots, I plant with a handful of worm compost and water in with fish emulsion.  Germination should take anywhere from 4-15 days., depending on how warm the soil is.  I am sure I will be out there looking for little green shoots daily.  Decorative container gardening for edibles

Important tip-if planting seeds in a mulched bed, be sure to cover the seed with only soil; most seedlings are too weak to push through mulch.  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds 

Potato box

Zone 6/7 Spring Garden Roadmap

Planting seedlings outdoors:

Now (or as soon as the soil can be worked)-fruit trees and vines, nut trees, asparagus, garlic, leeks, onions, peas

Mid-March-cabbage, kale, lettuce, mustards, spinach

Beginning of April-broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, more lettuce, lemon balm, parsley

Mid-April-corn, marigolds, rosemary, sage, thyme

First of May-basil, chives, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes

Mid-May-cantaloupe, eggplant, okra, squash, watermelon

Starting your seeds outdoors**:

Now (or as soon as the soil can be worked): peas, spinach, lettuce

Mid-March: arugula, bok choy, cabbage, carrot, collards, leeks, lettuce, mache, onion. rhubarb, cultivated dandelions, spinach

End March:  fava beans, beets, broccoli, carrot, Chinese cabbage, cress, kale, kohlrabi, leek, mizuna, parsley, parsnip, early potatoes, turnip

**One watch out is planting seeds too soon.  Seeds have to have a certain soil temperature to sprout.  Plant too soon and the seed will rot and not sprout.  Here are some soil temp guidelines.  Temps to plant seeds outdoors  Be sure to harden off your seedlings before planting outdoors  "Hardening off" seedlings

Starting your seeds indoors for summer planting:

Now-lemon balm, parsley, sage, thyme, lettuce, cress, chard

Mid-March-basil, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, okra, marigolds, eggplant

End of March-cantaloupe, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes

A summer edible garden

January is indoor seed starting time! Here is a seed starting calendar........

Indoor seed starting tips

These dates are just guidelines.  You can start your seedlings later and plant your transplants later as well.  Be sure to read the seed packet for what you are starting.  They make all kinds of varieties that are cold hardy and can be planted sooner than what I outlined above.  If you get a cold snap, there are things you can do to protect your early crops.  Extend the season with protection for plants

Happy gardening!

Time to get onion and leek seeds growing

Onions flowering

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Now is the time to get onion and leek seeds started indoors.  You can grow many more varieties by seed than you can get onion sets in the store.

Onion and leeks are easy to grow, have little to no pest problems and are a perennial to boot!  They will hang out in the garden until you pull them.  Onions will even multiply underground and produce "seeds" above ground.

In the Midwest, seeds can be started indoors as early as February and transplanted outdoors in March. Transplanting should be done 4-6 weeks before the last spring freeze for spring planting.  Planting later than this is also fine.

Frost date look up.

Sow up to 12 seeds in a 6" pot 1/8"- 1/2" deep, following packet instructions.  Seedlings should emerge in 6-16 days.  Onion and leeks grow best in light, loamy soils.  Apply fertilizer 1-2" below seedlings when transplanting into the garden.  When planting, space seedlings 6" apart in rows at least 12" apart.  Onions will be ready to harvest full size in 105-125 days depending on variety; leeks in 70-105 days.  Can be harvested earlier as scallions when pencil sized.

Indoor seed starting tips.

So, how do you choose which onions to plant? The best bet is to talk to your local nursery or farmers market to see which grow the best in your area for the ones that will thrive in your climate.  For leeks, you can chose a varieties that mature at different times to keep harvests for a longer time.  

If you are browsing seed catalogs for onions, you will need to know how many hours of daylight you get in the summer.  There are 3 types of bulbing onions-short day, intermediate day, and long day onions. Intermediate and long day varieties have been around for a long time.  Short day onions are relatively newcomers.

Onions are sensitive to daylight hours. They start forming bulbs when daylight hours hit a minimum. For long day onions, it is 15 hours. For intermediate, it is 12-13 hours. Intermediate, or day neutral, onions can be successfully grown anywhere.  Short day onions are 9-10 hours.

I would have thought long day onions would be for further south, but this is wrong. The north gets the really long summer days (think of Alaska in June with no darkness). Long day onions should be planted in states north of the Oklahoma/Kansas border (approximately 36 degrees latitude).

Long day onions are planted in states in the northern part of the US, intermediate in the middle and short in the South.  Short day onions are planted in the fall and form bulbs in the spring. Intermediate and long day onions are typically planted in the spring as sets, not seeds. Seeds require sprouting indoors and transplanting.

So, if you want a sweet onion and live in the Midwest, Vidalias are not the best bet since it is a short day type. Chose a long day variety if further north like Walla Walla or if you're not sure, chose Zoey or Candy day neutral varieties.  For a white onion, Superstar, Expression and Ovation are day neutral.  For a sweet, storage day neutral, try Monastrel or Red Candy Apple.  These are just a few examples of what is available.

Close up of onion flower

The other thing to keep in mind is that, like wine, onions pick up the terroir they are grown in. You can grow the exact same onion as you buy in the store or at a farmers market but have a different taste because of the differences in your soil.

There are many fun onions to grow besides the large round ones. There are the flat disk like Borrettana Cipollini yellow storage onion (long day to intermediate) or the Red Baron onion (long day) that is a red scallion type onion. Of course, there is the onion made famous in French cooking, the shallot-French, Gray or Sante are well known varieties.

Then, there are onions for keeping over the winter like Rossa Di Milano (long day), Early Yellow Globe (long day), Sweet Sandwich (long day), Hi-Keeper (day neutral), Australian Brown (day neutral) and Granex Yellow (short day, the "Vidalia" onion).

There are lots of options when starting from seed!  Chose the ones that fit with your cooking style and day light conditions.

For more on growing and harvesting onions  Everything to know about growing onions. 

Time to plant peas!

Newly sprouted pea plants

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Peas are great for spring gardens.  Not only do they taste great, but they add nitrogen to the soil and are easy to "put away" for winter eating.  Early spring is the time to start peas as soon as the soil can be worked.  The seeds will sprout when conditions are right for growing.  

Peas love at least 6 hours of sun, well drained soil, and a side dressing of fertilizer or compost when planted.  Don't get carried away with fertilizer during the growing season or you will have all greenery and no pods.  Be sure to not water the foliage; stick with watering at the ground to avoid fusarium wilt.  So far, I have not had any pest or disease issues with peas.
Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer

Peas are part of the legumes which include fava beans, shell beans (like the popular red, kidney, Great Northern beans), snap peas, snow peas, green beans, lima beans, peanuts, lentils, and soybeans.  Peas have been cultivated for thousands of years all around the world, originating in the Mediterranean and the Near East.  Legumes have some of the highest protein in the plant world.  When combined with grains, you can get a complete protein like you do from meat or eggs.  pea nutrition

For maximizing your harvest in a small space, I would go for snow and snap peas since you eat the entire pod.  Even the tips and flowers of the pea plant is edible and a great add to salads.  Snow peas are my favorite.  I plant them in pots every year.  I look for varieties that are bush or short vines for my pots.

Salad of pea shoots and flowers

When you plant legumes, be sure to use a rhizobial bacteria inoculant.  This will really boost your harvest.  You just moisten the seed and coat with the rhizobial powder and plant.  Nitrogen accumulates on the roots of the legume.  Just be sure to not pull the plant when you are done harvesting from it so that the nitrogen stays in the soil!  Flowering and pods will use up some of the nitrogen stored in the roots.

The seeds germinate in temps between 40-75 degrees F, when snowdrops spread their petals and the first crocus blooms.  Just scratch a small hole about 0.5" deep to drop the seed in and cover.  Have patience, seeds germinate anywhere from 7-25 days.  Plant every 2 weeks until midspring for continuous harvest.  Peas stop producing pods when temperatures exceed 70 degrees F.  Providing shade can extend the season.  

Harvest sugar snow peas just as the seeds begin to form to have the sweetest peas while the pod is still relatively flat.  Harvest snap peas after the peas inside have reached full size.  Even with shelling peas, pick as soon as the seeds have rounded out.  Continuous harvesting keeps them producing.  You can keep adding what you harvest to a freezer bag to have the sweetest and freshest for winter eating.

Pea vines will die back when the temperatures start hitting the 80's.  Don't be alarmed when this happens; it's just pea nature.

Peas can be grown in pots as well as directly in the ground.  Growing in pots allow you to move your peas to a cooler area as spring heats up.  Grow your peas where you want to plant a nitrogen hungry summer crop, like eggplant, lettuce, zucchini or tomatoes.

Flowering pea plants

Most varieties are vining so be sure to give them a trellis or stake to wrap themselves around.  You can easily grow vining in pots if you use a support and or get varieties that the seed packet vine length isn't over a foot longer than the trellis for the pot.  

There are bush varieties out there if you prefer to bypass a trellis or support.  Look for varieties that say "compact", "good for small spaces", "good for containers", etc., if growing in small spaces.  Burpee seed packets also have small clay pot with a checkmark in it for those that are good to grow in pots.  I just grow the bush or short vine variety and let them drape over the pot edge.

I always grow snow peas.  You get the most from each plant because you are eating the entire pod.  I like growing them in pots that I am going to plant peppers or eggplants in.  I always add a short vining flower too.  I stick with the short vining type, but you can always just pinch off to the desired length.  I use the pea leaves, flowers and pods in salads as they are all edible.

Maximize harvests in a compact edible garden

Using pots on the patio, growing up in the garden bed

Sunday, February 13, 2022

If you have a horizontally challenged space for gardening, there are several ways to maximize the harvest.  You can utilize hanging baskets, pots, use supports to grow up, and be choiceful in the type of vegetable you choose.  

Most vegetables do best in full sun.  Look for your sunniest spot and see how you can lay out and stack, your vegetable garden to take advantage of every horizontal and vertical space available.  

There are so many varieties of individual veggies and fruit available today.  For instance, peas, beans, melons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers all come in either bush or vine form.  Bush varieties don't produce a vine and stay in a compact bush shape.  Vining varieties come in different lengths of vines, too.  They come in different sizes as well.  There are varieties that grow wide and short or tall and skinny or wide and tall.  Seed packets will usually give you the width a plant will grow if placed in the ground, but not the height.  If you grow in a pot, the plant typically will not grow as large as in the ground.

Here is a link to average plant heights and root depths at maturity:  Veggie plant height and root depth 

If you are space constrained, I would start with what you love to eat.  Make a list of what you are buying in the produce section.  This is a good starting point.  How to decide what to plant for small spaces?

Also think about how much a particular type of vegetable you can get from each plant and space it is taking up in your garden. Some vegetables take months to come to maturity, take up a lot of space, and only give a limited harvest.  Think creatively about what you like.  For instance, conventional broccoli takes 3 months to get a head.  You can grow and harvest sprouting broccoli with leaves that taste like broccoli in a month and produces little broccoli sprouts over months.

There are many varieties that I grow in pots because they seem to do as well if not better than in the ground and it makes it easy to bring in the tender perennials to the unheated garage or place under a portable greenhouse for the winter.  Peppers, eggplant, Egyptian walking onions, beets, snow peas, chard, lettuce, Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, mint, Dragon's tail radish, stevia, fig tree, olive tree, bay tree, rosemary, citrus trees, aloe, basil and many other greens.

Pepper plant and petunias in pot on the patio

There are several veggies, fruits and herbs that you can grow in hanging baskets.  Creeping thyme, mint, peas, beans, tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers are just a few examples.  When selecting a vining plant to put in a hanging basket, check the vine height to see how long it will get.  You can always pinch off the ends when they get the length you want them to be.

For the most part, you want to chose dwarf or compact varieties for growing in pots.  A couple of tips on growing in containers: consider using self watering pots to significantly reduce watering required and use a soluble fertilizer every 2 weeks.  Pots require more of both than the garden bed.  Just remember that you get harvest size that is commiserate with plant size.  In other words, smaller plants give smaller harvests.  For more information on what size pot and varieties to select for growing in pots, see these blogs.

Decorative container gardening for edibles

Surprising veggies that can be grown in pots   

You can also grow up in the garden bed or in a pot.  You can use a simple wooden stake, a pretty colored corkscrew stake, a decorative arbor, a trellis or tomato cages to keep the plant contained and headed skyward.  For vertical gardening, look for the vining types.  Again check for the length the vine will grow or pinch off the tip when it reaches the height you desire.  

When you are thinking of what you want to grow, be sure to do a layout.  You want to maximize the sun each plant gets.  To do this you want to put the tallest in the back and work your way down in height.  Watch to see how the sun travels through the day.  Ideally, your garden will face the south as this provides the most sun for your plants.  Don't forget patio and porch space that you can put pretty pots with flowers and veggies.   How to develop an edible garden plan

Egyptian walking onion and petunias on patio

Don't despair if you don't get 12 hours of sun a day, there are plants that produce even in shaded spots.  I have had my garden on the shady north side of our house for the past couple of seasons while we have an addition being put on the house.  I got fruits and greens off all the edibles but just at a reduced rate than in my full sun southern garden bed.  I put the fruiting plants in the locations that got the most sun.  Greens like lettuce and spinach prefer cooler temperatures so I placed these in the shadier areas.  Edible shade gardens shine in summer

Also think about the conditions that crops prefer.  Planning for a four season garden  Most greens do enjoy cooler temperatures.  You can plant your lettuces, spinach, and Asian greens in between crops that will grow up to shade them as the temperatures rise, extending the harvest.  When a crop is done producing, have a plan for what you are going to plant in its place so every spot is taken year round.  Want continuous harvests? Succession planting!

I grow most of my lettuce and greens in pots.  This way, I can give them full sun in the spring and then move them to a shadier spot as the temperatures rise.    Growing fabulous lettuce and greens

Potted lettuce and greens

Some crops are quick growers.  Radishes are ready to harvest in 25 days.  Greens can be harvested from the outside of the plant in about the same time for baby greens, letting the center continue producing leaves for harvests over months from the same plant.

I look for heavy or prolific producers on descriptions to get the most from each plant.  Small tomatoes and peppers typically produce many more per plant than large fruiting varieties.  I keep a garden journal on which varieties do best in my garden so I know what to keep as a mainstay for future seasons.  What crops give you the biggest bang for your time?

Before you get started planting, make sure your potting soil and garden bed is in the best condition to grow healthy, strong plants.  You do need to renew your potting soil each year and should get a soil test for your garden bed to know what the soil is missing.  If you don't have the time, just an organic balanced fertilizer as it is slow release and not so strong that it gets nutrients out of balance as quickly as chemical fertilizers do. 

Re-energize your potting soil!

Great time to do a soil test 

The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals  

Get more from your garden space this year by creating a detailed plan with creative strategies for maximizing your little space.

Tips for a successful garden

Small space garden in flower bed

Sunday, February 6, 2022

To maximize the production in your garden space, there are few things you can do to make the most of your time, energy, garden space and money.  Even if you have oodles of space, maximizing your production per square foot saves time and money.  Less to weed, less to fertilize, less to mulch.

7 Tips for a Successful Garden

1.  Siting of garden.  It is important to look for the best spot for your edible garden.  Edibles will produce the most if they get lots of sun.  Look for a sunny site that has easy access to water.  You can grow lots of food in mulched garden beds and pots so don't rule out these spots.  

2.  Healthy soil.  Soil is the foundation of productive, healthy plants.  You need nutrient and microbe rich soil.  Chemical herbicide, pesticides and fertilizers all kill microbes and worms scatter when chemicals are applied.  For alive soil, use organic, natural fertilizers and compost.  Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds  Apply both in early spring so the nutrition can seep into the soil, ready to nourish the seeds and plants you put in the ground.  For more details on creating healthy soil, see this blog:  next step in garden production  If growing in containers, be sure to revitalize the soil in your pots just like you would do in a garden bed.  Re-energize your potting soil!

3.  Smart garden plan.  You can maximize the production of the plants you put in your garden with a well thought out plan.  Divide out what you like to eat into the seasons they thrive in.  Plant your veggies in the right season and you will be rewarded with healthy plants and bountiful harvests.  Before you plant, check the heights and sun requirements.  Plant the tallest plants in the back so they don’t shade out the shorter sun loving plants.  Using trellis for vertical gardening of cucumbers, beans, and peas is a great use of space at the back of the garden bed.  For those that appreciate some shade, interplant between taller varieties.  Get the most from your space-plant intensively!  Look for those that help each other out.  This is called companion planting.  For more information on companion planting, see this blog:  Companion planting

4.  Choose wisely.  Choose the most productive varieties to maximize the production per square foot of space.  Dwarfs are a great choice for small spaces and containers.  You can get the same production from many dwarfs as you can the full size varieties.  Look for those that have “abundant”, “prolific”, and “heavy yields” in the descriptions.  Some great choices are cucumbers, pole beans and peas, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and many varieties of greens.  Use trellises to grow vining varieties up instead of out.  Decorative container gardening for edibles

5.  Think 4 season gardening.  Use as much of all 4 seasons as possible.  Start seeds indoors in late winter to get an early start on spring and summer.  You can plant out as soon as the weather is willing.  Help heat up the soil so your plants or seeds get a jump start when planted.  You can put down plastic or cloches where you want to plant to help get the soil warm.  Your seedlings will appreciate it!  You can also cover your seedlings with a row cover or cloche after planting to keep the warmth of the sun past sundown.  Be careful with cloche’s as they can get really hot and fry your plants.  A good choice is one with vents.  Extend the season with protection for plants  Also look for varieties that are adapted to the season.  There are tomatoes adapted to cooler temperatures to get a jump on summer and lettuces that are heat tolerant so you can continue to have salads into summer.  For more on 4 season gardening, see this blog:  garden year round

6.  Eliminate competition.  Weeds and pests take away from the vigor of your veggies.  Use mulch to keep weeds suppressed.  Mulch does triple duty as a fresh coat of mulch in the spring can help warm the soil, helps keep moisture from evaporating during the summer, adds organic matter while suppressing weeds.  There are good bugs and bad bugs.  Attract the good bugs by interplanting your veggies with flowers like marigolds and calendula.  Good bugs help pollinate your veggies, increasing yields.  They also eat bad bugs.  Be careful using sprays as a spray doesn’t know a good bug from a bad bug.  If you are just starting your organic garden, it may take a couple of seasons for the garden to come in balance.  For more on pests, see this blog:  controlling bugs naturally

7.  On going care.  Your plants will need supplemental nutrition and water during the growing season.  After adding a balanced fertilizer in the spring, providing additional nutrition will keep your plants producing. Continue to fertilize with a natural, organic fertilizer every month for veggies in the ground and semiweekly for those in containers.  When fertilizing, scratch the fertilizer into the soil around the plant to keep the nutrients in the soil.  Garden beds need about 1" of rain a week and pots about twice that.  I typically need to start watering pots in late May and garden beds in June with our Midwest weather.  Summer garden tips