Now that we’re all past the holiday season, some of us may be tempted to take a well deserverd break from almost everything.
But wait a minute! The calendar isn’t slowing down.
Before you know it, the time will be here to get your new garden started, plants in the ground, compost spread, and to roll out the drip irrigation lines.
Yes, I know it’s still cold and snowy for many of you, and you may be thinking there’s nothing you can do.
But I beg to differ. For more seasons than I care to admit, I procrastinated too much and was late getting my garden started.
I worried it was too cold, or it was too hot. I ignored the calendar.
So what can you do for the garden when the snow is on the ground and the soil is still has hard as your concrete retaining wall?
Easy – Plan your new garden.
If this will be your first garden, there is the obvious things like location of the garden, water availability, sun exposure ( 6-8 hours), etc.
But there is plenty more you need to plan even if this isn’t your first garden. And the more you want to plant, the more you need to plan.
Have you received any of the new seed catalogs yet? Many of us have received many issues of “garden porn” aready. If not, you can go online and order your copies, and many seed companies have online ordering as an option.
Not sure where to find them?
We also have a garden Resource page the Growing Your Grub Website. Each with a link to their website where you can order seeds or requst catalogs.
Once you have decided on the plants you want to grow, and have the seeds ordered, you have time for the next step, which is planning where each will be planted and when.
When planning the garden layout, keep in mind crop rotation and succession planting.
Succession planting is where you spread out your planting date to have your crop harvest across a wider time frame and not have all come due on the same day.
Nothing like 40 pounds of Beans on the same day!
I have found a couple of useful tools for planning the garden you need to know about.
The first is called “Clyde’s Garden Planner“. It’s a very inexpensive paper slide rule type of tool that helps you determine the best time to plant each wave of succession planting, when to start indoors if necessary, and when you can expect a harvest. It has a side for Spring Planting and a side for Fall Planting.
By using Clyde’s Planner and a computer spreadsheet or piece of Notebook paper your planning goes quickly and simply. I use mine everytime and have given some away as gifts.
The other Planning Tool I really like is a software program available at growveg.com.
It’s an online visual Garden planner that helps you find the best layout for each plant in a garden of any size. It provides reports and charts, and is based on your zip code so all the dates will be automatically scaled for your area. No more adjusting for schedules written for a different growing zone.!
Don’t just sit in your chair, sipping on that cup of Hot Chocolate, staring out the window at the snow covered garden and dream about the season. It’s time to start planning for all the great food you will have from the garden this year
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