Ready to Start Gardening?!

First off, it's February, I know. But if you know my house, you will understand that just last week one day was filled with 7 hours of chores, one day with 4 hours of once-a-month grocery shopping, and three days were filled with 25+ hours of baking. That was one long week, and the rest of the month will pale in comparison by only a quarter of the same work, however, it always gets busy. You know what I'm talking about--you bust your booty to pre-make all the burgers you could ever want, but the time you saved is filled with something like all the doctors and dentists appointments you thought you were caught up on. So in my house, I start my garden early! I'm making my new topsoil already, (although next year that will start earlier) and I'm digging out all the adorable walkways that just end up providing a diving board for the grass to jump off of and attempt to smother all of my crops!

Next is the list of every single seed I have, from saved seeds to flowers! I may not choose to use all of them, but I sure enjoy being able to select what my garden will look like this year. I also like to use WinterSown for a small variety pack of edibles and tomatoes, to be fair, they do mix flowers in with the packet I call "edibles" which is nice as sacrificial plants for your garden. You can even let them pick the plants that will most likely grow in your area, 6 varieties for a total of 3 stamps!!!

Now, I don't know what gardening method you intend to use, but I have the tool for whether you want to square-foot garden, or conventionally garden! It's the Territorial Seeds Vegetable Garden Planner! You can plan everything you want in your garden, place every plant, and get little tips on comparison crops, sunlight requirements, the works! Then you don't have to write it all out on paper, which I've done...soooo not efficient, and the best part of it is that if you want to just plan for this year, they offer a 30 day free trial! I purchased a two-year block for $40, and it is well worth it! (I found a coupon code that's good until the end of this month, I'm not sure if it applies to their Garden Planner, but it's worth a shot! NTWJA1 )I tell them all of my plants, they produce a crop-planting schedule, and remind me by email when I need to start the plants indoors or directly sow outside!

On top of all of that, they send you wonderful Youtube videos of gardening tips, from natural pesticides to crop rotation, all in a lovely British accent that makes gardening seem like a cup-o-tea! All of the Youtube videos are free, and can be found in succession if you click on the video below.

This is my last year's garden. (Click to go to the published page!) To be noted, none of my cucurbits or squash thrived for long, as they all got a mildew I couldn't compete with...catch it early and you can save your crops, catch it late and it's an uphill battle. The pumpkins were eaten by slugs, another reason why I'm removing the grass catwalks, as I can bait slugs easily and take away their hiding places. Thankfully most of my garden produced early so it wasn't a total loss. I learned a lot, such as not planting towards the end of the acceptable planting window; just isn't smart for my cold pocket of a neighborhood.

Here's my new plan, based on what I've learned! Click here for the published page!

Going back to your list of seeds, write down how many of each you have. I am going to have a large garden, so knowing the quantity of each variety that I have helps me plan the layout. Start your plan by blocking out your garden space. If you're doing container gardening, just add all of the area of the pots and containers you plan to use in a manner that you can remember which pot goes where!

Now the fun part begins! I have found it's easiest to go through and pick out which plants need the least sun, or the most sun and place them in the respective spots in the garden. My garden has a slight slope to it, so I also know that towards the west side, the water will pool, so don't stick lettuce or carrots there, they will crack and rot! After your special needs areas and plants are taken care of, the Garden Planner can help with placing some companion plants, that help you move on through your list. The main thing to remember is that even with the most precise planning, things can deviate from the plan and your garden may not be best suited for certain crops you thought would be a perfect match! Go through some more of the Territorial Seeds videos for tips and tricks to choosing how to plant your garden the most optimally. 

Last pieces of advice, SPLIT UP large plots of plants in the same family, they create hot zones for pests! I also would say that if you are planting in succession to produce crops all season, 4 weeks between plantings was optimal for me! It's all trial and error, and you will learn how your garden works best!