Our family has planted a garden pretty regularly in my life. Starting when I couldn’t even walk, we had a big garden of vegetables in the backyard. I remember eating the peas I picked instead of taking them into the house for dinner. They were so sweet! It was one of my favorite snacks. I think, having had such wonderful fresh vegetables in the garden made me dislike eating store bought bland cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, and corn. I didn’t really want to eat it anymore. I did start shopping organic and come to recognize the difference in what I was tasting, and the reason. I encourage everyone to take advantage of a patch of soil and grow whatever possible!
Our current garden is 4000 square feet and we will be planting everything imaginable! It’s been a while since I have helped in our garden, and this year our garden is the biggest because a new fence was built last year, around the old fence. So, my first steps this year were to remove as much of the old fence as I could by myself, and to move the compost pile to the far corner of the garden so we can use the far gate to bring in the tiller. The back of the garden where the compost pile is, attracts the most water saturation, which is why the compost goes there.
However we can plant some vegetables which will tolerate more water, like corn.
Composting and fertilization
During the new fence construction, an existing large patch of garlic was left outside of the perimeter.
The compost relocation project is a good time to turn the pile as it has not been turned since the fall when the dead leaves were piled there. Our compost consists of hay from the chicken coop, dead plants and debris from the property, and other dead plant matter. Our food scraps go to the chickens, so we do not compost them. I do have a countertop composter that I love. I will begin to add that into the compost pile once it has been moved. I will be taking some of the compost to mix in to the soil where I will be placing the herb garden.
Preparing your garden for planting
We will begin planting in the garden during the first weekend of June, since the ground has finally dried enough to allow tilling. In the meantime, I will be preparing our side yard for planting a new herb garden, including a dedicated lavender patch and we will add a perimeter to the fenced area of wild flowers.
Choosing seeds – When it comes to choosing the seeds you will plant, I recommend organic and locally sourced whenever possible. There are, however a number of online resources you may find helpful if local resourcing is not an option for you. You may also choose to save the seeds from your organic produce to plant. All of these are good sources.
I have ordered organic seeds online from Mountain Rose Herbs and The national seed exchange. This year we will be sourcing our seeds from our local Mercel Gardens. As we have been for years now. We live in a farm community which has a robust selection of seed and plant acquiring within our town. I do not recommend visiting larger box stores like Walmart or Lowes for your plants because they are often Genetically modified, and not local.
Another wonderful trend I have noticed in the marketing world are promotional materials made from paper which contains seeds to plant. Keep an eye out for these! My brother grew some great tomatoes last year from this source!
Stay tuned for more on:
Caring for your plants
If you have a stationary garden, then sunlight is most certainly not something you can influence. If you are dealing with pots, this may be something you may want to take into consideration.
Watering your garden
Weeding your garden
Harvesting Enjoying your garden!
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