Planning your Garden Pt: 1

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Every year when winter weather starts to set in; the vegetable garden begins to fade, we are confined to our houses with little to no time spent digging in the dirt.  There is often very little to do other than dream of the spring but you can make use of the extra time by spending it planning your garden.  We spend our days dreaming of the winter wonderland melting back, spring flowers breaking through the ground as if to say good morning, the butterflies and bees pollinating flowers in the morning and of course the promise of bounty of fresh garden veggies for your table. Spring and Summer are my favorite times of the year because we can be outside making the most of each day.  With that in the near future we are left to wonder what could have been and what our future gardens will bring.  Planning your garden is one of the most important steps in having a successful garden.

As the days become weeks, weeks become months; we often times grow anxious about spring and we lack the patience to wait it winter out.  This anxious feeling and my inability to be patient has led to many attempts of growing something like tomatoes or cucumbers for too long inside only for them to experience certain death.

As the days march on and the last frost day starts to become in sight a little more there are things to do inside to get ready for Spring.  We can make the most of the dog days of winter and use the day dreaming to our advantage.  We can plan our spring/summer garden inside where it is warm.  In my last post we talked a little about accessing what worked, what did not from previous seasons and setting goals in order to continually get better at how you do things.  Whether your goal is to grow more organically, or you want to grow more food vertically to make the best use of space or maybe you just want to grow more, you can have those goals in mind when planning your next garden.

Now, that you have your goals we can get to work planning our garden.  Whether you are a gardening professional or a rookie who is just starting out; putting together and executing a garden plan has the potential to make or break your gardening season.  If you are just starting out be sure to check back in the coming weeks to follow along with our “First Garden Series”.

Also Read:  The Dog Days of Winter

The first thing you need to think about is how you will grow your vegetables.  There are many ways to grow your own food; in ground, raised beds, containers, hydroponics and indoor gardening.  Below is an example of some raised beds.

MORGANS (1)

Each of these growing methods have positives and negatives which we will look more in depth at a later time.  Choosing one of these growing methods usually depends on several factors unique to your location.  These things like where you live, the amount of sun your yard gets, what type of soil you have, the amount of space you have to devote to gardening and many other things can impact your decisions.  For example, someone that lives in an apartment will have limited space and would have a much better chance to grow food if they used the container gardening method.  I live in the city on a small lot that totals about 1/4 of an acre including the spot where the house sits.  Because of this I chose to grow in raised garden beds to combat poor soil and the lack of growing space.  If you are new to gardening I recommend you start small and move on from there.  Click on the link below to check out part 2.

Planning your Garden Part 2

Or if you would like more information about Starting Seeds Indoors click below

Starting Seeds Indoors

Hi, I’m John.

John grew up on a farm where his family raised chickens, goats, rabbits, and grew a huge garden. John has a family of his own and gardens to know where his food comes from. Learn more..

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