It may not seem like it’s time to think about our vegetable gardens, but once spring hits it can feel like everything has to be done at once leaving little time for thoughtful planning. With our gardens still under a blanket of snow, this is the perfect time to plan your veggie garden and schedule the necessary tasks that will lead to a successful gardening season.
First decide what crops you want to grow. This will be determined by the space and growing conditions you have, the produce that your family likes to eat and in what quantities, as well as the time you have to dedicate to your garden.
With a list of crops, determine which ones are being direct seeded into the ground, those that you will purchase transplants of, and those that you are wanting to start as seeds indoors. Using the maturity dates on the seed packages along with the crops’ tolerance to frost, determine the dates for all plantings.
Now you can determine the layout of your garden. Are you using raised or inground beds? Will some crops be planted in containers? Will you plant in blocks, rows, or use square foot gardening principles? All have their advantages – it may be interesting to experiment!
When planning the space, consider options for interplanting, such as growing radishes in between your carrots. The radishes break the soil making it easier for the carrots to break through and will mature before the carrots get well established. Succession planting can help maximize your space usage as well – fast early crops can be replaced by those that are planted later.
It is important to also consider rotating your crops. Certain plants are soil builders (peas and beans) some are heavy feeders (lettuce and broccoli), and others are light feeders (carrots and beets). Rotating these means you are not depleting your soil nutrients, and heavy feeders can benefit from the work of your soil builders. Ideally you should also not plant crops from the same family in the same location each year – i.e. tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers are all in the Nightshade family. This will help avoid diseases common to those crops.
There is a lot to think about, but information is readily available online, in books and through workshops such as those offered by the Calgary Horticultural Society. Taking the time to plan ahead for your vegetable garden will go a long way to improving the quality and quantity of your harvest. If you are looking for ideas, swing by the CKE Community Garden this season!
Happy gardening!
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