It’s time to plan our Spring garden. For some gardeners, planning is
about all that can be done until the weather warms up.
The
first decision to make in garden planning is what to grow. All plants
are easy to grow if you know how. Our advice is that you grow only what
you plan to eat. If you don't eat beets, don't grow them--at least at
first (beets are very good for you, by the way). Start with a few things
that you consistently buy at the produce market. Tomatoes are the most
popular home-grown vegetable, but if you don't eat tomatoes don't grow
them. (A tomato is actually a fruit, but defined by the government for
tax purposes as a vegetable; see
Nix v. Hedden)
For us, the last
frost is expected in mid March or early April. My grandfather, whose
real-sized farm was only a few miles from our mini-farm, used to plant
corn every two weeks or so starting in mid to late March so that he
would be sure to have corn to harvest for celebrations on the 4th of July and on thru the
summer. He planted Golden Bantam (as do we) which is ready to harvest
about 80 days after planting.
Knowing
how long your plants need to mature will help you know when to start
them in the garden. Seed packets and catalogs usually give the number of
days to harvest from the time you transplant the seedling into the
garden. So you work backwards from the time you want to harvest your
crops, keeping in mind the frost-free date.
To
raise transplants from seed--like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant,
etc.--find out how long the seed needs to germinate (also found on the
seed packet or in the catalog) along with the number of days or weeks
required for the seedling to be ready to transplant (usually four to six
weeks). Add these together and using a calendar, work backwards from
your frost-free date.
Organic Gardening Magazine has a chart to help with your calculations
here.
Here
is our schedule for starting seeds indoors. Our target date for
setting out plants is the first week in April (the last expected frost).
We'll start planting seeds for:
- Peppers and Eggplant -- 8 to 12 weeks before the last frost. That would be now.
- Lettuce -- 8 to 12 weeks before the last frost. That would be now.
Lettuces can be transplanted into the garden a month or so before the
last frost.
- Cole crops (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage) -- 6 to 8 weeks before
the last frost. That would be the first part of February. These can be
transplanted into the garden two weeks or so before the last frost.
- Tomatoes -- 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost. That would be mid February.
- Cucumbers and Melons -- 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost. That
would be the first part of March. These are transplanted out two weeks
or more after the last frost.
We
like to grow our plants from seed for at least two reasons. First, we
can more easily get seeds for the varieties we want to grow
(Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Squash, for example). Second, we choose
open pollinated and heirloom varieties (not usually available from the
nurseries as transplants) so that we can save seeds from year to year.
However,
if you are new to gardening, you may want to wait until the weather
warms up and buy plants from the nurseries or garden shops. Nurseries
tend to stock only tried-and-true varieties. These will be ready to set
out in the garden, are disease resistant, suited to your area, and in
most cases will not appear on store shelves until it is time to plant
them, give or take a couple of weeks, depending on the weather (frost).
If you choose to start seeds, we suggest you start with varieties that
germinate easily: basil, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage,
cauliflower, chives, leeks, lettuce, onions, peppers, and tomatoes.
Our favorite online seed catalogs:
Both of these offer printed catalogs available upon request.
Territorial
Seed Co. has pretty good online "Growing Guides" for each variety of
veggie. Although just about every online or print seed catalog offers
information on how to grow various varieties, some have more detailed
information than others.
Park Seeds
(http://parkseed.com/vegetables/c/vegetables/) has on most of their
detail pages a "Growing Information" tab that offers planting and
growing instructions, tips, special considerations, potential pests and
solutions, and so on for each variety.
Our favorite book on starting plants from seed is
The New Seed Starter's Handbook by
Nancy Bubel. It's main sections include: Starting Seeds Indoors, Moving
Plants Outdoors, Special Techniques and Situations, Saving Seeds and
Making Further Plans, and an Encyclopedia of Plants to Grow from Seed
(the info you need to grow each variety of garden plant).
Starting Seeds Indoors
- Gather your materials. Get your seed flats, milk cartons cut
in half down the middle, small pots, or what ever it is you're going to
plant your seeds in. You'll also need some potting soil or seed starter
soil mix (recommended over potting soil), or make your own mix with
equal parts sharp sand, peat moss, and perlite or vermiculite.
- Prepare your work space. Put down some newspaper or other suitable cover on your work surface. You're going to spill some potting soil.
- Review seed packets and make labels for your plantings. Popsicle
sticks, strips cut from plastic milk jugs, ready made labels from the
garden store, or simply a label taped on the side of the flat will do.
Oh, and don't forget your seeds. If you're new to starting seeds and
identifying seedlings, labels are must. If you have lots of garden
experience, you'll know that a super-hot pepper plant looks the same as a
mild-hot pepper plant. It is very easy to confuse plantings in similar
looking flats or pots. Labels are a must.
- Prepare the medium. Use a watering can or a spray bottle to moisten the potting soil or seed starting mix. It should be
damp to the touch but not soggy. If you start with moist soil, you will
not have to water your seeds once you after you plant them. There is
enough moisture in the soil to sprout the seeds. If you are planting
very fine seeds, even the finest mist can dislodge your seeds and cause
them all to clump together in the corners and along the edges, making
separating the seedlings for replanting difficult if not impossible.
 |
Containers to use for starting seeds indoors. Some ready-
made, some re-purposed. |
- Prepare the containers. Remember this planting is only
temporary. As soon as your seedlings have their second set of leaves,
you can move them to individual pots or packs (although you could start
with these keeping in mind that they will use more starting mix). Fill
your container with moistened starter mix and press it down gently. Top
it off and press again so that the mix is within a half inch of the
top. Airflow, and in some cases light, is important to seed
germination. A planting surface too far below the rim of the container
can interfere with these.
- Plant the seeds. If you're using a small container (like the
bottom two inches of a plastic milk jug), you can scatter the seeds over
the entire surface of the planting medium. If you're using a nursery
flat, you can place the seeds on the surface in rows, spacing the seeds
according to size (tiny seeds at least an eighth of an inch apart,
medium seeds a half inch, and large seeds an inch). Remember that you
are going to be transplanting the seedlings later. Separating the roots
of seedlings planted too close together can be difficult if not
impossible without damaging the plant. If you're using a pack with
cells, put a couple of seeds in each cell. The extras can be thinned
later by snipping them off with small scissors.
- Cover the seeds. Except for the very finest seeds or those
few varieties that need light to germinate (the seed packet or catalog
will tell) which can simply be pressed into the medium, the seeds will
need to be covered with more starting medium. A general rule of thumb is
to cover the seed to a depth 3 to 4 times its size. For example, a seed
that is one-eighth inch in size would be covered with three-eighths to
one-half inches of cover. We tend to stay toward the shallower depth
when starting seeds indoors. This cover layer of mix or vermiculite does
not need to be wet. It will absorb water from the moist layer below.
You will not have to water your seeds until after they sprout. There
will be plenty of moisture available for them.
- Cover the container. If you're using ready-made seed starting
trays, put the covers on and your seeds are ready to go. If you're
using re-purposed containers, you can place a piece of damp newspaper or
burlap over the surface of your container. Or (our favorite), you can
slip the whole container into a plastic bag, or use a plastic sheet
(trash bag), tucking the edges under your container. You could possibly
use aluminum foil, but we have never tried this. Clear plastic allows
you to see what is happening without letting out the moisture around
your seeds.
- Put the container in a warm place. Your seeds have moisture
and they will need warmth to germinate. Put the covered container in a
warm place, but keep it out of the sun! You don't want to steam your
seeds or new seedlings. The top of the fridge might be a good place.
Near the stove in the kitchen. A shelf over the dryer in the laundry
room or a shelf near the water heater. We've sprouted seedlings on the
dining room table and on the patio table (in warm weather). Most seeds
will sprout more quickly at temperatures between about 72 and 86
degrees, but have a good germination rate at around 70. In other words, a
comfortable temperature for you will be good for your seeds.
- Watch and wait. As soon as most of the seedlings emerge, they
will need their plastic tent removed and to be moved to a sunny place,
not necessarily in direct sunlight at first. In a future post, we'll
talk about what happens next.
