Anyone else feeling behind the eight ball? Again? You plan and plan all winter, waiting for those first warm days to get outside and get things going. And then those days come and you’re just never as ready as you think you’d be?
Every year I swear I am going to get out in the yard early and every year I get distracted by the first few days of warm weather. I may fix a fence here or there and get the chicken coop straightened out but when it comes to planting I always feel like I’m starting from behind. If this sounds like you, let’s fix that, and get your garden ready to plant!
Transplant or Direct Sow?
Normally by now, I have all my transplants going. That gives me most of April and May to prep my garden, plant those colder weather crops and then it’s a mad dash to get all my transplants in the ground by mid-May. Not this year! I am giving direct sowing a shot. My transplants always look so promising but no matter how much I think I have hardened them off, they just struggle. Last year was a little better because I had some great, well aged chicken manure to add to my soil but still not the return I was hoping for.
I have some very cool seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds this year. If you’ve never checked them out, I definitely recommend it! They have great seed and a great message. It feels like Christmas when their catalog arrives every year. I also recommend Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, they have tons of heirloom and/or organic options that are tolerant to the Midwest. I have bought seeds from both, results can vary but I think it’s my soil because I gave my sister some leftover transplants last year and they took off like wildfire without any different care. Any other seed sites that you recommend that provide heirloom options?
So this year, direct sowing it is. Fingers crossed I don’t end up with just a garden of weeds. I’ll update you along the way with how it goes. For some things, I stick to the basics, summer squash, corn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, herbs but I usually like to take a stab at something different every year too. This year I’m giving Chinese White Celery and cabbage a shot. We’ll see how it goes.
Check Your Soil
I have three raised beds that we built from cedar fence posts with rows in between. Raised beds can make your life much easier if you can source the materials. Just don’t use pressure treated lumber, the chemicals can leach into your soil. Usually, I put tomatoes, peppers, onions and basil in my raised beds and rotate them through. I find that you can control the soil better in the raised beds (if you have soil issues) and since these plants are heavy feeders it helps keep things more organized when you need to supplement.
Checking your soil is important as you get ready to plant. The first year we tilled a little garden in the sod and it produced like crazy. The second year, we had cleared out an old tennis court on our property and trying to convert our clay into usable soil. We added topsoil and amendments along the way but that year was nowhere like the year before. Halfway through the season, I was so frustrated with stunted corn and tiny beefsteak tomatoes. I bought a soil testing kit (this is the one I used) and voila! Our soil was too alkaline. Depending on how alkaline your soil is, it can block how your existing soil nutrients are absorbed. So treating for low nitrogen or low phosphorus with a high alkalinity isn’t that helpful because your plants can’t use it right anyway. Once we addressed the alkalinity, we saw rapid improvement since we had already amended with everything else. So again, save yourself the time and frustration, test your soil early. Prevention is much easier than actual intervention (and cheaper).
I’ll let you know how this direct sowing business goes.
Thanks for stopping by!
Nicole