I recently heard Jessica Sowards of Roots & Refuge Farm quote Josephine Neuse and say, “Anyone who thinks that gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with the dream.” January is such a special time. A time of dreaming, planning, longing, and resting. It’s a fantastic time to take the time start planning your next garden season. In this post, we will dive into the 7 steps to take now to prepare for the upcoming gardening season.
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7 Steps to Take Now to Prepare for the Upcoming Gardening Season
- Take a seed inventory
- Organize your seeds
- Determine where you want plant your garden, if you don’t already have one
- If you have a garden space already, work on getting that cleaned up
- Determine your growing zone as well as first and last frost dates
- Create a crop plan
- Order Seeds
- Focus on you
1. Take a seed inventory
If you have previously purchased seeds, now is a good time go through them and get a handle on what crops and which varieties you have. You may also want to figure out approximately how many seeds you have left of each crop/variety. This can be done by counting the seeds or, if you have large quantities, weighing the packages to determine approximately how many seeds you have. I like to track my inventory in an Excel spreadsheet so I can reference it when I am planning my garden and ordering my seeds.
Another important piece to taking a seed inventory is getting rid of any seeds that you don’t plan on planting. I know this can be difficult, but you can donate them to people who will use them instead of tossing them in the trash. Some ideas of where you can donate are: public libraries, schools, daycares, or even post them on Facebook.
2. Organize your seeds
After you have taken an inventory of your seeds, it is important to get them organized. You can do this several ways. The most important thing in this section is to use a way that makes sense for you. You could organize by crop type, growing season, crop family (brassicas, nightshades, etc.), etc. This ensures that you know where your seeds are, and they don’t get forgotten when the time comes to plant them. I prefer to store my seeds in photo storage boxes.
3. Determine where you want to plant your garden
Where will you plant your garden? Some of the things to consider are: proximity to your house and water source, how much sunlight the area receives per day, what type of growing method would you like to use (in ground, in raised beds, or in containers, etc.). I have an entire blog post devoted to the topic of planning your garden, if you want to read more, you can find it HERE.
If you already have a garden space, work on getting it cleaned up
Take the time to remove weeds and crop debris from last season. I don’t recommend removing all mulch as it can be helpful to help cover the soil and protect the soil health. This can also be the time to amend your growing spaces. In addition, if you have any leftover trellises, you can take them down or clean them up and make sure they are secure for the next growing season. If you are adding new trellises, you could do that now too.
4. Determine your growing zone as well as first and last frost dates
This is arguably the easiest step when it comes to planning your garden. To determine your growing zone, you can go to Google and type in your city (or nearby larger city) growing zone. Alternatively, you can use the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Growing zones are determined by average low temperature and help to determine which types of perennial plants will survive in your area based on your low temperature. To determine your last frost and first frost dates, you can use the Farmer’s Almanac website. The Farmer’s Almanac website will also list the length of your growing season. Knowing the length of your growing season allows you to determine if your plants will be able to reach maturity.
5. Create a crop plan
You can make this as simple or as elaborate as you want to. Again, the most important thing to remember is to do it in a way that works for you. We typically use a spreadsheet that we have built and tweaked to work for us. If you haven’t developed a crop plan before, I highly recommend giving Seedtime a try. In addition, Johnny’s Seeds also has a number of free calculator tools that are incredibly helpful.
Some important things to consider:
- What seasons will you grow?
- What crops will you and your family eat? If you don’t enjoy squash, skip them. If you love tomatoes, plant more of those and so on and so forth. You will find gardening much more rewarding if you enjoy what you are growing.
- Do you want to preserve food?
- How much space do you have?
- Do your plants need full sun (i.e., tomatoes) or do they prefer some shade (i.e., lettuce)?
- Is your growing season long enough to successfully grow longer to maturing crops, like pumpkins?
- If you want to can, what do you want to can? Tomato products? Pickles? Green beans?
- Do you want to give produce to family and/or friends?
- Are you hoping to sell any extra produce?
- Do you want to incorporate flowers into your garden?
6. Order Seeds
Using your seed inventory and crop plan, now it is time order your seeds. One note for this section is to try not to over order seeds (I know that is easier said than done). Some of our favorite places to order seeds are High Mowing, Johnny’s, and Baker Creek.
7. Focus on you
My last, but certainly not least, tip is to focus on you. Before you know it, you will be starting seeds, planting plants, and tending to the garden. Take the time now to rest and rejuvenate because the demands of the garden are coming. And while it can be incredibly exciting and peaceful, it can also become overwhelming. Take the time now to focus on you first so you are prepared for the demands of the garden.
Conclusion
That was the 7 steps to take now to prepare for the upcoming gardening season. I’d love to chat more about this topic. Leave a comment below!
SOme of our favorite places to order seeds:
Some of oUr Favorite Gardening Books:
- The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables: All the know-how and encouragement you need to grow – and fall in love with! – your brand new food garden by Jessica Sowards
- The New Organic Grower, 3rd Edition: A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener by Eliot Coleman
- The Tiny But Mighty Farm: Cultivating High Yields, Community, and Self-Sufficiency from a Home Farm – Start growing food today – Meet the best … yourself, your family, and your neighbors by Jill Ragan
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