Note: I prefer the term garden to the inelegant term American word “yard.” So when I say “garden” I’m speaking about the land around your house that is available for planting.
Know your USDA Hardiness Zone and your average last frost/first frost dates.
Spend a few days tracking sunlight in your yard. You need to know how many hours of sun different areas of your yard receive. Remember, in summer the sun is farther to the south. Visualize the path of the sun across the terrain and choose the best place for your garden. Most plants want six hours of direct sunlight per day, but you can grow some things in shadier conditions.
Prep your garden beds, either by building them or tiling into the ground. If you till into the ground, remember that a lawn will have depleted your soil while giving almost nothing back.
Be honest with yourself about your available time and know that gardening, while also spiritual and enjoyable and relaxing, is something that will require your attention every day during the growing season.
Discuss the garden with family members, including children. It’s not a bad thing to give them garden chores, even if they have no interest now. Hey, I was made to work in the garden — to weed, plant, dig, harvest. I planted my first onion sets at age 2. Kids need to learn these skills because they might need them. Explain why you’re doing this — to improve your food security and health. It’s never a bad time in life to be taught that you need to contribute to your family’s wellbeing and that you have to do things you don’t want to do. That’s good preparation for adulthood. (Can you tell I had zero sympathy for whiny teens?)
Decide what you want to grow. TIP: Don’t plant things you don’t eat! That’s a waste of resources. If you hate kale, do not plant kale.Buy your seeds ASAP. They’re selling out. Seed potatoes might be found at garden stores, but if you’re isolating you’ll want to find them online. They do sell out.
If you want fruit trees, research varieties and space. We have 13 strategically placed fruit trees in our garden: Four pear, two peach, one plum, three cherry, and three apple trees. Most are semi-dwarf varieties that are cold-hardy and diseases resistant. TIP:
Know what diseases are common in your area. Here, it’s fire blight. Buy accordingly and get ready to learn about beneficial insects and nemotodes.PLANT YOUR TREES THREE YEARS BEFORE YOU WANT TO RELY ON THEM FOR FRUIT. TIP: Planting fruit trees is its own topic, so we’ll get there. but getting these in the ground is a great first step because it gives your garden permanent structure. You need to know where and how to plant them.
To build your garden, think structure. Place beds where they get plenty of southern exposure, preferably SE. SW is often too hot and dry, at least here in Colorado. Plant tall things and install trellises on the NORTH side of beds so they won’t shade the veggie. Leave room for yourself to get through with tools and perhaps a wheelbarrow.
When your beds and soil are in, your seeds have arrived, you’re ready (right now, depending on your zone) to plant cold-weather crops: peas, radishes, carrots, arugula, lettuces, spinach. Peas, radishes, and spinach are always the first to go in for us.
For soil, I like a mix of 1/3 coir, 1/3 organic compost, and 1/3 vermiculite. You can buy these separately and mix them (wetting the mixture as you go). Or just buy organic raised bed mix in bags. Open while wearing a MASK so as not to inhale any fungus or pathogens that might have grown in the moist environment.
Think 3D. When I plant anything slower growing (peas, garlic), I underplant with radishes or greens of some kind. By the time the peas are up and growing, I will have harvested lots of radishes and bags full of lettuce or spinach or arugula.
Think succession planting. Don’t plant ALL the peas and radish seeds at once unless you want to eat them all at once. I don’t want waste, so I typically will plant radishes two weeks apart. When one crop is harvested, I replant. That’s succession planting. You can get an amazing amount of produce out of a single bed or whisky barrel if you are conscientious about harvesting and replanting, taking the season into account. Cold-weather crops do not do as well in heat and will bolt when summer arrives. (You can combat that by planting some in shadier, cooler parts of your garden, but it’s hard to trick Mother Nature.)
If you live in a climate like mine, you are going to have to water regularly. Tip: If you plant in grow-bags or pots, you will have to water DAILY. You’ll doom your crop if you don’t.
Okay, that’s a quick-and-dirty checklist. Each one of these could be its own topic.
A word about garden planners … You can find them all over the place. Some are more useful than others. I’ve got a Clyde’s Garden Planner. I’ve never had a garden planner before, but it was $5 on Amazon and I figured what the heck. If you’re new to growing fruit and veg, this might be helpful.
For a harvest this year… Plant raspberries and strawberries, as well as veg. Those raspberry bushes will produce this year, though it will take them a few years to ramp up.
In everything, READ about the varieties you’re planting. Keep notes about planting dates and everything you plant. Know what you’re putting into your garden. It seems obvious, but it isn’t.Refresh your grow-bags, pots, and garden beds with organic compost or composted manure regularly.
