Prepping for Spring Gardening
As green grass slowly starts to appear, and people begin to spend time outside in the cool, sunny weather, gardening jumps to the top of everyone’s to-do list. We got in touch with some of our gardening friends across the country to find out how they prepare for spring gardening. Let’s take a look into their world of growing, sowing, and planting.
Before spring blooms, gardeners start their planting process indoors during winter! To get the most out of your green thumb, our friend Beverly from Ohio suggests using The Old Farmer's Almanac to learn when to start seeding indoors, transplant the seedlings into larger pots, and move them outdoors.
Once you get a good idea of what types of plants and veggies to start growing in your area, it’s time to decide where and how you’d like to plant indoors. Our pal Morgan from Wyoming starts sowing seeds and harvesting them under fluorescent lights in her basement. She lives in a Northern climate, so it’s best for her to begin gardening as early as possible due to long winters.
Photo credit: Morgan @coffee.and.chlorophyll
If you have long winters and can’t plant in the ground for a while, start herb and flower gardens in planters. To fight back the urge to plant early, Suzie from Ohio starts herbs and flowers in portable containers. This way, she can enjoy spring colors without having to worry about covering an entire outdoor garden when frost is a threat.
Photo credit: Suzie @muddyoakhenhouse
As you prep for outdoor planting, remember that soil health is key. Another friend of ours, Mandi from Missouri, says that soil is the most important puzzle piece of a garden. To prep her soil for spring, Mandi starts adding compost to her garden in the fall after her main harvesting season is complete. She recommends giving the compost about six months to develop in the soil before planting.
Another vital part of prepping your garden spaces is weeding. Suzie warns that weeds can choke out your plants and steal valuable nutrients. Pull out as many weeds as you can to give your seedlings the best chance of growing into healthy, hardy plants. For weeds in a vegetable garden, Suzie recommends laying landscape cloth or weed blankets along your walkways to hold down the weeds. Place straw around the plants themselves to help prevent the weeds from growing. Adding straw will also help keep the soil moist. Suzie stresses that keeping the soil wet makes for easy weeding and less watering.
As the snow begins to melt and the days grow longer, Morgan starts cleaning her garden beds to make room for new plant growth. Adding fertilizer and a fresh layer of mulch to her beds is crucial. The mulch helps keep weeds at bay and provides a good source of organic matter for building soil. Mulch is also second only to water in the necessities that all gardens need. So, gardeners, always remember to mulch heavy and often!
Photo credit: Amanda @ajwildwayfarm
Gardening in raised beds is something all our gardening friends recommend. Our pal Beverly says she chooses to use raised beds because you can typically amend the soil sooner, loosen it better, and it warms up faster. She says you can also cover the beds more easily if an unexpected frost rolls through the area.
Our friend Amanda from New Hampshire loves to add colorful Art Poles and other accessories that complement her garden. She believes that making her green space beautiful is essential and is a reflection of her personality, as she spends so much time and effort toiling away in her garden.
Photo credit: Amanda @ajwildwayfarm
Once you get your garden growing outdoors, you can slowly add various crops, like peas and carrots, when they can withstand a certain temperature in your region. Tip: spring peas can be sown as soon as soil temperatures reach 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Morgan says that shell peas are a quintessential spring crop, right along with asparagus.
As you start to see your plants and vegetables grow, you’ll look back with pride on the many months you spent sowing seeds and pulling weeds. We hope you enjoyed getting some great garden insights from our talented, green-thumbed friends, and that you have a successful spring. Happy gardening, friends!
Photo credit: @coffee.and.chlorophyll
