Ready, Set, Garden! To plant early or not to plant early, that is the question.

'Legend' seeds available at dustbowlseed.com

If you look forward to soon having a homegrown tomato to pick and slice and top with salt and pepper, now is the time to begin planning and perhaps even planting!  We are blessed in this area (zone 6B) with a relatively long growing season, however, some plants still benefit from a head start because of the often intense heat of the summer months.  Last year was a challenging one for most area gardeners, between the spring flooding, then the summer heat and drought, it was ‘slim picking’ in most veggie patches.  Our garden produced throughout the spring and summer and well into the fall and I know there was one main factor that made all the difference.  We started many seeds inside in late winter, and the seedlings were ready to plant in the spring and they had time to become more established before the more adverse conditions of summer began.

Step One: 

Decide what to grow.  Your local County extension office can be a great source of information on this and many other topics in the garden, and otherwise.  They offer free resources including a list of vegetable plants that grow well in our region.  There is also free information, on all aspects of gardening, available in your local Library and online.  Garden site size is an important consideration, as well as the time available to commit to the garden throughout the growing seasons.  Will you plant in the ground or in large potting containers?   If you intend to plant in the ground, consider testing your soil and augment as needed.  Also consider how you plan to protect your crops from local critters, whether neighborhood cats and dogs, or deer and raccoons.  Do you need a small fence?  Do you have the proper structures to support your plants.  For instance, tomatoes require some type of support, so they do not fall over which leads to disease and rot for the plants and the fruits themselves.

 Keep in mind other sources of the vegetables you like to eat, such as the farmers market,  and consider growing only those that are right for you particular needs, site, and time, and the ones you dream of watering and picking even on the hottest of summer days.  Choose vegetables that you will be content to share or store, should you be lucky enough to have that sought after bumper crop.

Step Two:  Acquire Seeds!

Seed Catalogs arrive in the winter, for more than our dreams, but also for our plans.  If you do not currently receive a seed catalog, find many options online by searching for the types of seeds you seek.  I’ll mention here, our own seed website,  WWW.Dustbowlseed.com  which specializes in seeds for adverse conditions.

Step Three:  Plant seeds inside a heated environment

Not all seedlings need this head start, so choose only those who will benefit and those you have room for in an indoor growing space.  Start with good soil and a seed tray or small pots, depending upon your number of plants. Soil can be purchased at home improvement stores or local farm supply, and can be augmented with compost, which is highly recommended.  If you don’t have seed trays, or want to buy them, I have recently seen folks using toilet paper rolls as seed starting material.   There are several websites that show this technique, if you are interested in checking it out.  One of the benefits of this technique is that they can go right into the ground when it is time to transplant.  The cardboard will break down into your soil and also be a good barrier against cut worms, which often kill young seedlings. As Martha would say, it’s a good thing.

Ideally, one uses a grow light, hanging down a couple of feet from the seed tray, as the plants will grow more compact. It is important to use the grow light correctly, if you do have one, so as not to overheat the plants, so do your research online, in your local Library or through the services of your County Extension office. .  If you do not have a grow light or other lighting to add, a west or south facing window will do.  The plants will be reaching more for the light on these short winter days, so will tend to become what we call leggy, which is term meaning long and tall and thin, which might be good for basketball players and models, but for vegetable plants not so much.  Read a bit on how to fertilize and water your particular seedlings, as they progress. 

Step Four: Transplant

Many folks swear by the Farmer’s Almanac as a guide for dates like planting and harvesting, or they tend to listen to the friend with the greenest thumb.  The directions that come with your particular seeds can help, but keep in mind, direct sun in the Northeastern United States is not the same as direct sun in the Mid South.  Transplanting is a gentle process.  You will want to take care of your little babies after bringing them this far.  If you do not use the toilet paper roll technique, consider using other methods to protect from cut worms.

I hope this helps you on your way to that first ripe red tomato slice.  My goal, for this treasure is late June!

seeds available at dustbowlseed.com, varied