Seed catalogs are enticing, I have to admit. About this time I begin to ponder whether to include edible peppers or herbs in my flowerbed for food and ornament, grow cucumbers in a container and along the deck rail, or plan for the vegetable garden patch like last year. I found an online newsletter at www.takepart.com that had some suggestions:
- Locate the spot for vegetable plants where they get about eight hours of summer sun a day, as most require full sun to grow well.
- Plan to plant radishes and lettuce a few seeds at a time over weeks in succession rather than all at once. As you harvest, other plants mature.
- For what to grow when, rely on seed catalog charts and the back of seed packets. Here in South Dakota, Igrow.org is the Extension site for garden information. An Extension publication FS 926 “Choosing Vegetable Varieties for South Dakota” may be downloaded.
- Find books or read from such magazines as Mother Earth News to help plan a garden site. They are found at the Yankton Community Library.
For me, finding the indoor growing space and time to start a few tomatoes, peppers, or broccoli, first need to be resolved. And of course, timing the plants so they are ready to transplant after last frost in spring is the challenge that nurseries and greenhouses have solved with the plants ready for the garden. Where did I leave those garden notes from last season?
What are your pre-season thoughts about gardening? Share with us if you want.
Thanks to followers and visitors for stopping by today. So look around for topics that might interest you here at Plant Exchange and come back again for a post each week about plants of our region and people who grow them.
Plant Exchange Blog 