Spring Garden Planning
It’s time!! Time to start clearing out the old to get ready for the new! Our last day of frost here in Bluffton, SC is March 9! 2 Month countdown!! In preparation for the warm, sunny days ahead, I’ve begun planning my Spring garden layout, ordering seeds, preparing my raised beds, and getting ready to start my indoor seed trays this week.
In order to maximize my harvests and get the most out of my garden space I like to use an intensive gardening plan. By utilizing vertical growing on trellis’ and arches, and mixing each bed with a variety of companion plants I get to use up (almost) every square inch! This will give me plenty of healthy harvests all spring/summer, and also creates a beautiful garden space flowing with vines, towering vegetables, leafy greens, edible flowers and herbs, and lots of root veggies all intermingled. This year I am rotating my crops to keep the soil healthy, and reduce the risk of pests. I’ll also be adding in some new squash varieties, tons of beets, turnips, and radishes, and even trying to mix in some melons! So excited to see my garden come back to life and fill up with a beautiful array of color once again.
Seed Starting
Now the we have the garden plan ready, it’s time to start seeds! Since we have 2 months left of potential frost, I’ll be starting my seeds indoors. This will allow me to get a jump start on the growing season, and come March I’ll have seedlings ready to transplant into their homes for the Spring/Summer. My favorite company to order seeds from is High Mowing Seeds. Their seeds are organic, and I find their germination rate to be outstanding! My plants last year that started from High Mowing Seeds were by far the healthiest, and now they’re my go-to for all veggies, herbs, and flowers! Plus their website is really user friendly and filled with incredible growing tips and tricks!
When starting my seeds, I like to use this galvanized seed tray (pictured above) from Gardeners. The cells pop out for easy removal so I can check their root growth, and I like that I can reuse the tray season after season without any added plastic! Once the seedlings outgrow their little cells, I transplant them to small terracotta pots to allow them a little more time to establish strong roots before it’s time to plant them in the raised beds. This system worked great for me last year!
Now let’s get planting!
It’s time to get our hands back in the soil! Although I did keep a Cool Weather garden this year, filled with lettuce, herbs, pansies, violas, kale, and chard, I am SO ready for a fresh start this spring and to see my garden exploding with color again! Check back next week as we dive deeper into Companion Planting. If you need any assistance in planning your Spring/Summer Kitchen Garden, feel free to reach out! Happy Spring Planning, friends!
