Your Weekend Project: Get Ready to Plant!

With March in full swing (or at least moderate swing), it’s time to start thinking about getting some plants in the ground! Some of you may remember my gardening project last year. I started it a bit late in the season, but still got some great veggies out of it before I abandoned it to move to Auburn.

So I’m really looking forward to getting a garden going again this year, and I want you to plant with me! It’s NOT hard at all to get your garden started – I promise. I was a complete novice last year and still did pretty well. Here are some things you need to consider before you get started:

Do you want to do a raised bed garden or a container garden?
If you have some yard space, a raised bed is easy and fun. This is what I did last year and what I plan to do again this year. You can build your own bed with four pieces of lumber and some corner brackets, or go to Walmart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot or most other home improvement stores to buy one for anywhere between $30 and $400 (I can’t imagine what kind of material a $400 raised bed is made out of – gold and unicorn fur?). Raised beds are just frames that sit on the ground – there’s no bottom to them, they just keep your good soil in place.

A raised bed from Walmart for $99.

  A raised bed from Lowe's for $39.98.

 

If you have a teeny yard or no yard at all, but a little outdoor space, you can do a container garden. Just get various sizes of pots with holes in the bottom. These are great because you can arrange them any way you want, and they’re portable.

Or, you can do a mixture of both. I like to have some herbs, like rosemary and basil, in containers right outside my kitchen so I can snip some when I’m cooking (or making rosemary butter – sauce of the angels).

What do you want to plant?

The possibilities are endless of things you can plant, but you should be moderately aware of what’s going to grow best in your neck of the woods. You can do research to figure this out, but in my opinion, the easiest thing to do is trek down to your local Lowe’s or Home Depot and see what plants they’ve got out. They stock plants for your particular region, so it takes most of the guess work out. And you know those little tags that come in your plant? Read them! They’ve got all the info you need about sun, water, planting depth, etc.

I like to plant Bonnie plants because they come in peet pots that you just stick right in the ground. Plus, their web site has lots of info on it in case you have questions. Be sure you keep your plant tags so you can refer back to which variety you’re planting.

As for me, I’m going to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, banana peppers, tomatillos, basil and rosemary. I tried squash last year, but it kept getting critters on it and dying, which bummed me out. I may also try to plant strawberries in a container, and might stick a blueberry bush in the ground.

What to do this weekend

It’s still a bit early to do your planting right now, especially if you’re farther north than I am (which many of you are). But you CAN go ahead and get prepared. Here’s how:

• Buy and assemble (or construct, if you’re so inclined) your raised bed and figure out the best place for it. Ample sun is key to having plenty of veggies grow.
• Or, buy your containers and figure out where you’re going to put them.
• Buy your soil. Don’t go cheap here and buy top soil. Get potting mix. I like Miracle-Gro Potting mix. My 4’ x 4’ raised bed last year used about 6 big bags.
• Put your soil in your raised bed or container so it can start acclimating to the surroundings.
• Go ahead and buy some fertilizer and pest spray if you’re OK with chemicals (which I totally am). Bonnie makes a good fertilizer that’s super strong.

This is the kind of potting soil I like.

And that’s all you have to do this weekend! I’m going to buy my plants in a couple of weeks, but you can always ask your friendly Lowe’s or Home Depot people when the best time to plant is. Pretty soon you’ll have a lush garden like this:

Do you have questions? I can’t promise I can answer them, but I can certainly try. Just leave me a comment (include your email address), or click the “Ask Me a Question” link above! Happy weekend (and gardening) everyone!