If you are going to have a garden this spring it’s time to start planning! Read on for 5 easy steps on how to plan a garden.
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Spring is one of my favorite times of year on the homestead. With spring comes playing in the dirt, growing things, planting, and baby animals. And while spring isn’t here quite yet, it’s time to start preparing for it. Where we live I can start some seeds indoors in about a month, so it’s time to get planning! (I like to use this planting calendar just to help me gauge when to start things)
5 Steps To Plan A Garden
Step 1: Decide what you want to grow.
The first thing you need to do to plan a garden is to decide what you are going to grow. There’s no reason to go too crazy, just stick to things that you know you or your family will eat or preserve. Carrots, peas, cucumbers, beans, and corn are all pretty common vegetables that are fairly easy to grow.
Step 2: Draw out your garden.
After you have decided what you want to plant you should draw out your garden. If you already have a garden plot this won’t be too hard to do, just draw what you have. Make sure you draw things like raised beds or planters if you have them in your garden. Include measurements so you know how much room you have to plant in. Doing this will help you visualize what you have to work with and aid in planning.
Step 3: Decide how much of each vegetable to plant.
Once you know what you want to grow and have your garden drawn out so you know how much room you have, you can figure out how much of each vegetable you want to plant. You will want to figure out how much of each vegetable you want to eat, keeping in mind how much room you have to plant. It would be a good idea to look up things like how much each plant of certain vegetables yields, and how far apart the plants need to be. Different vegetables need to be planted different distances apart.
Step 4: Plan where each vegetable will go in the garden.
Then you can plan your garden layout! Decide where you want to plant each vegetable. Make sure to look at what you are going to plant and where your garden is to decide where to plant it. Some plants like more sun, like cucumbers. Other plants don’t mind less sun, like beets and carrots, so consider that when deciding where to plant things. If this is not your first year gardening you should make sure to rotate which crops you put where in your garden to help ensure you will get as much produce as possible. This post explains crop rotation well if you are looking to learn more about it.
Step 5: Order your seeds and accessories.
The last thing you need to do to plan your garden is to go order your seeds! You can get seeds from a lot of different places online or in-store. And you can find all different kinds of seeds, organic, non-organic, heirloom seeds, etc. Quite a few stores, at least around here carry seeds this time of year. I’ve gotten seeds from Walmart, Runnings, or Tractor Supply. Or you can order from different places online. I’ve used Burpee in the past but you can use many different places.
Bonus Tips To Plan A Garden
- I find it helpful while I’m waiting for my seeds to come to write down either on a calendar or on paper when I need to start each seed indoors, when I can transplant them outside, when I can sow each seed directly in the ground and when I can expect them to be ready to harvest.
- You can also plant almost anything in a pot. I grew my garden in pots for 2 years because we didn’t have land where we were. And while it sure isn’t my favorite way to garden, it is possible. If you are doing a potted garden you can follow the same steps, just make sure everything you want to grow can be grown in a pot. Most vegetables can be grown in a pot. But some things I’m not sure about, like squash or corn, I don’t know how that would work.
Garden Planner
You don’t need a garden planner to plan a garden, however, I have found one to be very helpful. I use a garden planner to help plan my garden. It keeps everything in one spot and the one I use you can use for 5 years, making it easy to look back and see what you did last year. This one is the one that I use and it has a place to write what you want to grow, draw your garden layout, a place to write when to start your seeds, your preservation plans, what you’ve harvested, and a few pages for blank notes.
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