Gardens and gardeners come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and levels of expertise.
Those of us who are good at growing herbs are better at producing tomatoes. While many people are still learning how to properly care for delicate cucumbers, a select few may even have perfected the challenging art of growing celery.

The important thing is that, in the knowledge that we are all more than capable of producing food, you are on your way to a garden harvest. We are once more understanding that backyard gardens are the best option, just like our grandparents and great-grandparents did to feed their families wholesome food.

Gardening requires more planning than merely purchasing high-quality seed stock. Additionally, it entails getting the earth ready for planting. Your garden beds may have already been winterized if you were on top of things late last autumn. However, starting is never too late.

Getting ready for spring in your yard

If you already have a garden, you probably already have a spring cleaning regimen, but gardens can always be made better. A novice landscaper might even feel overburdened by the thought of having so much “work,” some of it physically demanding. You will have to do more lifting, shoveling, digging, stooping, stretching, and wheelbarrow pushing the bigger the yard is! Growing a garden can be considered a beneficial form of exercise. The healthiest fruits and vegetables, grown as locally as feasible and conveniently, will be your reward at the end. A yard is something that benefits everyone. Here are the top 6 suggestions to keep in mind as you start getting ready to prepare your garden for spring, whether you are just getting ready to sow or are thinking about next year’s garden.

1. Gather and purchase seedlings

You’ll want to have plants that prefer the sun, the shade, or possibly a combination of the two, depending on how much time you spend choosing where your garden will be. The next step in gardening is probably the most enjoyable: choosing seedlings.
Even though you can buy almost any seed you can think of online, including heirlooms, it makes sense to buy locally from other gardeners who have preserved seeds from local plants. It is advantageous to verify quantities and look at the condition of the seeds if you have been gardening for a number of seasons and will be planting your own seeds. They won’t work if they are consumed or moldy. They must be changed right away in this situation. Pay careful attention to the maturation dates because planting too late can result in immature crops. Which leads us to the idea of keeping a journal or log of your garden’s development.

2. Establish a sowing schedule

Before starting to keep a planting/harvesting record in a dependable notebook, I have often struggled to recall the exact season in which a specific garden seed was planted (even after attempting for a while to remember the harvesting season). It doesn’t have to be complex or high-tech, though if you’re willing to take that path and have the design skills to pull it off, you can. A planting schedule can be made very easily. It will give you room to make notes about diseases, successes, and harvests and will help you to avoid all the confusion surrounding maturity dates.

3. Plant long-season crops.

Many plants can be directly sown into the soil that has been warmed by the sun, still others will profit from being planted inside first. If you have shorter, colder summers—basically, a shorter growing season—starting plants indoors is a particularly effective way to produce more vegetables. You don’t have to run to the shop right away to buy plastic planting pots. Making biodegradable seedling containers is simple and can be done with a variety of household items. The following seeds are some of the simplest to initiate indoors:   brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplants, kale, marigolds, okra, peppers, tomatillo, tomatoes, and watermelon.  By the time your seeds become seedlings, the sun will have warmed up the soil and will be ready for planting.
Then you will be one step closer to a bountiful harvest date.

4. Add compost to your garden

Adding the right kind(s) and the right amount of compost to your garden, can only improve it. Not only does it serve to benefit the health of the soil, it can improve water drainage as well, if that is an issue in your garden. There is no right or wrong way to add compost. It is one of those grey areas that leaves plenty open for interpretation.

When planting, add one inch of compost to the top of the soil or dig it deeper into your garden when you till it.
If the thought of moving too many wheelbarrows of compost strains your back, or your garden is too small to warrant a compost pile of its own, know that you can always make a smaller batch of compost tea to feed both the soil and your plants. There are plenty of options to get started. You can either buy a ready-made compost bin or go ahead and make your own compost bin.

5. Other soil amendments

Manure is an excellent source of nutrients for your garden, though it is best applied in fall. Naturally, there are exceptions. If your manure is completely aged, you can add it to your garden 90 days prior to your first garden harvest, if what you are growing, the actual edibles, do not come in contact with the soil. You’ll also want to refrain from sprinkling manure right where you plant lettuce and other leafy greens.

To find out what your garden soil needs, without guessing, you may want to do a soil test. You can purchase a basic one at a garden store, or work with your state’s cooperative extension service to get your soil tested. With a proper test, you can find out the pH of your soil and adjust it accordingly. To raise the pH of your soil add wood ash or lime; to lower the soil pH add peat or more compost.

6. Find a source of mulch

Mulch is one more springtime task to consider. What kind, how much, where you want to store it, whether it’s organic or inorganic, etc. Once your garden starts to expand, you’ll have a ton of other tasks to complete, and trying to obtain mulch when everyone else is doing it will just prevent you from spending more time in the garden.  Mulch is fantastic for a variety of reasons:   help keep soils moist and prevent erosion, gradually improve the soils and add organic matter. If you don’t already have a pile or a source of mulch on hand, decide as soon as possible whether you’ll be using grass clippings, straw, hay, chopped leaves, or wood chips in your garden and find out where you can get them locally.

Are you eager to enter the garden yet? Undoubtedly, we are.  We’ll be right there with you, tending to the backyard garden – the ultimate source of healthful food – as the weather warms and the sun starts to suggest that spring has indeed arrived.