The warm weather is starting to sneak in. Spring is finally just around the corner.
As we head into March, it’s a good idea to start thinking about your garden. Having your own vegetable garden will add up to huge savings this summer. Not only will you save money; you will be consuming fresh vegetables with controlled pesticides. You can’t getting any fresher than walking out to the garden to pick tomatoes for a salad straight off the vine!
Getting Started
1. If this is your first year for a garden, start watching your yard for the ideal spot. You want to your garden to get as much sunlight as possible while keeping in mind shelter from harsh wind (I’m currently watching our yard throughout the day & keeping track of the suns movements).
2. Once you know where to put the garden, start thinking of the size you’ll need. If you’re not an experienced gardener, I’d suggest keeping it small the first year.
3. Determine your soil composition. If necessary, take a soil sample. This can help determine the pH & any nutrient deficiencies in the soil. You can find tips on collecting a soil sample in this article from the Virginia Cooperative Extension. The cost is around $7.
4. Adding topsoil, compost and/or manure to the garden area is a great way to get the soil ready for planting season.
5. During March & April (about 8 weeks before you plant), it’s time to start seeds indoors for vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers. You could also purchase plants later to be transplanted but they will be more expensive than seeds.
Look for more garden talk as we get closer to spring. I’ll also be sharing more about our new garden. We didn’t have one last year as we were still finishing up home renovations.
*If you’re in VA, the Virginia Cooperative Extension has a handy website including the best vegetables and fruits for our area.
This post is linked to Life as Mom & My Coupon Teacher
Do you plant a garden? What are your tips?
I can’t wait for my garden!
I LOVE a garden!! I can’t plant on in my yard (backyard is mostly shadey) I plant mine in pots (big ones) however.. I have already started my seeds… I made a green house, I use egg cartons to start my seeds in (label them) water them and then put the entire thing in a plastic storage bag, put in the sun (inside) and you don’t have to worry about it until it’s time to transplant!! no more watering even! (until you transplant) my romaine and spinach is almost ready to transplant—but since I use pots I can bring them inside on cold night so I plant early–
ALSO…. Walgreens has coupons in todays add planting soil 8lb bag $.99 (limit 3) and seed packets either 5/$1 or 4/$1 I forgot (printed them though!) limit 10 packets…
Have a great day!
Thanks for the WAGS tips! I need to head out there!
I may plant my cherry tomaotes is pots this year to save room. Thanks for the reminder that those planting in pots can start much sooner than the yard garden!
Thanks! I have a garden every year and love it. Thinking about trying a couple new ones from the list in the link that I’ve never tried growing before.
Like Angela, I’m doing a lot of pots this year. And raised beds. But for me it is not the sunlight, only that my dogs treat my garden like their own personal snack bar.
I saw the Walgreens ad and the coupons in it…but they didn’t have any seeds at the store when I went! In all honesty though, I’m not much of a green thumb and I prefer to buy young plants (seeds only for herbs and flowers.) My attempts to start from seed typically fail. There are lots of family owned nurseries in the area and I have been very impressed with the overall quality of their plants.
Check to see if there are any plant swap groups or meets in your area. I was introduced to one years ago in this area, but I didn’t participate much. Great way to share your extra plants with other gardeners.
In past years I purchased the young tomato plants since I have black thumb. My hubby is planning to try the seeds this year. He has to tend the garden anyways because I tend to kill everything if I get to close 🙂
Great Post Dana!
I look forward to reading more garden posts as spring approaches! I also do raised beds, but haven’t had a ton of luck with my garden since moving her from Colorado. There are a lot more pests in this environment! My zucchini always gets the borer worm.
This year I plan on growing my own romaine when it is early and cool. Not sure when the right time to plan that will be? Early April?
I’ll ask my mom about the zucchini, she is the gardening queen.
I have a friend that grew Romaine lettuce last year and she said it did very well. I’m planning to try it this year
Lol “black thumb.” I kill plants too…all fake houseplants now.
My Romaine has done best transplanted early April. I hear seeds can go in mid-March, but I have no experience with that. I transplanted late last year (beginning of May,) and it was hard to keep up with in the heat and bolted fast.
Looking forward to your mom’s tips, in the mean time, here’s a bioinsecticide offered by a company I ordered some items from: http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8756&ss=bulls%20eye
Never heard or tried something like this, but claims to stop the borers in a more environment friendly way. Tempted to try it to stop the gypsy moths taking over the pecan trees again this year, but it’s a little pricey…