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How Do I Prepare My Edible Garden in the Spring?

How Do I Prepare My Edible Garden in the Spring?

While it can feel like spring may never arrive, the season is here! Now is a great time to bring your green thumbs out of hibernation to start planning this year’s fruit and vegetable garden.

It is best to get ahead of garden prep before planting time arrives so you can focus on the fun parts – sowing and planting your vegetables and plants. Typically, it’s best to introduce any indoor seedlings to outdoor conditions about two weeks after the last frost in your area and gradually transplant them into your garden. However, if you’re starting fresh with new seeds, then begin sowing them into your garden bed six to eight weeks after the final frost in your area.

Regardless of the maturity of the plants you plan to house in your garden, follow these tips on how to prep a garden in the spring for the upcoming growing season.

Create a garden map.

Winter is an ideal time to start planning what you want in your garden for the upcoming season. Whether you have an existing garden or are creating new beds, mapping out how your garden will look and what plants will be planted where will help you be more efficient once it’s officially time for planting.

Start with a list of what you’d like to grow – and eat – throughout the season. Find out how much room each plant will need as it grows and which crops play nicely together. For example, mint will take over like a weed and does best in its own pot. But other plants grow vertically and leave room for others at their base. With these details, you can create a diagram of what to plant where and determine how many seeds or seedlings you’ll need, as well as any trellises or supports. Zoning your garden planting can help you get the most out of your seeds when it’s time to harvest fruits, herbs and vegetables.

Prep garden tools.

Nothing is worse than being ready to dive into your spring garden and discovering your tools aren’t up to par to get the job done. About a month before planting, clean your garden tools – shovels, shears, rakes, loppers, and pruners – so everything is ready to go as soon as it’s time to hit the soil. Clean accumulated rust and dirt off smaller tools with a wire brush; if it’s stubborn, then try fine steel wool. For larger tools such as shovels, use sandpaper to help remove rust. Once clean, sharpen bladed tools (e.g., shovels, shears and loppers) with a file, pushing them across the blade in a motion away from your body at a diagonal line. Also, inspect hoses and nozzles for any holes or tears, and don’t forget to check the lawn mower.

Take inventory of gardening materials.

Knowing how much potting soil, mulch, fertilizer, and other miscellaneous materials you still have in your garage or shed will help you determine which products you can use from last year and which will need to be replaced.

Work the soil.

Before you can start any gardening, the soil must be ready for planting. If the yard has been trapped under snow all winter long, the cold and moisture compacts the soil, making it hard to work and creating an unhealthy foundation for planting. To break up soil and turn it into a soft environment for new roots to grow, cultivate or till soil when it’s nearly dry but still containing some moisture and not soaking wet. Cultivating or tilling is a great way to easily loosen soil and work in needed nutrients and soil amendments in advance of flower or vegetable gardening. Learn the benefits of tilling soil, how it can benefit your gardening, and how to accomplish it successfully. You can tell the soil is ready when a clump of it breaks apart in your hands. If you have a larger garden to prepare, then the Troy-Bilt® Super Bronco™ Garden Tiller is designed to turn over and prepare large amounts of hard-packed soil. With adjustable tilling widths and the ability to till up to 6 inches deep, it cuts through the ground with ease, resulting in finely tilled, well-aerated soil. You may also want to test your soil to determine if it needs a pH or soil acidity adjustment.

Add amendments.

Next, correct the texture and nutrient levels in your soil by adding necessary amendments. Mix organic matter into the soil, such as compost or manure, to add nutrients. Because it’s incredibly rich in nutrients, compost will help improve soil’s health and provide crops with the nourishment needed to improve water drainage. Consider adding mulch on top of soil once properly amended to help keep soil cool and block some light, preventing new weed growth.

Control weeds.

As the weather continues to warm, spring weeds will crop up. If left unattended, then they may quickly grow come spring gardening season. Help control and prevent weeds from growing in your lawn or garden beds by maintaining a lush, healthy lawn and removing weeds before they have a chance to flower. Use a hoe for quick and easy removal. Be careful not to use harmful chemicals to control weeds in areas where you plan to grow food.

Taking successive planning steps like these to prepare for an edible garden can help make the process smoother and more enjoyable, which paves the way for a bountiful harvest.