Spring is upon us and summer is just around the corner!
As the hummingbirds and butterflies are filling our landscape, it is time to start focusing on making our summer garden plentiful. Spring is the time to start planting your garden for summer to ensure the growth of your favorite healthy fruits and veggies.
Here are some tips to make sure your garden is bursting with flavor this season…
Pick Your Favorite Fruits and Vegetables
The best part of planting your garden for summer is picking what you want to grow. Make sure you have the appropriate seeds needed for what you would like in your garden. Sunset Magazine has a great online list of for the 21 Best Crops for Your Edible Garden. Make sure you are planting with appropriate spacing and pairing your choices with things that like to grow in the same environment.
Tools Needed
Make sure you have the proper tools to help get your summer garden growing. Helpful tools to have on hand are a shovel, garden fork, garden rake, hand trowel, spade and a good pair of gloves. Appropriate soil and some all-purpose granular fertilizer are essential to a garden. Making sure your garden has the appropriate nutrients will help make sure what you plant comes to fruition on time and are exceptionally yummy.
Getting Your Soil Ready
In early spring most soil is still wet from the previous rainy season, and it sure has been a rainy winter! Making sure your soil is ready and not overly moist is step number one. If you notice the soil clumps easily and is hard to till you might want to wait a bit until it is less moist. Soil should easily crumble and not clump when it is ready for planting. Once your garden area is ready, digging out weeds and excess matter and loosening your ground cover is essential. Roots for newly planted seeds need an appropriate amount of oxygen within the tilled soil to grow correctly. Add a purchased compost or one you have made yourself to your soil before fertilizer and planting your seeds.
Mapping Your Space
Make sure the area you have designated to start your garden does not become overcrowded. Adding too many plants can cause overcrowding and the suffocation on roots. Depending on the space that is available, research the distance needed to ensure what you plant can have the best opportunity to flourish. There is a great app available to help you map out your garden area for vegetables, flowers, and herbs. The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Planner can help you organize your garden and inform you of the right times to plant each garden addition.
Planning your summer garden is a great time to get out in nature, get your hands dirty, and put your green thumb to work!