Garden Planning - Spring 2021

April showers, brings May flowers! (but what about April snowstorms?)

Well, that time of year has come, I've started drawing out my garden and planning. The weather lately has been amazing and warm, our whole winter was actually pretty decent this year, but they're calling for one last snowstorm this weekend. I think they've predicted roughly 10-15cm of snow in our area, and cooler temperatures next week.

Even so, it was time to start planting and prepping for spring. The first thing I did was draw out my garden plan for the year, I took stock of all the things I had already on hand and ordered new seeds awhile ago. I ordered from TNT Seeds out of Brandon, MB again. I was pretty happy with them last year. 

This is what my garden plan looks like this year.

As you can see, it's pretty similar to my last year garden with a few exceptions. Last year I planted Soy Beans (Edamame Beans) which didn't grow at all. I was also told that an easier way to plant peas is to plant them in two rows close together (as in an inch apart) so they climb either onto each other or evenly on the garden mesh (whichever method you use). I'm also growing peppers and hopefully jalapenos if I can find them. I go through a lot of salsa, especially a pico de gallo in the summer. I also think that homemade salsa or preserves of any kind, make great gifts. Something heartwarming about receiving something home made with love. I also noted last year that my zucchini plants got taken over by pumpkin and spaghetti squash so they're going on the other end of the garden completely. I had alot of luck storing my spaghetti squash and potatoes over winter so I'm going to plant a bit of extra. Even my carrots weathered well in a bag in my fridge!

So now that I roughly know where things are going, I started the plants that would need to be well established when planted. My setup isn't super complicated. I have a plastic shelving unit I bought at the local Co-op in town and set my flats up on it. They come complete with clear tops and hold in moisture. In these I planted:

50 tomato plants (25 roma / 25 manitoba)
10 bell pepper plants
5 spaghetti squash plants
10 pumpkin plants
15 sunflower plants
35 marigolds (to be planted in the rows to deter bugs)

I also had picked up these deep planters last year that were filled with carrots. I ended up pickling them because they didn't grow well, after the hail we had I honestly forgot about them. So I figured why not try again. I filled one with lettuce and herbs, and the other with carrots. my plan with them is to bring them to the camper for the summer on the deck, hopefully they produce well!

So thats it for now, I do have a couple empty rows in my garden and depending on how seeding with three kids goes I may or may not expand the cucumber rows. My tip with cucumbers is to sprout them in damp paper towel in a bag in a sunny window before planting. Then when you plant just stick your finger up to your first knuckle into the soil and plop in a seed every couple of inches and cover. It usually works well for me, and is a trick I've learned from years of planting garden with my mom.

Happy seeding! 
Cheers