If your garden is to realize its full potential for productivity you will need to get organized, so you know what to plant, when it should be done and where to do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planning the garden starts\nwith deciding what crops you want to grow, which varieties, how much of each,\nhow much seed to buy, when to start seeds (indoors and outdoors), when to prick\nout and transplant, where to put them and more. This is probably the most\ncomplicated (the only complicated) part of growing vegetables, as you have to\nfind out when to plant, decide where to plant and then you have to make sure\nyou plant at the right time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planning\nthe coming seasons crops can be a lot of fun and is the kind of gardening you\ncan do in midwinter, even when the garden is deep in snow. This paper garden\nmay soon be altered by reality, but you will have learned from the exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first year in the garden is the most difficult to plan for, because you have to start everything anew. In future years you don\u2019t have to make a totally new plan, but merely refine previous ones, moving things around and adding and subtracting as necessary. You will also have a better idea of when to plant and how well the crops are likely to grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The easiest way to start planning is to ask an experienced gardening neighbor, a local farmer or a cooperative extension office. They will be able to give you the specialized local advice you need, on what crops and varieties do well in your area, when to plant them, what problems to look out for and more. Whatever crops are grown commercially in an area tend to be those that are easiest to grow and most productive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step by step planning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You might start by thinking\nabout what you are trying to achieve with your garden. Do you want to grow a\nwide variety of crops to gain experience? Do you want to save money and grow\nthe crops you spend most on? Do you want to grow the most delicious varieties\nof the most delicious crops. Do you want to produce as much of your own food as\npossible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What crops?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What you like<\/strong>:\nThe first stage in planning the garden is deciding what to grow, and the most\nobvious answer is whatever you like to eat. Be sure to concentrate on crops you\nwill actually use. There\u2019s nothing wrong with being adventurous, but don\u2019t fill\nup your garden with taro, mashua, skirret and seakale to the exclusion of the\nfoods you eat every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Climate<\/strong>: Your list\nof the crops you like to eat will be altered by your climate and what grows\nwell in your area. Each crop has its own preferred growing conditions, depending\nupon where it originated. Though temperature is the most obvious aspect of this\n(if it\u2019s too hot or cold a plant won\u2019t work), humidity and rainfall are also important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously you must also\nchoose crops that are appropriate for the season. Grow plants when they are\neasiest to grow, which means at their optimal time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a crop proves too\ndifficult for the conditions (temperature, pests, bolting) then look for a\nsubstitute that is easier. Don\u2019t struggle to grow heat hating spinach in summer\nwhen you could have heat loving amaranth grow itself. Grow kale instead of\ncabbage, shallot or leek instead of onion. Of course you shouldn\u2019t try to grow\na warm weather crop if it is too cold either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Day length<\/strong>: Day length is an\nissue for some crops (notably onions). These bulb up (or flower or produce\ntubers) in response to certain day length days and won\u2019t do this (or set fruit)\nif the day length is too long. In such cases you will need to choose varieties\nthat are appropriate for your latitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Varieties<\/strong>: Of course\nyou have to choose varieties <\/strong>that will be able to mature\nin your area. Don\u2019t plant a tomato that\nneeds 95 warm days if you only get 80 such days, all you will get is a lot of\ngreen fruit and disappointment. This is particularly important with late\nplantings. See Seeds<\/strong> for more on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Convenience<\/strong>: Consider\nhow much time you want <\/strong>to devote to the garden.\nSome crops thrive on neglect, while others wilt and die if you look at them\nwith anything less than adoration. If you don\u2019t have much time to spare it is\nprobably a good idea to concentrate on the more independent crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How much to plant<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve decided which\ncrops you want, you must decide how much of each you will need (whether for\nyour own consumption, giving away, sale or to feed to local wildlife). If you\nare growing just to supplement your diet with better tasting and more\nnutritious foods, you won\u2019t have to plant tons of everything, you won\u2019t need it\n(unless you are planning to preserve a lot for winter, or give it away). For\nmany crops you will only need 6 or 8 plants at one time. Raising plants from\nseed takes some work, so don\u2019t waste time and effort on growing more plants\nthan you can use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I like to\nplant quite a few varieties, to get more diversity and interest. This means I don\u2019t\nusually plant many seeds of any one variety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are aiming for any\nkind of self-sufficiency then you will be creating a larger and more ambitious\ngarden. In this case you will probably want to concentrate on growing the most\nnutritious and productive crops. These include the high calorie or high protein\ncrops, such as potatoes, beans and field corn. Large plantings of these main\ncrops would be supplemented with other crops that are especially tasty or easy\nto grow. Your garden won\u2019t keep you alive if your main crops are tomatoes,\ncucumbers and lettuce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To feed a family of four\nyear round will require a lot of plants and you will need to grow crops in\nquantity. Obviously the exact numbers will depend upon many factors, but you\nmight start with 1000 bean, 1000 carrot, 100 garlic, 200 lettuce, 400 onion, 25\npepper, 300 potato, 25 squash and 50 tomato plants. Growing this many plants\nrequires quite a bit of organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How many seeds (or\ntransplants or bulbs) you plant at one time will depend upon the crop. In some\ncases (garlic, dry bean) you will plant your whole crop at one time. In some\nyou may plant several times (such as squash or potatoes), and some you might\nplants a few at a time (radish or lettuce). <\/p>\n\n\n\n How many seeds do you need?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you know how many\nplants you require, you can figure out how many seeds you will need. A seed\npacket can potentially contain a lot of plants and there is no point producing\nmore plants than you can use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When growing transplants,\nyou will normally plant 2 – 3 seeds for each plant you need, then you can pick\nthe very best for transplanting. You should also expect to have some losses\nwhen planting out, perhaps 10 – 20%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With direct\nsown crops, where risks from pests and weather are greater, you should plan on\nsowing 4 seeds for every plant you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you get more experienced\nyou will learn which crops have the highest losses (when a crop has a serious\npest in your area) and which are relatively problem free. In this way you may\nwell be able to reduce the number of seeds sown even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sow or transplant?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You will also have to decide\nwhich crops you need to start inside and which you will direct sow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally\nit\u2019s more work to raise transplants inside, but you get crops earlier than by\ndirect sowing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In areas with shorter\ngrowing seasons you often have to use transplants, if you are to have a long\nenough harvest season (or even harvest at all in some cases). Direct sowing is\neasier, but takes longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you only need 3 or 4\nplants you may choose to use transplants, whereas if you need 200 you will be more\ninclined to direct sow, simply because the cost is much less. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Plants that produce a small\namount of food each (such as beans or peas) will usually be direct sown. As\nwill plants that grow very rapidly (these may get root bound quickly inside) as\nyou don\u2019t gain a lot from starting them inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Transplants\nare commonly used when the weather is unpredictable, as they give you more\ncontrol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Crops for different situations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Easiest crops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bean, beet,\nchard, corn, cucumber, kale, lettuce, onion, squash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fastest growing crops<\/strong> <\/strong>(60 days or less) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lettuce, mizuna, mustards,\nradish, shungiku, spinach, komatsuna. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most valuable crops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Beans (bush\nand pole), corn, cucumber, peppers, strawberry, summer squash, tomato <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most space efficient crops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Beet,\ncarrot, garlic, leaf lettuce, onion, radish, spinach .<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most efficient crops<\/strong> <\/strong>(in all respects) <\/strong>Beans\n(pole), beets (root and top), lettuce \n(leaf), onion (bunching), snap peas, potato, salad mix, summer squash,\ntomato (trellis), turnip (root and top).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most nutritious crops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Broccoli,\ndry beans, kale and collards, parsnip, potato, soybean, sweet potato, turnip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crops for moist soil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Celery,\ncucumber, endive, lettuce, peas, radish, spinach, squash, turnip<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hardiest crops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Brussels sprout, cabbage,\nceleriac, chicory, corn salad, fava bean, garlic, Hamburg parsley, Jerusalem\nartichoke, kale, land cress, leek, parsnip, rutabaga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heat tolerant crops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amaranth,\nMalabar spinach, sweet potato, watermelon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shade tolerant crops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Beet,\nBrussels sprout, cabbage, chard, Chinese greens, dill, kale, lettuce, onions,\nparsley, spinach .<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drought tolerant crops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Beans,\ncorn, hot peppers, melons, tomatoes<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crops for poor soil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Arugala,\nbeans, beet, carrot, chard, chicory, collards, cowpea, endive, escarole, fava\nbean, kale, parsnip, pea, turnip greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crops for average soil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Artichoke,\nbasil, cilantro, cabbage, corn, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, kohlrabi, lettuce,\nmustards, okra, onion, potato, rutabaga, spinach, summer squash, tomato, turnip\nroot, watermelon, winter squash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crops for rich soil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Asparagus,\nbroccoli, Brussels sprout, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, celery, celeriac,\nleek, melon, peppers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sowing list<\/strong>
Start your sowing list by writing down the number of plants of each crop you want to grow (whether for a few treats, food for the growing season, or to feed your family for the whole year). Subdivide this into varieties as you select them. This will help you to know how many seeds to order and transplants to start. \u00a0
Once you know how many plants you need, you can determine how much square footage of bed you must devote to each crop. You will then know how much space is required in total and if necessary you can adjust the number of plants, to match the space you have available. \u00a0
Of course all crops aren\u2019t in the ground at the same time, or for the same length of time. As soon as some are removed you can plant others. Early potatoes might give way to late beans, peas may make way for zucchini. This enables you to use the same space for several crops during the course of a growing season. \u00a0 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n Direct sow<\/strong>\n \n <\/td> \n Transplant<\/strong>\n \n <\/td> \n Either<\/strong>\n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n Beans\n \n <\/td> \n Celery\n \n <\/td> \n Basil\n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n Beet \n \n <\/td> \n Eggplant\n \n <\/td> \n Broccoli \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n Carrot \n \n <\/td> \n Leek\n \n <\/td> \n Cabbage \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n Radish\n \n <\/td> \n Melon\n \n <\/td> \n Cilantro\n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n Spinach \n \n <\/td> \n Okra\n \n <\/td> \n Cucumber\n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n Parsley\n \n <\/td> \n Onions\n \n <\/td> \n Kale\n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n Peas \n \n <\/td> \n Peppers\n \n <\/td> \n Lettuce \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n Corn \n <\/td> \n Tomatoes\n \n <\/td> \n Squash\n \n <\/td><\/tr> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td> \n \n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n