Normally I start planning my vegetable garden about March and then put the plants in the garden after Memorial Day. I try to decide what plants I should buy and which ones to grow from seed. I start looking in the department stores and garden centers at the plant displays and mentally making lists of what I need. However, I also keep seeds from last year’s plants too. To do this, I remove the seeds from the fresh vegetable, dry them out on newspaper, store them in paper envelopes and then label them with name and date and special comments.In addition, I also buy some full size plants in six pack flats or individual quart size containers. Checking around at the different garden centers the prices have increased this year for the quart size plant containers with a full grown plant. The average price is about $3.49 per container but you do get a full grown healthy plant about one foot tall.
The price of a package of seeds varies from one store to another. I like Burpee Seeds sold at Walmart’s for $ 1.00 per pack. Marketbasket had packs for $0.69 and Christmas Tree Shop had packs for $1.99. I finally decided to buy 15 different seed packs from Walmart, some potting soil mix (with vermiculite), some (2x5) peat pots, some (4x9) planting trays, and some craft sticks to label each peat pot.
I invited my grandchildren over the house at the end of April to help me plant some of the seeds and let them each pick a variety to plants from the 15 choices. I gave them a Seed Info Chart that I had made from the information on the back of the seed packs. See chart at the link ......
http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/SeedInfo5409?authkey=Gv1sRgCNOghL__gKCMpQE#5332153768917807394
I then set out a card table in the basement and covered it with newspaper. I put the supplies nearby and explained to the children how to plant the seeds. The kids quickly chose their seeds, loaded the peat pots with soil mix, made the seed holes with a pencil, dropped in the seeds and covered them with soil. See photos at the link …….
http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/GardenBlogPics5409
We then carried the peat pots outside to a cold frame that I made with wood strapping and clear plastic. I told them that the clear plastic would allow the sunlight through most of the day to keep the seedlings warm. We then watered the peat pots and closed the top of the cold frame to keep the heat in overnight and protect the plants from any frost.
In Wilmington, MA where I live, you generally have to wait until after Memorial Day to be safe from cold nights and frost before you can take seedlings from the cold frame and plant them in the garden. The seeds take about two weeks to germinate to tiny seedlings with two little leaves. I told the grandchildren that I would water them each day and send them pictures by email to see how the plants develop over the next few weeks. However, they would have to help me plant them in the garden at the end of May.
I got the garden ready last week by tilling the soil with my gas powered Honda Mini Tiller. This is a great tool which has four circular blades with tines that dig into the soil and turn it over. The next step is to decide where to put each vegetable plant and how far to space them from each other. I generally make a chart of my garden area which is 10 x 20 feet and pencil in the approximate location of each plant with a designated number. Some of the plants can be placed along the garden fence about one foot apart and some of the others are placed two or three feet apart. See the chart at the link .....
http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/GardenBlogPics5409
We then carried the peat pots outside to a cold frame that I made with wood strapping and clear plastic. I told them that the clear plastic would allow the sunlight through most of the day to keep the seedlings warm. We then watered the peat pots and closed the top of the cold frame to keep the heat in overnight and protect the plants from any frost.
In Wilmington, MA where I live, you generally have to wait until after Memorial Day to be safe from cold nights and frost before you can take seedlings from the cold frame and plant them in the garden. The seeds take about two weeks to germinate to tiny seedlings with two little leaves. I told the grandchildren that I would water them each day and send them pictures by email to see how the plants develop over the next few weeks. However, they would have to help me plant them in the garden at the end of May.
I got the garden ready last week by tilling the soil with my gas powered Honda Mini Tiller. This is a great tool which has four circular blades with tines that dig into the soil and turn it over. The next step is to decide where to put each vegetable plant and how far to space them from each other. I generally make a chart of my garden area which is 10 x 20 feet and pencil in the approximate location of each plant with a designated number. Some of the plants can be placed along the garden fence about one foot apart and some of the others are placed two or three feet apart. See the chart at the link .....
That’s it for now. I’ll let you know how the garden develops during the summer. If you have any suggestions, questions or comments, send email to markryan82@comcast.net.
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