Every year my goal is to garden better than the previous year. I’m not aiming at being the perfect gardener because as learned after listening to old time gardeners there is no such thing as perfection only progress.
This year, my progress is starting more seedlings indoors, rotating the plant beds better to make sure the growth continues in each garden, plant blueberry bushes and fruit trees.
Why Garden – We garden because it is an extremely meditative and relaxing act. Along with controlling our grocery bill, we have a sense of peace knowing where our food is coming from. We see it from seed to our plates which is a sense of being present in the process of our earth providing us with nutrients.
Steps Taken So Far This Year
- Seed preparation – We soaked all the seed overnight in Tupperware containers. If they are seedlings indoor, they were poured into the trays. Direct sows were pored directly in the ground after March 27th (the date when we are beyond the threat of frost in zone 8)
- Soil preparation – We turn over the land and mix in manure as we go. Removed all old plants and plants still hanging around from last year. Then plan out the layout rotating plants around (we don’t want to grow the same thing in the same spot as last year)
- Indoor germination – I used the stickers from the seed bags to mark the end of each tray. Once the seeds were packed in the trays, they were placed on a pan and covered with plastic wrap. I filled the bottom of the pan with water – making sure to refill anytime it looked low over the weeks of germination.
- Once the green leaves popped up, I removed the plastic wrap. I started to spray the top of the plants with warm water for a few days.
- I moved the plants shortly after into cups with holes in the bottom of them. Watering them like normal plants and spraying the leaves in the mornings.
Next Steps
- Direct sow the seeds outside
- Transplant the indoor plants outside
Determining Timeline – Here’s a free printable garden planner that we used in zone 8, this can be adjusted to accommodate different zones to forecast dates.
