You picked your vegetable garden spot, and you have a water source…now what? Before planning your spring garden, ask yourself these questions!
I typically have a garden each year. Sometimes it’s a win, and sometimes it isn’t. That’s just the way it goes! Regardless of your gardening experience, these are all questions that you should ask yourself each year before planning a spring garden, deciding what you want to plant, and how much of it!
Your life changes, so your spring garden plans might change each year as well. The time you have to dedicate to a garden changes. Your production goals change. Even your wants for your garden can change. Be kind to yourself, embrace the current season you are in and plan accordingly with a little help from these questions I ask myself each year in spring garden planning/pre-planning!
Why do I Want a Garden? Beauty, Production or Both?
I used to think that a spring garden had to be either strictly for flowers or a vegetable garden. I spent years aiming at production only and not really enjoying my spring garden as much as I could have been if I would have just planted some things that I think are beautiful as well. My long term garden goal is some beautiful raised beds with mulched and stoned pathways with vegetable beds and flower beds mixed throughout…but full disclosure, we are a long ways from that!
A happy medium end goal is not the case for everyone. Some homesteaders are in it strictly for production and every clump of flowers takes away from that potential. I get it! There are also some gardeners who might call it a vegetable garden but are only growing a giant squash plant because it’s easy, makes tons of squash, and the flowers are big and beautiful.
No matter where you fall on the production to beauty spectrum, you need to ask yourself what you want this spring garden to accomplish. Production, beauty, or both?! This year at Farmhouse 181 we will have to lean more towards production and function versus beauty. In this season of amping up our lambing quarters and less budget to go around, a no-frills in ground garden is what it will be!
How Much Time, Energy, and Money Do I have for this?
Like everything else in your life, your gardening approach will depend on your combination of time, energy and money at your disposal. Weeding takes a lot of time to keep up with, especially after a good rain or 3 in a row! You can be overtaken in a traditional in ground garden quickly…ask me how I know! But raised bed gardens take money to build or buy if you don’t have a garden already established. Mulching also takes a time, money, and energy investment up front, but you will save time and energy with weeding throughout the season.
It’s all a balancing act. If you are lacking in all 3 areas but still love and enjoy getting your hands in the dirt, you will want your garden to be fairly small. Maybe more on the beauty side with flowers you don’t have to maintenance, a very hardy and prolific couple of jalapeno plants, and a yellow squash plant or two. “They” say that having 40 chickens is like the same as having 10-20 chickens. I can’t speak on that because we just have our few layers, but I can tell you that having 40 garden plants to weed around and take care of is NOT like having 10.
Whether you want a raised bed garden or in ground garden will also have a lot to with what time, energy, and money you have available to you.
Plan your garden, maybe even one step towards your dream garden, but don’t forget to consider your capacities when planning your spring garden!
Will My Family Eat This?
I am so guilty of planting things just because I saw them and thought it would be fun. This is great for trying new things and IS pretty fun! Fried eggplant was a hit last year…yum! But that is really the only thing I used it for. We do an eggplant lasagna once in a blue moon also, but other than that, eggplant just isn’t in our food rotation. It also took up garden space and energy I could have put into other things.
If our family doesn’t eat it consistently, I really don’t want to plant it anymore…back to that time and energy concept. I don’t want to have anything around my home that I am trying to find a final home in a timely manner. I know myself and while I usually have good intentions on bringing vegetables to family or friends, it may or may not happen in a timely manner. When we are talking about food…this doesn’t work out well.
Garden space and energy is precious. While we love our animals, I don’t want to plant things that just go to them. Is that heartless of me…I don’t think so. Again, know thy self and know what your capacity is. Focusing your spring gardening efforts on vegetables that you love to eat and flowers you love should be a priority when garden planning!
Consuming and Preserving Plan…Do I know How to Store This?
So, you know what you want to plant now based off of what you eat. Great! Next thought process…how perishable is it? Are you going to eat it fresh? If so, will you consume a lot, or just a little of it? This will determine how many plants you want to plant of that specific fruit or vegetable and if you want to stagger any planting. We like to stagger planting watermelon and cantaloupe seeds over about a month with planting some each week so we can extend the time during the summer when we get to eat the fresh melons!
If you aren’t going to eat it fresh, but have other plans for it, like canning…do you know how to do that? We don’t eat a ton of fresh jalapeno, but I love to pickle them and use those pickled jalapenos in several recipes throughout the year. We also don’t eat a ton of fresh cucumbers, but I sure do love pickles! Do I know how to pickle those cucumbers and have the time for it…fortunately this year, yes! Tomatoes is another example…are you planting them to eat fresh and maybe need to pick an indeterminate variety that will give you tomatoes all season? Or do you want to shoot for some tomato sauce or ketchup? Choosing a determinate variety of tomatoes for sauce would be a better option since you would be harvesting all tomatoes around the same time, then no more.
Regardless of what you want to plant, thinking through how you will actually consume or preserve the produce from your spring garden will help you focus your energies throughout the season.
What are my top 3 goals for the garden this year?
Easy enough…what do you want to accomplish? Write out or think through the 3 things goals you want to meet for your spring garden this season. Ours are very small and humble:
- Get everything planted timely
- Set up a timer irrigation system
- Don’t get overtaken by the weeds!
Told you…they are not grand! I know that I love the food processing part of the garden and using what we harvest. This is why I love having a garden in the first place…the kitchen is my happy place! The daily tending is what I need to be better about.
No matter what your goals for this spring garden, if you spell out your top 3 goals, you are more likely to hit them! Hitting your goals makes you feel good. Focusing your efforts on a few things each year helps you improve your gardening skills. Improving your gardening skills, experiencing a little gardening success and feeling good about meeting your spring gardening goals gives you motivation for next year! Bam, bam, bam…win!
Final Thoughts
There are so many decisions to make when it comes to planning your spring garden. By taking a little time and asking yourself these questions, you can get a baseline plan established! You don’t have to have it all figured out, but a little planning goes a long ways! Now get out there and get to planning your spring garden!
Additional Spring Garden Planting Resources
- Texas Home Vegetable Gardening Guide – Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
- The Old Farmer’s Almanac
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Other Farmhouse 181 Blog Post Recommendations
- Tips for Decluttering Your Home…for the Messy People
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