FREE GARDENING TIPS!
Choosing Seeds

Our preference is to select seeds that can reproduce themselves, or at least seeds that have not been genetically
altered. Here are some seed suppliers
that we have used. You may also want to start saving your own seeds
from year to year like people have done for thousands of years.
Successive planting:
As you plant, think of 3 growing seasons, spring, summer and fall, plus the winter harvest time if you use crop protection like an unheated greenhouse. As soon as our soil can be worked in the yard, you can plant spinach, lettuces, beets, and peas. A few weeks later, set out the broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussel sprouts (we start ours in the greenhouse in February/March). Then plant the onions and leeks. We try to replant more of these crops about every 2 weeks as the seasons progress to have a continuous harvest.
By dividing your garden into raised beds and square feet, you can easily plant your beds a square foot at a time, and harvest continuously, based on how much you will consume. There is more information on planting and spacing specific crops when you go to the crop page.
Successive planting:
As you plant, think of 3 growing seasons, spring, summer and fall, plus the winter harvest time if you use crop protection like an unheated greenhouse. As soon as our soil can be worked in the yard, you can plant spinach, lettuces, beets, and peas. A few weeks later, set out the broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussel sprouts (we start ours in the greenhouse in February/March). Then plant the onions and leeks. We try to replant more of these crops about every 2 weeks as the seasons progress to have a continuous harvest.
By dividing your garden into raised beds and square feet, you can easily plant your beds a square foot at a time, and harvest continuously, based on how much you will consume. There is more information on planting and spacing specific crops when you go to the crop page.
Starting Your Seeds
We recently upgraded our seed starting process to include soil blocks. Soil blocks are handy devices that you pack your soil into and they pop out blocks of soil in different sizes. Plants started using soil blocks are stronger and sturdier because their roots are never disturbed. You can simply take your 3/4" block with your small plant start and move it to the next size block, as shown below. The roots just expand into the next block and stop at the edges of the soil. Then it is time to move them into the next size, or eventually plant them in the garden.
Transplanting
Now that we use soil blocks to start out plants, transplanting is easy. Each crop is a little different, so I won't get into specifics here. (We are making pages for each crop that are more specific to that crop). As a general practice, however, after transplanting, we place a protective covering over our plants, like breathable row cover fabric, to protect them from the elements until they are well established.
Rotate Your Crops
When planting your vegetable crops from year to year, season to season AND planting to planting, you will want to rotate your crops. Different crop families use different nutrients out of the soil, and attract different pests, so when we replant a bed, it should be with a plant from another crop family. For example, as soon as spinach is done in mid-summer, replant it with a crop like cauliflower or cabbage from the Brassicaceae family.
On the crop list we have grouped plants according to family which makes putting this principle into practice easy for you. As we go from season to season, harvesting what is there, and replanting with something new, we try to keep these things in mind.
On the crop list we have grouped plants according to family which makes putting this principle into practice easy for you. As we go from season to season, harvesting what is there, and replanting with something new, we try to keep these things in mind.