Ready, Set, Plant! It’s Time To Start Your Spring Garden

Seed Packets At Hyannis Country Garden (CapeCod.com/Kaitrin Acuna)

It happens to me every year right around mid-summer; I get struck by this immediate urge to grow my very own vegetable garden. The next thing I know I am in my car taking off to find a place to buy my dirt and seeds. There are no lists or plans, all I have brought along with me are the dreams of how my backyard will look once I have transformed it into a garden of radiance, over-flowing with boldly colored fruits and vegetables, in every size and color imaginable.

I have equally grand visions of myself; I am the image of peace and serenity, carefully tending to every detail of my garden. I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t look absolutely lovely in my fancy wide-brimmed, gardening hat or in my white dress that gently flows in the summer breeze. I would also be lying to you if I told you that anything remotely resembling the scene I have just described has ever come anywhere close to happening in my real life.

The truth is, that while I may have grown a zucchini or two over the years, I have never managed to successfully grow a real vegetable garden. But after several failed attempts I believe that at the very least, I may have identified the problem. It’s time to face the facts. If I am ever going to have a real chance of growing and sustaining my own garden, I am going to have to hang up the fantasy alongside the dress, once and for all.

There can be no more sprinkling a few seeds in the middle of July followed by empty promises to my neighbors that I will be bringing them bundles of my garden-grown vegetables in about week or so. A garden must be grown. It’s really quite simple and yet it seems to be the one obvious detail that I always seem to completely overlook.

It’s always growing season at Hyannis Country Garden (CapeCod.com/Kaitrin Acuna)

A garden takes time, patience, preparation, dedication and dirty work. It takes a lot of knowledge as well. The good news is that if you are willing to do the work there are gardening experts out there, willing to share their knowledge and expert advice. So if you are ready to turn those dreams of a vegetable garden into a reality then it’s time to direct our attention to the experts and find out how to go about getting started, because believe it or not; it’s time!!!!

“The beginning of March is the perfect time to prepare your vegetable garden for the coming season” says C.L. Fornari, Plant Geek who runs the consultation service at Hyannis Country Garden on West Main Street.

And to help us get started, Fornari has kindly offered to share with us the following tips:

— Old stalks or weeds remaining from last year should get pulled as soon as the ground is thawed.

— If you have a raised bed and see that the soil has sunken over time, build it up with some new loam. Next, spread a layer of compost or composted manure over the soil… all you need is an inch or two to refresh and rejuvenate the earth, and you don’t have to till it in. Yay.

— Seeds can get started inside from now through the end of March. The most commonly grown plants from seeds started indoors include peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, kale and basil. Peas, beans, salad greens and all root crops should be planted directly in the ground later in the season.

Tomato seedlings sprouting at Hyannis Country Garden

— In the veggie garden, as well as the rest of your yard, be sure to start pulling that pesky chickweed. This low-growing, bright green plant germinated in the fall and has grown all winter. It’s important to pull it out before it starts producing those tiny white flowers and setting more seed.

— If you’re raking up the oak leaves that continue to fall all winter, save these to use for mulch for the vegetable garden later in the spring. It’s a myth that oak leaves make soil acidic, and if you chop them up with your lawnmower now they won’t blow away until you use them in May.

— You can put an application of an organic, granular fertilizer on your veggie garden now, but don’t apply liquids or synthetic fertilizers until the end of May. Many gardeners such as myself use Plant-tone or Tomato-tone for growing vegetables.

— You might have heard that you can plant peas on Saint Patrick’s Day but this is more rumor than action item, especially on the Cape where the soil is usually too cold until late March.
In addition to these tips there are many gardening websites and blogs out there full of helpful advice. I found a tool that I believe will come in very handy for me on the Old Farmer’s Almanac website: a free printable planting calendar. All you have to do is type in your location and it will use local weather stations and historical data to calculate the best range of planting dates in a specified area. You can even sign up for reminders.

Click on this link to get the calendar for Barnstable, MA: Click Here and happy planting!

— By Kristen Levy