It's time to start thinking about your garden this year! We have 15 tips to help your garden be very successful this year.
Do you know how to handle your starts once they have arrived at their final destination? Or how to deal with a late frost in June? Or what’s the right way to water a container garden? To help you have a successful garden this season, Sarah has compiled these tips for keeping your starts healthy and getting your organic garden off to a great start.
1. Don’t forget to harden off your starts gradually!
When you order starts, or grow them indoors, they have one thing in common: They are not used to your garden or the great outdoors just yet. Hardening off is an essential process that keeps them from going into "transplant shock" if planted immediately. Hardening off seedlings takes a couple of days. It is simply the process of gradually weaning your plants from indoors and getting them used to the sun, wind and outdoor temperatures. You can do this by placing them outside for 2-3 hours the first day, and gradually increasing the span of time.
2. Turn the soil and prepare your garden beds by adding healthy, organic humus.
Things you can add to your garden for free are: grass clippings (make sure they were not sprayed with weed killer or weed-and-feed chemicals), leaf clippings, straw and manure from animals, chopped weeds (that have not gone to seed) or vegetation/pruning. If you have cover crops planted, tilling those under will add healthy organic matter. Sarah’s favorite cover crop is buckwheat (GR012). Compost is also a great supplement for gardens. If you do not have your own compost pile, you can also prepare your garden beds or containers with one of these soil recipes from Azure’s greenhouse manager David Knaus.
3. Encourage good root growth by putting kelp on your plant.
Kelp is a natural fertilizer that contains lots of potassium, the nutrient that stimulates strong root growth. Azure has both animal kelp (GP100) and liquid kelp (GP563).
4. Bury excess stem on a tomato plant for a sturdy foundation.
Did you know that little hairs on a tomato plant are like roots? When transplanting a seedling, plant it at about the same depth it was in the container — unless it is a tomato. On tomato starts, look for the little hairs on the stems and bury excess stem in the ground up to the first set of leaves to give a good stocky, heavily rooted plant.
5. Water your starts at optimal times of day.
The time of day when you water is important for keeping your plants thriving. It is best to water when the sun is coming up and going down or when the plants are shaded. You want to avoid watering in intense sunlight because your little plants will "sun burn" if they are wet. The water will also evaporate faster.
6. Use season extenders/frost protection.
Early in the spring, it is sometimes hard to know when that last frost will be. In some cases, you may want to plant early to get an earlier harvest. Using season extenders can give an extra 5 degrees of protection, block the wind, and extend your growing season. No matter what type of protection you use, always make sure that there is adequate air flow around your plants. Here are some options to protect your plants:
- Use Sarah’s Starts Hot Caps (GP184).
- Cut off the bottom of a milk jug and place over the plant for 2 degrees protection. Keep the milk jugs cap so you can cap it if it gets really cold, otherwise keep the jug open for air flow.
- Old car tires can be carefully placed over the place you planted your starts. The black tire absorbs and holds heat and keeps the moisture in. Sarah likes to use tires together with hot caps or milk jugs to give double protection. While the plants are small, even laying a piece of cardboard or blanket over the tire will help protect the plant from frost.
- Use Wall O’Water season extenders that protect small plants from late frosts or sudden cold temperatures. Built as a circular wall of water tubes around a plant, these are usually more expensive to buy but are especially worth it for tomatoes. They can make the tomato harvest a couple weeks earlier than usual.
7. Did your plant get a light frost?
Many times in the past, Sarah has successfully saved beans, peas, squash and cucumbers that were lightly frosted using this little trick. “There are sometimes those mornings in May,” Sarah explained, “when the temperature drops really early in the morning, coating your plants in ice. Get outside quickly. You MUST get outside before the sun hits the plants. With a sprayer nozzle on a hose, lightly sprinkle your plants until the ice melts. You will be amazed at the lack of damage.”
8. Utilize the principles of companion planting.
By planting different plants close to each other, you can increase productivity, attract beneficial insects and repel pests. Sarah suggests planting cilantro starts underneath/with your corn starts to keep pests such as moths and worms away. For further companion planting tips, see David Knaus's companion planting tips.
9. Consider using a trellis to maximize your production.
Whether your garden is large or small, a trellis makes use of every square inch of space — including the vertical space above the garden plot. Beans, tomatoes and cucumbers benefit from trellises as a method of support but also as more area to grow. Whether temporary or permanent, make sure the trellis is sturdy.
10. Save your seeds!
You can save seeds from open-pollinated or heirloom plants, which gives you a fresh blanket of options for next year’s garden. Read up on how to save seeds with “Seed to Seed” by Suzanne Ashworth (BK154) or “The Seed Garden” (BK539).
CONTAINER GARDENING TIPS
Not everyone has an open space full of sunlight in their backyard or homestead for gardening, but that doesn’t mean growing can’t happen. In fact, gardeners often supplement their backyard space with pots, tubs and barrels of flowers, vegetables and fruits. The reason? Versatility… and practicality. A small balcony space becomes the home of an herb garden or flower garden. Plus, it’s decorative, gardening fun.
If you’ve got a container garden in the works, here are 5 tips for successful container gardening from Sarah.
1. Ensure your plants have proper drainage.
When planting a container, make sure there are holes in the bottom of the container or pot. Put a 1-2 inch layer of pebbles or small rocks in the bottom of the container, and use a good potting media mixed with compost for a planting base.
2. Planting combinations
When planting a container, it is good to make sure that the combinations you choose will be harvested at the same time. Plant herbs together, annual leafy greens together, and plant larger vegetables such as peppers and tomatoes in their own pots.
3. Give your plants room to grow.
To have good container gardening success, make sure to give your plants the proper amount of space in the container and to not overcrowd your pot. You can look up the required plant spacing (while ignoring the row spacing) online or look on the back of a seed packet. The plant spacing can be thought of as the diameter of space that each plant needs (or divide it in half to get the radius of space around every plant). In a container, you can plant without having to worry about row spacing, which results in denser beautiful arrangements.
4. Feed your plants nutrients often.
A good fertilizer for your plants is liquid fish (GP561). Liquid fish is a food base for microbial activity (no phytotoxicity) and an excellent addition to compost teas. It can be mixed with virtually any other gardening supplements, and there’s no limit on when it can be used in your containers. It’s nutritionally beneficial throughout the growing season. Feed your plant at least every 10 days.
5. Water and light are essential.
A good container needs to have proper watering techniques, and a good way to test this is to place your finger in the top of the soil and feel for moisture. It is important to not overwater, but at the same time, you don’t want the soil to be dry. Under ideal circumstances, you would give your plant a little water every 1-2 days. Make sure all soil in the container is moist and not just the middle. Even watering helps the roots spread out. Light is also important for your plants. They need at least 50 percent light or more. If you do not have it naturally by a window or on a porch, consider getting a grow light for them.
Live healthy. Grow abundantly. Happy gardening!