The cold weather may just be hitting us, but there’s no better time than to start planning for beautiful spring weather. Our favorite part about the springtime is the fresh air and the step back into gardening!
It’s time to plan the day when you get to dig into that soil and plant the seeds you’ve been anticipating all year.
Step One: Decide on your garden size
Of course, you have to know what you’re working with before you jump in. A lot of lifetime-gardeners love the grid garden style: square-foot gardens. The grids make it easy to reach and eliminate the need to step into your garden which can pack down the soil—you don’t want to smother your roots.
We recommend choosing between a 3X3, 3X4, and 4X4
Step One and a Half: Decide on your garden style
We recommend building a raised bed for your seeds. Raising your garden is not only good for your garden but for your back! Along with keeping your garden from ground-level pests, massive erosion from big rains, providing good drainage, etc., the raised garden reduces the space you have to bend over to reach your garden. Bye-bye gardening-induced back pain!
Step Two: Prepare your Garden
You can’t garden if you haven’t prepared. If you need some help building or buying your raised square-foot garden, don’t panic. We have some options listed for you below to get your inspiration pumping!
1) EarthEasy
2) Square Foot Gardening (dot com)
3) Square Foot Gardening (dot org)
click image to download guide
Step Three: Download Our Planning Guide
We’ve mapped out a perfect garden planning guide for you to download and share with your friends! You can involve your kids (at any age) in your garden planning with this guide!
Step Three and a Half: Print Our Planning Guide
We have some suggestions on how to effectively print off your guide in order to involve your kids depending on their age!
If you have young children that you don’t trust with a pair of scissors and a glue stick, we recommend using sticker paper to print your guide on so you can cut out the veggies and they can press them to the grids!
If your kids are responsible with a pair of scissors and a glue stick, let the arts & crafts begin! We’ve provided two pages of common veggies that they can cut out and glue to the grids.
But, if your kids are a little older—maybe “too old” for arts & crafts (so they say)—we recommend letting them draw in their own garden on the grids and let them be responsible for a whole square (or more) in the garden as the vegetable grows!
Step Four: Get Out & GARDEN!
Okay, you still have to wait until spring. But at least now you will have everything set and ready to go for when that warm wind starts to blow throughout the Llano Estacado.
Be sure to log and post your progress or send to us at Local Llano for a chance to be featured on our site!
Happy Garden-Planning, Locavores!
Until next time.
Stay tuned for more from Local Llano.
