Plan your garden- some great resources while you wait for seeds to sprout

While your seeds are germinating, you can do some garden planning. I am linking some solid resources that are useful for those with a garden space or just starting. Let me know if you have any to add. Many of these have videos, or other links to explore.  Get yourself a warm beverage and a notepad and let the ideas grow.

Some notes for those gardening for the first time

Spring 2020 could be a wonky season to launch a gardening journey. Supplies of items might be variable and schedules may get disrupted.  Don’t let this dissuade you. Try to keep your plans small, flexible and keep in mind some plants can be planted all season long! There are planting possibilities up through October!  My recommendations for all growers is to try 1 or 2 new things each season. As a new grower, it is tempting to try to grow all the things, which is a strategy that can edge out of control quickly.  Each plant has its own specific best growing situation. If you tackle a bunch of plant types at once, expect that some won’t work out. Which is ok, really, it is ok to experiment!  It happens to every gardener and new growers sometimes place all the blame on themselves. This ignores weather, plant diseases, insects, site limitations and ..... well, I don’t want you to give-up before you start, rather, I hope I can adjust expectations. Gardening is a life-long practice and what you learn this season will inform your practices in the future. Go forth with an experimental attitude and be thrilled with this crop of successes you achieve!

#1 sorting your available growing space

If you are just starting out, these resources can be useful in deciding what is possible in your space.

• Gardening in urban soils

• Planting and growing guides from UMN

•  Gopher State One Call 800-252-1166 before you dig 

• Container gardening 

• Raised Bed Gardening

#2 refine your techniques

As you work through your soil quality, sun and schedule options, or if you have a garden space already, here are some solid references to further your growing knowledge.

• Planting Dates and Distances for Garden Vegetables

• Super abundant small space gardens bulletin made by Susan Reed

• Square foot gardening- a method that helps with spacing plants for urban settings

• Top yielding crops in Minnesota home gardens.

Growing flowers or pollinator plants?

Support our native pollinators with flowering plants.

• Pollinator Toolbox from  Board of Water and Soil Resources 

General gardening resources for Minnesota

Sites that have extensive links to answer nearly any question you might have.

• Minnesota State Horticultural Society resource list

• UMN Extension Yard and Garden
  

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." - Audrey Hepburn

#OutPlantTheOutbreak