Planning Your Family Spring Garden: How, What, When

We’ve barely put away our Christmas trees, but the Spring garden seems to be calling. Gardeners everywhere are looking forward to Spring. Let’s walk through planning your family’s Spring garden.

How to Start Your Spring Garden

Gardening happens long before early Spring around here. We’re washing seed pots, ordering seeds, and making special preparation of our gardens before actually getting in the garden.

Building Soil

Soil can be the single aspect of the garden that makes or breaks a successful season. Quality soil is alive with millions of microorganisms, earthworms, and fungus networks all working together for a thriving garden. You can boost the life in your soil by adding organic matter from your compost pile.

In the off season, keep your garden beds moistened to water the life of the soil, and keep it covered. “Mother Nature likes to cover herself” is a saying that came about in hopes of promoting living soil. By using mulch or tarps, you can cover her up instead of allowing her to cover up with weeds.

Get a soil sample to know what nutrients your soil might be lacking. Your county extension office can do this for you. Alternatively, you can place online orders with companies that specialize in soil sample kits for you. They will also let you know what you need to amend your garden beds before planting for no extra charge.

Know Your Zone Before You Start Your Spring Garden

This step is simple. Go to usda.gov and enter your zip code. It will tell you what zone you’re in so that you know what plants to purchase that will survive your cold seasons.

More importantly, know your estimated last frost date and first frost date that will come later in the Fall. Almanac.com will give you this information so that you know when you can safely plant warm season vegetables like tomatoes. It will also tell you how many frost free days you’ll have in your growing season. This will help you select varieties conducive to your area.

Sourcing Seeds

The number one question that I get this time of year from friends is “Where do you get your seeds from?”

I like to source my seeds from all over. If there’s a particular variety that I’m looking for, I’ll simply search for that online, and place my order. My favorites that I return to time and again are:

• Johnny’s 
• Hoss Tools
• Territorial Seed Company
• Hudson Seed Company
• Baker Creek 
• MI Gardener

I’m not afraid to purchase from big box stores or hardware stores either. Some of my favorites lately are from Lake Valley Seed in my small, local store. I also like buying some seeds like green beans and corn in bulk from my local farm store.

Don’t forget to go through your old seeds before buying new packs.

Starting Indoors

I like to start several kinds of plants indoors under grow lights before my last frost date so that I can get a jump start on the season. Specifically, tomatoes like warm weather but not hot weather. Our temperatures tend to go from frosty to sweltering in very little time, so we’re trying to beat the heat.

To start seeds indoors, you just need some pots, soil mix, water, warmth, and lights. Fill pots with soil, moisten, add seeds according to the plant information on the seed packets, and watch them grow. As soon as they germinate, they need light.

It’s really that simple. You don’t need any additional items to start growing.

If you’re the kind of person who wants step-by-step instruction, check out our free Seed Starting Guide.

Direct Sowing

Some plants thrive by direct sowing them in the garden. Corn, beans, and carrot seeds go right into garden beds.

What to Plant in Your Spring Garden

I always say to plant the things that you’ll eat. Find the things that make your taste buds happy, and you’ll find yourself happier doing the work to grow them. 

However, don’t be afraid to try something new. I would have never known how much my family likes roasted radishes had I not grown them myself because store bought radishes are gross. 

Kohlrabi is something that I’d never heard of until just a few years ago. It looked odd, but I discovered that we really love the flavor of raw kohlrabi as a slaw.

Add Some Color to Your Spring Garden

Not only will you enjoy your garden space more with added color, but the pollinators will too. Invite them in with every color flower that you can. Purple flowers attract more bees and wasps than any other color. Did you know that?

Create a Spot to Enjoy Your Garden

Every gardener needs a spot to sit and relax at the end of a garden work day. Carve yourself out a place that you can enjoy an iced tea or a hot coffee while admiring your beautiful space. Doing so will keep you coming back.

Grow Up

​If you’re short on space, consider growing vertically. Trellising pole beans instead of bush beans can give you a lot more production with the same footprint. Even a renter in a small studio space can grow in a vertical garden tower. 

Herbs are a great place to start for such an endeavor. You’ll replace the herbs that you normally buy at the grocery store in no time.

Still Unsure How to Start?

Listen along to The American Farmsteadhers Podcast for more growing tips throughout the year.

Check with your county’s extension office for residency programs on gardening. While your at it, see if they offer anything on preserving the harvest, such as a canning class.

​Lastly, just do it. Plant something. Seeds want to grow. You will learn along the way, gaining experience, and growing something better with each season.

Happy Spring Gardening!

Donna and her family have been homesteading for most of their 20+  years together in some shape or fashion. She currently lives on their 20 acre farm where they grow as much food as possible. What started as a just a few laying hens, has grown into large gardens, pastured poultry, pork, and lamb. They are continuously evolving their small farm to not suit their family’s needs, but also providing to their local community. Donna’s favorite part of the family farm is her self-built micro-dairy, where she gets to love on dairy cows while serving her local community. Milking, cheesemaking, and processing dairy have become the soul of their homestead and the center of their farm.