5 Things You Should Be Doing in the Garden Now

What should you be doing in your garden right now? There are many things you could be doing in your garden right now and really it depends on what your particular garden needs but here are a few ideas for you.

1. Adding organic matter. I add organic matter AT LEAST twice a year. One is in the fall we grind up our leaves with the lawn mower and spread them all around the grow boxes after they are all cleaned out for the winter. Then we also add a nice thick layer of mulch around
   
   
   
   the plants after they are all planted and the soil has warmed up. However, when we first started our garden and built our grow boxes, we added plenty of manure and peat moss to the soil and mixed it well with a gardening fork. We did this the first couple of years to get the soil off to a good start. Since then, we just add it to the top and let the organic matter break down and the nutrients seep down naturally.


2. Starting seeds either indoors or out depending on the seed. Root vegetables do not transfer well and do quite well being started out in the garden by seed. We direct sow carrots, onions beets, radishes, and also things like lettuce and spinach. If the soil needs a little bit of help to warm up even after the seeds are planted, row cover will do wonders. It is just a fabric that is breathable and lets moisture through (albeit very slowly). You can find it in garden centers and it is actually sold in fabric stores too, although it is not called row cover there. It raises the temperature around 10 degrees so it can help you plant things about 2 weeks early or more. I just place some rocks around to hold it down so that it doesn't blow off.


3. Setting up a watering system. I highly recommend setting up an automatic system. It is quite easy to set up an automatic system even if all you have is a hose to water the garden with. You just have to buy a battery powered timer that you can screw right onto the spout and then the hose screws right onto the timer. Then you can soak-er hose to spread around the garden. You can also get things to do the low pressure system from the spout too. Just go to your local store that carries sprinkler items to purchase the right materials. If you do not want to set up an automatic system, then using jugs is a great way to make watering by hand easier.


4. Make a garden plan if you haven't already. It really helps to have a plan. Then you can know what needs to be done when. Then you can also know what was planted in specific spots from year to year to rotate them adequately. Get a FREE 30 days on The Garden Planner.


5. Get the weeds under control. This is kind of an obvious thing, but getting those little weeds pulled out before they go to seed will make a big difference to your garden later in the year. If they don't have a chance to mature and send out seeds, then your garden will be more easily kept weed free.

Spring is such a great time of year with lots of work to do in the garden. Let's make it a great growing year! Happy Gardening!

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