Hey friends! How's March going for you? It's that time of year for all the garden planning to start. The crazy warm weather we've been having in Minnesota is giving me so much hope for early spring; let's hope it stays that way, and we don't regress into winter. I finally broke out my huge seed collection, and it feels so good to be dreaming of gardening again.
This week, I'm sharing the new space I get to garden in. Although I'm starting from scratch, I'm super excited to have the opportunity to create something beautiful in a new space. It will be nice to have a smaller space to manage where I can focus all my attention on being as productive and efficient with my space as possible and challenge myself to see how much I can grow. It will be an exciting year, so let's get into it!
The New Space
The garden space I get to tend to this year definitely needs some love as you can see. It's always hard at first in spring to see the vision with all the mud and brown, soggy leaves scattered everywhere, but fresh green will pop up in a few months, and everything will start to come alive again.
There are three wood-raised beds to work with. The wood is significantly deteriorated, but I'm determined to make the best of it. The garden, set in the corner with a fence behind the raised beds, is not limited to these beds; there is lots of landscaping around to also spruce up. It’s a corky space, but let’s see what we can do. So count this as the before picture of a garden glow-up.
Goals for the Garden.
How I’m improving the space
Make the space more inviting. Add solar path lights and bird feeder
Clean out old plants that aren't in a suitable place and move them around to fill out the area.
Handle the weed issue and eliminate as many weed root systems as possible.
Maximize the space and grow as much produce as possible.
Make improvements to the soil for the future of the garden.
Create a beautiful, productive space for others to enjoy.
Grow lots of sunflowers because they bring me joy!
Let's plan the garden together.
Here’s what I’m thinking as I plan this space out. No matter the space, I assess a few things: climate/zone, sunlight, water access, and soil. That will then inform what I grow and where I buy the plants.
Step 1: Climate/Zone
I haven't moved that far from my previous garden space, maybe 30 minutes away. I'm still in the same zone, 5a, which tells me my area's lowest temperature. As for the last frost day, it's about the same as the end of April/ beginning of May. But with the insanely warm weather we've been having, 50-65 degrees, who knows what's around the corner come April? Hopefully, there will be no snow, but it might just be a lot of rain. This information means I can move forward as usual, just keeping a close eye on the weather and ensuring we don't get an unexpected frost when I start to plant out frost-tender plants.
Step 2: Sunlight
As I’ve been observing the space, I’ve noticed a medium-sized tree directly across from the bed, which will provide shade at certain points of the day. I’m also seeing how the sun moves across space as the day progresses. Full sun is considered 6-8 hours of sunlight. I think this space is closer to the 6-hour mark, but I will continue to keep an eye on this on a sunny day to confirm. With a good amount of filtered sunlight outside the raised beds, I think shade-loving plants will do well here.
Step 3: Water Access
This house has a hose located on the west side, stretching all the way across the yard. With this setup, I can easily manage watering. I’ll also be using mulch to maintain moisture, reducing the need for frequent watering, especially during the scorching July heat. This way, I won’t have to deal with the hassle of constant hose dragging 2 times a day on high-heat days.
Step 4: Soil
Even if the soil were fantastic here, I would still be amending a new season with a healthy layer of rich compost on the top. In my first garden, I made it a priority to start every new season off with compost from my compost pile and a sprinkling of worm castings or organic fertilizer. Taking these steps will ensure my success with this kitchen garden. The soil in these raised beds is hard, full of weeds and roots, and needs some drainage and lightness from the organic-rich soil. I might consider adding some perlite to aid in aeration to help fix this problem. Good soil is everything in gardening; this is a high priority for the space.
Step 5: What to Grow
With this information, I can be better informed about what to grow. I know what I like to eat and use in my everyday cooking and what will most likely succeed in the space. I’ve made that list, which is below. Many are from my must-grow plant list that I shared last week and on the blog. When gardening in a new space, stick to varieties you know will perform well or that you have experience growing. I won’t be experimenting with a ton of new varieties just because I don’t have experience in this space and am still making observations. I also don’t know how strong the pest pressure is and if I will have to make adjustments for critters. Because I have less room than in my previous garden, I must be more strategic about what I grow and where. I won’t have one bed full of potatoes or just tomatoes. Interplanting and companion planting will be the best options for the space to fit in as many plants as possible while still giving them the room to mature and produce well.
Step 6: Where to get the plants
I will rely more on pre-started plants from greenhouses and nurseries this year because I don’t have such a large garden to fill, and I also don’t have my seed starting set up. So, I’ll rely on what I can plant directly into the garden and plants that I would regularly start my self I'll buy as seedlings from a greenhouse. Although this does limit me to some degree in the varieties I get to choose, I still can have a successful summer garden with lots of veggies. I share my favorite places to buy plants and all things for the garden on the blog this week too, in my Twin Cities Greenhouse & Garden Center Guide.
Plants I want to grow.
Here are the plants I’m thinking of so far, considering some varieties I may find at the garden center, such as started plants, and some will be planted directly into the garden. There’s a lot here, but I’m hoping I can fit this all in the space.
Tomatoes & Peppers
Sun Gold Tomatoes
SweetHeart Cherry Tomatoes
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Squash/Cucumbers
Black Beauty Zucchini
Marketmoore Cucumber
Beans/Peas
Sugar Snap Peas
Snow Peas
Blue Lake 274 Green Beans
Herbs
Lettuce Leaf Basil
Genovese Basil
Cilantro
Parsley
Dill
Lemon Thyme
Tarragon
Chives
Rosemary
Alliums
Scallions
Leafy Greens
cut and come again, baby green mix
Romaine Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Mustard greens
Red Russian kale
Dazzling blue kale
Marvel of four Seasons butterhead variety
Bloomsdale longstanding Spinach
Baby bok Choy
Scarlet Charlotte Swiss chard
Flowers
Glorious Gleam Nasturtiums
Evening Sun Sunflower
Double Sunking Sunflower
Lemon Queen Sunflowers
Sunspot Sunflower
Teddy Bear Sunflower
Paintbox Bouquet Sunflowers
Autumn Beauty Sunflowers
Kilimanjaro white marigolds
Pink senorita zinnia
Calendula Pink Surprise
Calendula Strawberry Blonde
Melon
MN Midget Cantaloupe
What’s next
Next is the layout of each raised bed. Now that I know the plants I want to grow, I need to start space planning and measuring the beds to figure out how many of each plant I can fit into each according to the plant variety’s requirements and needs. It’s like having a bunch of puzzle pieces.
When creating a plan, I always use it as a general guide for me to follow. Things change as the season goes on, and I always find myself needing to adapt and change things a bit. Next week, I’ll go into more depth about the planting plan as I figure it out.
Here’s what I have so far.
Weekend Garden To-Do List
Remove old trellises
Remove weeds from beds and pathway
Prepare the soil with compost and worm castings
Plant cold-weather crops like spinach, lettuce mixes, and other cold, hardy greens.
Create a layout for each bed and determine how many of each plant I can grow.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. This is going to be a beautiful season! What are you looking forward to growing? Share below.