🌱 Deciding Where to Plant Your Garden 🌱
Pick a spot that gets a lot of sun. Most vegetables need at least
eight hours of full sun each day to grow. Depending on the space you
have available, decide the structure of your garden. Will you put
large containers outside on a patio or deck? Build a raised bed? Plant
right into the soil? Raised beds are a great idea, especially in urban
settings, as many lots in the city have lead-contaminated soils. In
our urban gardens, we grow in a thick compost layer on top of
heavy-duty landscaping fabric over the base soil layer. If you are
unsure about the quality of the soil, you can send a sample out for a
test.
Planting in Containers
If you are using containers, make sure the pots have drainage holes. Cover the holes with small rocks or pebbles to ensure that excess water can drain. Keep in mind that soil in smaller pots will require more frequent watering.
Planting in a Raised-Bed Garden
To make a raised bed, build a square or rectangle out of wood planks
that have not been pressure treated. Other options for creating the
walls of the bed include rocks, paving stones, and cinder blocks. Your
bed should be at least 10 inches deep. Line the bottom of the bed with
a heavy-duty landscape fabric. Fill your bed with a mix of half soil
and half compost. Make sure to use high-quality soil and compost. Just
like with baking a cake, the better the ingredients, the better the
results!
For more information on building your own raised bed, visit The Food
Project's
Build-a-Garden Guide.
Planting Directly in the Ground
If you are concerned your soil might be contaminated with lead, you
can send samples to be tested by either the Soil Nutrient Analysis
Laboratory at the University of Connecticut or the Analytical
Laboratory and Maine Soil Testing Service at the University of Maine.
If you are sure the soil in your yard is safe and you want to plant
directly in the ground, use the double digging method to mix and fluff
up your soil ahead of the growing season. This aerates the soil and
allows roots to push through. Double digging is a method that rotates
the top layer of soil and loosens the layer right below it. You can
find a tutorial here.
Mix compost into the soil to add nutrients to your growing medium. Add
as much compost as you have—you can't really add too much! If you
can't access compost, buy organic fertilizer and follow the
instructions on the container to improve the health of the soil.
🪴 Starting Seeds Indoors 🪴
If you want to start your own seedlings, you will need seeds, potting
soil, containers, and sun or a light source. Your plants will have a
higher chance of survival if you start them inside. Starting seedlings
indoors also has the added benefit of giving you a head-start on the
season since you can transplant your seedlings outside as soon as the
weather is warm enough. Some seeds can be started as early as March
1st. Others benefit from a later start.
Finding the Right Containers
For containers, you can repurpose many different things that you might find lying around the house, including egg cartons, yogurt cups and other plastic tubs, toilet paper rolls, strawberry containers, and more. Pack your chosen container with potting soil or a seed starting mix and level off the top.
Seeding
Plant seeds at a depth of about 1.5 times the length of the seed. Check seed packets for further directions. Lightly water and place near a light source. You can use a southern-facing sunny window, place them under grow lights, or bring them outside during the day if it is warm. Monitor the containers daily to be sure that the soil remains damp.
Thinning
When the seedlings begin to sprout, thin them so there is only one in each cell. (An egg carton would have 12 “cells”). Your seedlings are ready to transplant when they develop three to four true leaves, the leaves that start to develop after the first few that pop up.
Hardening Off and Transplanting
Before you transplant them outside, it is a good idea to “harden off”
your seedlings to prepare them for the new environment they will
encounter outside. Bring them to a shady spot outdoors for a little
while every day. (Be sure to bring them inside when it cools off in
the evening.) You can also reduce the amount of water you give your
seedlings before planting them outside.
To transplant, dig a hole in the soil slightly larger than the
container in which the seedling is growing. Carefully pry the entire
plant and the surrounding soil out of the pot. Generally, it helps to
turn the plant upside down and apply gentle pressure to the bottom—the
root ball should slide out. When transplanting, make sure you leave
plenty of room between each plant for them to grow! Most seed packets
will give you guidance about how far apart to plant your seedlings.
Direct Seeding into Your Garden
Some plants can be seeded directly into your garden. Typically, you should direct seed beans, beets, carrots, melons, peas, radishes, spinach, squash, turnips, and zucchini. Follow the directions on the seed packet for the planting time and recommended spacing.
🍅 Maintaining Your Garden 🥕
Water the garden as needed to keep the soil moist. During hot days, it
is a good idea to water in the morning or in the evening so the water
does not evaporate as quickly and has a chance to absorb into the
soil.
Add a layer of mulch around your plants to keep the soil moist, reduce
the need for watering, and to suppress weeds. You can use leaves, wood
chips, pine needles, and grass clippings from untreated lawns for
mulch as well.
Weed your garden regularly. Try to remove the weeds when they are
small and before they have a chance to grow.
Harvest! This is the moment you have been working for!
✨ Refrences ✨
The content on this page is courtesy of The Food Project's
Growing at Home Guide.
This work is made possible thanks to generous donations from people,
companies, and foundations.
Join this movement by making a
donation
today.
Coded by Hillary Gaeta