Growing Vegetables is Not Just About Food
Springtime means one thing to gardeners -- it's time to get your
hands dirty. But if you want to improve your yields, take a little time
to learn how to blend the old with the new.
Learn an App
It seems there is an app for everything, but gardening is one area
people tend to overlook. Besides the expected apps from gardening
magazines, you can also get gardening apps
that let you know what and when to plant or some with large databases
of plant varieties. You can even get apps that record rainfall or help
you lay out your garden bed. Spring is a perfect time to download and
acquaint yourself with an app's functions so it can be an asset during
the growing season.
Set Up Photo Sharing
In the
past, if you wanted to show off your harvest, you had to coax the
community newspaper into taking a photo -- today the options are
seemingly endless. You could, of course, post images on Facebook or
other social networks, but take it up a notch by setting up an account
with an online photo sharing service
and showcase your garden. Besides using the service to send images and
links to family and friends, you can also use the photos as an archive
of your garden -- a great reference tool should you want to look back
and see what you have planted in past years.
Stage Your Crops
When
the dirt is too wet or the temperature too cool for planting, do some
planning. Grab all the seed catalogs you can find and scour the pages
for heirloom, modern or exotic plants for your garden. Then create a
planting schedule that will allow you to harvest vegetables at a steady rate all season. This is especially helpful if you have limited growing space and want to extend the growing season.
Do Prep Work
When the weather is agreeable, deal with the trouble spots. Every
garden has them -- whether it is poor drainage, too much shade or soil
that needs amended. Make a list of the trouble spots and solve them to
create a better garden bed. Each year I try to experiment with new
techniques and for the past few seasons I have tried vertical gardening since I have a small city lot. In the spring, I set up or make repairs to the vertical potato box I use to improve my potato production.
Normal Maintenance
Spring is the perfect time to performance annual maintenance and by getting the list finished early, you will have ample time to plant and work in your beds.
Don't forget to:
- sharpen and repair garden tools
- have power equipment tuned up
- remove debris like vegetation or leaves from the garden
- take a soil sample
- amend the soil
If you are still in a hurry to get your gardening underway, you can always build a small cold frame to get a head start on the growing season.
