The snow is coming down, it’s freezing outside- why on earth would we even be talking about gardens?? The truth is, right now is the PERFECT time to start talking about gardens! Gardens can be such a blessing, and a great excuse for families to spend time together outdoors- but they do require a lot of planning and preparation if you want them to be successful!

The first thing you need to think about is where your garden will grow. If you’ve gardened in the past, you might already have a place reserved, but if this is your first year, you’ll want to plan out your gardening space. A place with plenty of sun, out of the way of children and animals, and yet in view so you don’t forget about it! You’ll want to think of water when determining where to place your garden- is it better to have your garden close to a hose? Will you build a spigot? Or use a watering can? And when it comes to water- think about where you typically have run-off after a storm. You don’t want to put hours of work into a garden that’s going to flood after one summer thunderstorm!

The other thing to think about is your method of gardening. Will you be planting directly in the ground? How many rows can you fit? Will you be using garden boxes? If you plan on planting directly into the ground, you’ll want to research about the soil in your area to figure out if there is anything you need to add to the soil to make it ideal growing ground for your plants. Some soils for example are too acidic, or have too much of a clay texture to be ideal for planting. These are definitely things to figure out before placing seeds in the ground!

You also want to plan WHICH vegetables you want to plant. While most crops won’t be planted until after the final frost (which can be as late as June or July in some regions- you’ll want to find this information out for your area!), some crops can (and should!) be planted earlier. Lettuce and peas, for example, are safe to be planted a little earlier than the final frost. Other veggies, such as tomatoes and peppers, must be started indoors much earlier than that, as they take 16-17 weeks to reach fruition! You can always buy these types of plants at your local nursery, when it’s closer to planting time, but if you’re wanting to save money and start them by seed yourself, you’ll need to start them months in advance- like now! ;)

As you plan out your vegetables, you’ll also want to think about how much gardening space you actually have as you plan which vegetables you want to plant. Make sure you have enough space in your garden to plant the various veggies you want- and come up with a plan to label them! (Or you’ll end up with a situation such as the one in the movie Secondhand Lions ;) ).

The bottomline: a successful garden takes a lot of work, and a lot of planning! If you want to see a nice harvest of vegetables, don’t wait until May to start thinking through the process- start planning now!