Last year I planted my first garden and like Ricky Nelson sings in the Garden Party song, “But it’s all right now, I learned my lesson well,” I learned a wheel barrel full! Probably the most import lesson is, have a plan! The plan should include: plant selection, garden layout, and a garden calendar.
The key to a good garden layout is to decide which plants you would like to grow and group them according to similar planting schedules. For example, my chosen plants are:
- Beans
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Brussels
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Peas
- Peppers
- Radish
- Spinach
- Squash
- Tomato
The planting schedule is located on the back of the seed packet or may be found at your favorite gardening resource. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic I was unable to start seeds in March or April but many of those cool weather plants can be planted a second time in August for a fall harvest. Considering the planting schedules, the plants may be grouped into three groups: May Plantings, June Plantings, and August Plantings.
May Plantings
June Plantings
August Plantings
- Beets
- Butternut Squash (seed)
- Carrots
- Cucumber (seed)
- Eggplant
- Muskmelon (seed)
- Onion
- Peppers
- Radish
- Tomato
- Zucchini (seed)
- Beans (seed)
- Beets (seed)
- Broccoli (seed)
- Brussels (seed)
- Cabbage (seed)
- Kale (seed)
- Lettuce (seed)
- Peas (seed)
- Spinach (seed)
These groupings are based on when the plants can be transplanted outdoors in Zone 6. With the exception of the squash and melon, the May plants will be purchased as plants to transplant directly into the garden. In June the bean seeds will be sown directly into the garden every two weeks until the end of June. The August plants will start as seeds indoors in July before they are added to the garden. My gardening calendar looks like this:
May
- Plant cucumber, squash, and melon seeds after frost date (May 14).
- Plant transplants of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, beets, carrots, onion, and radish.
June
- Thin May seedlings to proper spacing.
- Plant bean seeds every two weeks until the end of the month.
- Harvest beets, carrots, and radish as they mature.
- Stake tomatoes.
July
- Thin seedlings as necessary .
- Harvest eggplant, cucumber, zucchini as they ripen.
- Cover carrot shoulders and onion bulb tops with soil.
- Plant kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach, lettuce, and cabbage seeds indoors.
August
- Transplant kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach, lettuce, and cabbage to garden.
- Plant beet and pea seeds in garden.
- Harvest onions, beans, spinach, squash, and melon as they mature.
September
- Harvest peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, and lettuce as they mature.
October
- Harvest beets, cabbage, and peas when ready.
The back of the the seed packet also gives the spacing and yield of the plants. Use this information to draw out a sketch of each raised bed. My beds are 4′ x 10′. Once I was satisfied with my sketch I finalized my drawing using Google Drawings.
Now I’m ready to start the party! I hope you are getting out there with your garden plan which may be different from mine. Again, like the song says, “You see, ya can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself”. Fingers crossed for a fruitful harvest!