When it comes to backyard gardens, timing isn’t the only thing – it’s everything.
Looking back, my timing was way off for my 2015 garden.
I always try to get both an early crop and a later crop since my garden is relatively small – about 14 by 50 feet. Still, if the weather cooperates and I can plant when I need to, I can get very nice production from my small plot.
In 2014, I planted my garden in early – sewing the entire garden in lettuce, spring onions, spinach and early crops before March 15.
This spring, the ground was so wet that I couldn’t really plant and dig until the end of March. My early garden did fairly well, but my second plantings – other than tomatoes – fizzled out. Each year, I write in my garden notebook how certain crops did and what and how I should change for the better.
Next spring, my garden will go in early and I’m not going to bother with plowing. I have heard that plowing can destroy the underground root system and delicate ecology in a garden and that plants do better when you don’t till every year.
I’m going to try an experiment. My friend Tim Tigner has a pickup and has offered to help me distribute a load of very rich topsoil over my current soil. We’ll do that this fall. Then, in early March, I am simply going to sew my seeds and onion bulbs directly in the topsoil.
I’m excited about the prospects, but I’ll let you know how all this works out.