- Till the cover crop under - ideally mid-February, but definitely no later than mid-April. If you wait until planting time to till it under, the rotting plant matter will inhibit germination of the seeds. The mid-February target gives 4 weeks of rotting time before the peas and spinach get planted in mid-March. If the snowy weather prevents this, tilling it all up when I plant the peas and spinach should give plenty of rotting time before the warmer season veggies get planted.
- Start tomatoes & eggplants indoors - March 1 - April 1 suits both plants. Eggplant can get started as early as 2/15.
- Plant peas and spinach - March 15 - May 1, aiming early around St. Patrick's Day so I can reuse the row for herbs and bug-deterring flowers.
- Start melons, herbs & flowers inside - April 10 - May 1.
- Sow Corn May 15 - June 1.
- Sow warm season veggies (eggplants, tomatoes, melons, zucchini, herbs & flowers) outside - May 20 - June 20.
- Edit: Sow lima beans outside - June 1 - July 15.
- Fall turnips and beets - July 20 - August 15.
- 4 rows corn with an early variety near the house and a later variety further away; the early variety may be replaced with turnips & beets in the fall. Because of the arrangement of the irrigation hoses, it'd be easier to re-till the closer part of the rows without disturbing the hoses too much than the further part.
- A row of cantaloupe, honeydew, and bush watermelon. I should be able to fit 4 of each type in a row.
- A row of zucchini and eggplants, possibly interplanted with herbs (basil, oregano, parsley) and bug-deterring flowers (marigolds and nasturtium).
- A row of peas and spinach to be replaced by herbs (basil, oregano, parsley) and bug-deterring flowers (marigolds and nasturtium) when done producing.
- Italian tomatoes for making sauce - 12 plants.
Note: I chose 8 rows because I can water all 8 rows with a hose splitter at the garden spigot connected to two hoses carrying water to the garden. At the garden, each of the two hoses is split with a hose splitter and connected to two drip hoses long enough to water two rows each. More rows would complicate irrigation. Fewer would limit the varieties I can grow.
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I'm miserable with plants, but I want to attempt some tomato plants outside this year. What's the best way to get them started inside?
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't reply until now. I'd forgotten to watch for comments. I've never had much luck starting tomatoes inside and have always bought plants at the garden supply store when I was ready to plant them outside. This year though I bought a grow light and they're doing MUCH better. My garden magazine says start them inside March 1 - April 1. I started them in little cells and then when they had their second set of leaves moved them to bigger peat pots. So far so good.... If you have a nice sunny window you could give it a go without the grow light and you may have better luck than I did. Then again, if you're only doing a few plants, you can get them pretty cheaply at Lowes. Then you don't have to worry about them until it's time to plant them outside. :)
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