Well, it looks like we are having an early spring in most of the United States. For me, because I garden year round it is a time of transition. Whether you garden year round or just in the spring and summer the first thing you should do is take inventory.
Take a good look at your equipment and especially your pots. Each year I replace at least 2 due to wear.
Next, decide (if you haven't already) what you intend to plant and where. You should have a garden plan. I am not talking about some elaborate layout that takes hours to make. A basic sketch of where you want things to go should be sufficient.
Things to keep in mind
Hours of sun
Height
Days to harvest
If you are a seasoned gardener you know that some plants require more sunlight than others so keep that in mind while planning your layout.
Height is something that is often overlooked. Last year (I have no idea how but) I grew several pumpkins in my raised garden. I don't grow pumpkins neither to my neighbors. Anyway, the leaves were so big that they shaded out the light from my tomatoes. I actually had to cut away a significant portion of pumpkin leaves in order to get tomatoes.
Days to harvest matters. I always plant radish in the front to make them easily assessable. Why? Because they grow in a very short period of time usually a month sometimes less. The last thing you want to do is have to crawl over your other vegetables in order to harvest something.
Here is a link to a website that offers Free Small Vegetable Garden Plans. I have no affiliation with this site I just thought it would save readers of this blog some time.
The final point I would like to cover today is planting. I recently visited a farm in Braxton County West Virginia where the farmers measure their potato crop by the ton. I was told that even though the weather was great they would not plant anything until May 15th because they can't afford the risk of frost wiping out their crops.
I always suggest planting a few things indoors as an insurance policy or to get a head start.
I use mostly pots and have lots of starters so I ofter plant several seeds in one pot then transfer them to their own pots later. This is a shot of two potato pots and a grapevine but most of the smaller pots are starters. Now would be a great time to start. Spring is here and summer is not far behind.
Please subscribe to my channel. This month I am beginning a new summer-long series The Frugal Gardener Goes Back to Basics.
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