10 Steps to Planning your Dream Garden

If you haven’t planned your 2023 garden yet, put it on your schedule!

Get your planning done now so that when planting time comes, it’s smooth sailing through the busy and exciting spring season.

Spring will be here soon.

Here are the 10 steps to planning your dream garden:

1. Put it in your schedule.

   Give yourself ample time to plan. Take care of yourself by giving yourself quiet time to sit, think, and plan. I like to give myself 60-90 minutes of “focus time” for projects like this. After 60-90 minutes I need a break!

2. Write out all the plants you’d like to grow.

   How do you decide? If growing veggies and herbs, grow ones your family already loves to eat. If growing flowers, choose ones that complement where you are expereince-wise. Grow beginner flowers (link to blog) if you’re newer to gardening. Grow harder ones if you want more challenge.

3. Get real about what you will be growing this season.

   Now it’s time to whittle down the above list into a manageable “Core Crop” list. For starters go for 5 veggies, 5 flowers and 2-3 herbs.

4. Pick your varieties.

   Now is the fun time! Once you have your “Core Crop” list, you can dig out those gorgeous seed catalogues and get specific about what you’re growing. Pick varieties that do well in your climate and growing location. Read the descriptions carefully so you get all the information.

5. Plan your seeding dates.

   This is the most challenging part of your planning. I like to create a spreadsheet for this. That way each year I can make adjustments or just do what I did last year.

   Need more guidance on this, GET ON MY EMAIL LIST to get notified when The IncrEdible Garden Course opens again - this is my signature online course that teaches you everything you need to know to grow a highly successful backyard oasis filled with food and flowers your family will love.

6. Plan for succession planting.

   In other words, don’t plant all your broccoli seeds at once! Plan to seed accordingly so that you have crops continuously all season.

7. Draw your gardens.

   Use grid paper to draw all your gardens.

8. Draw in your crops.

   I like to make note of all my planned seeding dates (if direct seeding) or all my transplant dates (if seeding indoors) right there on my garden drawing (or map).

9. Put your first seeding date in your planner or calendar.

   Plan for success by having all your tools and supplies ready to go so on your first seeding day, you can get right to work.

10. Start your garden journal.

    This can be a note on your phone (I use Evernote) or a paper journal where you write down everything you notice, see, or experience in your garden. It’s where you write down your failures and your successes. There’s nothing worse than failing at the same thing twice because you forgot to take note of it. This is how you become a better garden!

Don't Start Your Seeds too Early!

It’s January and I know very soon, I’m going to be itching to plant my seeds indoors. This is such a joyful time of hope and anticipation.

I know, you’re itching to start your garden too. But hold on to your horses…

One of the most common mistakes you can make is starting crops too early inside.

Why is this a problem?

Nothing stresses a plant more than being confined for too long.

They deplete resources from the potting mix and they start to grow their roots in circles, becoming root-bound in their tiny pots.

Unless you have A LOT of space and plenty of lights, it’s best to practice restraint and start your seeds a bit later.

Here’s how to figure out planting dates for your garden plants.

1. Figure out your last frost date.

2. Read the back of your seed packet or look up your specific variety in a seed catalog. It should give recommendations on when to plant indoors. They will say something like: plant 6-8 weeks before the last frost. For this specific example, I’d go with the 6-week start date.

3. If they recommend to direct seed, start indoors only 2 weeks before planting out OR just direct seed. These plants usually don’t appreciate root disturbance.

4. Write down on your calendar what you’re starting and when.

5. Take notes as you go, throughout the growing season. If something gets really root-bound and is sluggish to grow after you pop it in the garden, make a note. You might try to start a week later the following year. Your garden journal is your biggest friend. If you don’t have one, start one NOW.

So, you might be wondering what I’m starting first?

By the way, I’m starting seeding a full week later than last year.

In 2022, all my cool season crops were spot on in regard to planting time. But all my warm loving crops could have benefited from getting started a week (or two) later.

Just for you, here’s a sneak peek at my first week of seed starting, which is coming up fast folks!

Turnstone Farm seed starting the week of March 12th:

Oregano

Sage

Rosemary

Thyme

Snapdragon - Potomac Varieties. These guys grow relatively slow and love the cool spring temps. I try to start these as early as I can because they can be planted before the last frost.

If I was starting perennials that I may want to bloom the first year, I’d start them now too.

Thats it for my first week of planting.

Happy garden planning!

7 aromatic herbs that also look great in a vase!

I grow lots of herbs. Most are easy to grow and have many multi-purpose benefits for the home gardener and flower farmer.

In this blog, I want to introduce you to 7 herbs I grow every year that not only do culinary wonders but also look great in a vase.

In addition to being a fun addition to the vase, here are some additional benefits of growing herbs:

If you have a tiny garden, growing herbs maximizes your space since you’ll be growing a plant for both culinary and cut flower purposes. I’m all about the multi-purpose plant!

If you don’t have much space to grow, most herbs do great in planters on your porch. In fact, since I like to keep mine close at hand I often grow them in pots just so I can quickly pop out to the porch to pick them.

Once gone to flower, herbs attract and nourish beneficial insects which help keep away the insects you don’t want around.

Fresh herbs are often hard to find and can be expensive at the grocery store. Lucky for you, they are best from the garden anyway!

Picking herbs and keeping a small jar of herbs on your kitchen counter is the best way to keep them once harvested (don’t let them rot in the crisper). My husband and I joke that the crisper is where veggies go to die. This will give you super easy access to them the next time you cook and will bring a nice pop of greenery into your kitchen.

So here are 7 herbs you must add to your home garden.

Chive: Chives, while not easy to start from seed are easy to grow once established. They spread steadily, so every few years you’ll have to dig and replant or give away a clump. The flowers on chives are SO delicious and do great in a vase.

Cilantro: Calypso is a slow to bolt variety great for growing in any northern climate. Use this culinary herb in your favorite dishes. I love a good homemade salsa with lots of cilantro.

Once it has gone to flower, harvest for an aromatic bouquet. The seed heads are also a lovely and fun addition in a bouquet.

Dill: Bouquet variety is specifically for the cutting garden but is also edible so it’s a win-win! This is a super fast grower. You can use the flower or seed head once fully open. The seed heads are also great for drying.

Fennel: Bronze leaf is a beautiful variety. It produces gorgeous flowers and seed heads. Harvest flowers once they are beginning to bloom or use foliage to add texture and a unique color.

Mint: both Common and Mountain varieties are fantastic. Common mint is a rapid spreader so make sure to plant in pots or be prepared to cut it back every year.

Mountain mint is not a spreading variety but in my experience, is very slow to grow and doesn’t always come back year after year. If I plant 10 plants I may get 2-3 to come back again the following year.

Oregano: Greek variety is a best bet. My oregano comes back year after year but even so, I usually start a few plants every spring just in case.

I love letting these go to flower before I cut for the vase. They are long lasting in the vase and fill in an arrangement nicely. Oregano leaves dry well for later use.

Sage: Common sage is a perennial that will flower the second year. Use foliage in culinary dishes, dry for use all winter or use foliage or flowers as greenery in a bouquet.

In my garden, sage will come back for 2 to 3 years and then die out. Because of this, I start a few new plants each spring to keep my garden well stocked.

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Left to right: Lavender thriving in a planter, Chive flowers - my mouth is watering just looking at these, Sage flowering big time in my home garden.

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Plus a bonus herb I encourage you to try!

In addition to these fabulous and relatively easy-to-grow culinary herbs I also want to mention another favorite flower/herb: Lavender. I grow the Elegance variety.

Lavender is more challenging to grow in my northern climate. It is a slow grower and thrives in warmer temps.

This is one of the earliest plants I start by seed. I then make sure to plant it in a warm, sheltered environment which usually means in a pot on my super sunny front porch.

Harvest mature flowers for the vase or harvest each stem when flowers are budding if you want to hang for drying. Lavender keeps its aroma and color well after drying.

If you’re up for a challenge, try this amazing herb. The beauty, aroma, and happiness you will enjoy from this plant are priceless and well worth the difficulty!

10 reasons to grow a garden

Whether you’re a newbie to gardening, a wanna-be gardener, or an intermediate gardener who just needs a reminder, I’m here to…

1) offer a little inspiration for why we all need to tend a garden

and

2) show you how to be successful in any garden endeavor (CLICK HERE to check out my online gardening class, which goes on sale again in March of 2023)

Now for the inspiration part…

Here’s why to garden:

1. You’ll get regular low-intensity exercise: Here’s what your body does when your gardening: standing, squatting, bending over, walking all over, reaching, stretching, hauling, lifting, pulling, carrying, etc. Science tells us that longer periods of low-intensity exercise may offer more benefits than shorter periods of intense exercise. I’m not advocating you stop running or going to the gym but I am advocating that you create more enjoyable activities in your life that keep you moving and standing (just pretty much anything besides sitting on your duff).

2. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment: In a fast-paced world loaded with tech, creating something with your hands that YOU can harvest for your family is truly sacred.

3. You’ll get more outside time: Most people spend their whole days working inside. Being outside is a true balm for the soul. Having a garden to tend to, kind of like having a dog to walk commits to you spending more time outside.

4. You’ll meet your neighbors: If you garden in your front yard I guarantee you will get to know your neighbors well! This is such a fabulous byproduct of gardening.

5. You’ll teach your kids solid life skills: Here’s what your kids can learn from a backyard garden: responsibility, love of nature, care of living things, curiosity, cooperation, self-sufficiency, that veggies taste good, just to name a few. Plus, once someone knows how to garden, they’ll know it forever (just like riding a bike). Imagine giving your kids the gift of being able to grow their own food!!

6. You’ll eat the healthiest food on the planet: If you grow using my methods… organically and with solid soil-building techniques, your vegetables will be loaded with nutrition. The health of the soil directly affects the nutrient density of your food.

7. You’ll eat the most delicious food on the planet: I’m not surprised why some people don’t like vegetables, especially if their only method of consumption is through frozen or “fresh” veggies from the grocery store. You guys, if you haven’t experienced fresh garden strawberries or fresh garden peas, or fresh garden anything YOU are missing out on a culinary wonder. Veggies were meant to grow, pick and eat immediately. Yes, it is great to learn to store them for later too but let’s face it, if you are growing your own veggies, you will eat way more veggies because they are so damn good. Make eating healthy easy! Start with superb taste by growing your own.

8. You’ll enjoy beauty every day: Now, technically this is possible to do every day without a garden BUT gardening has the opportunity to enhance our yard so beauty is EVERYWHERE. Plus, if you follow my steps to start growing your own cut flowers, you can fill your home with beauty too. Fresh flowers smiling at you from your kitchen counter is truly a beautiful thing.

9. You’ll feed pollinators: Bees and butterflies and other beneficial insects love gardens. They love flowering gardens. So let your herbs go to seed, let your mustards and broccoli go to seed (after you’ve harvested some of course), plant flowers, and your yard will be a playground for all the good bugs. Good bugs help pollinate our food crops and they eat other not-so-good bugs.

10. You’ll have gifts to give: My neighbors grow tons of basil and garlic and every year all of us neighbors on the street get the most amazing jar of pesto. Sharing your garden’s bounty is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

    So there you have it.

    I hope I’ve convinced you how amazing growing a garden can be.

    And now, I want to personally invite you to join my March 2023 launch of The IncrEdible Garden Course - a three-week online course designed to teach you the fundamentals to create a backyard oasis full of food and flowers your family will love.

    GO HERE to learn more!