The first day of working in your vegetable garden each year is a miraculous thing. The sun is shining, a cool breeze is pushing clouds across a blue sky, the earth smells fresh and is ready to nurture the vegetables you’ve been dreaming about all winter…
Or, it’s cold, grey, soggy; the soil is compacted and filled with weeds, and you spend about an hour outside before realizing you haven’t made a decent plan and you’re definitely not ready to plant anything.
Don’t be discouraged! No matter whether this is your first-ever vegetable garden or just the first time planting this year, if you take a little time to prepare before you plant, everything will go more smoothly and you’ll be more successful.
Here are a few simple things to consider when starting a vegetable garden this spring (and by the way, when I say “vegetable garden” I also mean small fruits, herbs, and edible flowers).
At the end of the post, you’ll find a list of blog posts with more detailed information on the topics covered here. Let’s get started!
Vegetables, herbs, and flowers grow in raised beds. Because this is a southeast-facing garden, tomatoes and peppers are grown in containers in a sunnier, southwestern exposure.
Decide Where to Grow Your Vegetables
Pick a Sunny Spot
The best option for a vegetable garden is the sunniest spot you have (6-8 hours of sun each day) but you can still grow some vegetables and herbs in part-shade conditions (I’ll go over a few options in the Choose Your Plants section below).
Choose Raised Beds, Containers, Garden Beds (or all 3!)
Raised beds, filled with nutritious potting soil, offer ideal conditions for growing vegetables, small fruits, and herbs. They are easy to weed and have excellent drainage.
Garden beds offer the flexibility to plant alongside ornamental plants and to change where you plant from year to year. However, because garden soil can be rocky, sandy, and/or heavy, you’ll need to prepare the soil before planting so your vegetables will thrive.
Containers are great for balconies, patios, and small spaces, and can be moved around to follow the sun. There are lots of vegetables, small fruits, and herbs that will grow well in pots if they are large enough (we generally recommend containers at least 8’-12” deep for most vegetables; a tomato plant needs a pot at least 12’-14” deep).
Prep and Amend the Soil
Containers & New Raised beds
Containers should be filled with fresh potting soil each year. Garden soil is heavy and can become compacted in containers. It can also harbor pests and diseases.
You’ll want to fill a new raised bed with high-quality soil, like Dr. Earth Vegetable Garden Planting Mix or a combination of 75% potting soil and 25% compost.
Existing raised beds & garden beds
Weed your beds then amend the soil with compost or soil-building conditioner in the spring. Amendments help break up and aerate heavy, clay soils; they help sandy soil retain moisture.
Mix the compost or conditioner 6”-12” into garden soil, especially where it seems heavy, compacted, or really sandy. For raised beds, gently mix into the top 4” to refresh the soil and to keep the beds filled as the soil settles.
Fertilizer
No matter where you’re growing your vegetables, you can also mix in some organic fertilizer, either before or when planting, and then throughout the season. Follow the instructions on the package for how much to use and how often to apply.
A soaker hose is coiled throughout the raised bed to deeply saturate the soil.
Set Up Irrigation
While you could water your vegetable garden by hand or with a sprinkler, watering systems like soaker hoses and drip irrigation are more efficient and do a much better job deeply saturating the soil. Soakers and drip irrigation also keep water off the leaves of your plants, helping to limit the spread of fungus and disease. Whatever method you choose, remember that deep watering done less often will help you grow plants with healthy, strong roots and is better than frequent. light watering.
Soaker hoses can be laid throughout beds to evenly saturate the soil. I like to spiral the hose around the bed, from the outside in but you can really lay it out in any way that fits the space. Drip irrigation systems minimize wasted water by using drip emitters placed only where each plant will grow. If the bed will be densely planted, you can add an emitter every few inches.
We’re happy to advise you on the best watering system for your garden; just stop by and ask us in person and we can walk you through the options!
Protect & support your plants
Trellises
Peas, pole beans, and runner beans need a trellis or teepee to support them as they grow. You can also guide vining squash and cucumbers up a trellis. Using vertical supports is a great way to add more planting space to the garden as well! Tomatoes will benefit from a cage to support their branches, which get quite heavy when covered in ripening tomatoes.
Cold Protection
Some vegetables benefit from protection against the cold through late spring. I like to use wire or PVC hoops that I sink into the soil at intervals across the bed, then cover with clear plastic or Harvest Guard™ fabric, depending on the weather and the hardiness of my chosen vegetables. Plastic will keep them warmer but doesn’t allow rain in and needs to be vented on warmer days; fabric holds in less heat but allows air and water to pass through. If you are growing shorter plants, you can pin the fabric down over the soil, leaving it loose enough so the plants can push it up as they grow. An added bonus is that, while covered, your plants will be protected from pests as well.
Tomatoes and peppers do well if you wrap their cages in Harvest Guard™ fabric or, for extra protection, place a Season Starter™ around them. This unique product encircles the plant with water-filled tubes. The water heats up during the day and keeps your plant cozy in cold weather. Bonus: they are reusable!
An iron tee-pee supports sugar snap peas while an arbor supports pink jasmine and newly-planted runner beans. PVC hoops in different sizes, covered in plastic, keep tender seedlings warm.
Choose your Vegetables
So, you found the perfect spot for your garden, prepped the soil, laid out irrigation, and everything is ready for planting. Before you get your hands dirty, make a quick list of what you would like to grow this year. This is a great rainy day activity (not that we have any rainy spring days in the PNW!) Think about how much sun and space you have, and what you like to eat when deciding what you should plant, and be sure to throw in a few flowers to attract pollinators! Here’s a little info that can help.
Cool-season vegetables are best planted in the spring before the weather heats up: arugula, lettuce, spinach, radishes, peas, strawberries, Swiss chard, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, kale, other greens, cabbage
Warm-season vegetables can be damaged or killed by cold weather and should be planted late April-June (often with protection until early summer, as mentioned above): beans, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, corn, potatoes, basil
If you’re growing in containers, try lettuce, arugula, radishes, round baby carrots, strawberries, Swiss chard, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, potatoes, and herbs.
If you have partly shady conditions (3-6 hours of sun per day), try arugula, lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, Swiss chard, kale, collards, beets, carrots, mint, chives, cilantro, parsley.
Here’s my list for 2021:
With my vegetable list in hand, I like to sketch out where I plan to put things (don’t worry, artistic talent is not a prerequisite!) That way I can decide where I might be able to plant an early-spring crop that can be harvested in time to plant a warm-season vegetable later in the same spot. Or, I might see where a taller summer vegetable could shade a crop like lettuce, which likes plenty of sunshine in spring but might need a bit of protection from the harsh mid-summer sun.
Here’s a sample sketch:
Plant Your Vegetable Garden!
Now that you’re prepared, planting your vegetable garden will be a snap. Get outside and enjoy yourself! Here’s a list of blog posts that offer even more detailed information on planning, planting, and caring for your vegetable garden.
Choosing the Best Spot for your Edible Garden
The Root of Everything: Soils, Amendments & Mulches
Compost & the Soils That Love It
How to Grow Strawberries in the PNW
Growing Warm-Season Vegetables in the PNW
Protecting Warm-Season Vegetables
The Secrets of Companion Planting
Still have questions? Take a look at our Edible Gardening Resources page and, of course, we’re always happy to help you, whether in-person or over email.
Happy planting and remember to show us your garden by posting photos on social media with #heyswansons!