Seed Starting and Space
Everyone gets over ambitious when that first wave of spring sunshine beams though the windows in a cold place like Michigan.
Every week on the farm felt like a new rush to learn something, this week was seed starting and I took to google and my favorite blogs for answers and guidance on germination time, and planting protocols.
We are lucky to have a metal shelving unit equipped with T-9 lights therefore the shelf came inside, and I started rummaging through piles of garden supplies covered in webs and last year’s dirt, I pulled the plastic trays and the soil pods and got to work.
Things I didn’t anticipate
The amount of space that would be taken up. Having an area prepped and set aside ahead of spring would’ve been very helpful. Just a small flat surface, an area for some storage, and some tubs would have made the difference. There was a lot of dirt dumped on the floors, and seeds, soil, and watering supplies piled on top of random spaces. Things were messier than they needed to be and just placing hundreds of seedlings wherever they may fit became a not-so-great solution.
Watering takes more thought than you think. Make sure the set up offers solutions to questions like where the water will drain? Do the shelves leave room to water without moving things? Are all containers equipped with proper draining? We used sectioned seed containers and trays with drainage holes that then sat inside solid trays that could hold water and were flexible enough to drain out if needed.
Not all veggies are created equal. This may be like an oh duh moment but as a first timer I was under the impression that in a place with a climate like Michigan everything needed to be started indoors ahead of time. This was not true, and not helpful to a handful of certain plants.
There will be loses. Lots of loses. Just keep going. Don’t wait and lose hope. Replant. And try again.
Mostly starting the seeds indoors opened my eyes to the small annoyances and technicalities that I overlooked but there was more to be navigated when the plants went in the garden.
Planting Outside
Patience is everything! I will absolutely admit that I fell short in this category. Patience. Patience. Patience. Follow the protocols according to your zone. And trust them!
I let my anxiousness get the best of me. I ended up starting and restarting seeds two different times. And then I planted way too early …about a week and half off from what was recommended, my husband shook his head and warned me, I bantered that I knew mother nature and spring was here, and then I lost all of my established plants to frost and sobbed over brown and wilted lettuce while snowflakes flew.
So truly, listen to guidance that’s out there, people have been cultivating plants for centuries.
Like I said, not all plants are equal. Make sure you do your research on what should be started indoors verses what does better directly sowed. It’s also good to know what plants do well with each other, soil health, and timing. Not everything will be planted at the same time.
Enjoy this helpful link, an interactive map of Michigan that shows planting zones.
What We Are Working With
Our set up is a 30 by 30 area of raised beds around the perimeter and then rowed neatly throughout. Our beds are filled with already established, organic living dirt. We supply nutrients to it with the help of our chickens, and our compost pile. No pesticides, fertilizers, or bug repellents ever.
In the early spring the chickens were allowed in the beds for a couple weeks to fertilize but also clean out any unwanted grubs and pests. They are excellent workers, but you’ll need to have more dirt on hand for when they’re finished.
After a couple weeks of chicken care the garden was netted up on the outsides to provide protection but mainly to give our tomatoes, pumpkins, and other climbers room to grow up. The beds got a new layer of chicken waste right from the coop and then any beds needing additional dirt got filled.
This year I depended on good ole plant research to help with pests and bugs.
How We Planned The Garden
Everything was hand drawn ahead of planting time and according to best practice. Having the visual reference was helpful throughout the start of the season when new seeds were just popping. And it’s also helping us plan next year’s garden.
My number one tip learned the hard way is to routinely keep up on the little things. It’s incredible how fast the garden can go to slowly producing, to just growing flat out wild. Just two overlooked days of weeding could be disaster.
And maybe above the goal of always keeping up with it is the idea to have flexible expectations as a first-time gardener. You’ll learn so much through the tiny mishaps and you’ll laugh at the simplicity of the solutions sometimes. There’s always room for improvement and there’s never one right way. Gardening is about using what you have and making it work. We have no fancy tools, although we have lists of things we know we’d like to acquire in the future, we knew we didn’t need the best of everything to simply start. I use five-gallon buckets and some muscle instead of a wheelbarrow and our watering routine consists of a crooked sprinkler that gets manually turned on and propped up on a pot with a rock. But we’ve eaten garden grown meals for two weeks straight now and haven’t bought produce from a large grocer in months. Having access to things grown at the labor of your own hands is a remarkable statement.
Harvesting and Storage
The biggest asset here, is to plan. I started stock piling glass and jars last winter. Don’t forget anything reusable from the grocery store can be washed and utilized. A lot of fruits and veggies do perfectly fine sitting out, so having baskets and containers that allow air throughout is very helpful.
Be prepared to have your counters and tables filled with things at all times, it’s a beautiful sight.
We’ve been learning how to can, and the differences between a cold pack fresh can, and a water bath pressure canning approach. Our fridge is stocked with quick refrigerator pickles and beans, and later in the year we will take what we have canned and store it in our root cellar along with pumpkins and squash and potatoes and anything from the garden that we would like to save and re-plant in the spring.
Freezing berries and fruit became a savior because you can thaw out and deal with them when you’re ready. I’m also getting ready to freeze batches of fresh tomatoes.
Just have dark cool and dry place, and be okay with things being a little rustic looking and chaotic, a bountiful harvest season is such a blessing!
