Planning Your Summer Garden In February

Winter brings in grey and low clouds and often some form of precipitation where we live. While our gardens are passively growing in slow motion, under the protection of the Cold Frames, we start to think about new growth in the warmer months. 

The frustration of visiting a food garden in the winter often ends in realizing there is little to be done. Fortunately, that’s when the work and joy of planning and dreaming begins. Each winter around this time, we think about what we will grow this spring and summer. Opening a seed catalog in February is one of the more invigorating things we can do when visiting our outdoor gardens is less than inspirational.

You might not know where to start in plotting your garden this year. You may have questions from deciding what to plant, which things to grow and when, and why buy one type of seed over another.

We suggest you order your very own seed catalog from a reputable company. This simple act will change your gardening practice from here on out. With your own seed catalog in hand, you can leisurely read and make note of the seeds that pique your interest. And it will answer many of your questions before you begin seeding for the year.

Buying The Best Seeds For Your Vegetable Garden

Fedco Seed Company produces our most favorite seed catalog. The credibility and history of this company makes it one of our best resources to order from. This is a company with a conscience and a community we want to support. Additionally, the writer for their annual catalog is passionate about seeds, their origin and their sovereignty. Fedco is very generous with offering numerous nuances about their products and notes to the reader.

Once settled with our highlighter and a cup of tea, we start at the very beginning of the publication. Usually there is a projection for the summer ahead with a few new offerings. What we most enjoy is the reference to the history of gathering and selling seeds and the importance of this age old practice. I have gathered a few of my own seeds from the previous year, and consider the possibility of those seeds successfully recreating the same delicious outcomes.

When reading through a seed catalog, we are struck with how much we learn from even a brief description. Phrases like “organic,” “open source” and “heirlooms” are defined and used as descriptors of the origin and sourcing in the seed. Other descriptors are often found with each type of seed like, “early” and “tasty for fresh eating” or “long storage” or “trellised.” These are words that either reveal the way the growth may occur or the character of the fruit and it’s best use.

We read into the descriptions and consider our own needs and wants for our gardens, highlighting the seeds that look interesting to us as we go. We also take a few chances on some that beguile our imagination and think, ‘for the cost of a few seeds, we could learn something new.’ Not all seeds are for all folks. Some of us master certain things and grow the same fruits and vegetables continually each year as a result. We make a point of trying some new things and see if the temperament of our gardens and care are suited to growing something new in our repertoire.

If one is curious, there is a plethora of seed choices to try. We suggest trying a few new vegetables each year as a matter of keeping curiosity and learning high each season. Not all information will seem pertinent, so glean what is meaningful to you.

Choosing Seeds For Your One Small Garden

Most important to us are the earliest seeds we will put in our gardens: snap peas, potatoes, lettuces, radishes and varieties of spinach. We order twice as much spinach, tatsoi, mache and early lettuce seeds than we may need for spring planting. We’ll store those extra unsown seeds for early fall planting again (cold soil seeds work in both spring and fall). Get them while you can in the spring as they may not be available in the fall.

Each seed has a pedigree and is propagated for sale to others based on characteristics that make it unique and desirable. We’ve have found if one learns to grow it, one learns to eat it, and usually falls in love with it. (So, get your kids involved in this process - they love to watch their seeds grow into real food!)

With spinach, we know we like a thick and meaty leaf with curves and profile, like semi savoyed.  We also know we will push Mother Nature and seed as soon as we can and then keep covered under Cold Frame Curtains. With descriptors like ‘hardy,’ ‘tolerant,’ ‘long standing’ and ‘quick to mature,’ our attention is caught and we want to try the seeds that have these characteristics. With carrots, color, flavor and keeping well in storage are traits that we may base our decision upon. Given the incredible abundance of information contained in the Fedco Seed Catalogue, we have a pretty good start toward success with our gardens simply by purchasing the best and most relevant seeds for our desires.

Early Seeding Begins In February

“When the soil is workable” is one of the first phrases we learned from reading seed catalogs and packets. This means when you can touch the soils, they are soft and receptive, cool with a fluff of humus and a bit of moisture combined. Raised garden beds become workable earlier than the hard ground because the soil warms quicker. This is especially true if your garden is protected by a Cold Frame Curtain. When the soil is workable, you can begin seeding for the year ahead with the seeds you’ve purchased from your favorite catalog.

Growing food for oneself, or even doing anything self-sustaining, is a revolutionary act in this age of convenience and ‘everything always at our fingertips.’ We encourage you to pause and take this time to dream, research and plan for the optimal bounty you can grow this year! 

5 of the Best Tools to Use in Your One Small Garden

There’s a reason that old adage ‘use the right tool for the right job’ persists. When we take the time to consider which tool is best for the job in front of us, and then use that tool, the job goes much smoother and the effort tends to be a success.

This is also true with the tools we use in our gardening practices. Whether you need a trowel for digging, row marker for signage or spray nozzle for watering your plants, the tool you choose for these jobs is almost as important as the job itself.

Fortunately, many of the tools we offer at One Small Garden are multifunctional and enduring. We believe the near the top of the list of qualities that make a tool ‘right’ is that it lasts for many seasons.

Must-Have Small Space Garden Tools

One of our favorite tools is the Hori Hori Knife. Honestly, we find ourselves using this knife for a handful of jobs. You can quickly cut open packaging on soil and soil amendment bags as easily as you can cut around the roots of a plant that you’d like to extract from your One Small Garden. Additionally, you can swiftly divide a plant to expand your growth (or even gift ½ to a friend!). 

Another useful tool that we could not live without is a Long-Handled Trowel. When you are digging in your raised garden bed, loosening and aerating the soil or pulling out stubborn plants, this trowel is indispensable. With the long handle feature, you can also use this tool to move your compost and soil amendments around. 

Let’s talk about letting our gardens talk back to us, shall we? Do not underestimate the power of the ever versatile Row Marker! These simple, yet profoundly communicative tools not only keep our gardens orderly, they tell us everything we need to know about what we’ve planted, when and where! In addition to marking our tiny garden territories, they can be used to draw shallow lines in the soil to keep our seed sowing in check.

When it comes time to harvest your fruits, veggies and herbs, you’re going to want to use a good pair of Fruit Pruners. The great thing about this tool is that you can also use it with floral trimmings and other delicate gardening work.

And of course, probably the best tools available, literally within arm’s reach, are your hands. Multifunctional, nimble and ever present, your hands will provide support for all of the other tools as well as do some beneficial digging, sowing, thinning and pruning of their own. Plus, the health benefits derived from being in close contact with garden soil are innumerable. So, go ahead and dig in, friends!

Do you have a favorite garden tool that you use in your raised garden bed? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Getting Started with a Cold Frame Curtain

Did you know you CAN use your One Small Garden all year long?

Now that the late October temps are dipping into the frost potential zone in the Midwest, it’s time to safeguard your garden from winter’s icy influence. Simply put, gardening is not just a summer sport. Protecting your garden now sets the stage for passive growth for three months of lower light in winter.

Cold Frame Curtain

Using solar energy, our Cold Frame Curtain loosely seals your garden bed, making a microclimate inside that insulates your growth. Our durable, Marine-grade vinyl curtain shields your delicate vegetables from the wind, frost and snow that would otherwise wreak havoc on them. 

Think of it as an outdoor terrarium that’s so flexible, you can easily vent it during the warmth of the day, then cover it back up tight as the sun goes down. During the middle of winter, you can just leave it closed. The sunlight, moisture in your garden and vinyl cover will do most of the heavy lifting for you! 

With a curtain sheltering your One Small Garden, you can grow food well past the first frost and have fresh greens earlier on in the year. Seeds may very well germinate under the protection right now, but they might slow down and wait till daylight grows longer in February to sprout. When you have the curtain in place in the early spring, it helps warm your raised garden faster than the ground soil surrounding it. This provides the perfect environment to sow new seeds directly into the soil, yielding a fledgling harvest as early as March! 

New Growth in the Spring

We all know how great it is to see green sprouts growing after a cold, grey Midwest winter. Your tiny raised garden greenhouse will allow you to both enjoy the rest of your harvest from this year as well as give you a jump start on next year’s crop.

If you have any questions regarding Getting Started With A Cold Frame Curtain, don’t hesitate to write or call. We’ll walk you through everything you’ll want to consider as you begin what’s sure to become a regular part of your gardening practice.