I’ve always thought of gardening as a seasonal activity. Plant in spring, harvest summer into fall, let the ground rest in winter. But this year my husband Bob has proven that year-round gardening is possible. Are you ready to make this the year you have veggies to harvest every day?

I will confess that I’m not the green thumb of our family-Bob is. He orchestrates; I assist. We’re by no means master gardeners, and yet our small garden produces HUGE amounts of food. 

If you’re just getting started, check out this post from my friend and fellow blogger Gabrielle. All the timing for planting depends on where you live; so first consult the USDA Hardiness Zone Map. In East Tennessee, Gabrielle says you can plant seeds indoors from January to mid-March, but the best day to plant your garden outside is tax day, April 15 (or after the last frost if you have a crystal ball).

This weekend began the cycle of gardening for us: planting seeds in seed trays. We’ve planted as early as January but then struggled with plants getting too large before they were ready to transplant outdoors. Planting from seed is usually cheaper and gives you much more variety. We order from Park Seed. Tip: for the best discounts search for promo codes before you buy. We store extra seeds in the freezer and plant them the next year. Share seeds with a neighbor if you don’t have much garden space. 

Planting seeds is a great educational experience for children. They learn how very small most seeds are, about delayed gratification, and that food takes time and effort to grow. When the seeds do begin to sprout, they celebrate the growth each day. This weekend we planted tomatoes (heirloom, Roma, and cherry), peppers, eggplant, butternut squash, basil, and cilantro. We’ll wait a few more weeks to plant squash and zucchini in trays to give them a fighting chance against the slugs. We plant in a mixture of potting soil and compost. Our guest bedroom has become our “greenhouse” because it gets the best southern light. A little water each day is all they need to thrive. 

Meanwhile, we’ll continue to harvest red-leaf lettuce that has survived freezing conditions-even snow-thanks to a make-shift greenhouse of translucent sheeting and two by fours. Next year Bob plans to make it more official like our neighbor’s set-up with circular tubing. The extra beds are rejuvenating their nutrients with the leaves we shred in fall and compost we’ve added periodically. 

We expect the two beds dedicated to asparagus to begin producing by late April / early May. This is their third year and the first we can harvest all we want. I’m very excited about that because fresh asparagus is one of my favorites, and these beds could produce 15 years or more. The kids also like watching the spears grow 1-2 inches every day! By June and July, the blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry bushes should be producing fruit.

In mid-April we will plant directly into the ground seeds for snow peas and string beans in the back of each bed to climb a trellis.  In front will go spinach, carrots, eggplant, zucchini, squash, and tomatoes. Herbs and peppers will go in front of the tomatoes, and green onions will have their own small bed. Last year our tomato plants produced from May til November. Once the zucchini and squash die off, we’ll plant okra and sweet potatoes in their place. This year we’ll plant the kale and lettuce sooner in buckets and get them in the ground by October / November so that they produce throughout the winter.

The reality is that with a little planning our garden is always producing something, and that is amazing to me. We do all this on a hillside and in just 200 square feet of space. It takes some work, but the taste of homegrown tomatoes is worth every minute!

Have you started planting yet? Don’t worry - it’s not too late! What will go in your garden this year? 

~Margaret, Blue Frog Creations

Margaret blogs about a Green Triangle Philosophy: Go Green, Save Green, and Give Green. Learn more at http://bluefrogcreations.blogspot.com/  

Read other blog posts from Margaret.