New Garden To-Do List

Y'all, it's March, and time to bring my new year, new home, new garden project to life.  First step, as with any big project...make a to-do list!  Here's where I am so far. 

1. Site the new garden by tracking the sun across the yard.  The goal is to take a photograph every hour from my upstairs window to get the best sense of where the sun lives the longest each day.

2. Have soil tested. I'll be collecting samples and sending them to UMass.

3. Make animal protection plan. Bunnies!  So cute, but so meeeean to plants.  Fencing options will be considered.

4. Collect compost.  One bucket already awaits, but my worms are ready to give up more gold.  Related project:  set up bin for non-worm/outdoor composting.

5. Take seed inventory and buy new where necessary.  So many half-planted packets from last year and beyond.  Must cull and clear.

6. Build raised bed.  What kind of wood?  What to fill it with?  How large?  Oof, lots to do with this one.

7. Lay in stake supply.  Beans and tomatoes won't hold themselves up!

8. Site mini-orchard.  Our 2 apples, sour cherry, and peach tree shipment arrives the first week of April.  Our goal: have the holes dug before they get here.

I hope to post about each of these as I complete them.  Stay tuned--and share, what's on your to-do list when you're starting a new garden?

(image via: http://shanalogic.com/)

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Comments

[barefootmeg]

I'm with Meredith. Our sun patterns during March are pretty different from what I see in summer (several feet of sun difference in a medium sized yard can make quite a bit of difference). Also, the fact that the trees are currently barren of leaves means that I'm going to be seeing sun right now where it won't be in a few months.

John, if you're wondering about your seed left over from last year, you could try testing a bit of it. Take a paper towel and wet it. Put a some seeds from the packet you're testing on the wet paper towel and watch the progress. If none sprout, throw the packet out. If 1/2 sprout, you might want to plant the seed still, but perhaps put the seeds a little closer together as some won't sprout. If you end up with a clump together you can thin it later. If all sprout, you're golden.

[Meredith]

Wonderful list. It is so exciting to begin a garden; isn't it?

I have to mention, though, that we did track our sun patterns before we began ours last May -- and yet they turned out to be quite different in the heat of summer, and quite tricky in the fall and early spring phases of the garden (two of the main areas are in nearly full shade now, when we'd thought that with the leaves gone, they'd be in even better sun -- but because of the angle, the sun hardly ever tops the hill in that direction, argh!) So just a friendly reminder to take your pics over an extended period of time if you can. :)

[John]

Very exciting. Our second compost pile is well on its way, and I'm excited to use the first one this year! I derive an irrational amount of satisfaction from this.

I recommend against pressure-treated lumber. Check this link out: http://www.finegardening.com/design/articles/pressure-treated-wood-in-beds.aspx

I used untreated 2x10's in our garden and built a simple box. I expect it to last 2-3 years before I need to replace the wood. The worst-case is that the wood rots a little faster than expected and I need to either excavate back into the bed a little to give me a little working room, or I would need to make it a little bigger in each dimension to give me more working room (my secret plan all along).

Regarding seed inventory: every package of seeds I've ever gotten says something like "using old seeds is not recommended because [insert ill-supported claim here]. Please throw them away and buy new ones every year."

Is this just 'the man' trying to get me to buy seeds every year, or is there some science behind this?

[villager]

Sounds like you are off to a good start with your new garden plans! We moved mid-year in 2007 and it was a real challenge to get things going in the new place as fast as possible, while taking care of all the moving details as well. But it's also a lot of fun, and a chance to improve and try new things. I look forward to reading about your progress!