How early can I plant?
Okay so as you know I seriously want spring to arrive so that I can soak up all the beautiful colors and watch mother natures natural and majestic growth but I know winter is a very vital part of gardening. Believe it or not, a frigid cold or snow and ice filled winter is just what we need to have a good start for our growing season. The cold weather helps to kill off those unwanted pests that love to eat our gardens. No matter how much I despise the cold I am wishing for snowfall because last summer was filled with dreadful, almost unmanageable pests. Fighting off some insects like squash bugs or ticks is nearly impossible. Now most of you probably don't have to deal with ticks all to often but I live in Arkansas near the lake on six acres of mostly wooded space. We are in the process of clearing some of the dead trees to alleviate some of the pests and over crowding in the yard as well as making room for some future plans of a kids play area and animal space for chickens and hopefully a couple of goats (I really want some goats), but until then the ticks are crazy thick around here so bring on the cold weather!
Now that being said, how early can I start planting? Honestly, it all depends on mother nature. Here in Arkansas I am in zone 7 and our last recorded estimated frost date is around April 21st. Anyone who knows Arkansas knows the weather here is as unpredictable as the future is. It could be warm and seem like the perfect time to plant for three weeks and then BAM out of nowhere drop down to 20 degrees and have four inches of ice and snow. So going by the estimated last frost date is a good start but I wouldn't use it alone to help determine when to plant. You absolutely need to be watching the weather as well as knowing your last frost date. If you plan to start indoors or in a green house then the estimated time to start those starter plants is between six to eight weeks before the last frost. Be sure to do some research on which plants to start indoors and which plants to wait on and sow outdoors before planting anything. Take your last frost date and count back six to eight weeks and that will be your start date for the majority of your crops. Some plants can withstand some frost and are okay to start even earlier or to start out in your garden if the temperatures aren't going to drop too low. Some vegetables such as carrots and radishes are said to have even better flavor after they have been kissed by a light frost!
Looking through 2019 Bakers Creek Seed Catalog
This will be my very first spring to plant anything. I started my gardening journey last summer a tad later than most do so there are many cool weather crops I didn't have the joy of growing. I did plant some in the fall but as I mentioned in one of my previous blogs the rabbits beat me to them. This year will be different though, because now that we know what pests we have to deal with, we will be taking precautionary measures to prevent the loss of our early crops. Some earlier crops are leafy greens, peas, brassicas, and some root vegetables such as carrots, radishes and beets. Many of these crops I will start indoors to help them root and then transplant outdoors here in about four to six weeks. This makes it around mid February for my early crops and around mid March for my main crops (depending on the weather of course). I do not have a green house so I will be starting my plants in my window sill this spring. Maybe in the future we can make plans to build a green house so I can have more room for starter plants as well as a possible longer growing season but for now the window will work.
We are working diligently on getting the garden space tilled up fenced in and ready to grow! (ha ha you like the play in words?) We, like many others I'm sure, have hit a few bumps already in the process of getting it set up before planting season begins. With deep tree roots, cold rain making mud puddles and the tiller breaking two pins (both two times each) as well as getting a very large Arkansas grown rock jammed between the blade and the casing of the tiller, it hasn't been an easy task but we are getting there. We are also still searching for some used cheap or even free fence posts to try to finish the fence around the garden to keep extra hungry critters out. Even though I love love love the animals, we are growing food to feed our family not the wild animals so having a fence is almost a must have especially to help keep those rabbits out! Planting time is coming soon and we want to be as ready as we can be!
Picture of my daughter helping out
in the preparation of the garden
So to wrap things up, I will be planting early crops here soon to keep in the house to germinate and grow a few sets of true leaves before putting them out to face the real world weather. I would love to hear from all of you so please comment below and tell me about your starting times! When will you be planting? Is your growing season long or short, hot or cold? Like and share my blog with your friends and on your social media sites. You can follow my blog to get updates when I post again to keep up with the garden progress. Also, if you haven't already, go follow me on Instagram to see more pictures and quick updates on the garden!
Now that being said, how early can I start planting? Honestly, it all depends on mother nature. Here in Arkansas I am in zone 7 and our last recorded estimated frost date is around April 21st. Anyone who knows Arkansas knows the weather here is as unpredictable as the future is. It could be warm and seem like the perfect time to plant for three weeks and then BAM out of nowhere drop down to 20 degrees and have four inches of ice and snow. So going by the estimated last frost date is a good start but I wouldn't use it alone to help determine when to plant. You absolutely need to be watching the weather as well as knowing your last frost date. If you plan to start indoors or in a green house then the estimated time to start those starter plants is between six to eight weeks before the last frost. Be sure to do some research on which plants to start indoors and which plants to wait on and sow outdoors before planting anything. Take your last frost date and count back six to eight weeks and that will be your start date for the majority of your crops. Some plants can withstand some frost and are okay to start even earlier or to start out in your garden if the temperatures aren't going to drop too low. Some vegetables such as carrots and radishes are said to have even better flavor after they have been kissed by a light frost!
This will be my very first spring to plant anything. I started my gardening journey last summer a tad later than most do so there are many cool weather crops I didn't have the joy of growing. I did plant some in the fall but as I mentioned in one of my previous blogs the rabbits beat me to them. This year will be different though, because now that we know what pests we have to deal with, we will be taking precautionary measures to prevent the loss of our early crops. Some earlier crops are leafy greens, peas, brassicas, and some root vegetables such as carrots, radishes and beets. Many of these crops I will start indoors to help them root and then transplant outdoors here in about four to six weeks. This makes it around mid February for my early crops and around mid March for my main crops (depending on the weather of course). I do not have a green house so I will be starting my plants in my window sill this spring. Maybe in the future we can make plans to build a green house so I can have more room for starter plants as well as a possible longer growing season but for now the window will work.
We are working diligently on getting the garden space tilled up fenced in and ready to grow! (ha ha you like the play in words?) We, like many others I'm sure, have hit a few bumps already in the process of getting it set up before planting season begins. With deep tree roots, cold rain making mud puddles and the tiller breaking two pins (both two times each) as well as getting a very large Arkansas grown rock jammed between the blade and the casing of the tiller, it hasn't been an easy task but we are getting there. We are also still searching for some used cheap or even free fence posts to try to finish the fence around the garden to keep extra hungry critters out. Even though I love love love the animals, we are growing food to feed our family not the wild animals so having a fence is almost a must have especially to help keep those rabbits out! Planting time is coming soon and we want to be as ready as we can be!
Picture of my daughter helping out
in the preparation of the garden
So to wrap things up, I will be planting early crops here soon to keep in the house to germinate and grow a few sets of true leaves before putting them out to face the real world weather. I would love to hear from all of you so please comment below and tell me about your starting times! When will you be planting? Is your growing season long or short, hot or cold? Like and share my blog with your friends and on your social media sites. You can follow my blog to get updates when I post again to keep up with the garden progress. Also, if you haven't already, go follow me on Instagram to see more pictures and quick updates on the garden!
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