Summary: Each month of the growing season has must-do tasks that will keep the garden healthy and provide plenty of fresh produce.
Spring is upon us and it is time to get the garden started. By now clean-up work should be underway and portions of the garden might be ready to accept cool season crops. Work in some well-seasoned compost before you begin to plant.
April: It is finally time to plant hardy vegetables like peas, carrots, and radishes. Directly sow the seeds in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked. Lettuce and other greens can be planted as well. If you plant new seeds every two weeks it wont all be ready to harvest at once. Plant sweet peas in a location that includes a trellis for climbing. While you cant eat them their smell is divine.
Get your tomato and pepper seeds planted if you plan to start them from seed. With many varieties available at local nurseries and greenhouses you may want to wait and buy starts as soon as they become available. Keep seedlings well watered and give them as much light as possible until planting time next month.
Weed, weed, and weed. Pulling weeds in beds and borders now will save you a whole lot of trouble later. Since most of us dont have a groundskeeper it can be overwhelming trying to keep up with the weeds. As soon as you spot them, pull them and put them in the garbage rather than the compost pile.
May: By May it is truly looking and smelling like spring. The chance of frost diminishes with each passing day and most vegetables and herbs can be transplanted to the garden by the middle of the month. Remember to grow what you like so your garden can be a source of food that you will actually eat.
May begins the mowing season and if you have grass that means the weekly chore that continues until fall must be done. If you havent already done so have the mower blade sharpened. Mow grass slightly higher than you think it should be and quit worrying about it so much. Go back to the garden.
Rhubarb should be ready by now. Harvest some for pies or tarts.
June: Known as the month for strawberries because many varieties are ripe for picking. June also will find broccoli and greens ready to harvest. Because greens prefer cool weather and grow quickly there is little reason to plant them after June when hot weather arrives and sticks around until fall.
The tomatoes and peppers are big enough to need staked or caged by now. Indeterminate tomatoes have stems that grow and produce fruit as long as the weather allows. Determinate tomatoes bear a set quantity and come ripe at the same time. Some are early and some are late. Plant a variety so you have tomatoes all summer long.
Add kitchen scraps and yard waste to the compost pile. Turn it often to promote decomposition. Compost is made up of stuff we might normally throw away and it is the best way to add organic material to the garden and lawn. Contrary to what some might think, a healthy compost pile rarely attracts furry visitors and it does not stink.
July: Weed, weed, and weed. Daily weeding will keep the garden free of nutrient-robbing intruders. Weeding is easier just after it has rained.
Water the garden as needed. It can be weeks in between periods of rain and plants need at least an inch of water a week to thrive in summers heat. Install a rain barrel if you dont have one. You will thank yourself later. Plants prefer rain water to municipal city water or cold mineral-laden well water.
By now a daily visit to the garden will involve harvesting ripe vegetables and herbs. Take a basket along. Share the bounty with someone who does not have a garden of their own.
August: High heat can make plants like lettuce and basil to bolt or form a flower stalk prematurely. This can greatly alter the taste of the plant. August is when plants also naturally go to seed. Dill, basil, chervil and others will form seeds if not pinched off daily. August is a great month to harvest herbs for drying, freezing or in the case of basil, making pesto.
Plant fall crops now like collards and kale in beds that have been cleaned out. Harvest tomatoes and peppers daily as well as other ripe vegetables.
Trim bushes and lightly shape them. Bushes and hedges make great natural borders and can offer privacy in parts of the yard.
September: As summer fades to fall the vegetable garden is still producing and its not too late to plant dill, cilantro, parsley and winter greens before the first frost. Late season crops are a nice way to keep the garden producing as cooler weather approaches.
Preserve harvests by canning, drying or freezing as much as you for winter use. Begin to pull up plants that are spent. Never leave garden soil exposed. Plant a cover crop like red clover or mulch with straw, leaves, or weed-free grass clippings.
Mark rows where carrots, turnips and radishes are planted with tall stakes so you can find them. Leave them in the ground and harvest them as needed during the winter.
October: Without season extension methods like row covers and hoop houses it is time to put the garden to bed for the winter. Clean up, weed, and remove any debris that might harbor pests over the winter.
Mow one last time before putting equipment away.
Plant bulbs like tulips, hyacinth and daffodils for a spring bloom filled with color.
