Hi Friends! Today I’m going to share with you what I’m doing now to get my yard and garden ready for spring. Spring is just around the corner and here in rural Pennsylvania Mother Nature is teasing us with the occasional 60 degree day in between the 40 degree days and 20 degree nights. With the tempting nice days, I’m feeling the urge to get in the garden and get outside.
February in Southern Pennsylvania has many surprisingly mild days. This allows me to get out and do more than those of you in colder climates. So if you’re in a snowier region, some of these items you may not be able to do in February, but March may yield nicer days.
The first thing I’m doing to get my yard and garden ready for spring is building my greenhouse.
Part of my birthday present this year was to invest in a greenhouse. I purchased this one from Amazon for $400. ($300 plus $100 shipping). This 6×8 foot space will allow me to get produce growing faster and move seeds outdoors sooner.
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a link. This is at no additional cost to you.
It’s kind of like putting Ikea furniture together…but with worse directions. Sounds horrible if you’ve put together Ikea furniture. I’m taking it in increments so it’s not too horrible and I’m enjoying working on it. Some things such as the doors, roof vents and a few side pieces can be done indoors and moved out. This is still hours, so if you want to put together a greenhouse, start now, and you can start indoors on these pieces.
One of the cool things about this greenhouse is that it also comes with a gutter system so I’m hoping to be able to catch rainwater to use in the garden. That will be a later stage though.
You can definitely save money building a greenhouse over buying one, but I chose this one because I knew cutting lumber, fitting together old windows, getting supplies etc… would take way more time. In this case, it was worth it to me to spend the money, plus I put some Christmas & birthday gift cards towards it.
Speaking of building things…this is also a great time to build compost bins. Read more about what we do here.
The second thing I’m doing now to get my yard and garden ready for spring is buying & planting seeds.
I purchased my seeds from Survival Garden Seeds. They use heirloom seeds that are open-pollinated and show you how to save the seeds on the back.
This may be a no-brainer for a lot of people, winter is known as seed starting time if you’re starting indoors. But if you want a garden, now is the time to start anything from seed you’ll start indoors.
In years past, I’ve not had the best luck with my seed starting. This year I’ve decided to try out some new seed starting trays that use bottom watering to hopefully grow stronger, more robust starts. These I purchased from All About the Gardener.
They’re from a design created by Charles Darwin. The advantage of bottom watering is your plants will develop a stronger root system and be used to drawing their water downward rather than from water on the top. This helps develop stronger true roots rather than a weak tap root. It also helps fragile seedlings from not getting washed away. Many many seasoned gardeners swear by these, so we’re giving them a try. I’m also putting a heat mat under one of my trays to help with germination.
The third thing I’m doing now to get my yard and garden ready for spring is moving and prepping things outdoors.
Everyone’s yard and garden needs are different, so assess what you need to do and then start working. It can be hard to want to get outdoors and do yard work in 40-degree weather, but you’ll be soooo glad when the busy springtime hits that you already have a jumpstart on the yard work.
Plus the more you’re out the more you get used to the cold. I’m finding that 45 doesn’t feel so cold now that I’m getting used to bundling up and doing yard work. It makes 55 feel like a heat wave! That fresh air, sunshine and movement is SO key to beating the winter blues. I take baby B out with me and she loves cruising around picking up dirt, digging and playing.
Our garden is broken up into several spots, and after assessing our needs I’ve decided that some need to be bigger. Right now I’m spending time moving around items that can kill out grass to make way for more garden plots, moving compost into beds, moving around extra rocks etc…to shape up the garden.
Winter can be a great time to visit the local home store and purchase any keystone blocks, pavers or raised bed items that you may need for garden plots. Save those nice spring Saturdays for planting and things that you need thawed ground for and do what you can now.
The next thing I’m doing now to get my yard and garden ready for spring is planning and designing the garden.
This is the time to determine what you want to grow and where your plants are going to go. Put your cooler season crops in the areas that get more shade, and the warmer season full sun crops in the areas that are nice and sunny.
One of my big goals is to grow all the produce we need in our home garden. I know it will take time to get here, and certain items like tree fruits will take several years to get, but I’m starting to plan this for the things I can for items such as tomatoes, potatoes, winter squash, and brassicas.
Even if growing all your own produce isn’t a goal, decide how much you want. Do you want 3 tomato plants? If so, which kind? Do you want jack o’lanterns and pie pumpkins or Cinderella pumpkins? Figure those things out, look at how many seeds you have, and order seeds now.
The final thing I’m doing now to get my yard and garden ready for spring is researching.
While I’m no longer a brand-new gardener, I am still a novice. Some crops have been a challenge for me and choosing to just wing it doesn’t always make me successful. So I’m doing research.
Onions & potatoes I haven’t had a ton of success with. I’m spending time looking for YouTube videos on these items, researching online and listening to Podcasts. No one comes out of the womb knowing how to garden. Like anything, it’s a learned skill. And there is no such thing as failing. You either succeed or you learn. Some years you have amazing success like my first big garden, it was amazing! Probably some beginner’s luck…. And other years you learn, sometimes A LOT.
My Favorite Resources
These are the resources I’m loving for gardening help:
The Beginners Garden Podcast, listen on the go for helpful tips on everything from companion planting to why certain crops act certain ways, to garden planning etc…
The Farmer’s Almanac, great for growing zones, first and last frost dates, growing tips, etc…
Survival Garden Seeds, these heirloom varieties come in easy to pick bundles or individual seeds. They’re high quality and include seed saving instructions.
All About the Garden -this is where I got my bottom watering garden trays. These are heavy duty and designed to LAST!
Happy Gardening!
Kaitlyn