Planting veggies early and the rewards are soon realized. 

Veggie gardening is fun, rewarding and tasty!

Soil is ready to plant when a handful doesn't drip when squeezed.

Grow tasty and healthy food by improving the soil with compost or composted sheep, cow, steer or llama manure.

​​When to Start: As soon as the soil doesn’t drip when squeezed, it’s time to remove debris, weeds and improve the soil.
Soil Building: Fertile soil provides the nutrients needed to grow crops that are not only healthy they contain more nutrients and they really do taste better. Mix in a couple of inches of compost, SeaSoil, composted manure, triple mix and/or other soil enhancement products. Rake level, then wait a week before planting.
​To learn the basics of how to make healthy soil here.

This efficient and productive organic garden. Plastic on the left not only heats the soil, it also kills weeds underneath. On the right, a floating row cover made of spun-bonded polyester keeps insects at bay.

How to Warm Soil: If you want to get a jump on spring, warm up veggie beds with plastic stretched over the soil and weigh it down at the ends with rocks. Remove the plastic just before planting and mix in at least two inches of compost, composted manure or other organic soil amendments to replenish the soil. Wait a week then plant your crops then cover the soil with leaves, straw, shredded paper or another organic mulch to reduce weeds, erosion and to provide nutrition.

Raised beds heat up quickly and are a godsend in poorly draining soils.

​Raised Beds: If your garden beds take a long time to heat up and/or if the soil is soggy and doesn’t drain, consider installing raised beds. Make them 4 feet wide so they are easy to reach in from all sides. The length depends on how much space you have. Anything longer than 8 feet is annoying to walk around. The depth of a raised bed depends on what you are growing - eighteen inches to two feet is more than adequate. When installing more than one raised bed allow at least 2’6” between the beds for easy access. For more on veggie gardening click on Growing Food. ​

A tunnel cloche protects plants from insects and the cold.

A dump of snow one February didn't hamper the wee seedlings within the cloche.

Inside the tunnel cloche are happy seedlings.

Cloches: To warm soil and protect plants from insects, place a cloche over the bed. A cloche is a protective cover, originally made of glass in the shape of a bell. They are used to protect plants from the cold and insects. An adaption of the original cloche is a tunnel. Tunnel cloches are easily made with wire hoops, PVC or even hula hoops that and covered with clear plastic, or spun bonded polyester (Remay). Once seeds and/plants are planted, the cloche will protect them from light frosts and from flying insects such as carrot rust fly. Cloches work well to warm things up and to keep insects at bay. To learn how to build your own cloche click here.

A map of the garden helps with crop rotation and companion planting.

Planning the Veggie Garden: Now is a good time to get out last year’s garden plans and map out this year’s veggie patch. Although growing veggies isn’t rocket science, there are methods, tips and tricks that make it easier and more successful compared to clearing a piece of land and just planting away. For example, you need at least a good 6 hours a day of full, direct sun, place tall plants on the north side of the bed, rotate crops yearly, practice companion planting and amend soil annually. To learn more about growing veggies, click here.

Marigolds are wonderful companion plant for many veggies, like this fennel.

Companion planting allows for a more varied veggies in one garden bed.

Companion Planting: Did you know that carrots don’t like being planted near dill, but they do well when partnered with lettuce? It’s true that veggies have their preferences of whom they ‘bed’ with so to speak. To learn more about the benefits and partnerships of companion planting click here.
Crop Rotation: Do you plant your tomatoes in the same spot every year? If your veggies are not tasty and prone to insects and diseases, practice crop rotation. To learn more about this age-old practice click here. 

Crimson clover is a beautiful cover crop that also add nitrogen to the soil.

In spring, cover crops become green manure when they are cut up and turned under.

Cover Crops: If you planted cover crops last fall, cut them down and dig them into the soil at least two weeks before planting your veggies, usually February or March. Use a line trimmer or scythe. Start from the top of the plant and work your way down to create smaller pieces that will decompose more readily. Dig or rototill everything, roots and all, into the soil. Water then wait to plant until its decomposed. Cover crops that have been cut up and incorporated into the soil are referred to as green manure. To learn more about cover crops and green manure click here. 

Carrots and peas are early crops that can be sown as soon as the soil is workable.

Sow carrots and radish seeds together. It spaces out the carrot so you don't have to thin them.

Earliest Crops to Plant:  When weeds start to grow, plant hardy crops: peas, radish, kale, radish, spinach, broad beans, kohlrabi, raspberry canes, onions, shallots, Jerusalem artichokes, rhubarb and asparagus crowns.

Peas are one of the earliest plants you can sow in spring.

Kale plants left over from last year will produce tasty flowers and delicious leaves this year.

Kale: Don’t pull up your kale plants left over from last year, as their leaves - especially the new ones - are quite tasty. Second year kale produces tasty delicate yellow flowers, which are perfect to sauté or use them in salads. 
Add Lime with Brassicas: To prevent club root, a common disease of cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli and other cole crops on soils that are too acidic, mix in Dolopril lime before planting.
Potatoes: Prepare potatoes for planting by placing seed potatoes upright in egg cartons or muffin tins indoors in a brightly lit location. Since spuds are prone to ‘potato scab’, do not add lime to the soil when planting. To learn more about growing ‘apples of the earth’ click here. 

Chit potatoes before planting for a speedier crop.

Lime soils where broccoli and other cole crops are planted.

Montreal Botanical veggie garden rotates crops and practices companion planting, hence it's glorious success.

But wait...There's more...

​​There's certainly more to growing veggies than this article. Check out the links below for more information. ​

• Spring Veggie Gardening
• Crop Rotation, Succession and Companion Planting.
• Taming Tomatoes
• Speeding Up Tomato Harvests
• Tomato Tips
• Tomato Troubles
• Tomatoes Seedlings to Plants
• Growing Potatoes
• Harvesting
• Winter Veggie Gardening
• Building a Potager (French Kitchen) Garden
• How to Build an Easy Veggie Garden Trellis
• Plant Pests Part 1
• Plant Pests Part 2: Controlling Insects
• Slugs & Snails
• Growing Seeds Indoors
• Growing Seeds Outdoors 
• Soil Building
• Compost Tea
• Composting
• Fertilizing & Feeding Plants