As the month of May fills our early spring calendar the time to plant in our cold climate zone is gaining momentum.  From leaf type crops to root crops to cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Ahhhhhhhh the excitement and optimism is building. New plants coupled with the new products are also part of the driving force.

            If you are a just getting started in the fun and joy of backyard gardening keeping it small is my best advice. This practice allows you to use better products, have greater results, more manageable plots, and hopefully a better experience. Utilize local garden centers for their source of knowledge. Small raised beds (4’ wide by 4’ or more) will make your efforts much easier. Using potting soil, compost, and organic fertilizers will ratchet up your potential for successful yields. I would avoid native soils and manure. Our Cold Climate organic fertilizer, Azomite, and Soil Activator (Humic Acid) should be added to the soil. Building a wood frame over the raised beds and then wrapping them with our frost blanket should have you up and running. Applications of Earth Juice “Grow” will add a needed boost to all seedlings and early sprouts. If you run into disease problem try the organic “Serenade” or bugs “Spinosad” and all should be well! If you take the time to build a “Sturdy” wood trellis on the NORTH end of your raised bed you will be able to train and grow the ramblings of cucumber, watermelon, squash, and the likes.

            Lots of sun, drip irrigation, and a little patience and you are off and running…. Happy Gardening…. Doug

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 7:42 am and is filed under Seasonal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.