Here comes the exciting time.  Your soil is nutritious and ready for planting.  This is a great activity to do with kids. 

The Plan

A great thing to create before planting is a planting plan.  Think about all the vegetables and herbs you want to grow in your garden.  Research when you should plant them (or just look at the seed packages), and create a calendar which talks about what to plant when.  Don’t plant all your seeds at once.  That way you can harvest at different times.  Just make sure you plant within the growing season.  Your plan should also include a garden map, which maps the location of each plant on your plot. 

Creating Rows

A good rule for row spacing is to create the rows about two feet apart.  First rake the soil to break up the first layer.  Then lay down your hoe and make a small trench with the handle.  You can also create a shallow trench with a small trowel.  If you use a small trowel, use stakes and string to guide your trench. 

Planting Seeds

You want to place your larger plants in back (e.g. tomatoes) and the smaller plants (e.g. radishes) in front so the big plants don’t block the sunlight from the smaller plants.  And then it’s always good to plant marigolds in front to deter rabbits.  For smaller delicate seeds, like lettuce, a good rule of thumb is the break up the soil by rubbing it between your hands before laying the seed.  You can then gently sprinkle the seeds on top and then sprinkle a bit of soil over them.  For larger seeds, like peas, you want to dig a small hole 1-2 inches, and then cover up the seed.  For larger seeds, be careful about planting early in the spring, as they may rot.

Watering

A good omen is always a nice gentle spring rain.  But since this doesn’t always happen, keep you hose out.  Sprinkle your plot with water every morning until the seeds germinate.  Once they do, you should water every day in moderate amounts, as discussed in our Watering section. 

Thinning

When your plants are about three feet tall, thinning is very important.  Thinning is especially important for plants like lettuces, radishes, beets, carrots, turnips and spinach.  You want to pick the strongest and best sprouts.  There is no better way to thin than to get on your hands and knees.  You want to pull as close to the soil as possible to avoid pulling up other roots.  Then press back roots that may have come up a little.  Make sure there is about a finger width’s space between each seedling.  When the plants get a bit bigger, pull every other one and enjoy these young veggies.  Tiny beets, carrots and young lettuce leaves are especially delicious. 

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