Planting time

April 4, 2015

Easter Sunday Ryan and I will plant.

We decided to start off with some spinach, cilantro and mesclun salad mix. We are going to plant the south bed, which will have partial shade in the late afternoon. We wanted to get something in the ground and these items can be harvested in a few weeks and we can then plant more of the same, or pick something new.

I bought the Tomato Chooser app and the When to Plant app, both from Mother Earth News. They have been very helpful in helping us choose when and what to plant. I've also been reading the book, Growing Beautiful Food: A Gardener's Guide to Cultivating Extraordinary Vegetables and Fruit by Matthew Benson. I love the book because it has lots of great information on what type of soil you need for different crops, when to plant, when to harvest and much more.

The Tomato Chooser app was helpful because you can search the hundreds of
varieties by color, size, how many days to maturity, seed type and much more. There's a great button you can push for more resources called "Guides". There you can find articles from past issues of Mother Earth News all about growing tomatoes. You can also just browse 333 different tomato varieties to find the ones that are best for your garden.

The When to Plant app helps you plan out when and what to plant in your garden.  It has a setting you that will use your location to help decide when it's best for you specifically to plant certain crops. So then, you can click on "Plant Now" and you will find a list of crops to plant now.

 When to Plant App

On any list there will be bars of various colors indicating different things. Blue shows when to start sowing indoors or under cover; green shows when you can sow outdoors or transplant seedlings; yellow shows the range of expected harvest dates possible. It's very handy in planning when to

plant, and when you can harvest and plant again. Especially for newbies like us who have no idea what to expect!

Each app cost me $1.99, which I didn't think was bad. I found myself searching the internet and finding different explanations for each plant and I was just getting confused. These apps keep it simple and helped me choose my favorites and create a plan.

So, the seeds we plan to pant tomorrow are soaking in water. I was told by a friend that I should, so I am. I Googled why you should soak seeds and found this informative article on a website: http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/seeds/soaking-seeds.htm.