So you should be getting lots of seed magazines by now, and have some idea of where the sunny and shady parts of your domain are. Busy people usually can't make time to start seeds indoors, so there is lots of time for you to plan your garden. The official first seed planted directly in the soil is peas, planted on March 15th (ask Farmer's Almanac why). So what to do in the coming month or so? Plan! I myself am a casual planner , and this is the way I do it: I go through the seed catalogs and my saved seed from last year's garden, and try to decide what I might like to add, subtract,or keep. I always plan for much more than my garden can hold, but as its still all in my head anyhow no harm is done.
If you are absolute beginning gardener, pick plants that seem easy to grow. Start planning with tomatoes..Tomatoes love clean egg shells, so start now. Wash your empty shells, crush them, and put them in the freezer to save for the summer (if you don't have a mulch pile, that is).
Tomatoes come two ways, determinate and indeterminate. A determinate tomato is usually bushy (instead of a tall vine), which is easier to maintain through the season. But all its tomatoes will come to fruit at the same time,and then stop. So you will have to buy an "early" variety ,mid-season, and a "late variety" to get tomatoes all season with determinate tomatoes.
Indeterminate tomatoes grow like vines, and get very tall, which means more work throughout the season. I My experience with these is that they also tend to have more problems, like disease ect. But you'll get a harvest all summer long. And these have (to me) a better, more old fashioned tomato taste. So plan to order which ever appeals to you. You don't have to decide how many yet...just plan on which ones you like.
More next time!
