Planting a Backyard Garden

By Jacque Genovese

With winter in your rearview mirror, you may already be thinking about starting a backyard garden. Every year, I purchase tomato, pepper, and herb plants from my local greenhouse, but halfway into the summer, those plants aren’t doing so well. This year I decided to do my research first to see if I’m missing important steps in the planting process. Guess what? I found a variety of helpful tips on planting and thought I should share them with our readers!

Know the Season of Vegetables 

There are cool season vegetables (grow best when temps are cool and frost is common) and warm season vegetables (best in warmer temps). Who knew? Here’s a list of some cool and warm season vegetables:

Cool Season Vegetables: 

• Green leafy – kale, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, parsley

• Cruciferous – broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage

• Root – potato, sweet potato, radishes

Warm Season Vegetables:

• Legumes – fresh beans and peas

• Fruit – eggplant, bell pepper, tomato

• Gourds – cucumber, melon, watermelon, pumpkin, squash

Plant cool season vegetables before Mother’s Day and warm season vegetables after. 

Seeds or Transplants?

Seeds can take more time to germinate verses using transplants to start a garden. That said, some vegetables actually grow better when planting seeds, such as carrots, beets, radishes, beans, sunflowers, peas, squash, and melon. 

Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant should be planted as transplants. Squash and cucumbers can be planted from seeds or as transplants.

Learn more where to buy compost and nutrient-rich soil for your garden in “Give Your Garden The Good Stuff”. 

No matter what you plant this year, I hope you enjoy the gardening experience!