Barely five years ago, I had a very naive view of gardening. It wasn’t a bad view, it was just far away from how I approach my garden and farm now. But back then, I thought that sometime in the middle of May (based on our zone), we would till the garden, plant our 4 crops, and hope for the best. Sometimes, there would be watering and weeding, but other than that, my time would be spent on other household tasks and routine summer activities. Once the end of the summer started to creep in (sometime around the middle of August), beans would be picked and maybe canned, tomato sauce was made, and pumpkins were counted in anticipation of their late September harvest. We’d clear the garden once the plants died back after the first frost in October, and I’d wait for the next growing season to start.
But now I know I was wrong. Well, wrong for me and what we do here on the farm.
For me now, the growing season starts before the snow even melts, with tomatoes and peppers and sometimes flowers under grow lights. When the snow has melted, the cool weather plants get direct sown in the grown- typically peas, radishes, kale, and beets. Those are tended, and if we’re really lucky, maybe we have a quick harvest before May even comes. But then there’s succession planting. More radishes and beets to ensure a later harvest. Then come the warm weather crops. Beans, cucumbers, all varieties of squash, and moving the tomatoes and peppers outside in the middle of May.
As I have now learned, beans, summer squash and cucumbers should probably be planted at least twice, to avoid pests and hopefully to extend the harvest. The cool weather plants are harvested and replaced with a round of warm weather plants. Harvest can start as early as June with some varieties, and some plants will continue to produce throughout the season, or can be replaced with a quick turnaround plant until the end of July. In August, as the green beans and zucchini are coming in regularly, the cool weather crops can be planted again. Some in fact do better in August than in April, and may produce passed the expected early October frost.
Even after September, when the pumpkins are finishing up and everything is dying down, I begin planning the following spring’s plantings. I make note on what did well, and where it was planted. I try to keep crops rotated to avoid nutrient depletion.
What I used to think was a few months of work is nearly a year-long process of preparation and maintenance for us on the farm.
While my vision was once rather relaxed and idyllic, I love the yearlong pattern of it all now. Picking out a few new varieties to try among the old favorites that have done well for me for the past 4 years, writing out harvest and planting plans. It is all some form of work; we are never really at rest, just different stages of labor. But definitely a labor of love.
