The trees are starting to bud and the days are growing longer. Spring is almost here! Here are a few things to keep in mind as you prepare your Zone 6 garden.
The days are longer, the trees are in bloom, and the girls have picked up laying again. You know what that means!
I love seeing signs of spring. It’s so encouraging to see trees awaken from their winter slumber. We have made it through the dreary parts of the year! And as the days grow longer, I can’t wait to spend those extra moments outside.
If you’re here, you probably agree with me when I say this – the dirt is truly one of the most restorative places to be.
But to get to spend every day in the dirt, we need to make sure we’re laying a good foundation. And that begins with spring garden preparation.
Ways to Prepare Your Spring Garden for Zone 6
If you ask me, early spring is too late to begin your preparation. I believe you need to have a plan in place come mid-February. Especially if you’re starting seeds indoors!
During the winter, take time to take stock of what seeds you may need to order, what materials you will need, and make a garden plan.
Get your prep work out of the way before the season gets busy!
Early spring is also the perfect time to do things like perform a soil test or add soil amendments to garden soil.
italic – if you are doing a soil test, do so before adding amendments! Some chemical concentrations remain the same in your soil no matter the toil temperature. Adding amendments, though, can mess with those levels!
Welcoming a New Garden Season – The Technicalities
Here are a few things that I look at before beginning a new gardening season. I hope that they help give you some clarity and direction before the craziness of gardening season starts!
Garden Layout
Anticipating companion plants, sunshine, and shade are key in my garden planning.
I also like to map out a vegetable garden over a flower garden. In raised beds, this can be particularly easy to do. You simply dedicated a bed to a few companion plants!
Threat of Frost
I’m not an antsy gardener. I wait until the threat of frost is free and clear before transplanting my indoor plant starts or directly sowing my seeds!
You can find your last frost date in a few different places. The farmer’s almanac usually doesn’t steer me wrong. Your local county extension office may have more precise information for you to work off of, too.
If you’re a conservative gardener, you may even wait until the week of your expected last frost date and keep a close eye on the weather. Things can change!
The year I did my first in-ground garden, my frost date was off by almost two weeks! Wow!
Planting Schedule
Have you ever heard of succession planting? Succession planting staggers the planting of particular crops to extend your harvest. You may succession plant lettuces, carrots, corn, or beans.
A planting schedule will also benefit you if you’re starting seeds indoors. Some crops take longer to germinate and strengthen, like peppers. Some don’t take long at all, like radishes.
A planting schedule will allow you to see what needs to be planted and harvested when. This can be particularly helpful if you’re trying to get everything out of a long gardening season and you want a head start on your garden.
If you start your planting schedule in the winter, you will know what to include in your spring seed order! This can be incredibly helpful if you’re ordering from a popular company that sells out quickly.
This can also be helpful if you keep a huge stock of seeds already. Take a look at your seeds so you know what you need to include in your seed order!
TIP – take a look at your local extension office and see if there’s a seed exchange going on in your area! Our area library hosts one every year. Such a great way to engage with other gardeners and get a hold of seeds that work well in your area!
Cool Season
The length of your gardening season is an easy bragging right. In Arkansas, I can easily start planting in February!
However, the cold season will easily threaten the end of my gardening season if I’m not careful!
If you live in an area with a long winter, you know the importance of utilizing what great weather you have!
If you plan your garden (like I’ve been encouraging you to) or if you’re trying to get the most out of your gardening season, be sure you’re keeping an eye on your cool season!
You can prepare by harvesting what fruit is available, getting your soil amendments into your garden beds before the weather turns, and covering what crops aren’t ready for harvest with plastic.
If you’re planting crops that do well in the cool season, be sure you’re selecting slightly frost-tolerant crops. We talk about cole crops and cold frames in a bit. Stick around for crop ideas to plant during cooler temperatures!
Soil Health
Nutrient content shouldn’t take up the priority of your gardening, but it is something to watch.
There is nothing worse than trying to grow something in nutrient-deficient soil. Your crops may be stunted, nothing may grow, or other plants may work well and deplete what little nutrients were left in the soil!
One of the easiest ways to manage soil health is to add amendments. Compost that has been worked all season long is a great thing to add before winter sets in. Layer that with dead leaves from the fall and garden vines that can compost in place and you’ll make a happy garden bed!
Other amendments include things like egg shells, grass clippings, topsoil, wood chips, and calcium.
You should not that amendments should be specific to your garden! Do your research and select your amendment based on what is best for your situation.
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Early Spring Garden Preparation – The Crops
Cole Crops and Cold Frames
Cole crops are usually vegetables that thrive in cold weather. Kale, spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, and radishes all fall into this territory. You want to tend to these crops because they bolt when the weather gets too warm.
By early spring, you will be harvesting these crops!
Cold frames are placed over cole crops to protect them from brutal temperatures and frost during the season.
During the summer, you simply open your cold frame entirely so your summer crops don’t overheat.
Row Cover Crops and More Soil Amendments
I touched on soil amendments previously. Many people consider soil amendments in phases.
At the end of the gardening season, many gardeners layer their gardens with things like compost or dead leaves. As winter comes and the organic matter continues to deteriorate, it feeds the soil with what it needs to thrive in the spring.
In the spring, you can choose to till that organic matter in.
Cover crops act similarly. They have many benefits, including protecting your soil from erosion and suppressing weeds. In some cases, they can even suppress pests!
Cover crops are typically planted at the end of a gardening season. For zone 6, that’s August to October. Over winter, the crops die and can be left to decompose in place.
Just like compost and dead leaves in the spring, these row crops can be tilled into your garden soil. Because they’re now decomposed plant matter!
Cover crops include clover, barley, wheat, and alfalfa.
Annual Flowers
When I think of gardening, I usually only think of edible fruits and vegetables. But this year, I’m trying my hand at flowers!
Annual flowers die and must be replanted every year. Whereas perennial flowers don’t.
Perennial flowers are very popular to plant in the spring because the cool weather let’s the plants “settle in.” However, for a spring bloom, you should plant in the fall.
My favorite annual flowers to grow are sunflowers, zinnias, and marigolds. Marigolds are a favorite of mine, because they’re also a form of pest prevention in my garden!
New Growing Season in Full Swing
A Master Gardener in my area recommended planting outdoor gardens after Mother’s Day (mid-May).
Why? For best results!
In my area, we can sometimes see a late spring. Warmer days also don’t guarantee it’s time to start planting things outdoors. Our estimated first frost dates can be off by almost two weeks!
As your growing season is in full swing, it’s time to turn your attention to preserving your harvest. When you’re produce is in prime time is when you want to preserve it!
Whether you’re dehydrating, freeze-drying, freezing, or canning, check out my cooking section for recipes and inspiration!
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Gardening enemies
Plant Diseases
I wish there was a catch-all for diseases to look for in plants. But there’s not! Some diseases will be plant-specific.
If for any reason white, black, or brown spots develop on your leaves, you need to be looking for any signs of stress. Disease may be a great place to start, but don’t rule out pest damage and water stress. Read on for more information on both of those.
Bugs
I heard a gardener say, “When I plant, I plan on giving some to God and some to the birds.”
When they said that, they meant there are some things you just can’t avoid in gardening. Bugs are one of those things!
Whatever you plant in your garden will naturally have a pest that’s attracted to it. With research, you can avoid the height of pest pressure by being particular about your planting schedule. But some bugs are simply unavoidable.
My favorite method for dealing with bugs is keeping a cup of soapy water near when I’m doing my evening garden checks. I put any stray bugs into the cup and feed them to the chickens.
My garden becomes bug-free and my chickens get a treat. It’s a win-win!
If you run an organic garden like I do, what are your favorite ways to manage pests? Comment on this blog post and let me know!
Drought
No water is bad news for gardeners. Plants need water to thrive!
In cases of drought, make sure you’re able to properly water your garden. Signs of drought in a garden include wilting plants, slow growth, and discolored leaves.
Too Much Water
Raised garden beds, or any container garden for that matter, pose an interesting problem. You may not get well-drained soil.
Soil that retains water can attract pests, mold, stunted growth, and rot. You want your soil to drain to get oxygen to those plant roots!
If you have a raised garden like I do, you can do a few things to allow for proper water drainage.
Consider drilling drainage holes at the bottom of your bed. You can also introduce earthworms to “churn” your soil. Finally, you can incorporate organic matter into your soil to provide those oxygen pockets we were talking about.
How do you prepare for spring planting?
As you dust off your garden tools and prepare for spring planting, I hope that the information in this blog post was helpful!
I love spring. Spring and summer are when I’m basking in the sunlight and stocking my fridge, freezers, and pantry with food my family can enjoy all winter long.
If you’re looking for ways to stock your freezers for winter, I highly recommend buying your meat in bulk! When you buy your meat in bulk, you get to work directly with a local farmer. And you can score things like organ meats, bones for broth, and fat for cooking.
If the process has ever scared you, I go over ways to get in touch with a farmer and questions to ask a butcher in Beginner’s Tips for Buying Meat in Bulk.
If you’ve never heard of working with your own animal fats before, I talk all about it in How to Render Beef Fat and Tips for Cooking with Tallow. The nose-to-tail cooking style has really intrigued me in the last few years. And when I realized I could stop buying cooking fats from the grocery store, I jumped on board the animal fats train!
Have you cooked with animal fats before? What’s your favorite kind? Comment on this post and let me know!
For cooking inspiration, recipes, and other backyard homesteading tips, be sure to follow me on Pinterest!
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