The time for garden planning is now.
The magazines are rolling in with all those pretty flowers and tasty looking vegetables on the front, and with the weather outside being frightful - well, at least cold - now is the time most gardeners and want-to-be gardeners start dreaming.
Now is the time for the plans to start rolling out and the seed catalogs to be marked and the list of new tools to be made! But now is the time to actually start really preparing for the gardening season.
Without a basic plan starting a springtime garden and managing it is much more difficult because of the lack of vision.
There are things you must do to have a successful garden, starting now, and continuing on until the planting actually begins.
First you must have a layout.
You have to know where you will put your garden, and find all the barriers to success that must be dealt with before planting time.
Are there trees or buildings shadowing your perfect spot? Do you have access to water nearby for those times you absolutely have to add moisture by hand? Is the ground going to be fertile and open for planting and maintenance? You have to know these things and many more in advance or the start of planting season could become frustrating very quickly.
You also must know the quality of your soil.
Is it sandy or loamy, clay caked or rocky? Do you have the nutrients in it that will sustain your new tender plants and get them off to a good start? Did you plant your cover crop in the fall for the added nutrients and soil lightening qualities it provides? Do you remember what you planted where last year so you can rotate the crops that need rotating this year? What are you going to have to add in order to have the perfect soil mix? Preparation in the fall makes this spring's planning much easier.
The soil must be prepared before the planting begins, so now is the time to find out how to maximize the soil you will be using to grow those picture perfect flowers and vegetables.
You can look in the gardening books now, but you must do so with an eye on your space and plot conditions.
Are you going to have enough space for the squash and the cabbage, or are you going to have to forego one for another? If you are short on space but long on want you need to use varieties of plants that you can trellis or otherwise keep from roaming on the ground and taking up more than their fair share of space.
Are there varieties of plants that you can plant later, perhaps when an earlier crop has finished for the year? Is your gardening season that long? You must know what zone you are in and therefore what the possibilities are for earlier and later crops, also what plants will actually live in your zone.
While you are drooling over the magazines you should remember that if you plant too much for you to take care of you will not have as much fun as you thought you would.
If you find yourself in this position maybe it would be time to request a trade from your neighbors and friends that do not have the space or tools to garden for themselves.
Trading a little work for some homegrown vegetables would be not only good for the health, but also good for the friendship.
Maybe you could even get them involved in your garden planning and help to start a neighborhood project!