It happened again...

[drivepirate]

Tonight I dug out the seed packets to talk with the wife and decide what seeds to start. Wow! I have about 40 packets of seeds from the last 3 years. I have 4 general types of seeds. 1: Herbs. 2: Hot summer sow indoor (tomato, eggplant, peppers, corn). 3: Cool weather direct sow (lettuce, kale, radish, carrot, spinach). 4: Middle of the road direct OR indoor (zucchini, cucumber, pea, beans, beets, squash).

I realized a pattern. Every year I get a late start because I don't start thinking about planting until the soil dries enough to break up the clay clumps. That means that it's a little too late for the cool weather direct sow stuff and too late to start the hot summer sow indoor seeds. So we end up planting the mid range stuff directly in the ground and buying the hot weather stuff to transplant. Then in the late summer we direct sow some cool weather stuff.

My problems are that I'm missing a spring crop and spending too much on the summer crop.

Solutions? Fix the soil so that I can work it earlier? Make a plan for healthy indoor starts using a grow light? Buy a calender?

 

[RonsGarden]

Prepaing the soil in the late fall after your finally crop finishes will help you out a lot come spring!
Turn over the soil and ammending it with compost, manure and peat moss will help break up the clay soil.
When the clumps of clay freezes and thaws during the winter it helps break up the clay even more!
You can rake over the soil in the spring and add a top dressing of a good organic based topsoil!

 

[drivepirate]

Good advice, thank you.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

[Green Gardens]

Always always always be amending your soil with organic matter like compost and manure. Spring and fall, between plantings. It will keep your soil healthy, your plants happy, and give you a fantastic garden. And yes, collecting too many seeds is a problem for most gardeners ;D