Never Too Early to Start Planning the Garden

Winter months in the Mighty Roots Micro-Farm family are like an incubator for ideas and inspiration. Besides gardening, our family is also creative and loves to spend time in the winter starting new arts and crafts projects. That creativity spills over to our plant business as well.

We start dreaming of the coming growing season and thinking of new ways to do things better this time around. What seedlings will we grow this year for our customers? What new products might we make? How will we make our operation more efficient, more effective and more environmentally conscious? We also start thinking about our own gardens and what we'll do differently this year to improve.

One thing is for sure - it's never too early to start planning the garden. And, it's a great way to make the cold, long nights go by faster. Over the years we've found that the winter goes by faster than we expect and before we know it, it's planting time. Then it's a huge rush to get everything done.

That's where the planning comes in. This year, you also might want to get a head start and start planning your garden as well. The best place to start is to review last year and possibly even previous years. If you don't have garden notes, then jog your memory for what worked, what didn't and how you'd like to improve things.

Where will your garden be this year? How will you arrange it? Will you add raised beds to a section? Will you add a trellis or another feature? Does your soil need amending with compost or organic fertilizers? What will you grow and when will you plant? How will you deal with weeds and other pests?

These are just some of the ideas we think about when planning our gardens and they may be helpful to you as well. Getting a sketch pad or graph paper helps to put ideas into a vision form. Take notes, organize and prepare your supplies.

We look forward to gardening in 2017 and hope you do too. As we launch our business in 2017, we look forward to providing our customers with strong seedlings this year and helping you have a bountiful harvest. Let us know if there are any varieties that you'd like to see in your garden this year and we'll add it to our wish-list of seedlings we offer. You can let us know in the comments section or via email. Talk with you soon!

Basil Microgreens Add Flavor to Winter

It never fails to amaze me how satisfying it is to grow plants. There is something highly therapeutic to growing anything whether it's houseplants, vegetables, fruits, herbs or something else. But winter is the time of year that I really feel the therapeutic effects of gardening. At Mighty Roots Micro-Farm we're growing indoor micro-greens of some excellent Italian Basils and other herbs for our own culinary uses. It's amazing to whip up some fresh pesto in December in Wisconsin. Makes things a little warmer.

We're planning on having fresh basil to sell over the late Spring and Summer 2017 as Mighty Roots Micro-Farm LLC takes shape. Of course, we'll also have basil seedlings available Spring 2017. Take a look at the photos and get a feel for how nice it is to pick fresh basil during a snowstorm.

Timing is Everything - Patience in Planting

Patience is key in transplanting warm-season seedlings into the ground. Every year, I plant my tomato, pepper, eggplant, squash, cucumber and other warm-season seedlings later and later. That pushes back when I put the seedlings in the ground. I also don't really try to sell those plants until at least mid-May. I always warn my customers about late May frosts that catch gardeners by surprise.

Too many times in the Spring I've gotten too eager to harden-off plants I started inside and cold temperatures have sneaked up on me. This year many people I know bought seedlings early in May and planted them right away. But they regretted it because we got a hard frost the next weekend and almost everyone lost tomatoes and peppers. The first leaves of my potatoes took a hit but thankfully those are coming back.

My advice is to be patient and to realize if you have access to seedlings, wait to plant your tomato-family plants until very late May or early June when there's a seven-day forecast of good weather. If you can shoot for a time when there will be overcast days, some rain and warmth, that's ideal.

Plants get shocked when they are transplanted by things like direct sunlight, dry conditions, and variable temperatures. So be sure to allow seedlings to acclimate in a partial-shade location before putting them in the ground where they'll be in full sun. Once you do plant them, water well every day for at least a week if possible (unless there's rain).