Winter Vegetable Garden Planning

It is still winter and the ground is brown except for the occasional snow. This is the time to plan for the 2008 vegetable garden. Below is a picture of last years garden and I have since changed it using the Mittleider Method to up of the garden. This fall I already arranged the rows for this part of the garden and will add on in early spring.





This flickr page has great examples of the technique.

This is also the time to plan what and how much you are going to plant. One technique to determine the amount of seeds to purchase and plant is to list your family favorite vegetables and the list the order or preferences. This five to an idea of what would be the best vegetables for planting. If your family does not like squash very much then you could limit or eliminate growing any.

Other than seed and garden planting you can make flats, planters, greenhouses, and cold frames you plan to use for the garden. This PVC Greenhouse is one of my plans for this year.



I find the book "How to Grow More Vegetables" useful for planning. In the book is a plan for a four person garden that I change according to our family preference. It covers the basic needs for a family of four in a six month growing period. It lists the amount of seeds to plant. It can be a little tricky for buying the seeds. If I do not use the seeds for the year I will save the remaining seeds in the refrigerator.

Garden Plan

Vegetable & Amount of Seeds

broccoli 8+
cabbage 16+
lettuce, head 56
lettuce, leaf 96
tomatoes 35
beets 36
spinach 61
bush peas 1,500
sweet potatoes 1.5 lbs.
eggplant 8 seeds
pepper 36
cantaloupe 17
cucumber 23
pumpkins 6
watermelons 16
honeydew 17
potatoes** 546 sprouted pieces
bush green beans 299
bush lima 206
corn (early) 98
sunflowers 8