Getting Ready for Planting

One of the most frustrating things that kept me out of the garden when I first got the gardening bug was missing the planting dates of my favorite foods. It always seemed that I would buy pea seeds and then find that the pea planting time had passed me and no one told me.In thinking about all the new gardeners this year who have contacted me I have decided to post a schedule, with reminders, for planting in the Nashville, TN area. For those outside this area I will be posting a review of my favorite gardening book later this week that includes a fill-in-the-blank schedule.

The last date we can expect a frost in our planting area is April 5 and the first frost will hit us somewhere around the 29th of October. This is the window that we need to use in conjunction with our knowledge of the plants we want grow to determine what we will direct seed and what will be transplanted into the garden as plants.

So here in the Nashville area we need to be thinking about getting seeds into pots for those plants that will not be direct seeded into the garden, those that require a longer growing period to set fruit. In my garden those veggies include tomatoes, peppers, onions, broccoli, cabbage, melons, pumpkins and celery.

So get yourself a note book and list all of the plants you want to grow in your garden and the next blog will list dates for planting in our area. Have fun.