Although it’s still more or less the middle of the winter, with even more cold weather and snow forecast for later this week, gardeners have their eye on the prize and are looking forward to the upcoming growing season with keen anticipation! How does one anticipate the warm months when, bs”d, seeds will miraculously sprout, vines will grow high and wide, and the long-awaited fruits of one’s labor are ready for harvesting?

Besides just thinking about what the great outdoors will have in store, there are actually concrete steps that can be taken, even at this early stage. Now is the time to peruse seed catalogues and decide what vegetables you would like to grow. In addition to having a much greater variety of seed (and plant) offerings, seed catalogues – available through the mail or online – also give you much more information about their seeds: i.e., disease resistance, time to harvest, anticipated size, etc. Like any other important endeavor where you would like the best chance of success, careful planning is the key.

Part 1

Despite knowing that you may be at risk (family history, a bit overweight, too much of the wrong foods, etc.) and despite knowing what the symptoms of a heart attack are (foremost among them being chest pain) – when the heart attack appears at your doorstep, it’s still, well, unexpected. Stepping out of the shower Sunday night, December 4 (it was about 9:00 p.m.), I experienced chest pain across my chest; not incapacitating, but significant. My first thought was, “Really – could this actually be a heart attack?” I dried off carefully, got dressed, and then sat quietly in my studio chair waiting to see … well, you know, “maybe it will go away.” I know, I know, this is not the right thing to do if you’re having these symptoms … but I confess, I did it anyway. I popped eight baby aspirin (in lieu of two regular ones, which I couldn’t find), remembering that aspirin (not acetaminophen) thins the blood if the heart is in trouble.

When you plant yummy vegetables in your backyard garden, there are any number of critters and pests that think your plants and vegetables are theirs for the taking. (“Thank you so much for keeping us in mind!”) I often imagine that there’s a Critter’s Craig’s List out there, cataloguing all the best gardens in the neighborhood. If that’s the case, I guess we should be proud that our gardens have made it into the big time!

In part three of my series on how to plant your very own vegetable garden, I’d like to answer some questions I often get from beginning (as well as more experienced) gardeners:

If you took action on last month’s article, your newly-made garden bed is now prepared and waiting for you to plant something into that potent soil. What’s the first step? What should I plant and how should I plant it? Do I plant my seeds directly into the soil, or should I start them in small containers? If I already have small plants (grown by me or by someone else), how and when should I plant them into the garden bed?

These are all good questions, and the answers depend upon many factors, including what kind of seeds you have, what kind of plants you have, how much space you have, and what the weather is like!

Let’s begin by looking at how different seeds work and how to get them properly started.

So, you want to grow a vegetable garden? You’ve been thinking about it for a while, and between the COVID-19 quarantine and the weather turning warmer – well, this year just might be the right time to do it! Who knows what’s going to be with the food supply, and, hey, you might even save some money growing your own! Not to mention that it’s something that can be done while maintaining social distancing and is certainly a wholesome outdoor activity with the kids. I can just picture the scene (as the kids are handed the shovels): “Okay, kids, here ya’ go! It’s time to dig some holes and plant these seeds so that we can have some really great vegetables this summer!