Time for Early Spring Vegetables

Now that I think we are finally past the time of much measurable snow, it's time to start thinking about planting early spring vegetables. I have three - square foot gardening boxes in my garden. Each box is two foot square. I use these boxes to grow vegetables each summer. Because they are small, they are easy to maintain and because they are raised beds, the soil drains well and there is no breaking ground each spring. I built the square foot gardening boxes after reading the book "All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space" by Mel Bartholomew. It's a wonderful book that describes how easy it is to grow lots of vegetables in just a little space. After I built my boxes, I used the soil recipe in the book to make the soil mixture to fill my boxes. Now all I do is add some fresh mushroom compost and a little vermiculite each year and my vegetables grow wild! The book also lists how many of each type of vegetable that you can grow in 1 square foot of space. This weekend it looks like temperatures will be back in the 50s and the soil is workable, so it is time to plant my early spring vegetables. This year I'm planting beets, two types of Swiss Chard, Buttercrunch head lettuce and spinach. When we pass the frost date, I will add Early Girl and grape tomato plants and waxed beans. These spaces are small, so there is very little maintenance and the only fertilizer I use is organic compost. I have never had a pest problem and I think that is because there is so much variety in my garden. Pick your favorite spring vegetable and get planting!