STOP!!! BEFORE YOU GET READY TO SEED-MAP

Before you even start to buy seeds for your garden first sit down and draw up a proportional map of your garden so that you know how much room you will have. Then write down a list of items you want to grow.

Now, take your list to your local garden center and take a look at the seeds available. Chances are they will only carry seeds that will grow in your area but, you should always read the back of the pack especially if you live in a climate like Northern Michigan since, we are right on the border for growing a lot of crops and have a season much shorter than even in Southern Michigan. If you are buying your seeds at an elevator store and are unsure of what will grow, just ask for help and they will probobly be able to tell you what grows best and how much to buy to fit into a certain size row.

You should check to see how far rows and seeds have to be spaced if you buy your seeds in packs. Most packs will tell you the length of each row the pack will plant. Buy enough seeds for your season taking into consideration that some items like peas and lettuce, you can plant more than once. Remember, you may not be able to purchase those seeds like peas and lettuce latter in the season when you want to replant them since the displays and seeds are often taken down around the 4th of July and sent back to the seed company for storage and retesting for the season. Over buying seeds is not a good idea unless you are going to plant them someplace else. The seeds are hard to keep from year to year in their packages and tend to get moldy. If you do have left over seeds, try keeping them in an air tight container like a glass jar with a screw down top. I like to use a coffee jar for all my air tight storage.

Now that you have your seeds, you can make a detailed map of just how you are going to plant your seeds with the knowledge that you must plant your crops so that the really tall plants don't crowd out the sun of the smaller ones. For example, in my garden I plant the pole beans in back of my carrots and lettuce so they can also have full sun.

Making a general map of your garden to see what kind of room you have to work with before you buy your seeds makes a lot of sense and, much easier to know how much to buy. Furthermore, mapping out where you are going to plant your seeds will make Spring planting much less stressful. It's hard to think clearly when your doing a lot of heavy labor getting your garden ready. No need to stress out when your tired, trying to decide what you should plant where?