Hi Guys!
This is actually an important post regarding how to choose what type of plants to plant a seeds, which to get pre-started, and how many plants you might actually need for your family’s needs.
What to Buy Pre-Started
In northern Alberta, we only get great growing weather from June-September, which isn’t very long to raise certain vegetables from seeds unless you have a lot of indoor or greenhouse space to start them early. This isn’t feasible for most people, so we usually purchase pre-started plants for:
- Rosemary
- Any Tomato
- Any pepper
We will also occasionally purchase a basil plant started, and then plant seeds around it so that we have basil sooner rather than later. Admittedly, this may be related to my love of caprese salad and fresh tomato sauce.
All of our pre-started plants are put in pots, as these types of plants are often more sensitive to wind because of the weight of their fruit and may require finishing indoors. Because Edmonton can snow in September, right when your last batch of tomatoes and peppers are ripening.
We put our tomatoes in large pots with cages. As they grow upward (we’ve had plants over four feet tall), we use bamboo stakes and Velcro wraps to support them. They end up looking a bit crazy, but they’re not falling over and dying. When planting in a pot, you want to ensure the root ball of your plant is fully covered with some spare dirt above it to allow the root structure to be protected from the elements. Make sure you don’t choose a too small or shallow pot- the last thing you want is a root-bound plant that refuses to grow.
Planting from Seeds
Literally everything else we grow from seeds. From squashes, to asparagus (note this takes a few years to get established, these are a perennial plant), root vegetables, and greens- it’s all seeds.
We do NOT use seed tape, though. Birds like seeds (understatement)- they will steal them from the ground, and if you use seed tape, the entire row can be pulled out by a strong and determined bird. The best part is, if it rains, you may not even realize until your plants never grow. Seed tape is totally a convenience product that is just not worth it.
You can buy starter garlic, onions, shallots and potatoes as well. We have generally always gotten ours at Canadian tire and had good luck with them.
Each seed packet will have instructions for the best results, which will include depth of seeding and distance between seeds. We always read them, we don’t get too crazy about it (I know people who seed with RULERS, who has time for that… you know who you are) we just estimate and do our best. It’s important to seed appropriately because if you overseed too aggressively, the plants will compete and die (greens) or grow around each other and not be great (root veggies).
When we started gardening, we didn’t pay any attention to the yield of certain plants. For instance, our first year we planted TEN zucchini plants and they all grew so many squashes. It was insane and our friends and family started avoiding us because they were sick of the squash gifts. Now, we grow 2-4 squash plants like zucchini (yellow and green), pattipans (again, yellow and green), and striped Italian zukes. We also will plant things like pumpkins to give away in the fall, but this year we’re focusing on growing for food, not decoration and Halloween fun.
Those are our tips for planting! If you’re in Edmonton, it’s still too early to plant pre-started plants, as there’s still a risk of frost. You can plant a first “batch” of anything that has a ten+ day germination period with minimal risk, and then plant another batch in 10-14 days. This will usually help prevent all of your veggie crops coming ready for harvest at the same time.
The next Gardening Series post will be about caring for your garden, and it will be a little while from now, when I will have a growing garden to share with you. I wanted to get all of these “Starter” posts ready for anyone looking to start a garden this year. On a personal note, I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. I will be endeavoring to avoid my exposure to the outside world for quite some time, but I’m working to start a local project growing food for community agencies exclusively. I’ll let you guys know when that’s up and running, in case you’d like to volunteer with me.
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