Vegetable gardens require regular maintenance tasks such as watering, weeding and thinning for successful harvests. If you are new to gardening, take it slow – start small before expanding to larger plots.
The vegetable calendar provides recommended planting and harvest dates based on your last frost date in spring and first frost date in fall – although these may differ.
Spring
An effective vegetable garden requires careful timing in order to avoid frost damage and ensure an abundant harvest. Consulting a frost date chart and creating a monthly to-do list are both key steps.
Preparing the soil should always be your top priority, regardless of whether you’re planting in-ground vegetables or growing transplants. Add organic matter such as compost or manure to improve its structure and enable it to retain more water and nutrients, then till to a depth of at least six inches, making sure not to pack down too tightly as this could prevent air circulation around roots that need oxygen for proper development.
If the ground is suitable, sowing vegetables outdoors in late February to early March should begin. Cool season crops such as brussels sprouts, peas, kale, spinach lettuce and fava beans may be started indoors to be transplanted later.
For delicate vegetables like cucumbers and squash, such as cucumbers and squash, it is wise to wait until frost risk has passed before sowing outside. If you live in an exceptionally cold climate, however, cloches or tunnels may help extend sowing season further.
Beginning mid to late April, direct sow half-hardy annuals like radishes and sweet peas outdoors. You may also sow second early potatoes and maincrop potatoes directly into the open ground; and start sowing rocket and summer lettuce outdoors or under cloches.
By late May, most frost danger has passed and it is time to sow carrots and parsnips outdoors. Now is also a great opportunity to sow brassicas like bok choy and collard greens outdoors.
In August, you should plant another crop of leafy greens such as kohl rabi and winter spinach for harvest in fresh salads or cooked and added to soups and stews. If you want a longer-term harvesting experience, perennial spinach cultivars that provide leaves throughout the year might be best as these varieties require no harvesting from seed and are less vulnerable to weather extremes than standard varieties.
Summer
Summer’s heat may slow your garden down, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still tasks you can complete! Sow any remaining cool-season vegetables such as beans of all varieties, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, lettuce and spinach to ensure a steady harvest from summer through autumn. Successive sowings of fast-maturing vegetables should ensure an uninterrupted harvest throughout both the summer and autumn seasons. For fall/winter harvests plant hardy crops that withstand frost such as cabbage kale chard as well as winter salad varieties such as radish mizuna Winter Gem lettuce planted now can also yield harvest harvest in December – garlic may also be planted now to be harvested by December!
As summer progresses, water seedlings daily until established and keep an eye on soil moisture levels. If necessary, use irrigation systems to maintain adequate moisture and avoid overwatering; frequency will depend on rainfall, temperature, type of soil in your garden (heavy clay soil may need less frequent irrigation), etc.
Warm-season crops should be planted during July and August in gardens across Canada. Direct sowing of tomato seeds, cucumber seeds, melons seeds and squash seeds into the garden is best, or alternatively starting seedlings indoors then transplanting once frost risk has subsided.
As part of your gardening duties, it is crucial that you stay on top of weeding duties so your vegetables have the best chance at flourishing. Weeds compete for nutrients with plants and can quickly overrun a garden; mulching can help suppress them effectively.
If you haven’t done it already, now is an opportune time to inspect your raised vegetable beds for signs of rot. If they have become overrun with weeds, dig up and re-prep the beds (or add additional raised vegetable beds as necessary). By planting in raised bed gardens rather than traditional gardens, raised bed gardening provides greater flexibility in moving plants around and trying out different cultivars than initially planted.
Fall
Gardening vegetables is a year-round endeavor, and many of the same fruits and vegetables can be grown both spring and fall. The main difference lies in accounting for shorter growing seasons and potentially colder weather; by looking up average last frost dates and first frost dates in your region (found online or from county extension services), you can determine when best to plant and harvest vegetables throughout the year.
Vegetables that can be harvested in the fall include bush beans, sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes, eggplants, squash and pumpkins. Radishes onions and turnips may also be harvested during this season as these cool-season veggies thrive best under cooler temperatures of fall rather than the scorching temperatures of summer.
When planning for a fall harvest, ensure your garden soil is loose and well-drained to allow your crop to absorb moisture quickly in the cooler fall months. Also important: eliminating any competing weeds for water and nutrients with your new crops; additionally mulching will keep the bed damp while shielding it from frost damage.
Due to the short growing season, it is advisable to plant seeds for fall vegetables as early as late summer or early autumn to maximize harvest before winter sets in. Starting early also allows you to take advantage of any milder conditions later in autumn that may extend your growing season.
To ensure your vegetables will be ready to harvest before frost arrives, calculate the number of days from planting to maturity and add an “fall factor.” This allows for slower plant growth in cooler weather with reduced daylight hours. Also ensure adequate moisture is supplied and regularly monitor them for pests and diseases. Lastly, extend your growing season further into winter by covering with tarps or row covers when an unexpected hard freeze is predicted.
Winter
Growing winter vegetables requires patience and the appropriate climate conditions; otherwise you would otherwise need to buy your produce. Common crops that can survive into the cold months include onions/shallots/leeks/winter cabbage/cauliflower/celeriac/kohlrabi/turnips and rutabaga as well as salad greens like spinach and kale as well as carrots and parsnips.
At least for vegetable seeds, sowing winter vegetable seeds by early summer is ideal, depending on your gardening zone and microclimate. A key aspect of successful overwintering is providing consistent amounts of nutrients so plants have time to mature before temperatures start dropping and the Persephone Period (when there are only 10 hours of daylight per day) begins.
Prep the soil for overwintering by mixing different forms of organic matter like manure, bokashi compost, plant parts and garden waste into it. This will enrich it with humus while simultaneously improving structure and moisture retention capabilities of your soil.
Vegetables need rich and fertile soil in order to flourish, and one way of accomplishing this is with liquid fertilizers such as those available commercially or homemade ones made from manure, fish concentrate or seaweed. Dilute the liquid fertiliser until its color resembles weak tea before applying it every two weeks around your garden plants.
Mulch, such as wood chips or straw, can be an essential addition to winter vegetable gardens, helping retain moisture in the soil, add organic matter, suppress weeds and provide an attractive garden feature. Mulch also protects roots against frost. A good strategy when designing winter garden planting beds would be to have higher north sides than south sides as this will warm the soil faster and direct cold air away from vegetables prone to fungal disease – particularly tomatoes and zucchini which thrive best in cool soil environments.