Planning our Spring Garden
It’s a big day, y’all. We applied to be vendors at this year’s farmers market in Ashland City, TN! Once we get approved, the countdown begins!
Adam and I have a laundry list that is a country mile long when it comes to The Vollick Holler and fixing up this farm, but I was looking at our grocery receipts today and I’m feeling motivated to start growing some of our food again. It’s always been in the plan, but the time is now!
Food prices are insane and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon. Did you see that eggs just reached an all-time high for $6 and change per dozen!? This is mostly due to the avian flu on the rampage, taking out so many major poultry and egg operations. We are so glad our hens are STILL laying! It’s almost February and the girls have stayed pretty productive. I thought the election results were supposed to yield lower groceries on day one? 😉
I digress…
We bought our farm 3 years ago, but have only lived here for 1 year, so this will be our first time growing anything other than flowers and our daughter.
When I say “I’m feeling motivated,” what I really mean is, “I am feeling motivated to motivate Adam.” After all, he’s the one with 2 big green thumbs.
The last time we had a truly amazing garden was when we were living in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, renting a small home with a decent yard in the cutest historic village of Queenston. We were newly engaged, planning our modest wedding and my move to Canada. During this time, we were still living apart—I was in Nashville and Adam was in Queenston. Adam used the garden there to distract himself from all the anxious waiting we were doing and boy oh boy, did it pay off! I got to (literally) reap the benefits of his hard work when I visited once a month. We had so. Much. FOOD.
STOP AND SMELL THE LEARNING CURVE
The growing conditions and seasons are very different in Niagara compared to Middle Tennessee, so we have our work cut out for us this spring when it comes to planting our first garden. As always, we welcome your shared gardening-related comments, experiences, and advice!
Apparently, in February in Zone 7B, we can start our tomato seeds indoors!? This would be so crazy early to start them in Niagara. (In fact, we made this mistake a few years ago.)
Here’s what we are planting this spring for flowers:
- Butterfly Weed
- Black-eyed Susans
- Peonies
We have bought all of our flower bulbs and seeds from Holland Bulb Farms so far this year. Their social media advertising worked on me (haha, good on them), but the reviews all looked great and they have a “100% Grow Guarantee” so… fingers crossed!
We planted these earlier this winter for spring blooming:
- Carnival tulips
- Royal grapes tulips
- Giant hyacinths
- Andorra hyacinths
- Muscari
- Drumstick alliums
In fact, we planted them a bit late in early January, but my Middle Tennessee Gardening Group told me to go for it!
I’m hoping we can have a flower garden that puts last year’s to shame (I had fun taking baby steps and landscaping around the barn) so I can actually sell some cut flowers at the Ashland City Farmers Market this year. If you see our booth there, give us a holler!
LETTUCE BEGIN
Most of Middle Tennessee is in the USDA plant hardiness 7B Zone, which means low temperatures in our area just outside of Nashville typically drop to 5–10°F. So far, this January, the average temperatures have ranged from 47F (8.3C) to near 31F (-0.6C).
On January 11th, the high was 32°F (0°C) which is below the historical average high of 48.6°F (9.2°C). What a wild range! But, apparently this month has been pretty consistent with “new usual” January climate for our neck of the holler.
Did you know nearly half of the United States is in a different zone after the maps changed for the first time in over a decade in 2012? (Climate change is real, y’all! Climate data is important.)
So, from our list, you might be wondering what grows best in Zone 7B… and when are we supposed to plant it?
Cool-season 7b vegetables:
Lettuce, spinach, kale, arugula, beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, potatoes.
Warm-season 7b vegetables: (We can start germinating some of these that we plan to grow from seed in February, we’re told.)
Tomatoes*, peppers, cucumbers, squash, beans, eggplant.
*Fun fact! My mom is going to send us some of my grandfather’s tomato seeds this year! His family brought seeds with them from Italy when they immigrated to the United States 3 generations ago.
So, in short, we’re going to try to keep our expectations reasonable this first growing season, but still try a few of our favorites that seem promising. There’s nothing worse than spending time and money to see nothing pan out. (Done it!) We try to look at the big picture of everything we do on the farm in one day and manage our time and expectations based on that.
Thanks for reading! Let us know what you’re growing in the comments. We also love to hear about your own experiences and advice!
