So maybe we planted a few too many peppers in the garden plan this year! Next year’s plan will be adjusted 
So the garden season in the Midwest is coming to an end – and the daily chores have certainly dwindled. So what’s a gardener to do with all the time on their hands? For us – it is the perfect time to plan next year’s garden. Why now? Because everything is fresh in your mind. The successes…the failures, and the “I want to try that next year” are still at the top of your mind. Before you know it – Thanksgiving and Christmas are here, January and February fly by – and all of those great ideas you had back in the fall get lost in the rush to just get a garden planted.
So here are 3 great tips to help you plan now for a beautiful 2013 garden!
Our garden plan for this past year. Putting it all down on paper really helps to keep all of our plantings in order – and provides us with a great record from year to year of what and where we planted.
1) PUT IT ON PAPER – NOW!
Hands down – if you do anything – do this! It’s one thing to say that you would like to try this or that, grow more tomatoes or herbs, or a different variety of pepper. But when you sit down and put it all down on paper – it’s amazing to find out how much better it all works next spring. Planning now lets you easily remember what performed well – what didn’t – and what you need to try different. It definitely made all the difference in getting even more out of our own space this year! In addition – you end up with a great set of notes from year to year to help in your efforts.
Make sure to rotate your plants and grow them in different spaces each year. We flip all of our tomatoes and pepper raised bed rows each year to opposite sides of the garden. It keeps the plants growing healthy and helps to stave off soil borne diseases. We also make sure to add plenty of compost to the beds each year to keep the soil charged up.
2) PLAN TO ROTATE YOUR CROPS
It’s so important to practice crop rotation – even on a small-scale garden basis. If you keep planting tomatoes in the same spot – don’t expect to keep getting the same results. Different plants require different nutrients -and the soil begins to lose those nutrients if you keep planting the same crops in the same place. In addition – planting the same plants in the space is an open invitation to passing on soil borne diseases that can wreak havoc on garden plants. So make sure you plan out different spaces in your garden plan – another great reason writing it all down now is so important!
Crops like cucumbers can benefit from a little more shade than full sun crops like tomatoes and peppers – planning now can help you find the best space.
3) PLAN TO GIVE YOUR PLANTS THE BEST PLACE AND SPACE THEY NEED
Another advantage of planning – You get to see now how your plants are going to be positioned. Tomatoes and peppers need the sun and lots of it. The more space you can leave between those plants – the more light and air and rain can get to them – keeping the plants healthy and allowing their fruits to ripen better. Cool weather crops – like cucumbers and lettuce – can benefit from being placed in the shadier parts of your garden – or in areas where fast and tall-growing plants and vegetables can provide some later shade. Putting it down on paper now gives you the advantage of having a plan in place to follow.
And for those of you who container garden – plant rotation is just as important – make sure you change what you grow in each raised bed or container. As for that soil – it’s so important in raised beds and containers to recharge that spent soil with fresh compost to keep plants growing strong.
So get planning now and get off to a great 2013 garden!!! - Jim and Mary
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Shared on Gnowfglins Simple Lives Thursday, Little House In The Suburbs, The Barn Hop
Woah! Nice work on the peppers, guys!
Thank you! They just kept coming !!!
That really is a lot of pepper!
I keep meaning to make my garden notes about this season…somehow that keeps getting pushed aside! Thanks for the reminder…I definitely need to write my notes down now!
Lisa – It helps us so much from year to year to know what and where we planted at! I always used to think I would remember and then forget by the next year!
A garden journal just moved up my “to-do” list.
LOL – Trust me – it is sooo helpful!!!!
Love it! We just had our first frost here in Indiana. Which means my kitchen is infested with fruit flies as I work to get all the tomatoes put up. It also means we are thinking about next year. We probably have more space than most so we allow 2/3 of our garden area to be cover crops. I usually have the vine crops follow the potatoes because they do better growing in the old straw from the potatoes. The rest rotate into space that has been resting. We don’t really have problems with disease or nutrient deficiency this way.
We also had a bumper crop of peppers!
I’m also lusting after your rain tank. Our tomatoes never really peaked they got so behind in that middle dry part this summer.
By the way I co-host a blog hop called Eat Make Grow and we are always looking for folks who write about gardening, cooking, crafting and kids to link up.
Stop on by if you get the chance:
http://foyupdate.blogspot.com/search?q=eat+make+grow&max-results=20&by-date=true
that is an amazing amount of peppers! and your advice is great!
Hello, new follower here! I would love to have you link up with my Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week!
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/09/clever-chicks-blog-hop-2-featured-post.html
I hope to see you there!
Cheers!
Kathy
The Chicken Chick
kathy – thanks for stopping by – we will be sure to stop by and visit your blog – and thanks for following us!
Oh my Lord, that is a ton of peppers! How lucky you are to have such an awesome harvest! What kind of treatment do you give yor soil?
We couldn’t believe how many were on the plants! As for the soil – we use all raised bed rows with lots of compost worked into the planting holes. We also plant cover crops of winter rye to help build natural nitrogen back in the soil.
Thanks for the reminder to get it down on paper…it’s been on my mental list.
If your like us – always better to have it on paper than on the mental list! We seem to lose our mental lists here quickly!!!
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Do you grow these veggies year-a-round? Or these in the spring and a different set in the fall?
Second question, we have great soil; however, because of this we have a MAJOR mole problem. Any thoughts on how to rid them from the yard?
Richard – We grow a spring crop of cool weather crops and again in the fall the same. Our big garden however is the summer garden with big plan. Moles are usually after grubs – so if you can control the grubs – the moles will usually go away. Have you tried anything for the grubs on your yard?
Is this chart based on a companion planting guide?
It ‘s our version that has worked well for us. It is amazing what trial and error can teach you over the years!
Do you have any problems with cross pollination when you save seeds. I’m a new gardener and want to save my own seeds but have been reading that some crops have to be separated by certain distances to avoid cross pollination, especially if you are growing different varieties of the same crop (i.e. beans, peppers, tomatoes, squash) by the way, I love your blog !
Thanks Michelle for the compliments on the blog – we are glad you enjoy it! As for the seeds, we have never had the cross pollination problem to date – but I have heard of that happening. Here’s to hoping we never do!
Jim