PLAN & SELECT YOUR SITE
All vegetables love sunshine, no exception. So find a place with full sunlight all day. While many of us garden in less than ideal situations, plenty of sun should be the first priority. Regardless of the method you choose for cultivation, by hand, tiller, or deep digging, carve out a site large enough for the plants to spread out and be happy. Crowding your plants will result in stunting, insect damage, and diminished returns.
It's best to lay out your plan on paper, so that you can see the size of the garden, pathways between plants, and plan for very leggy plants like squash and tomatoes. Give your plants plenty of space.
Make sure your garden is going to be accessible to a water supply and that soil amendments can get taken to the site. Give thought to four footed pests --- deer, rabbits, skunks, raccoons, etc. If you have an abundance of these you'll need to plan for plant protection. Tomato starts and squash seedlings should be covered at night for about a week (or until too large.) Also plant kale and chard thickly to allow some for the seedlings to be harvested by animals.
Stake out your site and begin. Learn the last frost date before actually planting. With warm days, seeds can be planted a bit a head of last frost date, while starts can be protected at night.
A word about space for butternut squash.
Each squash seed will produce a vine at least 10 feet long. It will wind around in your garden taking up a lot of space. It will also give you up to 8 pounds of food per vine. When you plan out your garden leave lots of space for these squashes. My favorite planting method is to deep dig a mound three feet across. I add a lot of manure down deep, then plant the seeds in a circle. I leave a huge open space in the garden around the mound for the leaves to stretch out.
It's best to lay out your plan on paper, so that you can see the size of the garden, pathways between plants, and plan for very leggy plants like squash and tomatoes. Give your plants plenty of space.
Make sure your garden is going to be accessible to a water supply and that soil amendments can get taken to the site. Give thought to four footed pests --- deer, rabbits, skunks, raccoons, etc. If you have an abundance of these you'll need to plan for plant protection. Tomato starts and squash seedlings should be covered at night for about a week (or until too large.) Also plant kale and chard thickly to allow some for the seedlings to be harvested by animals.
Stake out your site and begin. Learn the last frost date before actually planting. With warm days, seeds can be planted a bit a head of last frost date, while starts can be protected at night.
A word about space for butternut squash.
Each squash seed will produce a vine at least 10 feet long. It will wind around in your garden taking up a lot of space. It will also give you up to 8 pounds of food per vine. When you plan out your garden leave lots of space for these squashes. My favorite planting method is to deep dig a mound three feet across. I add a lot of manure down deep, then plant the seeds in a circle. I leave a huge open space in the garden around the mound for the leaves to stretch out.
Continue to: PREPARE & AMEND YOUR SOIL