Wondering when to plant a garden? Whether you’re trying to beat the clock on the front end of the gardening season, or it’s pushing well into summer and you’re not sure you can still grow some food, it’s never too late (or too early) to plant a garden right now!

I love taking lessons from the Great Depression to learn how to become more self-sufficient. My grandfather, a huge influence on my young life, lived through the Depression and it shaped how he saw things in a big way.

I learned how to avoid the grocery store, and lots of other kinds of stores because of the things he taught me.

He taught me many valuable lessons, but my favorites have to do with gardening and self-sufficiency, how to make do with what you've got to get what you need and, better yet, how to barter with friends and neighbors as a way of caring for yourself and your community.

Making do with what I’ve got often has a whole lot to do with being realistic about what is actually possible, when, in the amount of time I actually have available. With the chaos of the past year and a half, moving the farm across the country, trying to get re-established in the midst of a pandemic, trying to juggle working full time and managing the farm, and, oh yeah, building a trade school, time has been precious recently. Letting go of perfectionism and ideal timelines and instead doing whatever I can with the tools, resources, and time I DO have has made a lot more juggling possible. Imperfect tries take less time and effort and still offer much of the same yields and learning opportunities. The video below is meant to help you figure out what you can plant when, where, and how, even if you’ve gotten a later start than you might like.

In the video below, I'll take you on a tour of my first organic garden in Tennessee (my 2020 garden). This garden tour shows some successes and some failures, but my vegetable garden has been an incredible, low cost way to provide food for my family without having to go to the grocery store during the pandemic. I don't spend a lot of time weeding or watering, and my garden answers my need to save money and grow the food we eat.

In a time with lots of uncertainty, it feels great to have planted an imperfect garden that offers at least some level of security as to where my food comes from. Call it a pandemic garden, a victory garden, or just a first try in a new climate garden, I was just happy to save money on groceries and have fewer reasons to go to the grocery store.

This year is no different than last, I’m expanding my garden, I built some cold-frame garden beds to start seeds earlier than usual, and I’m continuing to learn how to do more than the year prior, and taking those lessons learned from last year and adapting to our new climate (Tennessee is definitely different than Seattle!).

Planting an Early-Season Garden

Learn how to indulge the temptation to get started in your garden in early spring, without the danger of planting seeds before the temperature is just right.

The farm we bought here in Nashville was at one point a working farm, but it hasn’t been one in a very long time. I plan to have an enormous garden that will support this farm down by the barn, but that is going to take a lot of time, planning, infrastructure, and machinery that I don’t have right now. In the meantime, I can reclaim a small garden plot closer to the house with a few things I brought with me from Washington.

With the sun shining and the temperature rising, many gardeners are tempted to get into their garden way too early in the season. If the danger of frost hasn’t passed or your soil is still too wet, you need to be careful about what you put into the ground. Bare root plants are the perfect solution for any gardener who is tempted to plant before it’s time to sow some seeds. Simply put, when it comes to bare-root plants, if you give them soil, sun, and water, they are pretty much going to do the rest on their own.

What are bare-root plants?

Bare root plants are mature perennials that have been removed from the soil during their dormant season. They can be placed in cold storage without soil during the winter months.

Which vegetable and fruit plants are available as bare roots?

Examples of bare root plants are artichokes, asparagus, rhubarb, horseradish, most berries (such as strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.) and grapes. You can check with your local nursery or farm store to find out which plants grow best in your area.

When should bare-root plants be planted?

Bare root plants need to be put into the ground during the plants’ natural dormant season. This makes them an ideal planting project to satisfy the need to get out in the sunshine during early spring when it’s still too cold and wet to plant seeds.

Tips for Planting Bare-Root Plants

Survey the area where you plan to plant to mimic what is already naturally growing. For example, asparagus’ roots like to be planted deep with a lot of moisture, so I chose to put them at the bottom of a hill where the runoff collects. I found a huge taproot weed that I removed, and in its place, I planted one of my asparagus plants. Where shallow-rooted plants were spread out seemed like an ideal place to plant my strawberries, and since grapes were growing wild close by, I purchased grapevines with confidence grapes should thrive there as well.
Don’t get too concerned wondering if your soil is good enough. Look around at what is already growing. If there are green things naturally popping up, that’s a good indication your soil is good enough to get started. Take the time to learn about fertilizing and improving your soil as you go.
Beginner gardeners are tempted to plant too closely. Giving plants extra space gives them a head start to succeed.
Dig the hole large enough so that the roots are not crowded.
Bare root plants are usually shipped in Sphagnum moss, sawdust, or sometimes even soil to help retain moisture, and that material can be used when planting your bare root plant.
After you backfill your hole, make sure the soil is firmly in place by using your feet to compact the soil, but be careful not to step on the plant itself.
Weeds can actually benefit your garden because they have a complex root structure that will draw moisture to the surface and will keep the soil in place for your plants. So as long as they are not competing with your plants for sunshine, the weeds and your plants can live in harmony together.
In an area that doesn’t need much tending, plant a natural pesticide. What is a natural pesticide? Garlic! Because, quite frankly, it smells bad. Garlic can be planted during the cold season, but other natural pesticide plants that could be planted later in the season are parsley, fennel, lemon balm, sage, dill, basil, lavender, thyme, and coriander.

Planting a Late-Season Garden

Just as with the desire to plant early, sometimes life happens and we can’t quite get out into the garden in time to put seeds in the ground. But does that mean you’ve missed your gardening window for the year?

Probably not!

There are many crops you can plant well into summer (as late as mid-late August) and still harvest a sizable amount of food.

Typically speaking, around mid-July many of the early-season crops like peas and beans are finishing up their growing season, which means, if you’re cleaning up the garden once crops are done producing, you’ll have space to plant something else!

But you have to know what plants to plant in late summer and still have enough time to produce a crop before the first frost hits, or plant those plants that can withstand a frost and still continue to thrive.

So whether you’ve got that garden itch but it’s just a bit too soon to go planting tomatoes in the garden, or whether time has gotten away from you and you’re wondering if it’s too late for a garden now… there’s always something you can put in the ground to start growing food for you and your family.

When To Plant a Garden? It's Not Too Late (or Too Early!)