Preparing Your Spring Garden

Spring has (finally!) sprung! The soil is warming up, the sun is coming out, and I can actually venture to my garden without a coat, a hat, and mittens. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to plant!

Before you go wild with seed packets and starter plants, there are a couple of steps that you should take to prepare your beds for planting and ensure you're setting yourself up for a successful season in the kitchen garden.

Here are three steps to take before planting your spring garden.

(By the way, these steps are for those of you who already have your raised beds set up. If you still need inspiration or more how-to knowledge to set up your own raised bed kitchen garden, check out our comprehensive guide to raised beds.)

Test Your Soil Temperature

I've been hopping out to my garden every single day for the past month to test my soil, waiting and waiting for the soil to be workable.

Workable soil is loose and porous—and ready to be planted. You should be able to easily dig four to six inches into the soil of your bed if the soil is workable.

One of the reasons why I love growing in raised beds versus in-ground beds is because the soil in a raised bed will warm up at least 15 to 21 days before the ground.

How to test your soil

Take a hori hori or a small trowel and dig down the full length of your garden tool. If you don't hit frozen ground, your soil is workable and ready to once more support the roots of your favorite herbs, veggies, and flowers.

Another option would be to purchase a soil temperature gauge. Stick the tip about four to six inches down into your soil to get a reading on the current soil temperature.

Knowing the temperature of your soil is important to determining what kinds of plants can go into your spring garden. Seeds are extremely temperature sensitive, and each plant has a temperature range that it prefers to germinate in.

Clean the Garden Space

At the end of each winter, there's a fair amount of debris that's probably made its way into your raised beds or lingered there from your previous growing season, and this debris should be cleared out before you start planting, especially in the areas where you'll be doing direct seed sowing.

You know: out with the old, in with the new; fresh canvas; clean slate—whatever your spring cleaning mantra may be.

In addition to old leaves and twigs, it's especially important to remove any pieces of fruit you might find. I once left the shriveled skin of a dried-out sungold tomato in my raised bed and ended up having lots of volunteer tomato plants pop up all over. You might think, "Cool! Free plants!" but many of the tomatoes you might be growing in your garden are actually hybrids and won't grow true to seed. If you end up not wanting them in your garden, it will require much more work to remove them later once they've gotten established than if you do it now, at the start of the season.

How to clear out debris

I like to use a simple rake to comb over the surface of my raised beds. Leave nothing from the previous season that could interfere with this season's growth.

Make sure to keep an eye out for any perennials or cold season plants that have been overwintering in your garden beds and avoid disturbing them. I marked the location of the garlic cloves I planted in the fall with these zinc plant tags. When I've failed to mark their location in the past, I've accidentally pulled a few of them up while cleaning.

Add a Layer of Compost

Many gardeners wouldn't dare begin their spring planting before testing their soil for nutrients and making sure the pH balance is good.

I'll be honest: I rarely test my soil for nutrients. Instead, I just use compost to amend my soil, and I generally find I have a very healthy garden by taking this simple step each and every season before planting.

As soon as you add compost, you'll be able to see the difference in the color and texture of your soil. Your raised beds will be fresh and ready to go!

How to add compost

Even if you make your own compost, you'll probably need to purchase some bags to cover the entire surface of your raised beds. I am diligent about tossing my lawn debris and kitchen scraps in my composter, but I still can't make enough homemade compost to meet the demands of my garden.

I love mushroom compost. One bag is sufficient to cover a 15-square-foot raised bed.

Add compost until the soil surface is level with the top of your raised bed. I've found that no gardening tool matches your hand as far as ability to quickly spread out and level compost.

Do the "Worst First" When Planting Your Spring Garden

I always say to do the worst first. When you're installing your beds, you have to shovel in all that soil before you ever get to plant a single seed. When it comes to preparing your beds for spring planting, the worst is feeling like you're waiting forever to get started, clearing the old debris, and adding a fresh layer of compost.

Once you've accomplished those three tasks, you're ready to plant.

Here are a couple of my suggestions for what to add to your raised beds to maximize your enjoyment of your spring kitchen garden.

Plant flowers in the corners of your raised beds

Flowers add beauty to your raised beds and attract beneficial pollinators. I love to plant flowers in the corners of my beds for bright pops of color.

If you're in a colder climate like mine (meaning you're still anticipating some frost through the end of April or even into May), you could plant violas or pansies.

If you're in a warmer climate, you could do marigolds, nasturtiums, cosmos, petunias, zinnias—really, you have a pretty endless list of flowers that will thrive in your raised beds.

Check out this article written by our incredibly knowledgeable garden coach Nikki Hutchins for suggestions on what you can plant to attract hummingbirds to your garden.

Add herbs along the edges

Planting herbs around the edges of your raised beds is a great way to fill in the space with beautiful greenery. Herbs also lend a sense of permanence to your bed before you fill the interior with shorter-lived annual plants.

I'll be adding oregano, sage, and thyme that I started from seed indoors to my raised beds, and if you're expecting hot weather soon, you can go ahead and plant some basil, as well.

Fill in the middle of your raised beds with big plants for your season

Kale is something you can plant in the garden even when you're still expecting frost, thanks to its savoy leaves. You could also plant brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower in a cool season garden. If you planted garlic in the fall, make sure to plant your kale near the garlic to deter cabbage moths, caterpillars, and other pests that often prey on kale.

Along with plants, add some seeds, like carrots, radish, or beet seeds, in empty areas of your beds.

If you're moving into your warm season, instead of planting kale, you can plant peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes—plants that are sensitive to frost and love to grow in warmer temperatures (from 65 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit).

Taking these three steps is the best way to set yourself up for success for the season ahead. Here's to a wonderful spring season in your kitchen garden and many delicious harvests!