The Best Time to Plant a Garden

Early spring is an obvious time to plant; the general rule is to wait until the last danger of frost is past. Knowing this, timing really is everything, and when the timing is right really depends on where your location is.

Springtime isn’t the only time you can expect produce. Different times of the year yield different kinds of fruits and vegetables; this is the whole premise behind seasonal eating, something we’ve talked more about lately at Know the Cause. This is an idea largely lost on a whole generation of eaters.

There was a time when certain fruits or vegetables weren’t available at supermarkets at certain times of the year. Now, you can walk into almost any supermarket and get nearly any fruit or vegetable at any time of the year that you like. This is because our food supply is a global nexus of farms and food producers. While this system has many advantages, it also presents many challenges. Often times, the nutritional value of our food is compromised, due to storage and shipping, and the toll on the environment such practices take is not negligible.

However, eating locally and seasonally serves to do a few things. Eating seasonally guarantees a variety in your diet. By consuming a variety of fruits and veggies, you will ensure that you receive a broad spectrum of vitamins, minerals and other health promoting nutrients. Eating seasonally lessens the carbon footprint you and your family have on the plant; while this may not seem important, being good stewards of our planet helps ensure that future generations won’t live in a toxic wasteland.

Farming is not a precise science, like, say, chemistry. It is an art, and often, it requires trial and error. Talk to local farmers and gardeners and figure out what times of the year they’ve had good luck with what plants. Planting a garden with a seasonal variety will provide maximum nutrition at a fraction of the cost with a huge dose of satisfaction!

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