you might have to be a bit more specific as to what tips you are looking for. My aunt uses a nice old wooden step ladder to grow her cucumbers, or beans, it does look pretty.

Hi Kate, what area of planning are you looking for tips, for example, do you mean planning for your overall goals, timing, or layout?

For me what helps is a paper layout/map of the garden.

The season is pretty short where I am, if I am growing from seeds, I will start most of my seeds in the next month or two and grow them indoors. Generally speaking it’s not safe for me to plant outside until end of May, but things might differ for where you are.

Yes, shorter season crops like the ones you have mentioned can do well if seeded directly outdoors.

Peas, onions, lettuce and radish germinate in cooler weather and don't freeze easily. They can be planted a couple of weeks before you plant your tenderer seeds. I don't know what zone you are in. We are in zone 3b or 4 (they changed our zoning). We always planted our garden seeds and potatoes the 24th of May weekend. Our cool loving seeds and tubers went in the week before. Plants like tomatoes and peppers waited until the second week of June. Our soil was amended with leaves that were chopped up by the lawnmower in the fall and stored in plastic bags and left on the garden all winter plus any compost we had made. Occasionally we bought compost too if and when we thought the Garden needed it.

As for recycling stuff. Milk bottles make a good cloche if you cut the bottom out of them and remove the cap. I've used wire clothes hangers straightened and bent into an arch and plastic stapled to 2 poles to make a handy cold frame. Old tent poles are good plant supports but the thing I used the most not a free bee but not expensive either. They are row covers.. They are great for covering plants to protect against a couple of degrees of frost and you can leave them on because rain and sun goes right through them. We had a problem with maggots in radish and carrots. Covering the plants with a piece of row cover and leaving it on all summer prevented the flies from laying eggs near the plants hence no maggots

The row covers are great for covering cabbage, no cabbage worms. They stay on all summer and are lifted only for the occasional weeding so the moths cannot enter.

I am a big fan of row covers in the garden but I find that I have to remove them in mid June or it gets too hot inside. Cool weather vegetables don't like the heat that much, and will cause some plants to bolt prematurely. I have seen this with spinach, Chinese cabbage, Pak Choi. Row covers are of the most use here early in the spring and into early summer. Last year they were of limited use because it was cold until mid May, and then got quite hot in June. The fact that the row covers keep the wind off the plants is the biggest benefit although the frost protection is also a plus. Grow early season lettuce under a row cover and outside the row cover for comparison. You will be amazed by the difference. Covered plants much larger and more tender. Recycling: I use cut up 2 litre milk cartons for cutworm collars around my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers etc. They also facilitate early-season watering.

Good to hear row covers are effective, especially for frost protection. If I remember correctly we had a frost warning either in June or July last year! I’ve been using large tarps for unexpected hail/frost. Good call on the wind protection. Perhaps it’s time for me to upgrade.

One of the issues I have here are cooler night time temperatures which slow growth down considerably. I’m seeking more affordable ways to keep soil warm other than just heating cables.

Hi Kate,

You might want to subscribe to the website gardenate.com to get their free email reminders of what to plant each month. It can be set up with your planting zone to send you reminders on your phone for when to plant vegetables and herbs in your zone. I find it makes planning and planting less confusing. It gives harvest times and how to sow; if seeds are direct sown or planted indoors with transplant times.

I love it!

For some reason, every time I plant my flower, corn and vegetable seedlings the darn wind starts to blow and blow and blow. The damage can be fatal so I started putting the lightest frost cloth over the rows suspended by hoops. The protection provided creates better growth in my experience. It also keeps them a bit shaded and if you use the light cloth I don't find the heat build up is noticeable. They are removed as the spring progresses.

To keep the cloth in place I put a hoop on the outside of the cloth, right next to, the hoop that is under the cloth, this pinches it between without damage, and keeps it from flapping.

I have sewn 2 runs of cloth together and made wider cloths for larger planting beds or higher hoops, I find some of the cloth is too skinny and does not leave enough at the sides to secure properly. I purchase large rolls for a fairly good price from places like Dubois, or other greenhouse suppliers.