Talking Plants

Jillian Patrie | University of Minnesota Yard and Garden Extension

Seed catalogs are out for 2025 and garden supply stores are stocking shelves with everything you will need to start seeds and get your garden going this spring. Selecting seeds, planning layouts and gathering supplies can all be done now while we are waiting for spring to come.
If you are starting a new garden this year there are a few things you may want to consider, such as testing the soil, the sunlight exposure your garden will receive and space for plants to grow. Testing the soil is important for plant health and what if anything may need to be added before planting this spring. Soil tests can be done through the UMN-soil testing lab for a small fee. Visit https://soiltest.cfans.umn.edu/testing-services/lawn-garden for information on collecting and submitting samples. If you are interested in creating raised beds or your own soil mix visit https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/raised-bed-gardens#raised-ground-beds-881260 for more information on construction and creating soil mixes for raised beds.
Once your location has been determined, drawing a simple blueprint can help you envision how your garden can be planted. If you have notes from previous years, referring back to these can help you decide if anything needs to be changed. This is helpful when diseases, pests or crop failures have happened in the past. In some cases, crop rotation is an easy fix for these issues if records of previous crops can be found.
What are the main goals you would like your garden to accomplish? Are you hoping to can, pickle, donate to the food pantry? Knowing these in advance can also help you plan. If your main goal is canning produce from your garden, you may want to make a list of what you will need to grow, such as pickling cucumbers, dill and cilantro for homemade pickles.
There are many resources for finding seeds and varieties that have been grown and tested for best quality throughout the United States and right here in Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener program conducts a seed trial each year to test out new varieties and share the results with the public. The 2024 results can be found at https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/mnmastergardenerseedtrial/seed-trial-results. If you would like to look more into disease resistant vegetable varieties check out https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/disease-resistant-vegetable-varieties/.

For more information about planning your garden or local assistance please contact Clay County Extension Educator Jillian Patrie at 218-299-7338 or patri350@umn.edu.