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Starting a Garden or Orchard: Plant Selection

March 3, 2014 by hsotr

Starting a Garden or Orchard: Plant SelectionYou’re almost ready to start gardening. You have designed a water system, assigned tasks, chosen a site, and mapped out a garden you can navigate. All that remains is to buy your seeds and plants.

Choosing Plants

What do you plan on growing? Fruits? Vegetables? Herbs? Flowers? A little of everything? Write it down on a list.

Now take a second look at your selection. Are the fruits and vegetables that you have listed things you eat frequently? If you don’t ordinarily go to the store and buy rutabagas just because you like the taste of rutabagas, you probably don’t need to plant them, either. You’ll have enough work to do in your garden without tending plants you aren’t partial to.

This is not to say that you should never experiment—sometimes that is how you’ll find your favorite vegetables. But until you know it’s a keeper, don’t buy a lot of seeds, and only set aside a small place for it in the garden.

Choosing Varieties

Which varieties of each plant to try is a harder question. The answer will largely depend on what you are trying to accomplish:

  • If you want to save seeds, consider an heirloom variety.
  • If you will sell certified organic produce, organic seeds are a must.
  • If your goal is great taste, go with a best-selling favorite.
  • If you are raising perennial fruits or vegetables, make sure they are adapted to your climate. (This applies to annual produce, as well, but to a much lesser extent.)

Keep a notebook listing your favorite varieties. With time, you will discover what grows well in your garden and tastes great on your table.

So are you finally ready to get your hands dirty? Happy gardening!

Helpful Resources

Top 10 Plants for Beginning Kitchen Gardners
Our own recommendations on what to grow your first year.

Recommended Vegetable Varieties
A list of suggestions from K-State.

The Family Garden JournalThe Family Garden Journal
This journal from Homestead on the Range contains reference pages with space for noting your favorite plant varieties. Free sample pages are available here.

Complete Series

Starting a Garden or OrchardStarting a Garden or Orchard

 

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Filed Under: The Garden Tagged With: Fruit, Plant Health, Seed Saving, Vegetables

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About hsotr

Motivated by her experience growing up on a small farm near Wichita, Kansas, Michelle Lindsey started Homestead on the Range to supply Kansas country living enthusiasts with the innovative resources that they need to succeed and has now been keeping families informed and inspired for over five years. Michelle is the author of three country living books. She is also a serious student of history, specializing in Kansas, agriculture, and the American West. When not pursuing hobbies ranging from music to cooking to birdwatching, she can usually be found researching, writing, or living out the country dream.

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