Gardening Harvest Times

I have been planting a garden for several years now and I continue to learn as I go. This year I was all ready for an awesome garden and did everything I could do to prepare. Well it rained...For days on end. My garden was a pond. So I had to start my garden much later than I normally do. I had to figure out how long every plant takes to see if I would even have time to put in my garden. Thankfully I still has time for most of the plants I wanted. So...To how long until your vegetables are ready to harvest? Typically vegetables like beans, lettuce, and beets can take up to 70 days, other vegetables such as peppers, potatoes, and carrots can take up to 120 days, and there are very few things that take longer than that. I have a chart below so that you can see exactly how long each plant will take! Knowing how long vegetables take to harvest is very important for many reasons...Before you begin your planting you need to know how long it will take before you will see a yield from your garden. You need to know this so that you can plan when you will be able to start preserving your food and if you plan it right you could even have two different planting times and get double to amount of crop per year! I am a visual learner and like to be able to see things clearly. Below is a chart I created for all the other visual learners out there... Now as you are starting to do you planning you might be asking... What month do I plant my veggies?As soon as there is no fear of frost. The month you start will differ depending on the state you live in. I would suggest that you start as many of your veggies inside as you can. This will majorly speed up the process once you plant them outside. So depending on what state you live in, I would say to start your veggies inside around February or March so that you can plant them as soon as the fear of the first frost is gone. As I said I would start your seeds inside to give yourself a head start. But I know your next question... Can you start all seeds indoors?From my experience, the answer would be yes. The only plant that might not love to be moved around would be peas. But it is still worth a shot. If you decide to start your veggies inside I do have a few tips for you. Soil You want to make sure that your soil is good and fresh. It is a good idea to start the seeds in a sterile seed starting mix. If you decide not to buy a mix do you best to get good rich soil. It should be very black. You can also buy just the soil and not the whole kit if you choose too. Home The place you choose to start your seeds in is very important. Your seeds need to have enough room to grow but they also need a good drain so that they don't drown. Thankfully you should have something around the house to start your plants in. You can use containers that you previously bought plants in, old yogurt containers, previously used fruit containers etc. Warmth/Light Your seeds will need a lot of warmth as they get started out and not as much light. When your seeds get to about an inch to an inch and a half you will then give them the proper light. At this point, you can either put them in a window that gets lots of light or you can purchase lights. If you are trying to start a decent amount of veggies you might not have the window space for that so you will need to grab a couple lights. You can get them on Amazon for a pretty decent price. You can check them out here. Water If you are using a kit it may have come with a self-watering tool. But for those of you who are doing it on your own just use common sense. Your container is very small so they will not need a whole lot of water. Just check up on it every day and see how it looks. You want a nice moist soil. Don't let it dry out but also do not drown it. If you are overwatering you will make the process take longer as it is not good for the plant to have to much water. You might be wondering how long you have to wait before you will see a sprout.In general, you should see a little sprout at about 2 weeks, but for those who like to know the exact numbers, I have created a chart. Once you see a sprout you are super close to being able to transplant to your outdoor garden. You want to make sure you transplant at the right time because if you move them before they are ready you can stunt their growth or they might die altogether. If you wait too long they will become attached to their current home and you will not have much success moving them. So... How do you know when you can transplant?The best tried and true method is to move your plant outdoors when it has 3-4 leaves. Because every plant is different and there is really no "height" average this seems like the most logical and overall best tip for knowing when to move your plants. You might be wondering why I went into starting seeds inside...So I wanted to expound on that a bit. You can, by all means, skip the growing inside and either just plant your seeds outside or buy plants from a local nursery. I have done both and have had great success. But for most plants, if you can have them started early you will have a major advantage. Depending on the state you live in you might not have enough time for your plant to reach maturity before the first frost of the fall/winter. I live in Michigan so my summer months are going to be much shorter than those in other states. And why go through the process of starting seeds inside when you can buy them from a local nursery? I have just found that nurseries have a limited variety and If I want a better variety I need to start my seeds at home on my own. There are certain plants that I like that I just can not seem to find in the nursery. But with seeds, I can basically find whatever I am looking for. AND I can get organic heirloom seeds. I get them from Amazon. I don't even have to leave the house. It's great! If you wanna check out the seeds I like go ahead and check them out here. Final ThoughtsI am a visual learner and I love to be able to "see" what I am trying to learn. As always I hope these charts were helpful for you as you begin to plan and think about your garden. I also happen to be a bit of a nerd and have fun making the charts so if you have any other questions about gardening or homesteading in general and think a chart would be helpful leave me a comment and I will do my best to create a chart. If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more here are a few more articles about gardening! https://yourhomesteadjourney.com/how-to-maximize-garden-space/ https://yourhomesteadjourney.com/planting-a-garden-with-canning-in-mind-in-6-easy-steps/ https://yourhomesteadjourney.com/a-cucumber-is-a-vegetable-says-who/

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