Even though it still is wintry weather outside we know that spring will soon arrive. Many gardeners have been looking at seed and plant catalogs and thinking about digging in the dirt and planning what they may want to try this year.

One of my favorite activities is to attend the Garden Expo and listen to speakers at the many seminars, demonstrations and see what new tools or items vendors have to show off. This year my husband and I attended classes on growing sweet potatoes and healthy aronia berries. We intend on trying both this year.

One of my favorite speakers I enjoy listening to is Jerry Apps. Apps grew up as a farm kid here in Wisconsin, he became a professor, author and inspiring speaker. This year he shared some of his favorite garden tips and ideas. I want to share a few tips and hopefully some of you may want to incorporate in your gardening life.

He encourages everyone to try gardening if they can and to plan early. A lot can be learned by looking at garden catalogs and garden centers. Just looking and reading about at all the varieties of colorful vegetables and fruits available can exciting. It helps to have a plan of what you want to grow and arranging your garden. It is also good to get tools ready ahead of time.

Trying something new is another tip I have done for many years. Each year I have tried either a new variety or a different vegetable that I may have never had before. With some advice from some other garden friends, I have grown a different variety of pole beans that have now become a family favorite. There are many different kinds of tomatoes that can be tried too. Of course we sometimes try something we may never want to try again. Several years ago I tried growing okra. I had success, but it was not a favorite of mine though I know many people love it! 

Making a map of your garden each year and using the garden rotation method is very important. There are many books available to learn about rotating your planting year to year to get the best from your garden soil. 

Of course weeding can be a chore that most of us would like to eliminate but it can be made easier. Mulching between many plants really helps and I also use a garden barrier fabric between rows in the walking area that helps keep the weeds down and vegetables cleaner too. During the growing time I try do a walk through in my garden nearly every day, pulling weeds and checking watering needs and the growing progress.

Another tip is to incorporate some beauty in your vegetable garden by also planting flowers. I put some different varieties of flower seeds like marigolds and zinnias at the beginning of most every row. Flowers not only add color to the garden but they invite the good insect pollinators to come and help with important pollination.

My favorite tip is the importance of introducing gardening to children. My parents were farmer/gardeners and shared this with me. I admit there were times when I wasn’t always excited about the work weeding but it needed to be done, and we spent a lot of family time doing it. As a parent, I have gardened with our daughters, had day care children also with me and now as often as possible do some gardening with our grandchildren. Showing children the tiny seeds that will grow into plants with vegetables actually can seem a bit magical. Children learn what vegetables grow above the ground like beans and peas, what grow into the ground like carrots and potatoes. 

 Digging potatoes with children can be made fun like unearthing buried treasure. This simple task can become a math lesson, counting how many in each hill and discussing size comparison-larger or smaller. They love searching amongst the foliage for cucumbers and ripe tomatoes. I remember one child remembering that the cucumbers were in a different place the year before, which led to talking about garden rotation. By gardening with children they are more willing to try tasting new vegetables and fruits, many times we have eaten fresh picked beans or sweet corn with in less than an hour of harvest. Possibly one of my biggest “problem” is the little strawberry eaters eating the berries before I could get them in the house!

I know several area schools have started garden plots and several local master gardeners have assisted with the gardens. 

I realize not everyone wants to or may not have garden space, but maybe you will be able to sometime in the future. I encourage you to stop by the local farmers market and purchase and enjoy fresh produce.

The Green County Master Gardeners are sponsoring the 12th annual “Garden Inspirations for all Seasons” symposium from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March at the Peppercorn Banquet facility. Several speakers will share information on Monarch butterflies, perennials, container gardening and more. Call 328-9440 for information.

— Kris Winkler is a master gardener with the University of Wisconsin-Extension. She can be reached at kriswink56@gmail.com.