Home for the Harvest’s free garden planner will help you create the annual vegetable, herb, or cut flower garden you’ve been dreaming of. Have you always wanted to grow juicy heirloom tomatoes? What about a delightful crop of flowers to share with friends? Maybe a bumper crop of basil for homemade pesto? Let’s get planning!
Everyone who signs up for my email newsletter receives a free copy of the vegetable garden planner. You’ll also get regular emails with ideas for what to grow, what’s in season, and sometimes the odd gardening joke.
Here is the email newsletter signup form that includes the link to the free vegetable garden planner PDF file:
The free garden planner guides you through planning out your whole vegetable garden. It includes an easy step-by-step garden planning process and is supported with gardening tips sent right to your email. Join over 20,000 gardeners who have already downloaded this helpful PDF planner!
Note: If you’d prefer a done-for-you Vegetable Garden Plan, please check out My Shop.
8 Simple Steps to Garden Planning Success
The free garden planner includes a section for each of the 8 basic steps of starting a garden. The steps include everything from choosing the right things to grow, drawing a proper layout,andscheduling out your crops. Each section in the planner includes a corresponding companion article with detailed background information to support you through each step.
- SetYourGardenGoals
- FindYourGardenMentor
- DiscoverYourGrowingZone
- PickYourTypeofGarden
- ChooseCropsYou’llLove
- DeterminetheRightNumberofPlants
- DrawYourGardenMap
- CreateYour PlantingCalendar
Once you’ve printed your planner, go through itstep-by-step, referring tothe companion articles for background information. When you finish the steps, you’ll have a handy seed shopping list to keep you on track at seed swaps, a clear garden layout map for when you plant your garden, and an easy-to-follow schedule for when each crop needs to be planted.
I have my garden planner printed on cardstock each year at the office store down the street. The heavier paper keeps nice and sturdy throughout the year. I prefer to keep the pages loose, but I’ve seen some beautiful planners that have been bound at a printing store or tied together with garden twine. Make it your own!
Planning Your Dream Garden
What do you dream of growing in your garden? Take a moment and think about your dream garden. Imagine it. Take a walk in your imaginary dream garden. It’s hard to make something real without a picture of what you’re looking for.
Here are some of the most popular annual veggie plants to grow in a garden:
- Buttercrunch Lettuce
- Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes
- Lacinato Dinosaur Kale
- Green Arrow Peas
- Brandywine Heirloom Tomatoes
- Bolero Sweet Carrots
Need more inspiration for your veggie garden? Here’s a list of some of the best varieties of garden vegetables to grow.
In addition to vegetables, most gardeners like to add a few annual flowers and herbs to their garden plan. Popular flowers include zinnias, sweet peas, and marigolds. Gourmet gardeners love growing basil, parsley, and cilantro. Without getting overly specific, create an overall goal for your garden this year and write it down in the free garden planner. Here is a detailed guide to getting clear on your own unique garden goals.
Gardeners Love Helping Gardeners
You’re not in this alone! Fortunately, there are a ton of resources for both planning and growing a garden.
Here are some places to look for extra help if you’re feeling like the support would be helpful:
- State co-operative extension office (USA)
- Local seed companies, garden centers, and plant nurseries
- Regional gardening club or permaculture group
- Facebook groups about gardening
- Quora, Twitter, and other online forums
- Online gardening courses!
There are people in every town who know the ins and outs of gardening in their area. Ask about when the last frost date has occurred during the past few springtime seasons (and write it down in your free garden planner!). Inquire about what grows really well where you live. A little bit of local insight goes a long way in the garden!
Here is a detailed guide on finding mentorship for your gardening journey.
Plan Your Garden For Your Local Climate
My worst “gardening fails” seem to happen when I try to grow things that just don’t love my local climate. Knowing your local growing zone is key to choosing plants that will thrive in your garden.
If you already know your growing zone – great! If not, here is an article that will help you determine your local growing zone.
“There exists no stronger connection with the living soil, the earth, and the changing season than eating food you yourself have sown, nurtured, and harvested.”
Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Complete Guide to Natural and Chemical-Free Gardening, by Anna Kruger, Maria Rodale, and Pauline Pears
Choose a Garden Type (or Types)
Outdoor plants are generally planted directly in the ground or in container pots. Raised beds, which are like giant container gardens, are a very nice happy-medium type of garden. Consider what will work best for you (and remember you can mix and mingle containers with in-ground plants!).
In-ground gardens will need to be measured so you can get an estimate of the amount of growing space you have available. You’ll also need a soil test. If you’re using containers, consider how much space you have available for them. Use this information to fill in Step 4 of the Free Garden Planner.
Remember that most annual garden plants do like some sun. Also, keep in mind that waterlogged ground is not good for vegetables. Try container gardening or raised beds instead of fighting the natural tendencies of the area. Here is a detailed article on the pros and cons of different types of garden structures.
Choose Crops For Your Annual Garden
Now it’s time to get specific about what plants you’ll grow in your garden this year. I love this advice from gardening expert Margaret Roach:
“To try to get real and filter “everything” down to “doable,” I list what I enjoy eating most often and most of all, which may still be too many things to fit in my available space.”
A Way To Garden: A Hands-On Primer For Every Season, by Margaret Roach
Also, be realistic about the conditions of your garden. Do you have wonderful loamy soil? Or is it more like heavy clay? Will your plants bask in the morning sun….or is it more of a full-shade situation? Be real with yourself about the environment and conditions in which your plants will be growing before getting your heart set on a certain thing.
And one more thing – WRITE IT DOWN! There is a nice page in the free garden planner for you to write down the crops you’ve decided to grow in your garden. This page will become your shopping list when it comes time to buy seeds or go shopping for seedling plants.
- Here is a detailed guide to choosing what to grow in your seasonal garden.
- Here are some of the best varieties of common vegetables to grow.
Ok, ONE more tip – Do not be intimidated by botanical Latin. Every single plant has a fancy Latin botanical name. Go ahead and write ’em down. Try and speak them to the staff at the nursery. Above all, don’t worry about your pronunciation of botanical Latin. It’s only written language anyway! Go for it. There is no “correct pronunciation”.
“Botanical Latin, it turns out, isn’t a real spoken language at all, not the mother tongue of ancient Rome, but a system of nomenclature (or naming) invented by Carl von Linne, also known as Linnaeus, in 1753.”
A Way To Garden: A Hands-On Primer For Every Season, by Margaret Roach
Figuring Out How Many Plants Will Fit In Your Garden
I didn’t estimate how many plants I’d need for my first few gardens. Then I came to know the pain of finding exactly the right thing to grow….and not buying enough. Seeds and seedlings are generally only processed and sold once each year. Don’t be like beginner-me. Make sure you buy enough!!!
The free garden planner includes a workbook section to help you figure out how many plants will fit in your garden. Also, check out this detailed post on determining the right number of plants for your annual garden.
Tip – Varieties that have been bred to be “mini” or “baby” often do well with very close spacing and are perfect for space-restricted gardens.
Drawing A Garden Layout Map In Your Planner
Oooh, now the fun really starts! Drawing a layout map of my garden makes me so happy each and every off-season. Nothing is better than imagining rows upon rows of heirloom tomatoes when your days are full of shoveling rows upon rows of snow. Ugh. I dream of tomatoes.
The free garden planner will guide you through the process of drawing a layout map for your annual garden. There’s also this detailed article all about how to draw a veggie garden layout map.
Make A Calendar For Your Garden Crops
Now that you know what you’re growing, how many of them you’re growing, and where they’re going to go, it’s time to decide when to start growing them! Each crop has a different lifespan from seed germination to harvest. Make a calendar in your free garden planner so you remember when to plant each crop and when that crop is estimated to be ready for harvest.
Some leafy greens can be planted outside while it’s still frosty and will be ready to harvest at the beginning of summer. Big heirloom tomatoes might not be ripe until after the kids go back to school in September!
Use the information on the seed packets, seedling labels, and in this article about how to make a schedule for your annual garden.
