Gardening in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire is trickier than many parts of the country. Here’s some tips we employ at Mercy Hill Farm. These heirloom tomato seedlings started life “under the lights” about two weeks back. They will need to be coddled in a cold frame to protect them from frost until mid to late May.

Making use of the heat from the lights, we’re sprouting the next round of seedlings on top, right above the lights. We like to add to the soil some flowers and herbs that will grace the beds along with the vegetables we grow. This attracts many beneficial insects and birds, keeps the bad insects away from our food and makes the garden much more appealing to the eye. After all, we’re not just about growing eats.

Meanwhile, some frost tolerant things like butter head lettuce seedlings are ready to take their place in the rich soil of our companion planting beds. Unlike traditional gardening, companion planting mixes up varieties of plants in the same bed. There are many symbiotic benefits that companion plants get from growing with other varieties. Here we put the head lettuce right down the middle between two rows of peas. Then we’ll plant flowers and herbs here and there in the bed as well. By the time the peas get big enough to shade the lettuce, the lettuce will be ready to harvest.

The yellow onions we planted last summer awoke from their winter slumber and started reaching for the sun. A little weeding and a top dressing of compost and they will be a great addition to our summer harvest this year.

Growing plants love our deep-dug, wide-row, raised beds. Because we don’t till them or walk on them the soil is fluffy and preserves the micro-life and nutrients below. The soil in our garden is so soft you can stick your hand down into it up to your wrist. Tap roots can go deep to grab more nutrients/water and weeds pull up real easy because the soil is hardly compacted at all.

What a great way to spend part of our Easter Weekend; digging into the rich soil, tucking new seedlings into their beds! In a month or so, we will have a nice variety of garden fresh vegetables to eat and to share.

Got a gardening question, comment or another great tip? email Mercy Hill Farm. We’d love to hear from you!